Back in the late 2000's and early 2010's Bill Cullen use to be on the TV all the time but now you never see him on TV anymore.
It's like hes been "cancelled".
Working for free has the following effects, in descending order
Makes business owners richer, distorting economy and equality
Deprives someone else of paid employment
Makes the free workers CV more attractive
Bill wasn't a big fan of the youngsters heading off to the States and other places for summers after school ,thought they should have stayed at home and work of course .
You can say wanker, you know...
He seemed to be far too full of his own importance and far too in love with his own "legend".
I remember he took out an ad in the newspapers at some stage when he was sponsoring the FAI and part of it was about how he'd been stopped playing soccer by the Christian brothers and all I could think was who gives a **** Bill you weren't the only person who had to deal with those ****, you're not some hero for that.
Loads of people in Ireland who ended up successful in business came from poor backgrounds, difference is they didn't yammer on about it constantly.
He obviously had a good PR man behind him because you’d hear the same old shíte he was saying being said by blowhards everywhere back then. He just got the coverage.
Great to hear that they sorted out their differences anyway. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/jackie-lavin-settles-her-action-against-bill-cullen-1.3270025 The Apprentice was hilarious, cringing at Bill's catchy wisdom and Jackie's permanently surprised brows, and of course at the very keen wannabees hooring themselves out for the chance of a rub of Uncle Bill's relic. It would be great if they replayed it again, we all need a laugh.
I think some of it may be on YouTube
What did he accomplish exactly apart from being the Renault distributor in Ireland?
Can't think of any other distributors with that kind of profile
The Irish Apprentice was a cringefest all right.
I remember the episode where the candidates had to pitch something to Harvey Norman. And one of them referred to 'Harvey' in their speil. They got given out to by the Harvey Norman 'exec' for shortening their name from Harvey Norman to Harvey. At the same time Harvey Norman were running adds on the radio with the catchline 'Go, Harvey Go'.
Bill was taken down to a lever where he became a humble car salesman on the forecourt of Meridian Motors in Carlow
This article from 2013
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/cullen-fits-the-bill-for-meridian-motors/29108925.html
Meridian did indeed later opem a second dealership - but went bust in 2022 with debts to revenue of €10m
https://businessplus.ie/motoring/car-dealer-revenue/
Saw Trump's movie "The Apprentice" a couple of weeks ago, Trump is taking vitamins constantly and only has 4 hours sleep a night, his doctor is doing a full check-up on him and tells him the "vitamins" are actually amphetamines.
He is told to stop taking them immediately, Trump refuses as claims they are the secret to his success, the rest you know.
Timing was around construction of Trump Tower, his weight reduction and bald patch surgery, the amps also led to EDS, the movie catures him very well.
Debts of €10 million to Revenue suggests a very poorly run business with very lax accounting
His Ssangyong / Fiat van dealership was after this, so he did return to having his own dealership; but that ended in ~2017
exactly, because it’s actually costing you money to work for “free”
Travel to work expenses, lunch expenses etc.
Wasn’t it a tiling and grouting job on the ISS? Think he met old bang bang up there too.
There was a really weird thing around 2005 where Cullen got in to a bit of a weird fued with the guy who owned The Psychic Hotline, I think. Both used every oppertunity that they and not the other would be the first Irish man in space and that Richard Branson had promised them they would be on the first flight into space.
And that it would happen at the latest in 2013… I think they paid upfront.
I loved Bill's catchphrase "I need to hit the ground running".
He repeated that catchphrase so much it became a parody.
It was gas watching The Apprentice. He just wanted a sales person. Didn't matter how well the person did on the show. If they were not a sales rep they were not getting hired. It was pretty easy to figure out who was going to win the show by just looking at the candiates CVs.
yes it was very sales driven and in an arsehole shallow way- not someone especially technically competent to sell a product. It was who was performative. I can’t imagine any of them stayed too long or couldn’t anyway and the business itself seemed to fold soon after. I remember another time he was on tv (possibly the Late late Show) boosting about some award he gotten from either the French president or ambassador for services to French industry (basically sold enough Renault cars)
Hard to compete in telling the future with the guy from the Psychic Hotline.
I remember him keeping on a dope who constantly messed up in tasks just because he was a salesman. Made it to the final, possibly even won
The Government had the job bridge scheme… You do 6 months working in a company to get experience with the hope of a job afterwards… We had it here, plenty of people came on the scheme but didn't get a job here afterwards.
and as soon as they left on Friday, a new Gull appeared Monday morning for another six months!
I wonder about yer man Brian Purcell who was one of the team observers on The Apprentice with Jackie. I found him rather dour and condescending towards many of the contestants.
Wasn't he the HR guy in Cullen's business iirc?
he is bills wife Jackie nephew last I heard he was involved in greyhound and had a pub in ballyduff north kerry village I think it shut down a while back ruff village I wouldn't blame him for closing I was there one night at a 21st I never see flakes like it both boys and girls
It happens a lot someone is everywhere then gone. Like John Delaney never hear about him anymore.
John Delaney is far from finished with the Irish Courts, FAI have no money so are dependent on Govt bodies to bring him to heel with possible criminal charges in the offing.
Highly likely that FAI would rather this all disappear as they have asked the Govt for 865m over the next 10 years, the very lads who got screwed by Delaney want it buried, so off they go again, nothing surer.
He had a tough time of it, heard he was back to penny apples
6 months later and still nothing on Delaney, looks like he has fcked them all off.
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