05/02 The Saturday Papers

The Front Pages

There’s an election going on, and it dominates many of the front pages this Saturday, but before all that we go to the front of the Irish Daily Mirror who run with the story that Charlie Sheen spent $1 million last year on prostitutes.

Sheen is the highest paid sitcom star in the world, thanks to his ongoing gig as star of Two and a Half Men. It’s a good thing he is, as that’s some serious spend on sex. Some of it seems to have gone on cocaine and booze while hosting sex orgy parties with porn stars, but even so... that’s a lot of cash to get through.

$1 million’s a lot of money, but it’s also a very precise amount – so we’re wondering if he put a strict limit on his sex spend. A high limit, but a strict one all the same.

Away from the sex shenanigans it’s pretty much a case of politics all the way. Micheál Martin is pictured on the front of the Irish Independent as he climbs out of a boxing ring in Cork.

This photo opportunity was probably set up to show that he’s up for an election fight, but it looks more like he’s been given a drubbing and is getting out while he can.

The Indo also goes with the story that “Lenders to defy FG home loan relief bid”.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Michael Noonan has said that his party will force banks to curb mortgage rates by 0.25 per cent within 100 days of coming into power, but it looks as if this will force the banks to put their rates up by much more than 0.25 per cent before the election in order to counteract Noonan’s promise.

Over on the front of The Irish Times there’s more Fine Gael  mortgage-related news. “FG will increase mortgage relief for ‘negative equity generation’." The FG proposal will see mortgage interest debt relief increased to 30 per cent for people who were first-time buyers between 2004 and 2008.

At present there’s a sliding scale that gives relief between 20 per cent and 25 per cent.

Meanwhile Brian Cowen (remember him?) has been over at an EU summit, where he had a ‘sharp exchange’ with French president Nicolas Sarkozy over our closely-guarded corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent – way below that of other Eurozone countries.

The big foreign story is still the political unrest in Egypt, and the Times features a picture of thousands of pro-democracy Egyptians taking part in Friday prayers in Cairo’s main Tahrir Square.

The Irish Daily Mail roars angrily about the news that Mary Hanafin’s mother received a payment of €62,000 after falling over while visiting the Dáil. Mrs Hanafin fell off a steel ramp at the entrance to Leinster House and suffered a broken arm.

Finally, the Irish Examiner leads with ‘Delight in FF as Kenny refuses to debate’ after Enda refused to take part in a TV3 broadcast if Vincent Browne is involved after Browne suggested last autumn that he should “take a bottle of whiskey and a gun and go into a dark room”.

The Examiner also reports that Irish deaths related to methadone and anti-depressants have soared in recent times.

The Sports Pages

The Irish Independent and The Irish Times both put their editorial might behind Drico and the boys as they head to Rome to face the Italians as the Six Nations begins.

Around 5,000 Irish fans have travelled to the Eternal City in order to cheer on our lads. The Indo claims that O’Driscoll is wary as “improved” Italy will use the home advantage to aim for their first Irish triumph.

The Times reports that future Six Nations foe Tony Flood of England is “not getting carried away at good start” after England beat Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in the opening game of the tournament.

“I’m no traitor” says Fernando Torres on the back of the Irish Daily Mail and the front and back of the Irish Daily Mirror.

Torres made the switch from the red of Liverpool to the red of Chelsea as the transfer window closed last Monday. Tomorrow he will make his debut for his new club... against his old one.

The World Cup-winning Spaniard said that he asked to leave Anfield because he did not see Liverpool being serious trophy contenders in the next three years.

He said at a press conference on Friday that he would not celebrate if he scored a goal against King Kenny’s men.

The Irish Daily Star features a response from Torres’ former teammate Jamie Carragher who insists that Liverpool are better off without Mr T.

“I think it was probably better that Fernando moved on if he didn’t 100 per cent want to be here or it was going to happen in the summer,” defender Carragher says.

The Star also feature the intriguing story that Derry City striker Eamon Zayed that last month he almost ended up heading to an Egyptian club that was backed by a prominent member of the stricken countries under-pressure military government.

He was due to sign to Haras El-Hodood when the Egyptian FA pulled the plug on the deal – just days before all hell let loose in the north African country.