Game show winners live it up in Los Angeles
It’s a long way from Lorrha to the designer-only Rodeo Drive but Liam almost passed up an opportunity of a lifetime that falls to winners of the National Lottery Big Money Game Show — he had to overcome a fear of flying.
His partner Michelle Keenaghan won the prize and Liam, who had never previously travelled outside the country, was refusing to accompany her on the week-long trip to Los Angeles.
But Michelle’s powers of persuasion eventually succeeded in getting him to apply for a passport for the first time.
“I told him you’re going whether you like it or not,” she divulged as they sipped champagne with 76 other winners against a background of the setting sun on Venice Beach, a familiar sight to moviegoers.
And Liam was glad he came. “It’s a completely different world out here in LA. I never thought I’d see the day when fellas would be opening doors for me wherever I went,” he said, reflecting on the way he was being looked after in the luxurious Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Celebrity-spotting is a favourite past-time of people hanging out in this establishment which sits at the bottom of Rodeo Drive, the exclusive shopping area in Beverly Hills.
People in the Irish group saw Muhammad Ali, actors Eddie Murphy and Will Ferrell, Joan Collins and glamour model Jordan.
Brad Pitt gets his hair cut in the hotel, where some scenes for the film Pretty Woman were shot.
Kieran Murphy, a builder from Mitchelstown, Co Cork, shook the hand of Ali as the former world heavyweight boxing champion, now a victim of Parkinson’s Disease, was helped down the steps of Beverly Wilshire by his daughter Lana.
Kieran is a boxing fan, so it was an opportunity not to be missed. He got one of Ali’s entourage to take a photograph of himself and the legend but, for some reason, the aide pressed the wrong button and only a blank resulted.
“’Twas an awful disappointment, but at least I can say I met a true legend. It’s very sad to see him the way he’s now,” said Kieran.
Dublin couple Dermot and Loreto Halpin, who have been married for 23 years, renewed vows in the Little White Chapel of Love, in Las Vegas, where Elvis and numerous other celebrities tied the knot.
The couple, who have four children, had planned on going to Last Vegas on their 25th anniversary.
“Winning the prize meant bringing forward the event by two years.
“We’re having a fantastic time, with a helicopter trip over the Grand Canyon, a walk down Sunset Boulevard and a visit to Universal Studios being particularly memorable,” said Dermot, a carpenter.
Friends Ita Ryan and Tess McCarthy, from Tipperary, enjoyed their tour of Hollywood, which included a stroll in the Walk of Fame.
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