The Man In The Mirror
As editor of the Irish Sunday Mirror, Paul Martin has a unique position in the world of Irish media and celebrity. He talks to Stuart Clark about his dislike of Calum Best, his friendship with the late Katy French, the end of David Norris’s presidential bid, the News Of The World phone-hacking scandal and his admiration for Piers Morgan. All this plus a cameo from Louis Walsh!
Stuart Clark, 26 Aug 2011
"Oh god, I’m in his bad books at the moment!”
That’s Irish Sunday Mirror editor Paul Martin’s texted reply to me telling him that Louis Walsh is sat opposite me in the posh Ballsbridge café where we were supposed to meet five minutes ago.
Arriving a quarter of an hour later full of apologies – “Sorry for not being here on time, mate, but it’s been even more mental today than usual!” – the Englishman glances over nervously at Louis and whispers, “Any moment now he’s going to come over and give me what for!”
Rest assured that if any what for-ing does ensue, we’ll tell you all about it!
At 33, Martin is the youngest person ever to edit an Irish tabloid. He spent his formative years in the leafy middle-class confines of Windsor near London, before unexpectedly moving to Belfast in 1993. Joining the Irish Mirror five years later as a showbiz reporter, he’s subsequently danced on stage with Beyoncé, chauffeured Naomi Campbell, gatecrashed Shane Lynch’s wedding, partied on Johnny Ronan’s private jet and at various times been best friends/worst enemies with Katy French, Shane Filan, Stephen Gately, Ryan Tubridy, showbiz agent to the stars Noel Kelly and the aforementioned Mr. Walsh, who’s just clocked we’re here. Asked what he considers to be “in the public interest”, the Mirror man’s rejoinder is immediate. “Whatever the public’s interested in,” he states emphatically. He claims to be too enamoured of himself to have any journalistic heroes but – when pushed – admits a sneaking admiration for Piers Morgan.
STUART CLARK: How did a Brit end up in Northern Ireland at the height of The Troubles?
PAUL MARTIN: My father was the editor of the Windsor Observer and he got the job as the editor of The Newsletter in Belfast, which at the time was a very pro-Unionist paper and a bloody hymn sheet to the likes of Ian Paisley. My father caused ructions in the North when during his first interview with BBC Radio Ulster he said that as far as he was concerned this was the 1990s, not the 1690s. There wasn’t going to be any more of that (sectarian) shit under his watch.
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