The Pope flies home to mind his parents
Cue the violins. Make that an entire orchestra of violins and suchlike.
All-round good guy and New Zealand rugby guru on RTE television, Brent Pope won’t be around his adopted home of Dublin this Christmas.
Which is doubly painful because the perennially smiling and upbeat Kiwi is always the life and soul of the party.
This time, however, he has more important matters on his mind.
On December 22, he is jetting back to his actual home, 11,770 miles away, in Ashburton, New Zealand, to look after his parents.
Mick and Helen Pope, both in their eighties, “are getting older”, he told me, adding that mum Helen had a couple of nasty falls last year and is housebound.
His father Mick, had “two car accidents”.
“So I guess it’s going home just to spend time with them, we live in a smallish town so it’s a case of just making sure they are OK.
“It gets hard when every year you go back you wonder where the years have gone and that one day they may not be around.
“So without family of my own, Christmas can be a lonely old time,” Brent reflected with bona fide honesty and truth.
“Last year I helped out in a homeless hostel which was lovely for me.” And I’m sure his visit to New Zealand will mean as much to his parents when their beloved touches down Christmas week.
Closer to home in House on Dublin’s Leeson Street, last weekend top model Holly Keating helped her boyfriend celebrate his 30th birthday with a small soiree.
Guests included Michele McGrath and Jodie Wood. The great and the good arrived at 8pm at the hipster venue and enjoyed drinks in the garden until a reasonable hour for a 30-year-old-man and his other half.