There is many a haven for shunners of the Christmas Cheer like myself. Lots of lovely bands, singers, comedians and even hynotherapists are at hand to entertain the life out of us, and distract Santa while we throttle him. Right up to the New Year there’s so much going on you needn’t come home till Easter.
While there are moves afoot to crack down on ticket touts, auctioning concert tickets may be a way for promoters and artists to absorb the touts’ share of the spoils.
An escalation of violence within certain deprived pockets of the Travelling community has provoked a Garda clampdown that many regard as heavy-handed. Meanwhile, despite some notable efforts to improve cross-community relations, Travellers must continue to cope with discrimination, alienation and a growing accommodation crisis. Mic Moroney reports on a people struggling to survive in the shadow of the Celtic Tiger.
Ciaran Cuffe [right by Mick Quinn] doesn’t look much like a typical Teachta Dala. So little so, in fact, that when the Green Party TD comes out to greet photographer Mick Quinn and myself in a guarded reception area in Leinster House, we simply don’t recognise him. He just doesn’t look the part.
30 years after the savage Tate/LaBianca murders that epitomised the dark side of the American hippy dream, CHARLES MANSON aka God aka The Devil, continues to exert a potent influence on popular culture. In part one of a two-part feature, PETER MURPHY recalls the twisted vision of a charismatic man whose personal interpretation of The Beatles Helter Skelter helped give rise to one of the crimes of the century.
Don't beat that, beat this! After a modest period of hesitance, your correspondent is pleased to be able to confirm that Wha'ppen finds the Beat striking creative gold for the second time album-wise.
The full lineup for Co. Carlow's Solas festival has been announced, with Autamata, God Is An Astronaut, Kíla and Republic Of Loose among the highlights.
Okay, enough is enough. The bastards have gone too far this time. Thus far and no further shall they encroach upon my personal liberties. It is time to take a stand. And if that doesn’t work, Sam Snort will take up arms and blast the whole bloody lot of them off the face of the earth. Then they’ll really find out just how bad smoking can be for your health.
The lesson of the last major clampdown on prostitution – as depicted in Paul Reynold’s Sex In The City – is that Michael McDowell would do well to get off the statute books laws which result in pointless and expensive exercises in policing.
