Geldof could be first Cork President... thanks to his Rebel mammy!

The defeat of Billy Kelleher in the vote for Fianna Fáil’s nominee as President this week has left just a handful of potential Cork candidates standing with 11 days left before the deadline for entrants.

Former lord mayor and Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy has my full backing if he gets on the ticket - an outstanding public servant, historian, and patriot, and - crucially - a proud Leesider, in a race for the Áras that is taking on a distinctly Dublin/Up The Country hue.

But there is another person in the frame to become the first ever Cork President who I reckon would be a popular candidate - none other than punk provocateur and Live Aid legend Bob Geldof.

The former Boomtown Rat sounded out Taoiseach Micheál Martin for a nomination last week, and has made no secret of his desire to run for the presidency over the years.

He ticks plenty of boxes too - ‘Saint Bob’ has rubbed shoulders with world leaders ever since his Live Aid days, but, at 73, is mellow enough to have reined in the outspoken side that regularly proved a thorn in the side of the establishment.

Geldof is also a shining example of how the Irish diaspora has spread out and influenced events around the world for centuries.

Now he wants the ultimate establishment role - and will need to embark down the county council route to earn a place on the roster when the election takes place on October 24 - the Friday of the Jazz Weekend.

But how does Geldof qualify as a Corkonian, you may ask? Through his Irish mammy, that’s how...

Evelyn Weller - known as Eve - was born on February 28, 1915, and her family home was at 10, Princes Street, Cork city.

As a teenager, she got a job in the thriving Savoy Cinema a short walk away, and by all accounts was what Cork folk refer to as a lasher!

In 1940, Eve was among six Munster ladies selected after a heat in the Savoy to participate in the final of the Dawn Beauty contest at the Metropole Ballroom, Dublin.

Around that time, she got engaged, but one evening when working as a cashier at the cinema, Eve fell for the charms of a cinema-goer, Robert Geldof - a travelling towel salesman.

In Throwback Thursday last year, reader Rom Hyde described this fateful meeting as told to him by his mother, Gladys Leach, who was also working in the Savoy at the time.

Rom said: “One of the cashiers, Evelyn Weller, whom Gladys described as very beautiful and engaged to be married, was swept off her feet by a handsome young gentleman who attended the cinema one evening. Not only was he charming but also, it seems, had a good singing voice.

“She broke her engagement, took off, and married the new man in her life whose name was Robert Geldof. Evelyn and Robert were to become the parents of Ireland’s most famous rock star, Bob Geldof!”

The singer himself once described his mother’s job in the Savoy as a “glamour girl”, and in his family’s version of events, his dad won a boxing match with Eve’s fiancé to win her over!

Eve and Robert wed in 1941, and had three children. There is a strong family connection to the former Grand Hotel in Crosshaven.

Robert’s father, a Belgian immigrant called Zenon Geldof, was chef and manager there from 1919 to 1921 - and also worked at the Hydro in Blarney - and Eve and Robert also worked at the seafront hotel for a period - Robert did a stint working at Ford’s as well.

Eventually, the family moved to Dún Laoghaire, where Bob was born in 1951.

However, the Leeside pull was strong, and he used to spend summers in Cork with his mother’s relatives. A photo of him on the beach with his cousins, the Notte family, at Youghal in 1960, when he was nine, appeared on the Old Photos of Cork City & County Facebook page a few years ago.

Tragically, Bob’s mother had passed away by then, aged just 45, from a brain haemorrhage, after complaining of a headache one day.

Bob went on to be a superstar in the 1970s as lead singer of punk band The Boomtown Rats, and became a global icon in 1984 when he organised the Band Aid single, and Live Aid a year later for famine victims in Africa.

The Notte branch of his family in Cork took great pride in his achieve-ments - Geldof’s uncle Tommy Notte was a night foreman at the Echo and Examiner in Academy Street for 46 years.

After Live Aid in 1985, Bob’s aunt, Pansy Notte, of Loreto Park, Douglas, told the Examiner: “Anyone else might have shied away from such a daunting task. I mean, to organise such a thing as Live Aid and on such a scale takes a lot of neck... but then that is one thing Bob has.”

She added that her nephew should receive a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Although rock music was “not really her scene”, Mrs Notte said she had watched Live Aid.

She also recalled the times Bob and his family came to Youghal on holidays and said that even then the young boy had a certain charisma.

But she said that at school, he had not done well and left without getting his Leaving Cert. “They said Bob was a bad influence on the other boys.” She wondered what they were saying about him that day in 1985!

“Bob is a tremendous example for other young people,” said Mrs Notte in 1985.

Geldof has retained a love for Cork. In 2006, delivering a trademark powerful address at the annual Thomas Crosbie Holdings Ltd Dinner at 97, South Mall, he won the attendance over straight away with his declaration: “It’s nice to be home!”

The rock rebel added: “I feel a special connection with Cork.”

In 2022, speaking to The Echo at UCC before being presented with an award by its Law Society, he again spoke of his bond with Leeside.

“My mum is from Cork. My sister is Cork,” he said. When told that counted for Cork citizenship, he replied: “Half-and-half, anyway.”

That’s good enough for us Leesiders, Bob!

Geldof’s father died in 2010, and at his burial service in Dublin, he said: “He was absolutely secure in the knowledge that he was going to meet the towering, exuberant love of his life - my mum.”

Will Geldof pursue his dream to be President? And will he gain enough votes to take his place in the Áras? Perhaps his Cork mammy will give him some pull down here in the land of his ancestors.

There was an unconfirmed report this week that Geldof had opted not to run for the Áras. My message to him is: Go ahead, punk, make our day!