€ntertainment stars dance onto rich list

YOU can have a quiet year in Cork, mull over plans for a hotel you’ve bought in Dublin or just potter around the garden in Donegal — and still end up earning millions of euro.

At least that’s the lesson to be learned from the top five entertainers on this year’s Sunday Times Rich List of Ireland’s 250 wealthiest people.

Dublin hoteliers and rock stars U2 remain in pole position as the nation’s wealthiest artists, and are collectively worth €619 million — up €7.5m on last year when they were only worth €611.5m.

But fellow Dubliner Bob Geldof might have to rename his I Don’t Like Mondays hit to take in Sundays, too, after he dropped out of the Sabbath paper’s list of Ireland’s 250 richest people.

This year’s qualifying bar is a fortune of at least €50m — up from €40m last year. Geldof is worth a mere €43.9m and drops out of the Irish rich list as does Lady in Red composer, Chris de Burgh, on €40m.

This year’s rich list, which will be published in full on Sunday, sees Derry-born actress Roma Downey classed as Ireland’s third-richest entertainer.

Fans of junk TV will remember the 47-year-old actress as Monica in the US mini-series Touched By An Angel.

Indeed with a fortune estimated by the Sunday Times at €151m, it would appear she has been blessed in dollar bills.

Ms Downey’s wealth derives from a fortune she shares with British-born TV producer Mark Burnett, who created the Survivor challenge show.

Cork’s own Lord of the Dance, Michael Flatley, has seen his wealth dip €6.3m on last year’s Sunday Times estimate. But he will not need a whip-round as he can still dance to the tune of €467m in the bank.

Riverdance also features prominently on the list of the country’s 250 richest people with couple Moya Doherty and John McColgan worth a cool €100m.

Sunday Times researchers estimate the bulk of the couple’s fortune was derived from Riverdance — the hit dance routine from the Eurovision all those years ago.

Donegal musician Enya saw her wealth leap €3.8m on last year’s figure to €100m, making her Ireland’s fourth-richest entertainer.

At number five is Belfast’s Van Morrison, who weighs in at €69m, an increase of €5m on 2007.

Fellow Belfast native, Katie Melua, who was born in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, makes it onto the Sunday Times’s list of Britain and Ireland’s top 20 young musical millionaires.

Worth €22.6m today, Ms Melua is easily able to afford many of the nine million bicycles in Beijing that she turned to for inspiration for one of her hit songs.

That’s fame for you.