John Ryan (publisher)
Encyclopedia
John Ryan is an Irish
former publishing tycoon-turned comic actor/writer. He is best known for his publishing empire which included the magazine New York Dog
and the website blogorrah.com
, he did achieve success with magazines such as VIP with former business partner, Michael O'Doherty
. More recently he has achieved acclaim for his 2009 RTÉ Two
comedy television show This is Nightlive
, which mimics the antics of Ireland's newscasters and other newsroom members.
who was wealthy through his 36 outlets in Dublin of "The Monument Creameries". His grandmother was a patron of Jack Yeats amongst others. Other notable relatives included the artist Patrick Swift
who was an uncle as well as the actress Kathleen Ryan
.
His father, John Ryan Snr
,was a well known artist and man of letters in bohemian Dublin of the 1940s and 1950s. He was a friend and benefactor of a number of struggling writers in the post-war era, such as Patrick Kavanagh
and Anthony Cronin
. He organised the first ever Bloomsday
and founded Envoy, A Review of Literature and Art
. The pub he owned, The Bailey, became a literary institution. He was friend and benefactor to many artists. For some he was a sort of 'Dublin Prince'. He also owned a residence in the city centre used by artists and musicians as a place to stay in Dublin.
magazine and The Sunday Times
Culture section in addition to journalism with the Sunday Independent
.
, Ryan broke the story of the long time affair between the former Taoiseach and Terry Keane
, enstranged wife of former Chief Justice
Ronan Keane
and a columnist of The Keane Edge at The Sunday Independent. Keane had left the Independent on bad terms and Ryan, who had worked with her at the Independent, approached her to sell her story to the Times. Ryan orchastrated her infamous appearance on The Late Late Show
where she first admitted the affair as he felt that a British newspaper breaking the story wouldn't go down well in Ireland.
) entitled The Sunday Supplement. The show continues to this day, with Ryan being succeeded as host by journalist Sam Smyth.
, who he co-founded and owned VIP
magazine with. Ryan's publishing company owned the publishing venture Stars on Sunday
which folded with losses. He then set up the New York Dog magazine, which he promoted on The Late Late Show
, and a New York City
-based website, blogorrah.com, which was described by the Irish Independent
as "a sort of Phoenix
without portfolio". The site was edited by Derek O'Connor
but mysteriously stopped filing new posts in July 2007. After the collapse of his business empire in early 2007, Ryan was declared missing after he claimed a pet-food scare led to the closure of New York Dog. Staff at Manhattan's Cinema Café, a regular haunt said: ‘He would come in here with his dog pretty regularly, but we haven’t seen him for months. The last time [we] saw him, he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders’, whilst his partner O'Connor declared that he had not spoken to Ryan since he had left New York City a few months previously and said his email address was ‘out of commission’. O'Doherty said he had not heard from Ryan for over a month. Before his disappearance Ryan had attended the Electric Picnic
music festival in the company of fellow publisher Trevor White and soon after appeared as a guest on The Tubridy Show
. However, a rival website then accused him of mistreating his workers and he left the country.
. The show, This is Nightlive, launched in January 2009. It is satirical in nature and parodies a typical newsroom fronted by the fictional anchorman Johnny Hansom. Hansom (played Ryan himself) and his team who present a Lifestyle News show on which they claim that "they are the news". Ryan modelled his show on The Colbert Report, a show with a cult following on American
cable television. However, he expressed fears of potential criticism in the build-up to the launch of the show. He announced that he expected "to be taken out the back and given a good kicking". RTÉ was reported to have been "wary" of criticism to the point that it was decided not to send out any advance tapes to the press, with Ryan reported to have been planning to reproduce the worst reviews for the pilot on a ticker tape
to trail across the screen during the follow-up episode. He declined at least one pre-broadcast interview and after its commencement intends to "go off travelling for an unspecified time". The Irish Independent
’s resident critic John Boland was unamused with the "lame delivery" in the first episode and the lack of a good script for which Ryan, he points out, is to blame not only for his own character but also for the woman impersonating TV3's Lorraine Keane
and weatherman Martin King
. However, he "chuckled a few times" at the rolling ticker tape containing such comical inserts as "Middle-aged man still won't shut up about Leonard Cohen
concert, say friends" and "Katie Melua
admits she may have been wrong about number of bicycles
in Beijing
".
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
former publishing tycoon-turned comic actor/writer. He is best known for his publishing empire which included the magazine New York Dog
New York Dog
New York Dog was an unsuccessful lifestyle magazine for animal lovers based upon women's fashion and lifestyle magazines but instead featuring dogs. It was owned by the publishing empire of John Ryan, now known for his 2009 RTÉ Two comedy television show This is Nightlive, which mimics the antics...
and the website blogorrah.com
Blogorrah.com
bloggorah.com, also known as blogorrah, was a cult award-winning New York City-based Irish website owned by the publishing "empire" of John Ryan. The site was edited by Derek O'Connor in New York. It was known for scathingly satirising well-known social figures in Irish life such as politicians,...
, he did achieve success with magazines such as VIP with former business partner, Michael O'Doherty
Michael O'Doherty (publisher)
Michael O'Doherty is a television talent judge, newspaper writer and the publisher of the VIP magazine group in Ireland. He is originally from Killiney in County Dublin, and was educated at Sandford Park School in Dublin and studied English and French at Trinity College, Dublin to undergraduate...
. More recently he has achieved acclaim for his 2009 RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Two is available throughout the island of Ireland through digital terrestrial service Saorview, VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite to Irish subscribers of...
comedy television show This is Nightlive
This is Nightlive
This is Nightlive was an Irish satire television series broadcast on RTÉ Two. It was created by John Ryan who also starred in the series .-Story and Plot:...
, which mimics the antics of Ireland's newscasters and other newsroom members.
Early life
Ryan had a bohemian upbringing with a number of his relatives being well known in the arts scene in Dublin. His grandfather on his fathers side was Seamus Ryan, a SenatorSeanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...
who was wealthy through his 36 outlets in Dublin of "The Monument Creameries". His grandmother was a patron of Jack Yeats amongst others. Other notable relatives included the artist Patrick Swift
Patrick Swift
Patrick Swift was an artist born in Dublin, Ireland. Patrick Swift was a painter and key cultural figure in Dublin and London before moving to the Algarve in southern Portugal, where he is buried in the town of Porches...
who was an uncle as well as the actress Kathleen Ryan
Kathleen Ryan
Kathleen Ryan was an Irish actress.She was born in Dublin, Ireland of Tipperary parentage and was a spirited and heart warming Irish actress who appeared in British and Hollywood movies between 1947 and 1957.-Family:...
.
His father, John Ryan Snr
John Ryan (Dublin artist)
John Ryan Dublin, Ireland was an Artist, broadcaster, publisher, critic, editor, patron and publican.John Ryan was many things but primarily a key figure in Bohemian Dublin for many years. He knew nearly every artist of note that lived in, or passed through, Dublin from the 1940s onwards...
,was a well known artist and man of letters in bohemian Dublin of the 1940s and 1950s. He was a friend and benefactor of a number of struggling writers in the post-war era, such as Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh
Patrick Kavanagh was an Irish poet and novelist. Regarded as one of the foremost poets of the 20th century, his best known works include the novel Tarry Flynn and the poems Raglan Road and The Great Hunger...
and Anthony Cronin
Anthony Cronin
Anthony Cronin is an Irish poet. He received the Marten Toonder Award for his contribution to Irish literature....
. He organised the first ever Bloomsday
Bloomsday
Bloomsday is a commemoration observed annually on 16 June in Dublin and elsewhere to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce and relive the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904...
and founded Envoy, A Review of Literature and Art
Envoy, A Review of Literature and Art
December 1949- July 1951. Dublin, Ireland. Editor & Founder: John RyanDuring its brief existence, Envoy, A Review of Literature and Art, published the work of a broad range of writers, Irish and others. The first to publish J. P...
. The pub he owned, The Bailey, became a literary institution. He was friend and benefactor to many artists. For some he was a sort of 'Dublin Prince'. He also owned a residence in the city centre used by artists and musicians as a place to stay in Dublin.
Early work
Ryan started his career in journalism with a local newspaper in north London, 'The Hornsey Journal'. As he lacked any experience or training, he persuaded the editor to let him work for nothing initially, to prove himself. He worked behind the bar in a local pub to make ends meet. When covering the opening of the local outdoor swimming pool for the paper, he jumped fully clothed into the pool while wearing a suit - ensuring good coverage of the story. Ryan served as a war correspondent during his early years. He was also editor of MagillMagill
Magill was an Irish politics and current affairs magazine founded by Vincent Browne and others in 1977. Magill was widely perceived as groundbreaking, specialising in in-depth investigative articles and colourful reportage by journalists such as Eamonn McCann and Gene Kerrigan...
magazine and The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
Culture section in addition to journalism with the Sunday Independent
Sunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
.
Breaking the Charlie Haughey and Terry Keane Affair
In 1999 whilst editing the Culture section and working as a journalist at The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
, Ryan broke the story of the long time affair between the former Taoiseach and Terry Keane
Terry Keane
Terry Keane was an Irish columnist and fashion journalist.Born as Ann Teresa O'Donnell in Guildford, Surrey, UK in 1939, Keane studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin but dropped out without obtaining a degree. She spent the majority of her career working for the Irish newspaper, the Sunday...
, enstranged wife of former Chief Justice
Chief Justice
The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...
Ronan Keane
Ronan Keane
The Hon. Ronan Keane , S.C., was Chief Justice of Ireland from 2000 to 2004. Keane was educated at Blackrock College, Dublin, and graduated from University College Dublin in 1953 with a BA in Modern History. He was called to the Bar in 1954 and became a Senior Counsel in 1970. He was appointed...
and a columnist of The Keane Edge at The Sunday Independent. Keane had left the Independent on bad terms and Ryan, who had worked with her at the Independent, approached her to sell her story to the Times. Ryan orchastrated her infamous appearance on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
where she first admitted the affair as he felt that a British newspaper breaking the story wouldn't go down well in Ireland.
The Sunday Supplement
Ryan briefly hosted a Sunday morning current affairs show on Radio Ireland (now Today FMToday FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...
) entitled The Sunday Supplement. The show continues to this day, with Ryan being succeeded as host by journalist Sam Smyth.
Publishing
Ryan was also known for his business partnership with Michael O'DohertyMichael O'Doherty (publisher)
Michael O'Doherty is a television talent judge, newspaper writer and the publisher of the VIP magazine group in Ireland. He is originally from Killiney in County Dublin, and was educated at Sandford Park School in Dublin and studied English and French at Trinity College, Dublin to undergraduate...
, who he co-founded and owned VIP
VIP (magazine)
VIP is both the title of a magazine and a publishing group owned by the Irish publisher Michael O'Doherty. It was launched in 1999, the second of O'Doherty's business ventures with his friend and business partner John Ryan, following Magill and before TV Now...
magazine with. Ryan's publishing company owned the publishing venture Stars on Sunday
Stars on Sunday
Stars on Sunday was an unsuccessful Sunday tabloid newspaper in Ireland which famously went bankrupt in May 2003 just two months after its launch the previous March. A total of approximately €500,000 was invested in the title...
which folded with losses. He then set up the New York Dog magazine, which he promoted on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
, and a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based website, blogorrah.com, which was described by the Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
as "a sort of Phoenix
The Phoenix (magazine)
The Phoenix is Ireland's best selling political and current affairs magazine. Inspired by the British magazine Private Eye, and a source of investigative journalism in Ireland...
without portfolio". The site was edited by Derek O'Connor
Derek O'Connor (journalist)
Derek O'Connor is an Irish journalist, blogger, playwright and theatre and television director, perhaps best known by bloggers for his time editing the now-defunct satirical award-winning website blogorrah.com. He is a regular contributor to a variety of publications, including the Sunday Tribune...
but mysteriously stopped filing new posts in July 2007. After the collapse of his business empire in early 2007, Ryan was declared missing after he claimed a pet-food scare led to the closure of New York Dog. Staff at Manhattan's Cinema Café, a regular haunt said: ‘He would come in here with his dog pretty regularly, but we haven’t seen him for months. The last time [we] saw him, he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders’, whilst his partner O'Connor declared that he had not spoken to Ryan since he had left New York City a few months previously and said his email address was ‘out of commission’. O'Doherty said he had not heard from Ryan for over a month. Before his disappearance Ryan had attended the Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic
The 2005 festival took place on Saturday 3 September and Sunday 4 September. It is best remembered for Arcade Fire's performance which came before their subsequent mainstream success...
music festival in the company of fellow publisher Trevor White and soon after appeared as a guest on The Tubridy Show
The Tubridy Show
The Tubridy Show was an Irish talk-based entertainment radio programme presented by Ryan Tubridy. It was broadcast on Mondays to Fridays at 09:00 on RTÉ Radio 1....
. However, a rival website then accused him of mistreating his workers and he left the country.
This is Nightlive
Ryan returned to Ireland in 2008 to pitch his idea for a new television show to RTÉRTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
. The show, This is Nightlive, launched in January 2009. It is satirical in nature and parodies a typical newsroom fronted by the fictional anchorman Johnny Hansom. Hansom (played Ryan himself) and his team who present a Lifestyle News show on which they claim that "they are the news". Ryan modelled his show on The Colbert Report, a show with a cult following on American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cable television. However, he expressed fears of potential criticism in the build-up to the launch of the show. He announced that he expected "to be taken out the back and given a good kicking". RTÉ was reported to have been "wary" of criticism to the point that it was decided not to send out any advance tapes to the press, with Ryan reported to have been planning to reproduce the worst reviews for the pilot on a ticker tape
Ticker tape
Ticker tape was the earliest digital electronic communications medium, transmitting stock price information over telegraph lines, in use between around 1870 through 1970...
to trail across the screen during the follow-up episode. He declined at least one pre-broadcast interview and after its commencement intends to "go off travelling for an unspecified time". The Irish Independent
Irish Independent
The Irish Independent is Ireland's largest-selling daily newspaper that is published in both compact and broadsheet formats. It is the flagship publication of Independent News & Media.-History:...
’s resident critic John Boland was unamused with the "lame delivery" in the first episode and the lack of a good script for which Ryan, he points out, is to blame not only for his own character but also for the woman impersonating TV3's Lorraine Keane
Lorraine Keane
Lorraine Keane is an IFTA-nominated Irish broadcaster and journalist.She is best known known as leader of the "Xposé girls", a team of female television presenters who feature on TV3's daily fashion and celebrity lifestyle show from which their title is drawn and of which Keane was the anchor.Keane...
and weatherman Martin King
Martin King (weather presenter)
Martin Boyle , known professionally as Martin King, is the weather anchor with TV3 in Ireland. He is one of TV's most recognisable weather forecasters. He is also a co-presenter of The Morning Show with Sybil & Martin on TV3 and has his own radio show on Today FM.-TV career:When TV3 launched in...
. However, he "chuckled a few times" at the rolling ticker tape containing such comical inserts as "Middle-aged man still won't shut up about Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
concert, say friends" and "Katie Melua
Katie Melua
Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a British-Georgian singer, songwriter and musician. She moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then to England at fourteen. Melua is signed to the small Dramatico record label, under the management of composer Mike Batt, and made her musical debut in 2003...
admits she may have been wrong about number of bicycles
Nine Million Bicycles
"Nine Million Bicycles" is a song written and produced by Mike Batt for the singer Katie Melua's second album, Piece by Piece. It was released as the album's first single in September 2005 and reached number five on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Melua's first top five hit as a solo artist...
in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
".
External links
- New York Dog at The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- This is Nightlive site