Owned by former Beamish & Crawford executives Paul Banks and Sarah Love, the business is understood to have suffered a downturn in revenue and a number of senior staff have resigned. PR director Neil O'Gorman quit to set up Bespoke Communications, taking with him key executives and the BT, Heineken and Unilever accounts.

Regarded as one of Ireland's top below the line shops, Banks Love won a host of awards for Diageo down the years. Launched in 1995, Banks Love later expanded with an office in Manchester and had plans to launch in London, but ended its UK operations last year. Clients included Kellogg's, Georgia Pacific, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline and Premier Foods.

Calls and emails from Publius to both Banks and Love went unrequited.

GAA HIRES WPP FOR NEW IMAGE
BRAND design agency Enterprise IG has been hired by the GAA after a contest. The agency will report with recommendations within six months. GAA marketing director Dermot Power said "a number of agencies" pitched for the project.

Enterprise IG's GAA win follows its appointment by Tourism Ireland. Former Campbell's executive John Rooney has been put in charge by WPP. Founder Jim Dunne is acting as a consultant and director Peter Kruseman has left to pursue other interests.

In adland, word on Horse Racing Ireland is not expected for a few weeks. Cawley Nea\TBWA, Chemistry, Rothco and Young Euro RSCG are thought to still be in the running.

FACEBOOK OFFERS TARGETED ADS
FACEBOOK is to launch a system allowing marketers to run ads based on the amounts of information people freely provide about themselves on the social network site.

The Wall Street Journal said Facebook aims to do what Google did with AdWords and allow anyone to place ads next to search results by buying keywords online. But advertisers will not be able to access personal details about users.

While there are limits to the transparent ads viewed through a Flash-based overlay, at least advertisers will be able to target that elusive young audience in its many demographic guises.

IRISH SHORT GETS CINEMA RELEASE
AS Carlton Screen Advertising reports a record 2.3m box office for the monsoon month of July, commercials producer Noreen Donohoe of Diva Media convinced Buena Vista to screen the two-minute short Teeth before David Mackenzie's drama, Hallam Foe, which opens at selected cinemas this coming Friday.

Teeth scooped the Tiernan McBride award for best Irish short at the Galway Film Fleadh.

"A short, last laugh tale" of two old friends, played by Niall Toibin and Niall O'Brien, it was co-directed by O'Brien's son, Ruairi and shot in Glendalough, Co Wicklow.

With the Bulmers International Comedy Festival at Dublin's Olympia in the coming weeks, anyone eager for non-stop gags can click on www. constantcomedy. com. Belfast man Phil Morrow devised the online stage for reviews and audience reaction.

DOOR STILL BOLTED ON MAC STABLE
NO word yet on a possible sale by Mac Communications of its magazine titles, according to director Paul Crosbie. PGL Carr Corporate Finance was hired to handle a review of MacComm's business. The portfolio includes Irish Medical News, Old Moore's Almanac, Fins Watersports and The Maps Media Marketing Directory.

TV ADS OFFER RECYCLED MESSAGE
WHEN it comes to dropping litter everywhere, we in Ireland could challenge for title honours in the Dirty Streets Premiership.

Publicis QMP has created two new TV ads for Dublin city council urging teenagers to clean up their act. Striking the DCC ads are too. But will the target audience feel disgusted? Probably not. But as the eunuch said to his lover, we shouldn't stop trying.

Michael Cullen is editor of Marketing magazine; cullen@marketing. ie Richard Delevan is on leave