Having survived invasion, war and the repressive taliban regime, Fatana Gailani is continuting her courageous fight for equality for women in Afghanistan. Phil Udell hears her story.
As the war in Afghanistan grinds mercilessly on, it has become increasingly clear: the rules have long been forgotten, as much by the Americans and the British as by their Northern Alliance allies.
Ireland's position in all of this is, frankly, shameful
It isn't long since the Irish Minister for Justice, John O'Donoghue, signed a treaty with the government of Nigeria, which would facilitate the repatriation of asylum seekers from that country, whose applications had been turned down by the authorities here
A comparison with Afghanistan is instructive
Mary Bannoti, Ireland's goodwill ambassador for the United Nations population fund, visited Afghanistan in March. Here, she records some lasting impressions of a place at once brutal and beguiling, and describes her often moving encounters with men, women and children, many still in refugee camps in Pakistan, who are struggling to return home and rebuild their lives.
Banned by the Iraquis and ribbed for “liberating” Kabul, veteran foreign correspondent John Simpson is one of the world’s most recognisable journalists. “I want people to think of me as a little bit like a grenade with the pin out,” he insists
Michael Franti is mad and he wants you to know about it. To demonstrate the fraught condition of the world, he’s even gone to the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones to make a movie.
Tara Brady talks to Julie Brocquy, producer of Osama, the acclaimed Afghan film which tells the story of a young girl forced to disguise herself as a boy to survive life under the Taliban regime.
He’s spent the past few years hanging out with Kate Moss and Primal Scream, but now it’s time for Irvine Welsh to look up some old pals. Yup, Begbie, Spud, Renton and Sick Boy are back in Porno, an XXX-rated tale which makes Trainspotting look like Harry Potter
At the end of an exciting, painful and earthshaking year, Bono reflects on the political and the personal – from drop the debt, September 11, Afghanistan and Genoa to the death of his father Bob, the birth of his son John and the enduring friendship which underpins U2’s music and career. Interview: Niall Stokes
[this interview originally appeared in the spectacular Hot Press Annual 2002 - used in the pictures below - a very limited number of this unique collectors item will shortly be on sale - email u2@hotpress.ie to reserve a copy]
There is no such thing as a War On Terrorism. It is not possible to wage war on an idea or an activity. War is waged against military forces or against people or even against States
In common with many Makhmalbaf efforts, Stray Dogs, a harrowing vignette from Afghanistan, documents social inequality through the plight of forgotten children.
Afghanistan hasn’t contributed massively to the global cinematic canon in recent years, a state of affairs not really helped when those raving liberals in the Taliban came to power and burnt all existing prints.
Unpalatable truths about the 'war against terror' - and Ireland's involvement – will be revealed during the trial of Eoin Dubsky, the young Wexford man who spraypainted a US war plane refuelling in Shannon
"When did Ireland ever take a stand on anything?" Niall O'Dowd, leading Irish-American and author of a new book on September 11, attacks Ireland's "moral superiority"
Neutrality, being less demanding than pacifism seems to mean whatever we want it to mean. But, argues, The Whole Hog, if we are totally opposed to war it behoves us to find other ways to help liberate the people of Iraq
The highlight of the year – and probably the decade – was scamming a trip to Havana to see the Manic Street Preachers do their live thing in front of Fidel Castro
Dundalk-born director John Moore has produced one of the most gung-ho portrayals of the US military in recent cinema history in behind enemy lines, yet Craig Fitzsimons discovers a film-maker who finds flag-waving unacceptable
The Whole Hog reflects on twelve months dominated by revelations and repercussions of political, police and church corruption, floods, floods and more floods and, of course, a certain parting of the ways on the pacific island of Saipan
Will the election of Barack Obama to the White House usher in a new era of peace and global harmony? Or is there a danger we are pinning too much hope on the shoulders of one man?
With the countdown to the general election now officially under way, the most important aspect to remember amid all the hype is that the right to vote is both a privilege and a responsibility.
Peter Murphy discusses the finer points of prophecy with US writer T.C. Boyle whose latest short story collection includes tales of plague, air rage and terrorism
Liverpudlian Comedian Brendan Riley visits Dublin and Galway in April. but sharp-eyed soap-addict Stephen Robinson thinks we've seen his face before...
A glorious Olympic opening ceremony suggests a world at peace. But burning villages in Georgia and South Ossetia reminds us that human conflict is never far away.
Pre-Christmas unrest in the Balkans brought unpleasant memories of late '90s ethnic cleansing back to the soldier turned singer-songwriter James Blunt.
Progress doesn t always follow a straight line. Far from it. Sometimes you take two steps sideways for every one step forwards. There s another image that holds progress to be a kind of tumbleweed effect. We roll forward, but sometimes we re going backwards, and mostly we re just marking time. Frustrating? Yes, but it has the ring of truth.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Northern Ireland.
Avert your gazes, sensitive readers. Jon McClure of Reverend And The Makers offers his thoughts on Johnny Borrell, Thom Yorke and “the most racist television ad of all time”.
In the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks, a growing number, including respected foreign correspondent Robert Fisk, are starting to ask uncomfortable questions about September 11 and the War on Terror it provoked.
For a city so often celebrated in song, it was inevitable that the horrific events in new york would be felt as keenly in the music world as in any other section of society. STUART CLARK reports on the industry response and compiles a broad selection of individual reactions to the attack
The Whole Hog (with a little help from his friends) reflects on 12 months in which (among others) organised and disorganised crime were on the increase, German cannibal Armin Meiwes was sentenced to eight years in prison, Cian O’Connor’s Olympic win was tainted, Bertie declared himself a socialist, and the pictures of kidnap victims pleading for their lives in Iraq terrifyingly became the images of the year.
An Uzbek native is reported to be one of the two GUANTANAMO BAY inmates Ireland has agreed to receive. But will the government hold true to its promise to allow him settle here?
Honing his Best-Of set, working on a “secret” documentary for RTE, being compared to Bill Hicks, lollygagging at Dr Quirkey’s… it’s just another day at the office for Des Bishop.
East Timor is a small island close to Indonesia. Invaded in 1975 by its much larger neighbour, in the intervening years almost one third of its population has been wiped out in an ongoing campaign of international terrorism and genocide. The arms being used to terrorise this small island are being supplied by Britain. Report: LIAM FAY
A new organisation of musicians has written to Barack Obama protesting against the use of music to torture detainees. Also: a closer look at the individuals behind the recent An Bord Snip report, which recommends systematic fleecing of the poor in order to keep fat-cats in the style to which they’re accustomed.
He may have an image as a political bruiser, but even if he is prepared to engage Bertie in a head-butting contest, Michael Noonan would rather win over the electorate by the more gentle art of persuasion. Joe Jackson meets the Fine Gael leader to discuss public issues and personal traumas, and discovers why he's partial to drink and Bill Clinton but opposed to Sinn Fein, the Bertie bowl and tax breaks for sports stars.
Known from the TV sitcom as the Man who Behaves Badly, actor Neil Morrissey is confounding the laddish caricature with his work for an anti-landmine charity. In this candid interview with Paul Nolan, he also reflects on childhood trauma, death in the family, that affair with Amanda Holden and his encounters with Olivier, Burton and Mel Gibson. main photography Cathal Dawson
Known from the TV sitcom as the man who behaves badly, actor Neil Morrissey is confounding the laddish caricature with his work for an anti-landmine charity. In this candid interview with Paul Nolan, he also reflects on childhood trauma, death in the family, that affair with Amanda Holden and his encounters with Olivier, Burton and Mel Gibson.
Veteran agitprop folk-rocker Steve Earle talks to Peter Murphy about kicking against George Dubya, jamming in Galway and revamping Shakespeare for the 21st century.
At 81 years of age, folk pioneer PETE SEEGER is still active in the politics of song. SIOBHAN LONG meets a man fully deserving of the title 'living legend'
The new year, according to some astrologer or other, was a very good time for making resolutions, as long as you got on with them from the start. If you’ve left it ’til now, forget it. Depending on your particular weakness, you might be just as well off.
Fifty Nigerians were forcibly deported last month. On their return to west Africa, they will face intimidation and violence. Why is the Government doing nothing?
The Make Poverty History marches in Dublin and Edinburgh were among the biggest political demonstrations in years. Rory Hearne kept a diary of an inspiring week on the barricades.
It may well be wall to wall war on our tv screens but for all the
spectacular images and crazed punditry, we’re getting very little sense of
the truly brutal reality of violent conflict. Jonathan O’Brien found it
elsewhere
Robert Fisk is one of the most insightful war correspondents on the planet, his reports from Iraq and elsewhere the scourge of spindoctors, warmongers and tin-pot dictators alike. Craig Fitzsimons finds him on the frontline.
You’ve grown your hair and want to make a bitching rock record. Who do you call? Arctic Monkeys tell Stuart Clark about their remarkable journey from Sheffield to the Mojave.
Re-telling the story of September 11 with a measured hand and lightness of touch hithertoo unhinted at, director Oliver Stone proves a more serious thinker than his paranoia-soaked canon would suggest. Here, he explains how his experiences as a soldier in Vietnam framed his outlook on life and art.
Gregory David Robert‘s life reads like the most sensational book, a painfully true but scarcely believable saga of academic success, crime, heroin addiction, incarceration, torture, escape, re-capture, and finally, literary acclaim. Peter Murphy hears the extraordinary tale of australia’s ‘gentleman bandit’ turned author. photography Liam Sweeney
Having their budgets slashed three times in 18 months has made it harder than ever for Irish aid organisations to help the world’s poor and displaced. Despite Mr. Martin’s axe-wielding, Concern worldwide are determined to continue their work in what can be life-threatening circumstances.
Anti-capitalism, political fundamentalism, life after September 11 and what to tell the kid who has only two stripes on his tracksuit - the celebrated no logo author tells Hotpress about how best to beat the brand.
The Government recently launched its National Anti-Racism Awareness Programme under the slogan "Know Racism". JACKIE HAYDEN talked to the Chairman of its Steering Committee, JOE MCDONAGH
The HP-7 Summit is back with Michelle Doherty, Rocky O'Reilly, Niall Breslin, Mark Greaney, Niamh Farrell, Messiah J and Danny O'Donoghue sat around the only table that matters this Christmas.
He might have been a young Einsten but instead MARK OLIVER EVERETT ended up as EELS aka a man called E aka the Souljacker. PETER MURPHY discovers how it all went horribly right
Running a marathon, writing the folk-pop equivalent of Dante’s Divine Comedy, buying a house, releasing the finest record of his career. All in a year’s work for Josh Ritter. John Walshe travelled to Boston to meet the young songwriter.
When The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Ken Loach’s dramatisation of the Irish War of Independence, won the Palme D’Or at Cannes last month, it triggered a vociferously hostile response from right wing British pundits, who branded the director as a terrorist-sympathising Commie. Few of them, however, had actually seen the film.
A Tinsel Town director of the old school, Michael Mann goes back to his ‘80s roots in his new movie, Miami Vice. In a forthright interview he talks about working with Colin Farrell, why he insisted on shooting in Paraguay and explains he’s not as tough as Hollywood gossip would have you believe.
To give him his full title, he's the Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation with responsibility for local development and the National Drugs Strategy. But it's for the latter responsibility that EOIN RYAN TD has earned the unofficial title of "Ireland's Drug Czar". As a new seven-year strategy is unveiled, STUART CLARK enquires about leisure, legalisation, decriminalisation, health, creativity, crime and punishment – and whether or not cannabis really is "a gateway drug". Photographs: PHILLIP TOTTENHAM.
At the end of another eventful year, Andrea Corr takes time out to reflect on life, death, love, health, music and her role, off-stage and on, in the family that plays together. Interview: Niall Stokes
A veteran of conflicts in Nicaragua, Somalia, Lebanon, Rwanda, Algeria and the former Yugoslavia, Lara Marlowe is currently best known to readers in Ireland for her compelling and humane reports from Baghdad for the Irish Times. On the eve of what was being billed as a potentially decisive battle for the city, she spoke to Peter Murphy by satellite phone about war and journalism, her personal circumstances and why she believes the invasion of Iraq could still end in catastrophe
Martin Sheen has starred in at least two of the greatest films ever made, survived a massive heart attack, found God, and campaigned tirelessly for social justice in the Third World. Now, he’s gone back to school, studying Philosophy and English at (of all places) the NUI in Galway. Jason O’Toole meets him for his only Irish print interview.
There’s no pipe of peace – in fact no pipe at all from the non-smoking sinn féin leader – as Olaf Tyaransen asks if, given Osama Bin Laden’s use of terror as a political weapon, Gerry Adams might not have some sympathy for the world’s most wanted man. that question and other contentious queries relating to the IRA, Jean McConville and the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe are dealt with in an interview which also takes in Eoghan Harris, George Bush and Bono, and ends with the interviewee humming a familiar Monty Python tune.
Egyptian-born Ali Selim, now a resident of Tallaght, is the Secretary General of the Irish Council of Imams, which was formed last month to represent Islamic concerns in Ireland, ranging from theological matters to issues of social integration. In this extensive interview, he attempts to dispel many of the Western myths about the Muslim world, addresses the subject of Islamic extremism, Salman Rushdie and the Pope’s faux pas.
It’s all about broken down tour buses, Alan Partridge, high speed collisions, Moby, broken ribs, Mina Suvari, MTV stars and David Bowie as Ash launch a sonic assault on America. So riddle me this: can Ireland’s hardest-working rock’n’roll outfit crack the big one?
The world was united in condemnation over the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. In a rare print interview Israel ambassador to Dublin Zion Evrony says the campaign was justified and that his country was motivated by the desire to bring peace to the Middle East. And he tells us why comparisons between Northern Ireland the Middle East are fatuous
Having graced the Closer soundtrack and made the cut for the OC’s illustrious collection, Damien Rice is doing very nicely out of compilations these days.
Hollywood has been encroaching on the Marvel-verse since 1944 when children handed over jam-jars to catch the first serialised version of Captain America.
Parallels between military action against civilians on Bloody Sunday and President George Bush’s actions, and inaction on September 11 suggest that we’re still getting nothing but the same old story – so far
Earle commands protest chops that go back to Guthrie, but he also has the smarts to examine the allure of war, both as boys’ own glamour and last-ditch career option. Most of the songs study the anatomy of soldiery.
The British police have admitted to adopting a shoot to kill policy in their pursuit of Islamic terrorists. But already, with the brutal slaying of Jean Charles de Manezes, they have claimed the life of one innocent victim. So who will be held accoutable?
There'll be plenty of time to grow old and boring later. If you're not engaged in honest, direct, idealistic political activity while you're young, there's something badly wrong....
Being a fiendishly appropriate headline for a column in which our hero reveals how easy it is to win an Oscar and offers his suggestion for the ultimate musical instrument of torture. (And no, it’s not the accordion).
Hordes of penny-pinching citizens of the Republic have fled to the North in search of, at best, a 4% saving on their Christmas shopping. Are their brains functioning properly?
It may have been ill-advised for Pope Benedict to make a speech that seemed critical of Islam. But there's no need for everyone to get so hot and bothered...
He is a visionary, a poet – and an innovator in terms of interrogation techniques. Now that he has resigned as US Defence Secretary, the campaign to make him a Nobel Laureate starts. Right here...
He is a visionary, a poet – and an innovator in terms of interrogation techniques. Now that he has resigned as US Defence Secretary, the campaign to make him a Nobel Laureate starts. Right here...
30th Anniversary Retrospective: Thirty years ago, the USA was engaged in a bloody and illegal war, and led by a discredited President with no compunction about breaking domestic or international law. Sound familiar?
The time has come when we can no longer pretend that we’re in control. An incipient sense of cosmic disorder, for the past year gnawing away at the fringes of our collective consciousness, has suddenly become devastatingly palpable.
After the London bombings, the Muslim community in Britain is feeling isolated, angry and under siege from new ‘anti-terror’ measures and anti-Islamic racism.
