Our psychic celebrates ten years with Old Moore’s this year. To mark the occasion we’re taking a look back at some of his stand-out predictions from the last decade.
The lot of a psychic isn’t easy. We all want to know the future, but mostly just as it relates to us. Some of us complain because nobody predicted yesterday’s torrential rain. Others gripe about psychics being prophets of doom. No wonder our guy wants to remain anonymous. Spare a thought for him, slaving away at Old Moore’s HQ – these predictions don’t write themselves y’know. Here’s a few of his best from the last ten years.
2010
In a bizarre prediction, our psychic said that ‘a well-known celebrity is kidnapped and it makes BIG news. It all seems rather fantastical and traumatic until the truth comes out. And we all love a good PR stunt’. In June 2010, American actor Jeremy London was kidnapped and forced to take drugs (yes, really). The story seemed so strange that some media sources speculated it was untrue, although the actor’s account was later vindicated when the suspect admitted his guilt in court. Weird.
Among his predictions for Ireland in 2010, our psychic advised that ‘the housing market has yet to hit the bottom of a deep, deep well. If you’re selling and you get an offer, take it, even if it’s just a few euro away from the price of a bag of potatoes. Nobody will be buying houses again with sincerity until 2013′. And he was spot on – as you can see in the chart below from the Central Statistics Office, prices did start to recover in 2013.
But there are some things even our psychic can’t foresee. In 2010, he also made this prediction: ‘George Bush is officially named as the worst president ever in the history of the modern world, with a ceremony and all!‘ Who knew then that there would be such strong competition for that crown.
2011
Our psychic said ‘Elizabeth Taylor will pass over, and one other much-loved celeb will also join her on the other side’. In March, Taylor died of heart failure at the age of 79. Tragically, Amy Winehouse followed Taylor four months later.
Amazingly, our guy was just a few days out when he predicted that ‘Dublin city centre will experience flooding this November’. On 24th October, a month’s rain fell over the capital in just a few hours, causing several rivers to burst their banks and flood many parts of the city and county.
And our psychic made another eerily close call when he said ‘Brian Lenihan makes the news in May for reasons other than politics’. Sadly, the Fianna Fáil minister died in June at the age of 52.
2012
Our psychic said ‘a cruise ship will be damaged at sea’ in 2012. The Costa Concordia cruise liner ran aground and overturned after striking an underwater rock off the coast of Italy. The captain absconded, leaving many passengers stranded on the sinking ship. Fortunately most were rescued, although 33 people died.
When our psychic claimed in 2012 that ‘Sony Ericsson has been beaten out of the smartphone market and the death knells have been switched on’, the company was the world’s fourth largest smartphone manufacturer. Three years later they slipped below the top 10, and everyone wanted a Samsung Galaxy. So long, Sony.
Our psychic also foresaw the end of a famous Hollywood couple in 2012. ‘Tom Cruise and Katy Holmes will split and it will be Katy who instigates the separation’. In June, Holmes got a severe case of seven-year itch and filed for divorce.
2013
Our psychic warned us that ‘a massive oil spill will take place in a sensitive area. This will be followed by another oil spill’. In July, an unattended train carrying millions of litres of crude oil derailed at the Canadian town of Lac Mégantic. The train erupted in flames and forty seven people lost their lives. Large parts of the town centre were destroyed and millions of litres of oil seeped into the nearby Chaudiere river.
Two months later another huge oil spill occurred. Described as one of the biggest onshore spills in US history, the North Dakota pipeline spill covered an area the size of seventy football pitches and took five years to clean up.
In 2013, our guy also predicted that ‘a famous Irish celebrity will pass over’. The unexpected death of Ireland’s beloved poet, Seamus Heaney, made international news in August. His obituary on the front page of the New York Times carried the headline “He Wove Irish Strife and Soil Into Silken Verse.” RIP Seamus.
Sometimes we have to wait a while for news that one of our psychic’s predictions has been realised. The 2013 Almanac included a prediction that ‘Lady Gaga will be diagnosed with a serious illness’ but details didn’t emerge until 2017 when the superstar spoke about living with fibromyalgia in a Netflix documentary.
2014
Our psychic often makes quite strange predictions. In 2014, he foresaw ‘a one-man attack on the White House’ which bizarrely came to pass. In September, a man (armed with a knife) scaled the presidential fence and made it through the doors of the building before Secret Service staff could stop him. Apparently, the man was worried that the atmosphere was collapsing and he needed to tell the President. Or perhaps, he was channeling his inner Chicken Little.
Our psychic also warned this year of a ‘huge earthquake in the USA, possibly California.’ In August, California was hit by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake. Damage was estimated to be somewhere north of $300m. Some two hundred people were treated for injuries and there was one fatality.
One of our favourite 2014 predictions forecast that ‘Michael O’Leary has some sort of epiphany and decides to make Ryanair a much more palatable experience for customers’. It seems that everyone’s favourite CEO was kidnapped by aliens around 2014 – the clone they left in his stead spent the year apologising for his grumpy past and promising to do better. Normal service has now resumed, it was just a temporary blip apparently.
We were also warned to expect ‘a big red sand storm for the Middle East’ in 2014. A powerful sandstorm hit Tehran in June, killing four people and causing damage to property.
2015
When our psychic warned ‘Brangelina marriage in jeopardy’, the couple seemed happily married. Just one year later, Jolie filed for divorce and women everywhere rejoiced that Brad Pitt was single again.
Brad & Angelina in happier times
In other celebrity predictions this year, our psychic said that ‘Kanye West’s mental health will decline. He will be ill for several years’. While Kanye seemed well enough in 2015, he received hospital treatment in 2016 for a mental health disorder and later spoke publicly about his own struggle and the stigma surrounding mental health.
2016
Our psychic began his predictions for the year with this: ‘unfortunately, 2016 will be tumultuous; it’s not a year that will be remembered fondly’. This was the year Brexit was born, Trump won the election and we lost David Bowie, Muhammad Ali and Prince, so it’s fair to say it won’t be remembered fondly.
Also according to our psychic, in 2016 ‘many people who act like they are upstanding will be busted avoiding taxes, hiding money and being involved in corruption. It’s the fun kind of scandal where people get their comeuppance’. The Panama Papers scandal broke when it emerged that lots of celebrities and politicians had been up to all sorts of shenanigans to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. Of course, we knew it all along, but it was still nice to see them squirm for five minutes.
Other predictions made in 2016 included the rise of the Bitcoin, the death of Fidel Castro, and the growth of ‘anti-establishment populist movements [which]will shake up the political order’.
2017
Our guy nailed two British Royal events in 2017. First he said it would be the year when ‘Prince Harry finally FINALLY settles down’ and sure enough, Harry’s engagement to Meghan was announced in November 2017. He also said ‘Kate and Wills consider another baby’. In October, Buckingham Palace announced that the couple were expecting their third child.
Another 2017 prediction warned that a ‘hotel attack makes international news’. In October, almost 600 people were killed when two trucks carrying explosives blew up in front of a hotel in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. It was one of the worst terrorist attacks the world had seen in years, and became international news.
2018
Our psychic makes some great celebrity predictions. In 2018, he foresaw medical issues for Johnny Depp and marriage problems for Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux. Both predictions came to pass, although in Depp’s case there was uncertainty as to whether his appearance was due to a movie role.
Another 2018 prediction warned that Trump’s health would be in the spotlight, and indeed, it was the subject of media speculation throughout the year. We were also warned that there would be ‘a big quake for the USA in 2018. Asia and Europe will also suffer strong seismic activity’. A 7.0 magnitude quake hit Alaska in November while Indonesia suffered devastating quakes. Iran, Greece, Romania and Norway also recorded quakes in 2018.
2019
It seems like a decade ago now, but at the beginning of 2019 it was expected that Britain would leave the EU on the deadline of 29th March. Our psychic had different ideas, however, telling us that there would be ‘no satisfactory resolution where Brexit is concerned with more calls for a second referendum’. We all know the rest, of course. In fact, we’re so sick of it that we don’t need anymore reminders.
Our psychic expected that sexual misconduct cases would be huge in 2019, and they were. Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew, Placido Domingo and Ryan Adams were just some of the big names mired in scandals of their own making.
And that brings us bang up-to-date. Who knows what will come to pass in 2020, but our psychic will certainly give it his best shot. And we’ll be here next year, keeping tabs on how he did.
