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Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'I took my toddler to unique UK 5 star hotel - this is what it was really like'
I'm sure most people would wince at the thought of taking their toddler to a five-star hotel. The image of trying to manage an unwieldy child in the hushed corridors of a plush hotel would put most parents off. However, I recently took my 15-month-old to the gorgeous Grand Hotel in Eastbourne and it was the rest we all needed as a family. We decamped for the weekend to the iconic Grand Hotel Eastbourne which is known as the 'White Palace' of the South Coast and has been serving up luxury since 1875. The hotel has welcomed many famous faces over the years, including French composer Claude Debussy and Charlie Chaplin, and it is one of a very small handful of five star hotels at the British seaside There's hints of that old world glamour throughout with pictures of the hotel orchestra and illustrated images of the stylish Victorian set enjoying afternoon tea. While the hotel is very much 'grand' with tall ceilings, luxurious furnishings and stunning sea views, it wasn't stuffy like some establishments can be. Our sea view suite was large and comfortable with plush furnishings and a gorgeous terrace overlooking the coastline. The hotel facilities were equally luxurious with both and indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Situated at the front of the hotel with its beaming white Victorian architecture, the outdoor pool is truly one of its unique selling points. Heated to a balmy 29C, the outdoor pool is ideal for children and parents alike and my daughter loved splashing around in the sun. The indoor pool is heated to a similarly bath-like temperature and the leisure centre also boasts a steam room, a spa bath and gym for when parents want to take a break. For those hoping for some chill time, the spa has eight treatment rooms and offers a range of treatments and massages. Feeding toddlers can often be a bit of a nightmare and I was a tad concerned about causing a ruckus in a fancy dining room, but I needn't have worried as the staff couldn't have been more helpful. Without even asking, a waitress appeared with plastic bowls and spoons for our little one at breakfast and another server brought her some warm milk at dinner. And no one batted an eye when a substantial amount of Weetabix / mashed potato ended up on the floor. It's so easy to worry about disturbing other diners but most people were delighted to say hello to my toddler as she pottered about waving at everyone and hiding behind the heavy drapes. While being a very grand hotel - please pardon the pun - the atmosphere was really inclusive and we really felt like we got a break. As many parents will know, not having to cook and clean for a few days is bliss and we didn't feel confined to our room whatsoever, enjoying the leisure centre, plush common areas and the Lounge Terrace. We could tag team going to the leisure centre, enjoyed leisurely breakfasts in the stunning Garden Room restaurant and took afternoon naps in our sea view suite. Not only was the hotel wonderful, but it's just metres away from the seafront with stunning views of the English Channel, making it the perfect location for exploring the beach, Beachy Head and the town of Eastbourne. We walked the promenade, which was really accessible for a buggy and also a safe distance from the road if our daughter wanted to walk. We also spent a sunny afternoon pottering up and down the beach and enjoying some music as we sat outside a pub on the pier. My takeaway? Don't be afraid to take your children to a hotel if it's something you're considering. I've often thought it might not be the most practical but the staff were so attentive, we didn't feel like we were in the way and there was lots to do. And what's even better is that we got a bit of a break as well. You can get a breaking travel stories along with some of the most interesting, important and fun travel stories sent to your phone every day by subscribing to the Mirror Travel WhatsApp. It's completely free and takes minutes to do. The Grand Hotel Eastbourne is celebrating 150 years with a special Afternoon Tea – from £36 per person. Honouring The Grand's rich 150-year history, a limited-edition afternoon tea pays fitting tribute to timeless luxury. In addition to delicate sandwiches, and scones served with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry preserve, an exquisite pastry menu - delicacies offering a journey through time – includes an 'Opera Gȃteau' to die for. Book here or via 01323 412345. Stay overnight at The Grand Hotel from £220 per room per night (two sharing), including breakfast.
Sunday World
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sunday World
Priest who admitted role in IRA bombings and arms dealing dies in Dublin aged 95
Fr Patrick Ryan admitted his role in arming the IRA for a series of bombings on mainland Britain, including the attack on the Grand Hotel in Brighton A Catholic priest who admitted his role in arming the IRA for a series of bombings on mainland Britain, including the attack on the Grand Hotel in Brighton in 1984 targeting Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, has died. Fr Patrick Ryan had been accused of involvement in Provisional IRA activity in 1988 and had been the subject of two unsuccessful extradition attempts at a time when Mrs Thatcher called him 'a very dangerous man'. Fr Ryan, who was a native of Rossmore, Co Tipperary, died in Dublin on Sunday at the age of 95 following a short illness. He had been ordained as a priest in 1954 at the Pallottine College in Thurles and later served in Tanzania and London. In January 1990, he was dismissed from the Pallottine Fathers. He no longer had permission to say Mass or administer the sacraments. Becoming known as 'The Padre', he spent decades denying accusations, claiming he had raised money both inside and outside Europe for victims on the nationalist side in the Troubles but had 'never bought explosives for the IRA or anybody else' and had never been requested by the paramilitary group to do so. But the priest had allegedly become the main contact for many years between the IRA and one of its main sources of weaponry and finance — Muammar Gaddafi's Libyan regime. His meetings with Gaddafi were documented in journalist Jennifer O'Leary's book The Padre: The True Story of the Irish Priest Who Armed the IRA with Gaddafi's Money. Ryan was also the first priest to contest an election in Ireland, when he ran in the 1989 European Parliament election in the Munster constituency as an Independent with Sinn Fein support. He failed to be elected but received more than 30,000 votes. But it was his alleged role in supplying arms for the IRA that brought him under most scrutiny and caused a political storm between the UK, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland. He had been arrested in Belgium in 1988. Following the killing of three off-duty British servicemen in the Netherlands, a tip-off led Belgian police to an IRA sympathiser's home and to Ryan's arrest. He was believed to be the quartermaster of an active IRA unit in Belgium, a crucial logistical figure. Bomb-making equipment, manuals and a large sum of foreign currency were seized. Repatriated to Ireland, after going on hunger strike as the UK sought to bring him to trial, the country then refused to extradite him to the UK believing he would not receive a fair trial. Patrick Ryan being interviewed on Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History in 2019 (BBC) News in 90 seconds - 16th June 2025 Mrs Thatcher once described the cleric as having an 'expert knowledge of bombing' and, in 2019, in an interview for BBC's Spotlight on The Troubles: A Secret History, he was asked if he was involved in any of the incidents of which Mrs Thatcher had accused him, to which he responded: 'I would say most of them. One way or another, yes, I had a hand in most of them. Yes, she was right.' Asked if the PM was right to connect him to events such as the Brighton bomb, he replied: 'One hundred per cent.' Five people died when, on October 12, 1984, an IRA bomb exploded inside the Grand Hotel, where Margaret Thatcher's ruling Conservative Party was holding its annual conference. As the programme explored his key role in IRA arms shipments from Libya, he went on to take credit for introducing the organisation to a type of timer unit it used to set off bombs which he had discovered while in Switzerland. Asked if he had any regrets, Mr Ryan said: 'I regret that I wasn't even more effective, absolutely. I would have liked to have been much more effective, but we didn't do too badly.'
The Wire
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Wire
M.C. Davar's Behind-the-Scenes Role in Trying to Stop Partition
Excerpted with permission from He Almost Prevented Partition: The Life and Times of M.C. Davar (Speaking Tiger). Why the Shimla Conference failed is recorded by [then Viceroy Lord] Wavell: 'He (Jinnah ) refused even to discuss names unless he could be given the absolute right to select all Muslims and some guarantee that any decisions which the Muslims opposed in Council could only be passed by a two-thirds majority – in fact a communal veto. I said these conditions were entirely unacceptable.' Praveen Davar He Almost Prevented Partition: The Life and Times of M.C. Davar Speaking Tiger, 2025 Dr [M.C.] Davar, who was so passionately devoted to the prevention of Partition, made sure that he was present in Shimla for the entire duration of the Conference which lasted for almost 15 days in June-July 1945. While he was there, staying at the house of Sanjiva Roy, Chairman of the Federal Public Service Commission, one day at 11 PM, he got a telephone call from Mrs Rajen Nehru asking him to reach the Grand Hotel. When Dr Davar reached within less than twenty minutes, he found her hotel room packed: it was full of a dozen frontline leaders of the Muslim League – all members of the League Working Committee. They included Khaliq-ur-Rahman, Mohd. Ismail and Abdul Majid Sindhi. Rajen Nehru wanted Davar to convey to Pt Nehru that these Muslim League members were prepared to resign from the working committee of their party if Jinnah remains adamant on his condition of having only Muslims from the League. On being asked by Davar why she couldn't speak to Jawaharlal herself being a close relative, Rajen replied that 'your work in this field is well known and you will be able to convince Panditji.' So under tremendous pressure from Rajen Nehru, Davar after speaking to the League leaders left for Armsdale, where Nehru was staying. When he reached there at almost twenty minutes past midnight, he found Dharam Yash Dev, a local personal assistant of Nehru's, waiting for Panditji to return from dinner at Mashobra from where he was, as per his habit, walking back. It was thirty minutes past midnight when Panditji reached, he asked Dharam the purpose of being awake so late. Dharam replied pointing towards Davar that 'Doctor Sahib's business seems to be more important.' Panditji then said: 'Davar, come in' while entering the house. But he could not find the switch to put on the light. Then Dharam Yash Dev came to his rescue and found the switch at the bottom of a wall while Nehru and Davar were trying to locate the switch on the middle of the wall. Davar narrates: 'Now Panditji said, 'sit down Davar.' We sat down on the sofa, and he asked what brought me here to which I replied 12 League members are at Grand Hotel and want to meet you… 'What for do they want to meet me? ' asked Panditji. I said: 'Jinnah is pressing for 5 seats as Liaqat Ali got in writing from Bhulabhai Desai that League will get 5, Congress 5 and others 3. Now Maulana Azad is demanding one seat for Nationalist Muslims as also the Unionist Party of Khizar Hayat Khan. So Jinnah is adamant…he wants all five Muslim seats…that is why this Conference seems to fail and that is why they want to meet you.' Then Panditji asked why should they not meet Maulana? (Davar narrated to Panditji details of his meeting with Azad five years ago at Kolkata wherein Maulana after great persuasion had agreed to bless his efforts for Congress-League unity but now seemed to be backing out.) But Panditji, though partially convinced, kept insisting that they must Maulana and that 'I will not interfere in Maulana's work.' (Despite Davar telling Nehru that Muslims of India had more faith in him than any leader, and these 12 League leaders were ready to ditch Jinnah provided he 'holds their hand ', Nehru refused to listen). [Davar says,] 'When I told him that I was the original author of the Liaqat-Desai formula, which actually is Davar -Sultan formula, Panditji remarked: 'Oh, then you are the person who has put us in trouble.' After I left I rang up Dharam Yash as I had left my umbrella there. Dharam told me Panditji had guessed it was your umbrella which is lying safely, but your discussion with him created a deep impression on him, and he kept asking me about you, though he appeared to know about your homoeopathic and revolutionary background.' Deeply disappointed, Davar left Simla in the morning, but before doing so dropped a line at Wavell's house telling the Viceroy about his meeting with Pt Nehru who did not agree to his suggestion of meeting the Muslim League members. He therefore concluded that the Simla Conference would fail. That it failed was not only due to Jinnah's intransigence, equally it was because of Wavell's lack of firmness. HV Hodson, who was the Reforms Commissioner in 1941-42, wrote in his memoirs, The Great Divide : 'Lord Wavell had in effect capitulated to Jinnah… Mr Jinnah's control of the Muslim League was at that time far from complete. The Unionist Party was still strong, and Mr Liaqat Ali Khan favoured a settlement. There were still many uncommitted Muslims in the country. It is arguable that if the Viceroy had been as adamant as Mr Jinnah, the latter would have been obliged to give in; that the destruction of the Unionist Party, which paved the way for partition of Punjab,would have averted.' But probably Wavell also could not forget so soon that it was the Congress which had challenged the Empire with the Quit India Movement during the period when he, as the Commander-in-Chief himself, had to bear the brunt, and hence he let Jinnah sabotage the Conference which would also please Churchill who was, naturally, in sympathy towards the 'enemy's enemy'. But within two weeks, Churchill's Conservative Party lost elections, displaying the maturity of the British electorate that victory in war was no passport to better governance in peace times. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Progressive advocates highlight opposition to annual Mackinac Island conference
Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Twp., Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Twp., and House Minority Leader Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton, participate in a PAC reception during the third day of the Mackinac Policy Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich., on May 29, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance) The Detroit Regional Chamber's annual Mackinac Policy Conference is a controversial fixture of Michigan politics. Each year politicians, lobbyists, business representatives and community leaders gather at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island for three days of handshaking, networking and panel discussions aimed at issues like education, housing, economic development and foreign policy. Recent conferences have featured appearances from members of the state's congressional delegation and remarks from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, alongside various politicians, politicos and business leaders such as former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and businessman Mark Cuban. However, the conference has drawn criticism from Detroiters who say the chamber's agenda doesn't match their needs, while activist groups have raised concerns about the influence of corporate money in politics. While media and certain government officials receive complimentary registration, attending the conference carries a multi-thousand dollar price tag, with registration for the 2025 conference coming in at $3,700 for general members of the Detroit Regional Chamber and $4,900 for future members. The conference also carries several big name sponsors including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Rocket Companies and the state's largest energy providers, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy. Sam Inglot, director of the progressive advocacy group Progress Michigan called the conference 'a petri dish of some of the worst aspects of our political system.' 'Corporate money flooding our politics, exclusive access for only those with money and a lot of self-congratulatory bullcrap from political and lobbying insiders. What do Michiganders actually get out of this performance?' Inglot said in a statement. As part of its monthly Lake Effect Poll, conducted by the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling, Progress Michigan asked 622 Michigan voters between May 30 and May 31, 2025 about their thoughts on the conference. One question states 'these lawmaker trips to Mackinac Island are often funded by corporate lobbyists, who join lawmakers on the island as they make public policy decisions,' before asking voters whether they supported lawmakers traveling to places like Mackinac Island to make policy decisions that impact communities across the state. In response, most voters opposed having their officials travel to the conference, with 44% in strong opposition and 27% saying they somewhat opposed the notion. While Republicans and Democrats offered similar levels of opposition to lawmakers making the trip to Mackinac to talk policy, independents offered the strongest opposition of any subpopulation, with 47% in strong opposition and 27% saying they were somewhat opposed. Another question states 'Every year Michigan lawmakers travel to Mackinac Island, a place accessible only by ferry or private plane, to gather and make important public policy decisions,' before asking voters whether they support officials traveling to the island to make policy decisions. Responses to this question were increasingly split, with 45% of voters offering their opposition – with 25% strongly opposed – compared to 38% in support. The remaining 17% responded they weren't sure of their opinion. While Democrats were more supportive of lawmakers traveling to the island to make policy decisions with 46% offering support, Republicans and independents were more opposed to officials going on policymaking trips. Fifty-one percent of Republicans offered some form of opposition, while 50% of Independent voters were opposed, compared to the 35% of independents in support. 'The more people learn about the Mackinac Policy Conference and the corporate lobbyists who are the engine of it, the less they support it,' Inglot said. 'This is a trend we are seeing across the state, people are fed up with the corporate dominance of our politics. They want to see the money and the corrupting influence it brings out of our political system.' Catia Sabak, the chamber's director of communications said the Detroit Regional Chamber is proud to have led the conference for almost 50 years. 'Other states have tried, and failed, to recreate this special convening of the state's top leadership. It is truly unique in the nation,' Sabak said. 'Despite that the Conference is hosted by a private business organization and hosted on private property, the Chamber's current leadership has made most of the thought leadership shared on the Island available free of charge via a partnership with Detroit PBS and includes over 130 working media from local, state and national outlets, including CNN.' In an emailed statement, Kim Murphy-Kovalick, the senior director of policy for Voters Not Politicians, said Progress Michigan's polling underscores a key point: voters are fed up with the corrupting influence of money in politics. While the conference is great for getting access to lawmakers and political leaders, the people who can afford to make that trip are mostly lobbyists, special interests groups and industry insiders, not voters, Murphy-Kovalick said. Michigan politicians should instead place their focus on representing the voters who are excluded from attending the conference, Murphy-Kovalick said. 'Most everyday people have no insight into how Lansing functions, and this conference is one reason for that. If politicians can't afford to attend on their own dime, how can everyday Michiganders hope to compete with wealthy special interests and corporations for their attention?' she said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Digital Trends
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
The Xbox Showcase's most surprising reveal is a spooky British home renovation musical
Developer Friday Sundae revealed an eye-catching new game, There Are No Ghosts At the Grand, during the 2025 Xbox Games Showcase. The project, set to launch in 2026 on Xbox and PC, is one part part home renovation game, one part British ghost story, and one part musical. The debut trailer was one of many during a packed Xbox Games Showcase, but it stands out among the pack. The breakneck clip features talking cats, a full on musical sequence, magical power tools, and much more. If it all left you a little confused, Digital Trends learned more about how exactly the eclectic genre mash-up works. Recommended Videos There Are No Ghosts At the Grand is a narrative-driven adventure game follows Chris David, a man who inherits a dilapidated seaside hotel from his late father. His goal is to renovate the hotel in 30 days and nights using seven somewhat magical power tools. The trailer gives a glimpse if tools like sand blasters and furniture canons. Players can blast wallpaper away, vacuum up trash, redecorate, and more in first-person. It may look a bit like House Flipper or PowerWash Simulator at first glance, but that's not exactly the full picture. The project isn't a life simulator, but rather a supernatural mystery game with some choice-driven gameplay. Cleaning the hotel, and the town around it, during the day will reveal details about what exactly happened at The Grand. Friday Sundae notes that there are several layers of deception at play during the 10 hour story, as even the game's hero is described as an unreliable narrator. Players will also be able to explore a small open-world in that time, where they can ride around the sea on a boat, search for buried treasure with a metal detector, or ride around on a scooter in search of side activities like mini-golf. There are seven main areas to restore in the hotel and each one has an NPC tied to it who's a bit of a caretaker (and also a talking cat named Mr. Bones the Bastard). That's where the game's musical component comes in, as each one belts out original songs by Friday Sundae. The team describes it less like a traditional musical and more as a collection of British punk and ska records. The gameplay completely changes once again when nightfall hits. Everything transforms into a horror game at that point, where players need to outrun ghosts as the hotel shifts. The power tools turn into weapons at that point, which can suck up or otherwise destroy specters. So, to recap: house renovation mystery musical with open-world elements by day, Luigi's Mansion-esque horror game by night, all of which has to be completed within 30 days and 30 nights. Got that? There Are No Ghosts At the Grand launches for Xbox and PC in 2026.
