Mr Ahern said he was impressed to hear that the innovative de Staic had recently opened a company in the United States.

De Staic and his Killarney native wife, M·iréad, were invited to join Mr Ahern for an informal meeting in the Skellig Hotel in Dingle.

To mark the occasion and to celebrate their opening of their US outlet, the couple presented the Taoiseach with what they described as a very special gift - a signed copy of a play by highly-rated American author Ray Bradbury.

The US writer, author of Moby Dick, is considered to be America’s premier living author - ranking alongside HG Wells and Jules Verne - and he met with de Staic’s representatives in the US.

“When Mr Bradbury was presented with a piece of our jewellery in California, he was delighted to hear of the upcoming meeting with the Taoiseach and he asked that we present Mr Ahern with a signed copy of his favourite play, Falling Upward,” Brian de Staic explained.

“This year Mr Bradbury’s work is being promoted in all US libraries as the numberone read for children in the public school system and he was recently afforded an honorary doctorate at Galway University.

Falling Upward charts the year Mr Bradbury spent living in Ireland during which time he wrote Moby Dick. The author says it’s about the ability in the Irish to walk off a cliff and fall upwards.

 

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To coincide with the Brian de Staic Jewellers first birthday, the company is hosting a fundraiser to help purchase a bus to transport Father Singh’s orphans at Mondasore Orphanage in Orissa, India.

The children at the orphanage currently do not have reliable transportation to bring them from Mondasore to Raika for basic medical care and services, and it is hoped that the silent auction to be held at the store on Saturday will go some way towards helping.

The event was organised by Patrick Mullins of Brian de Staic California and is one of a number of events happening to coincide with the big anniversary.

Brian de Staic California has also this week revealed that it will sponsor the first Annual Ray Bradbury Theatre Festival.

At 86 Ray Bradbury is one of the most prolific American writers of all time and his literary CV includes classic such as The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451.

As part of this, the first festival, many renowned actors will read from Ray Bradbury's works, and Malcolm McDowell, actor best known for his outstanding performance in Stanley Kubrick's ‘A Clockwork Orange’ will perform live at the Theatre Festival.

As part of the festival Brian de Staic has designed and manufactured a limited edition commemorative pendant that includes a signature on the back by Ray Bradbury.

Ray himself was presented with one of the special Gold Riasc Pendant by Patrick Mullins.

Brian and M·iréad de Staic flew to California over the weekend to help celebrate the events.

 

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