I've tracked the godfather of Irish talent, Noel Kelly, to the Herbert Park Hotel on a rainy May afternoon. It's no easy feat getting an interview with the man Ryan Tubridy refers to as his "consiglieri". There's something about this elusive talent agent that makes it difficult to resist a Corleone reference or two. Perhaps it's because, as Tubridy jokingly puts it: "He has that look about him, he's like a little mafia man; he's got the pinstripe suits. I think dead fish would arrive to some people's houses." Or maybe it's the fact that Kelly's conversation is littered with references to "the family", meaning his clients, and "the importance of trust". Whatever the reason, and it's doubtful that there's actually a horse's head to thank, Kelly has established himself as the top talent agent in the country and now represents the majority of Irish prime-time celebrity. Dave Fanning, another of Kelly's clients, admits: "Even I look at the client list and go: 'Holy Shit!'"

Kelly crept onto the Irish entertainment scene just under 10 years ago, when he set up NK Management, an offshoot of his company CMS Marketing. And in recent years he has pulled Pacman-like moves on the industry, gobbling up the representation of almost all of Ireland's top talent. Graham Knuttel and Gerry Ryan were his first clients, and from there he added the artist Rasher to his books, before taking a risk seven years ago on an unknown called Ryan Tubridy -- "before he even had a radio show", Kelly is quick to point out. His portfolio of clients continued to grow over the years and now includes Grainne Seoige, Diarmuid Gavin, Dave Fanning, Craig Doyle, Derek Mooney, Pamela Flood, Lorraine Keane and even ex-politicians such as Liz O'Donnell, among many others. Kelly now sits at the head of an impressive talent table and, these days, he's very choosy about who he takes on.

"There are very few other people out there that we would want to know, and if we want them, we go after them."

Many of the people he now represents seem to belong to a kind of celebrity circle of trust, each having passed his name to another with a nod of recommendation. Diarmuid Gavin heard about Noel Kelly from Dave Fanning.

"I have an agent in Britain but was moving back to Ireland, and having been with such a brilliant agent, a total rottweiler, in England, who I'd been with forever, I was just dreading having to think about joining someone else, but Dave rang me about Noel and said: 'I really think you should talk to this man'," says Gavin, "so I did". And: "He kind of became my best friend."

Diarmuid Gavin passed Noel Kelly's name to Craig Doyle, who already had an agent in the UK, where his TV work is based, but was looking to get other types of projects off the ground in Ireland.

"I met Diarmuid Gavin in Heathrow one day and he said: 'You have to meet this guy Noel Kelly; he'll make your dreams come true'," says Doyle, laughing. "So I met him and that was that. He tells it like it is and he'll get you up off your arse, which is great."

Holly White, a newcomer to NK Management, was given Kelly's name by Ryan Tubridy, after appearing on his radio programme.

"A lot of the people I really admire are so hardworking and talented and they had someone who was equally, if not more hardworking, and talented, behind them."

So White made the call and had a breakfast meeting with Kelly before joining his celebrity gang.

"I want someone to guide me in my career and someone who understands negotiations," she explains. "It's very important to have that and Noel is very approachable and fun."

Over the years, Kelly has become known for his straight-talking style and tough-love approach when dealing with his clients: he refers to this method as "managing expectations". Like the Simon Cowells of the world, he believes in being cruel to be kind and in not offering false hope. However, unlike Cowell, Kelly is not fond of the spotlight or of being centre stage. He compares his outlook to a fellow agent, based in London.

"This great friend of mine, Fiona Ellis, from Independent Models in London, who has Lizzie Jagger, Erin O'Connor and Thandie Newton on her books, will tell you instantly whether you're cut out, or not, for her business," Kelly says, "but I don't think that's being tough, I think that it saves years of people wasting their time." Perhaps Kelly is known for being tough because his tactics are very direct and, as a result, very un-Irish.

Whatever his approach is, it does seem to inspire loyalty in the people he represent. The day we met, some of Kelly's VIP family of clients turned up to help him launch his latest venture, a media school called Media Now, and it's like a fire drill of Ireland's most recognisable faces, voices and first names as Grainne, Dave, Craig, Ryan and Derek catch up on the gossip while waiting to smile and pose in Kelly's latest PR blitz.

The school, which opens in September, will draft in Kelly's big guns to teach young media wannabes about how the industry really works. As Kelly explains in his unmistakably frank manner: "It's not a course run by people who have failed careers, and who have never been able to make it. You get an absolute, current and up-to-date insight into the media."

So, how did he persuade his clients to do some lecturing for him on the side?

"This is their business, this what they do and they have so much knowledge, like Gerry has 30 years of knowledge on the radio and he makes three hours sound so easy, but it's not easy, it's hard work."

Kelly wants the school to be a reality check and as straight talking as he is, but he also intends to use it as his own private pool of talent. It will be a place where he can spot stars of the future and watch talent coming through. And everybody, even Irish people, according to Kelly, wants to be a star nowadays. As he says: "Five or six years ago, if you went to a shopping centre with a microphone, and asked somebody to sing, nobody would do it, and now they are queuing up to do it."

However, don't expect Kelly to take you on if you're not willing to put in years of sweaty groundwork. He doesn't believe in overnight success and doesn't think there is a quick fix for stardom to be found in programmes such as American Idol.

"Yeah, you get notoriety out of these things, but it's all about sustainability, which is the hardest thing," he says.

His own work ethic is notoriously vigorous; he regularly puts in 14-hour days and doesn't go easy on himself.

"I think I'm my own worst critic, my own hardest critic and my own hardest taskmaster," he says. "I'm never satisfied. I'm never satisfied with the deals we do, I'm never satisfied with the hours I spend working on things. I always want it to be better and better."

He doesn't, however, consider himself to be a workaholic, although, he says, "my wife might, given I worked until 10 last night". And it would seem that he respects a hardworking mentality in others, as he constantly refers to the "hard workers" such as Diarmuid Gavin, Dave Fanning, Grainne Seoige, Gerry Ryan and Ryan Tubridy. And although he expects those around him to work hard, he says his demands are not unreasonable: "I don't expect anything off anybody else I wouldn't do myself, but that's quite hard because I expect a lot of myself."

So, how has Noel Kelly's sudden rise to dominance as an agent been received in the Irish entertainment industry? Well, if the off-the-record comments are to be believed, he hasn't exactly been met with enthusiasm at the national broadcaster. However, given that Kelly now represents the majority of RTE's most popular and bankable talent, it seems the RTE execs have simply had to accept the new negotiator and power player in their midst. Kelly himself is nonchalant when pressed about his relationship with the people at Montrose. "They have to deal with me and that's that," he says. Yet he is also eager to stress that he has no problem doing business or striking deals with anyone, least of all RTE.

"There are some fantastic people to deal with in RTE," he says. "Like every organisation, it has its good and its bad, but, generally, if everybody is being fair and reasonable then we get a deal that works."

Once Kelly gets onto the subject of his relationship with his well-known clients, he visibly softens and there is almost a paternal air about him, and there are more mentions of "the family".

According to Kelly: "It's a business where there are a lot of charlatans out there and you have to protect and mind the client."

However, he is adamant that there are limits to his sway in their lives.

"I look after their business affairs, not personal affairs, and, you know, of course you become friends with people, but I'm not a counsellor and my job is to find the stuff that is out there that would suit them and that is good for them."

Kelly makes many references to trust -- perhaps it's the paranoia that comes from handling and dealing with celebrities that makes trust so crucial.

"Trust is so important. Whether it's with your partner or children or clients, it's the most important thing."

If he demands trust, he also seems to earn it. Kelly refers to Ryan Tubridy as a "super, super guy". In turn, from Tubridy: "I trust about three people and they will hear everything because I know I will never hear it again. Never. I much prefer to hang out with sponges rather than sieves and Noel is a sponge-in-chief."

There is an undeniably American tone to Kelly's manner of conducting business. He's not as big a ballbreaker as Ari Gold, the infamous talent agent from the TV show Entourage, but he's definitely got the Hollywood hunger for success and always wants more. He describes his aim as, "to be the best there is in the business", and demands that not only of himself, but of his clients as well, and his standards are high. And, according to Grainne Seoige you can trust his brutal honesty: "There's no bullshit. What he says is what he means. It's almost like your mother's criticism, she always tells you exactly what she thinks and Noel is kind of like that as well."

Not everybody, it would seem, is able to take the hardline approach Kelly adopts and, as in any family, there have been fallings-out with clients over the years. And Kelly makes it clear that he doesn't stand for anything that threatens the stability of his family. He quickly cuts loose any errant client who rocks the boat.

"If there is childish behaviour that is causing problems with the rest of the family, then you have to stop it," he says. "We have dropped a number of people."

He doesn't elaborate on what behaviour exactly would warrant a swift cull, although he abhors lazy arrogance and he finds it to be a trait rarely backed up by talent.

"I like confidence, but prove it when you get the job: show me you are a better performer or a better artist -- just prove it."

So what about money? Can Noel Kelly bag the big paychecks for his clients? Is this why people clamour to be represented by him? He bristles when pressed on the money issue and won't spill the beans on any big bucks he has secured.

"I don't want to talk about big bucks. I think it's too tabloid," he asserts. "I manage careers, it's not life and death but if you put yourself out there, you lose part of yourself and you lose your private life, but that's part of what you are paid for," he says. Then he goes a little revenue.ie on me, explaining that artists are notorious for not having pensions and so on. So, he steps in to negotiate the pay rises, suggest sponsorship deals and advise on career moves that would suit them: no other monetary details are up for discussion. It's impossible not to ask, though, given the fact that the type of pay rise Kelly's high-profile clients expect would constitute the annual wage of most people. And while Kelly is quite reticent on the subject, one of his most bankable clients, Ryan Tubridy, is admirably upfront about his own earning power.

"If I'm producing big enough viewership and RTE thinks I'm worth it, then that's where Noel comes in to say this is how much he is worth," he says. He goes on to explain further: "So, if I'm mediocre incarnate, Noel would be on a fool's errand. It's up to me and then, if he can translate that into fiscal value, everybody's happy."

And judging by his full stable of stars, Kelly seems to be making his people happy, and is pretty damn happy in his life himself.

"I have a fantastic life. I love what I'm doing. It's what I know, it's what I enjoy," he says. Outside work, he's a family man with three young daughters, and says he spends his weekends doing normal, dad stuff, taking the kids swimming and dropping them to their various classes. He claims that he doesn't live a glamorous life, an assertion undermined when he gives in to a little name-dropping. He mentions a party he attended with Graham Knuttel in Hollywood where he mixed with Mark Wahlberg and Sylvester Stallone -- "such nice people". Or when he throws in a mention of socialising with Yasmin Le Bon, or hanging out with Ali Hewson -- "one of the most grounded people I know: phenomenal person".

"But then, I've found the more successful the person, the nicer they are," he says. And Kelly must believe it, because he claims he wouldn't mind if any of his children went into showbiz: "I think you have to bring talent as far as you can, and if you don't want to follow it, then that's fine. But all I want them to be is happy and loved."

So there he is, Noel Kelly, the first superagent to hit Irish shores. He has taken out the competition with his sharp deals, seduced the power-pack of Irish celebs, made them his friends, become their confidant, and earned their loyalty. And along the way, you suspect he and they have made some serious hard cash. And as Kelly, the newest don of Irish talent, sits in the leather chair, surrounded by his clan of homegrown stars, he can't keep a straight face for the camera. And you can understand why he's laughing: in his position, you would be too.

For more information on Media Now, see www.medianow.ie

Grainne Seoige's dress by Irene Van Rib, Melie B, 3 Roches St, Limerick, tel: (061) 204009

Photography by Sarah Doyle

Assisted by Lydia Brow

Hair by Andrew Fitzsimons

Make-up by Lisa O'Connor, www.thebeautysource.ie

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