Graham Norton turns estate agent with Twitter favour

Friends in high places — no, not more on the Garth Brooks saga, it’s Graham Norton doing a social media favour for West Cork neighbours who are selling up in his beloved Ahakista.

The BBC chat show supremo and broadcaster used the power of Twitter on Tuesday to plug the sale of his West Cork neighbours’ home at Ahakista to his 800,000 followers. Within the first 24 hours, his short tweet drove 5,500 curious fans to surf the web to check out the house on the auctioneer’s own website.

Norton tweeted “anyone looking for a house?” and then put a link to Skibbereen estate agent Charles P McCarthy website’s fresh listing of a property, ‘Kitchen Cove’, for sale in excess of €1.2m.

Anyone looking for a house? Kitchen Cove, Ahakista, Ahakista, Cork http://t.co/qpW5YJxR1m #charlesmccarthy via @CMCEstateAgents

— graham norton (@grahnort) July 8, 2014

Norton’s tweet was just his second in the past week or two, with his previous one thanking followers for positive reactions to his final BBC show of the season on July 1.

Norton generally decamps for the summer to his waterfront Georgian home on five acres at Ahakista, which he bought via Charles McCarthy in 2003 for €1.6m, and spent another considerable sum doing up, using the services of Clonakilty-based architects.

Thanks for all the kind words re @TheGNShow and @BBCRadio2 #teamnorton Both shows return in September . . . missing you already! G xx

— graham norton (@grahnort) July 5, 2014

He generously entertains house guests and family there in July and August — and this year he might even join one or two visitors on house viewings along the rocky shoreline at ‘Kitchen Cove’, a short distance from the Air India 1985 disaster.

Owned by a UK couple since before Norton arrived in Ahakista, ‘Kitchen Cove’ is also on five acres of woodland with shingle beaches, and is a 2,200sq ft renovated old house with separate guest apartment.

The selling agents — who are also sale agreed on Tony O’Reilly’s Glandore home ‘Shorecliff’ — say they have early interest in it already, primarily from the UK — and can expect a further flurry of web hits from 800,000 Norton followers around the globe.