KILCOCK, Ireland—Somehow the name of this city in County Kildare, Ireland seems oddly appropriate, given that The Irish Sun, one of several The Sun tabloid newspapers published in the UK, has decided to bash a "mortgage arrears" (aka "repossession") manager of the Allied Irish Bank (AIB) in Dublin who hails from that town by calling attention to his role in a couple of XXX movies starring famous British porn star Tanya Tate.
"Stephen Byrne romped with smut queen Tanya Tate for multiple mucky movies," wrote Irish Sun columnist Gary Meneely, adding with tongue firmly planted in cheek, "In sex videos freely available online, Stephen shows he is big on withdrawals, lodgements and deposits by working in a-rears with blonde nympho Tate."
According to Meneely, "The Dublin banker first starred in adult actress Tanya’s infamous Sex Tour Of Ireland series which included a headline-making appearance by hurler Greg Jacob. And pumped-up Stephen proved he loves all kinds of instalments [sic] as he flew to London to make more filthy flicks with busty Tanya."
Yet somehow, the problem isn't that Byrne once made XXX movies, but apparently that AIB accepted €21 billion (about US$24 billion) in bailout funds seven years ago "in an attempt to pull the economy back from the brink of collapse." It's unclear what that has to do with Byrne's former career, but then again, this is the infamous The Sun newspaper family, well known for its willingness to wallow in the mud, we're talking about.
Meneely also claimed to have spoken with Tate yesterday about the story, but the conversation never happened. On the other hand, when AVN asked the blonde star for comment, she informed us, "I'm taken aback about how a movie I made seven years ago is still a hot topic in Ireland. Aside from this publication, Ireland's Sunday World did a two-page spread on Tanya Tate's Sex Tour last month. In that magazine, they heavily implied that I would be coming back for another go 'round—which, due to my pregnancy and other factors, is not even a consideration at the moment.