The Irish Times - Features

On the road with jellybeans and poitín

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:34:13 GMT

The following day, the General drove me into the hills, for a cure – to a place where donkeys were roaring behind the ditches, writesMICHAEL HARDING

Forcing the truth to emerge

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:34:13 GMT

Theatre involves an ‘industrial process’ and is ‘ossified’. Yet acclaimed documentary maker and director Alan Gilsenan also loves its primitive, ritualistic, sacred nature, and is back directing drama, writesKATE HOLMQUIST

Four angry men join forces

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:34:13 GMT

Four journalists, four books and four interpretations of what brought us to the edge. Just why would 1,200 people pay to hear them speak?KATHY SHERIDANwent to the National Concert Hall to find out

Trio di Parma

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:41 GMT

IMMA, Dublin

Johnny Patterson: The Singing Irish Clown

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:41 GMT

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

A model question for gay business

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:47:41 GMT

A conference in Dublin tomorrow on business strategies for gay and minority communities will hear many tales of international success stories, but will also question its own existence

Restoration drama

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:23:10 GMT

This week sees Ben Barnes’s ambitious plan for Waterford’s Theatre Royal come to fruition. Yet when his troubled tenure at the Abbey ended in acrimony in 2005, the idea of running another theatre in Ireland was the last thing on his mind, he tells PETER CRAWLEY

Míorúiltí

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:11:31 GMT

CROBHINGNE:CNOC, CNOC? Cé tá ann? Duine ar bith, de réir cosúlachta.

Kerrigan, Collins

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:11:31 GMT

Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin

At Swim Two Birds

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:11:31 GMT

The Factory, Sligo

News Nuggets

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:37 GMT

Think Before You Click:The rise of Bebo, Facebook and other social networking sites has made online privacy a major concern for parents and teachers alike.

What's available in . . . conservation?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:37 GMT

Teacher ResourceS

We're rowing in together

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:36 GMT

MY TV WEEK:Luke Morgan (15) of Coláiste Einde, Co Galway

'I'd say that most politicians' expenses are too high'

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:36 GMT

TY TALK: Hazelwood College, Dromcollogher, Co Limerick

Putting the brakes on road deaths

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:36 GMT

DRIVE TO STAY ALIVE:TY students at St John the Baptist CS in Limerick are working hard to keep their safe driving initiative on track

Up for a big adventure

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:36 GMT

Adventure centre breaks provide young people with a connection to the great outdoors and an important confidence boost

Reviews

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:36 GMT

The Irish Timesreviews a selection of recent events

Moving from darkness into light

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:36 GMT

VISUAL ART:KATHY PRENDERGAST occupies a special place in contemporary Irish art. Even at the time of her graduation show, in 1980, it was clear she was an artist with a distinctive imaginative vision and a wide range of abilities. She later remarked she was grateful to the tutors in the NCAD for having left her alone. Her work emerged from spells of meditative reflection, with little in the way of tangible results for a long time: not a process, in other words, that would be encouraged in today’s highly structured art education system.

Bitchin' big time blogger

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:36 GMT

BRITNEY SPEARS? “A dumb, druggy, awful bitch.” Lily Allen? “A cheap ho.” Kate Moss? “A hairy ballerina on crack.” Jennifer Aniston? “A black soul.” The author of “Hollywood’s most hated website”, Perez Hilton, carries all the celebrity news that is not fit to print, writesBRIAN BOYD

Where town and country met

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:36 GMT

EXTRACT:THE DIFFERENCE between town and country in a small place like Portlaoise was impossible to ignore, if only because the line, like the frontline of a battle zone, was constantly shifting and therefore under constant observation. Kids who cycled in from the country one week cycled home the next to the near edge of town, thanks to a terrace of new houses or a sprinkling of new bungalows which required the ongoing revision of our mental maps, writesPAT BORAN

Meagre resources, optimistic attitude? Sounds like festival spirit

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:29:42 GMT

ON MARCH 1st, 2009, after 10 years running major international festivals, I began a seven-month sabbatical by returning from Australia, a country comparatively untouched by the global credit crisis, to Ireland, a country devastated by it. Since then, I have been a bystander as friends and colleagues who lead festivals and events all over the world have come to terms with the challenges changed circumstances have thrown up, writes FERGUS LINEHAN

How fish and chips enriched a nation

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:29:42 GMT

There’s nothing more Irish than a fish supper – apart from its Italian roots. In this extract from his new book ‘ The Irish ( Other Foreigners)’SHANE HEGARTYcharts the arrival of Ireland’s first Italian migrants and how by reinventing themselves they also reinvented our eating habits

Where are the songs of the great recession?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:29:42 GMT

It’s time for a return to the sort of protest songs made famous by Woody Guthrie , veteran folk musician Andy Irvine, currently on tour with Mozaik, tells SIOBHÁN LONG

Tubaisteach dá ndúnfaí scoileanna Protastúnacha

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:10:37 GMT

BEOCHEIST:AG DEIREADH na 1960í fuair me post sealadach ag múineadh Gaeilge i scoil Phrotastúnach do chailíní i dTuaisceart Bhaile Átha Cliath. Scoil chónaithe a bhí ann agus is ó cheantair tuaithe is mó a tháinig na cailíní. Dúradh liom gur bunaíodh é chun oideachas a thabhairt do chlann mhinistéirí bochta ach nach raibh sé teoranta do chlann mhinistéirí níos mó.

Reviews

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:39:09 GMT

Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme

What's really killing the footfall on Grafton Street?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:39:09 GMT

GIVE ME A BREAK:SHOPPING ON Grafton Street is supposed to be an “event”. You might come up from the country for the day to shop, or go there for an important purchase like an engagement ring. That’s what I heard an advocate of Grafton Street traders saying on the radio last week.

Cinema's most enduring citizen

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:26:00 GMT

Twenty-five years after his death, Orson Welles still holds an almost magical grip on cinema buffs’ imaginations

A woman with protest on her mind

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:26:00 GMT

Actress and author Marsha Hunt takes to the stage in a show that promises a revised look at the Sixties. She tellsFIONA MCCANNwhy and about the role Jimi Hendrix plays in what she calls a ‘theatrical lecture’

Wishing for the sight of snow falling on the living and the dead

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:38:17 GMT

In the theatre, it was snowing on stage but when he emerged into the harsh lights and sights of night-time Dublin, all was dismal and grey, writes MICHAEL HARDING

The house where Ulster says 'boo'

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:38:17 GMT

Is a long-dead Unionist politician really haunting the Catholic family now living in his home? FIONOLA MEREDITHvisits a Belfast household which blames the strange smells and scary noises on a chain-smoking, bigot from the past

I have no qualms about admitting 'Fifty States' was a gimmick

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:38:17 GMT

When Sufjan Stevens was asked to write a symphony for New York, he turned to a miserable stretch of road called the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway for inspiration. He tells ANDREW PURCELLwhy

Bright light from outside

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:38:17 GMT

He may have gained critical and academic success, but West Cork-based artist Graham Crowley still considers himself part of the counter-culture, writes AIDAN DUNNE

'There was a time when nine out of 10 Irish people would believe in fairies'

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:36:03 GMT

BE AFRAID. Be very afraid. The ninth annual World Ghost Convention happens tonight in the spooky confines of Cork City Gaol Heritage Centre. The convention is akin to a highbrow ghost story session, complete with academics, white witches and psychics. And that’s just the expert panel.

Reviews

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:05:48 GMT

Irish Timeswriters review the Fidelio Trio at the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin andHere We Are Again Stillat the Nun’s Island Theatre, Galway

Dónal Óg

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:34:15 GMT

CROBHINGNE:IS É an rud is misniúla riamh dar dhein Dónal Óg Cusack ná a bheith ina chúlbáire. Is fíor nach foláir do dhuine a bheith ábhairín as a mheabhair le seasamh sa bháire i gcluiche ar bith, ach ní foláir dó a bheith glan bán as a mheabhair lena leithéid a dhéanamh san iomáint.

Skipping outside the comfort zone

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:34:15 GMT

Strong sponsors, international recognition, a collaboration with the city’s Polish community and enthusiastic audiences have helped the Belfast Festival at Queen’s thrive, despite the recession.JANECOYLElooks back at this year’s event

Painting a veil over the past and present

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:00:08 GMT

VISUAL ART:PAUL NUGENT’S Remembrance Paintingsat Kevin Kavanagh is an unusual exhibition, but then Nugent is quite an unusual artist. The show has been arranged in two distinct parts: the work on view was replaced halfway through, and only two of the paintings have featured in both instalments. Furthermore, each segment concentrates on a different body of work, writes AIDAN DUNNE

'The Virgin Mary is very angry . . .'

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:00:08 GMT

There are a few placenames in Ireland that carry a particular resonance in our collective memory; places that have become associated with crowds of people who intermittently come from afar to gather, pray and stare. They include Ballinspittle, Co Cork, where the statue of Mary was reported to be moving in 1985, and the Basilica at Knock Shrine, Co Mayo, writes ROSITA BOLAND

How the Irish went loco for cocoa

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:00:08 GMT

THIS WEEKEND, Temple Bar Cultural Trust is staging a chocolate festival – at the very time the chocolate industry is feeling the economic downturn. “It’s not a good time for anybody,” says Sarah Hehir, a partner in Cocoabean, a small maker of distinctive chocolate bars, with flavours such as gin and tonic, that are sold by mail order and through upmarket food halls. “A lot of speciality shops have closed down suddenly,” she says, and that means fewer outlets to sell in, writes KATE HOLMQUIST

Life lessons captured on film

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:00:08 GMT

ARTS:HOLLYWOOD LORE is full of stories of stars who were discovered in unusual places. Lana Turner was supposedly spotted in a soda shop; Harrison Ford got his break making cabinets for George Lucas. English actress Carey Mulligan, however, owes her professional career to a school talk by the actor and Oscar-winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes, writes ANNA CAREY

Reviews

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:15:54 GMT

Irish Timeswriters review recent events

Don't be sad when darkness comes - go a little bit mad, I say

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:33:41 GMT

GIVE ME A BREAK:EMBRACE the dark. Welcome it in, sit with it, listen to it, enjoy it. It’s the time of year for dark tales and your own dark memories, writesKATE HOLMQUIST

Does Wii really get you fit?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:33:41 GMT

Britain’s NHS thinks so – but watch out for Pilates injuries, writesBRIAN O’CONNELL

Diverse and diverting

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:33:41 GMT

This year’s Guinness Jazz Festival brought an exciting mix of styles to Cork and showed a musical event can be esoteric and accessible at the same time, writesKEVIN STEVENS

'Curse those sexy costumes'

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:33:41 GMT

Dressing up for Halloween used to mean lots of black binbags and plastic fangs – now it’s just an excuse to wear as little as possible. Never mind the bunny ears this year, writesROSEMARY MAC CABE, just lash on the fake blood

Saoire sa bhFómhar nó Rosmuck - ugh!

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:10:40 GMT

BEOCHEIST:TÁ FEABHAS curtha ar na bóithre ó aimsir na gceart sibhialta ach fós tá bóithre cúnga cnapánacha ann a chuir eagla orm. Tiománaithe, a bhformhór óg, ag speedáil leo gan mórán smaoinimh acu d’éinne eile.

Reviews

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:10:40 GMT

Irish Timeswriters review a selection of recent events

Review

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:06:36 GMT

The Irish Timeslooks at a version ofMacbeth

Writing the wrongs of the orphanage

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:06:36 GMT

Nearly half a century after turning his back on Artane, Danny Ellis has finally documented his experiences in a compelling collection of songs, writesSIOBHAN LONG

Guitars in their eyes

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:06:36 GMT

A new Karl Spain-fronted reality TV programme is taking the talent show to a new platform, where long hair, guitar riffs and egos reign supreme – at least in theory, writesRONAN McGREEVY

A day in the life of a cockroach: from newspaper to wastebasket

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:01:05 GMT

No lions, no tigers, no bears – just newsprint, crosswords, a Yeti-like cat and a thing called Nama. It’s been a rollercoaster of a day, writes MICHAEL HARDING

Something brewing in Copenhagen

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:01:05 GMT

Affluent and socially tolerant, Copenhagen seems an unlikely candidate for an alcohol crisis among its young people. In an extract from his new book about the difficulties of giving up drink in Ireland, BRIAN O’CONNELLvisits the Danish capital to see what we can learn from its problems

Reviews

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:11:54 GMT

The Irish Timesreviews The Ghosts of Versailles at Wexford Opera House and One is Not a Number, Cork and Green Day in Dublin

The art of imitation

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:11:53 GMT

‘A bizarre, déjà vu knock-off haven’: Artists selling cut-price bootlegs of expensive works, using scrap materials, at the Frieze Art Fair sold out

Nama

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:29:06 GMT

CROBHINGNE:DROCHSCÉAL IS ea scéal Nama i gcónaí. Ba ea le fada an lá. Ní haon tuar dóchais ar tharla cheana mar mhéar ar eolas lena dtarlóidh fós. Eachtra dhobhrónach agus thruamhéalach an stair lena mbaineann agus n’fheadar aon duine cad tá i ndán.

Review

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:29:06 GMT

MICHAEL DERVANreviews Freddy Kempf (piano) at the NCH, Dublin

A commune, an African mission and hot wifey jazz

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:29:06 GMT

She plays, among other things, hip-swayin’ backporch jazz. Americana singer Devon Sproule talks toJOE BREEN

A journey to the past

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:29:05 GMT

Bernard Canavan’s paintings provide rare glimpses of a displaced generation of Irish whose experience of emigration in England often left them too disillusioned to record their experiences

Prepare for lift-off

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:08:24 GMT

The Euro Space Centre near Brussels is a great experience for TY students, but it needs more input from government agencies, writes PETER McGUIRE

When dropping out doesn't mean screwing up

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:08:24 GMT

You spend months choosing a course, long nights studying – and then you drop out. JANE RUFFINOon those who found success after quitting college

Waiting for a glass slipper

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:08:24 GMT

Ballet Ireland has had a Cinderella story of its own, often waiting for a fairy godmother to swoop down, but its next production may yet bring it to the ball, writes CHRISTIE TAYLOR SEAVER

Life at the top of the world

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:08:23 GMT

Her marriage to a polar explorer led Dublin-born Marie Herbert to set up an unconventional family life in the extreme conditions of the Arctic, writes LORNA SIGGINS

News Nuggets

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:34:00 GMT

TY GRANTS RETURN:Schools struggling to fund their Transition Year programme may be relieved with the restoration of Transition Year grants to September 2008 levels. The revised Programme for Government, negotiated between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party, makes a total of €5.35 million available for Junior Certificate, Leaving Cert Applied, and TY.

What's available in . . . radio projects?

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:34:00 GMT

TEACHER RESOURCES:THE SOUND SCHOOL PROJECTDublin City FM’s radio project, run in conjunction with The Dublin Dockland Development Authority, provides a chance for local schools to produce and present their own 30-minute radio programme. Phone: 01-8658020 for more information, or visit to dublincityfm.ie/programmes/special-interest/sound-school-project/

There really is nothing like it

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:34:00 GMT

COEN HESLOP(16), Girton Grammar School, Bendigo, Australia, on a month-long exchange in St Mary’s, Rathmines, Dublin

Helping students get into politics

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:34:00 GMT

POLITICAL AWARENESS WEEK:A community college in Dublin is whipping up interest in politics by inviting party leaders to answer tough questions

'I hope the remaining four in Boyzone stay together'

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:34:00 GMT

TY TALK:St Augustine’s College, Dungarvan, Co Waterford

Review

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:34:00 GMT

Irish Timeswriters review a selection of recent events

Possibilities of performance anticipated

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:33:59 GMT

VISUAL ARTS:JAKI IRVINE’S Seven Folds in Time is a multi-screen video installation at Temple Bar Gallery, made with the participation of violinist and composer Marja Gaynor and flautist Joe O’Farrell. The press release notes that the installation is about the relationship between music and image, evoking, through the private space of practice, “the possibilities of performance it anticipates”.

'They'd lie rather than admit they work for Anglo'

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:33:59 GMT

What’s it like to work at the bank that’s become the focus of public anger? Some would rather get wet than use a company brolly, says one worker

'Look good, don't scare children'

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:16:09 GMT

Robbie Williams is at it. So is Whitney Houston. But will it work?SINÉAD GLEESONgives her golden rules for a showbiz comeback

An obscure sort of celebrity

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:16:09 GMT

He may be a veteran of 70 now, but writer, poet and broadcaster Clive James is still ‘a blunderer, who finds things out by trial and error’, he tellsFIONA McCANN

Let them see 'Ghosts'

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:16:09 GMT

When he wrote his eerie, energetic and ironic opera ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’, American composer John Corigliano chose to write one teeming with arias, ensembles, solos and duets.

Many gay men still face rejection and victimisation

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:53:54 GMT

GIVE ME A BREAK:IN THE WAKE of Stephen Gately’s death, some texters and twitterers were spreading horrendous rumours about him disguised as “jokes”, writesKATE HOLMQUIST

An Bhanríon a chumhdach

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:34:33 GMT

BEOCHEIST:“FAIRIS SIN, iarraimid ort gach uile Rí, Ruire agus Rófhlaith Críostaí a choimeád agus a chumhdach; agus go mór mór do sheirbhíseach ELIZABETH ár mBanríon; ionas go mbímid ár rialú féin go diaga agus go suaimhneasach.”