‘MICHAEL HEALY-RAE TD TO LAUNCH MEMOIR OF COLOURFUL AND CONTROVERSIAL FORMER KERRY SENATOR AND TARBERT MAN, DAN KIELY’
Colourful, charismatic, loyal, hard-working, controversial – these are some of the words people have used to describe politician, businessman and Kerryman Dan Kiely. But who is the real man? Dan’s achievements have been dissected in the pages of The Irish Examiner, The Phoenix, and The Kerryman, but which account is true? A close confidant of former taoisigh Charles Haughey and Bertie Ahern, readers will be shocked and amused by his insights into the inner workings of power. From a scoop into the resignation of Minister for Justice Seán Doherty, to a very personal account of Ireland’s Machiavellian political culture, The Final Count is a hard-hitting memoir. In the words of Michael Healy Rae TD, ‘Charlie Haughey had many secrets, and Dan Kiely knew every one of them’.
Emigrating to the United States at the tender age of seventeen, Dan Kiely was working in both Goldman Sachs and Gaelic Park within a year. Along with GAA legend John ‘Kerry’ O’Donnell, Dan was instrumental in organising the Cardinal Cushing games, which saw Kerry football legends Tom Long, Mick O’Dwyer and Mick O’Connell take to the field in New York and Boston. He soon became the youngest ever holder of a nightclub license in New York state, by leasing the lively ‘Red Mill’ in the Bronx, where showbands managed by Dan Kiely entertained the Irish immigrant community.
Acts like Joe Dolan, ‘Big Tom’ McBride and rock n’ roll legend Roy Orbison would later perform in ballrooms managed by Dan in Dublin, Youghal, Tralee and Ballybunion. The Final Count’s rare glimpse into how the Irish senator managed the stars is not to be missed.
As a senator, Dan Kiely would distinguish himself as a champion of Irish immigrants. The story of how he personally delivered 15,000 visa applications to a centre in Virginia will both delight and shock readers.
Dismissed as a ‘whippersnapper from Kerry’ by the press, this book presents Dan’s own version of his political life. Dan has co-written his memoir with publisher and former journalist Jeremy Murphy, and Jeremy’s business JM Agency, Publishing & Marketing Consultancy has undertaken the editing, design and promotion of Final Count. Unlike the memoirs of so many of his rivals, Dan Kiely’s ends in triumph, on the steps of the Irish Supreme Court.
The Final Count will be launched by Michael Healy Rae TD in the Mermaids Bar Listowel, on Friday the 17th, at 7pm. All are welcome in what promises to be an incredible night of music, chat and celebration. A premium, Irish-produced edition will be available thereafter in several local bookstores in Kerry, including Wolfe’s Books, Listowel, O’Mahony’s and Polymath in Tralee, Easons in Tralee, Listowel and Killarney, and more, while an international edition will be available widely online, on websites including Amazon, Watersons online, Barnes and Noble online and more.
