On the eve of the release of Martin McDonagh's In Bruges, A-list actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson give Hot Press the idiot's guide to making it in the movie business.
Belfast musician Colin Reid likes to surprise his audiences, something he’s sure to accomplsh with an instrumental suite inspired by Flann O’Brien’s The Third Policeman
BBC 4 & 6, Gardener's Question Time, The Guardian crossword... comedian Colin Murphy's Belfast home is a veritable hub of bacchanalia. Photos by Amberlea Trainor.
With RTE’s new eight part mockumentary television series The Unbelievable Truth rustling feathers of the fans of our most high-profile celebrities in music and sport, Jackie Hayden spoke to its presenter Colin Murphy about celebrity, envy and er, beetroot.
Northern Irishman Colin Murphy's Blizzard of Odd series on Network 2 takes a scathing look at some of the stranger films and television shows that appear on our screens. The actor, writer and comedian returns to the stage this month with a brand new stand-up show that proves he's more than just a telly-addict. Stephen Robinson meets the man who puts the 'ouch' in couch potato
The Alien vs Predator movie has resurrected two of the most successful action movie franchises of recent years. You’ll kick yourself – in slow motion, and with gratuitous blood loss, of course – if you miss it, according to the film’s star Colin Salmon.
No, we're not taking the piss. Click below to hear a 30 second sampler of the star belting out a cover of 'I Fought The Law' from the soundtrack of his latest movie, Intermission...
The most ardent Allen admirers, the most feverish Farrell fanatics, would be hard pressed to love this humdrum riff on Crimes And Misdemeanours. Yes. Another one.
From Dublin to Hollywood and from hanging around in Ballykissangel to hanging out with Al, Bruce and Tom, actor Colin Farrell is making the most of life as 'the next big thing'. "I'm a lucky bastard," he tells Craig Fitzsimons
This odd murder thriller jumps between the mob-dominated club scene of the '50s and the swinging possibilities of the '70s as a determined journalist (Lohman) attempts to investigate the suspicious death of a hotel maid (naked in bathtub, of course) and the subsequent break-up of Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth’s Martin And Lewis inspired comedy duo.
With a hit Colin Farrell movie to his name, Martin McDonagh mulls over his early rejections at the hand of the Abbey, his "rivalry" with Conor McPherson and his run-in with Sean Connery.
Best-selling author Colin Bateman has just published his 21st book, which is being hailed by critics as a cracker. He talks to Hot Press about cutting his teeth as a writer in Northern Ireland
COLIN CARBERRY meets KIDD DYNAMo, the Northern outfit fronted by singer/songwriter colin campbell who numberS Joan Armatrading and the Webb Brothers among his fans
Marc Evans’ third opus horribilis sees Colin Firth awaken from a coma to discover that his wife may or may not have survived their car-crash, that he may or may not have stalked and killed pop-star Naomie Harris, and that he may or may not live across the hall from Mena Suvari. But don’t take my word for it.
Colin Reid is so far out of the frame that it takes a while to understand the concept. He s a virtuoso guitarist, from Belfast, who doesn t care for guitar music.
Laughing in the face of a global music meltdown, Colin Devlin has temporarily exited The Devlins to release a solo album Democracy Of One and strike out on a world tour.
Those who harbour romantic notions about starving artists clattering away of their typewriters in appalling social circumstance will be very pleased indeed by Ask The Dust.
colin murphy is living proof that there is such a thing as a comedic afterlife. The Downpatrick funny man, who once "died every week for six months", tells barry glendenning all about heaven down here.
Colin Dale has had a long and impressive career. His love for music and his talent have cut through the dance scene s rampant egos and petty policking. He spoke to Richard Brophy
With a major role in the new Ned Kelly biopic, dubliner Laurence Kinlan is being widely tipped as the next big thing. Just don’t mention ‘The Northsider Colin Farrell’, is all.
Grappling with weighty political themes is grist to the mill for Colin Meloy of Oregon art-rockers The Decemberists. He’s even written a song about the Shankill Butchers.
Apparently S.W.A.T. was a short-lived 1970s cop-show which made a seismic contribution to Western civilisation by spawning a related disco hit. Those of you who missed out on this cultural zenith can rest easy, however, for the new movie version is unlikely to inspire pangs of nostalgic regret for this lost televisual opportunity.
In what turned out to be a pretty well-kept secret, Temple Bar’s Meeting House Square was the venue on Thursday August 31 for Franz Ferdinand’s free Channel 4 Vodafone TBA gig.
Terrence Malick (Badlands, Days Of Heaven), one of cinema’s most unique creatures, doesn’t do car-chases. The New World, his reworking of the Pocahontas legend, is less a film, more a sublime visual poem, with the colonisation of America re-envisaged as the expulsion from Eden.
It’s by no means the worst, most cynical or most offensive movie ever to bedevil our screens, but in terms of out-and-out dullness, My Life So Far has very few precursors in film history.
What A Girl Wants suffers from a typically unpleasant chick-flick worldview, purporting to condemn snobbery while unconsciously embracing it at every single turn.
whinging, yak-herding and masturbating over the sunday dinner are just three of the tenuously-related subjects that come up for discussion as stuart clark gets completely wireless with radiohead plankspanker from hell colin greenwood.
Schumacher, does a bang-up job of making the claustrophobia attendant to this enterprise work well in its favour. He also fashions a remarkably buzzy piece for one that’s cooped up in a phone-box, utilising split-screens and mulitiple perspectives to fantastic tension-building effect.
"To tell you the truth, I don’t see myself as being all that interesting or attractive." that being so, Colin Farrell must be one of a very few who doesn’t. Dublin’s latest superstar, famous for cussing, bedding women and (lest we forget) acting, has been inescapable in the gossip columns in recent months. But how much is truth and how much fiction? In this candid interview with Tara Brady, he talks about drink, drugs, football, fame, hype, luck, romance and – in his latest box office winner The Recruit – working with Al Pacino
A Home At The End Of The World isn’t the balls-out flick it once was, and Colin’s manhood has been cut and discarded, having been deemed too big a distraction.
Loud, buzzy, fast-moving and colourful – if more than a little preposterous – Daredevil compares favourably with other recent comic-book spinoffs such as SpiderMan and X-Men.
As competent as it's wholly unmemorable, as a movie, The Importance of Being Earnest is best categorised as a solid, bogstandard British period/costume yarn, with occasional gems of wit to enliven the affair
Swedish cinema is not noted for its humour, its greatest exponent being Ingmar Bergman, who, for the uninitiated, is like Woody Allen without the jokes (or at least that's what Woody Allen would like to think). Which is a cliché of course, and one delightfully undermined by House of Angels.
If you break film down into the smallest possible grammatical units, then there’s a very good argument for saying that French director Claire Denis (with considerable assistance from DoP Agnes Godard) is the planet’s greatest living filmmaker.
One of Ireland’s leading young painters, Rasher has had his work collected by Colin Farrell, Louis Walsh and Ali Hewson, and has also contributed a cover image to the new edition of Declan Lynch's The Rooms.
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.
Far from the misanthropic character of lore, Tommy Tiernan is in fact a remarkably upbeat performer with a spring in his step and a whole host of new material to debut on his upcoming Loose tour. “Life is good, God is great and tay is hot!” he tells Tanya Sweeney.
In a remarkably honest interview, which directly preceded the death of his mother, Jonathan Rhys Meyers reflects on his spells in rehab and discusses life as one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors.
The inside story of Veronica Guerin, directed by Joel Schumacer and starring Gerard McSorley, Ciaran Hinds and Cate Blanchett. Rolling tape Tara Brady and Craig Fitzsimons
TV presenter, stand-up and all-round gifted wit and raconteur Dara O'Briain has quietly become one of the major Irish success stories in Britain over the past few years. In a rare in-depth interview, The Panel presenter here discusses stardom in the UK, The Killers, Colin Farrell, Michael Parkinson, RTE, Sinn Féin and that ringing endorsement from a certain Samuel L. Jackson. interview Tanya Sweeney photos Liam Sweeney
Centuries before Holland became synonymous with the export of tulips, relaxed cafe culture, sleazy porn and ‘brilliant orange’ football, the Dutch were famed primarily for their Old Masters.
It’s Christmas time and, as far as the hotpress journalistic elite are concerned, there’s not a turkey in sight. JOHN WALSHE, COLIN CARBERRY, CHRIS DONOVAN, EAMON SWEENEY and BARRY O'DONOGHUE report on the Irish acts who are going to be huuuuuuuuge!
over the next 12 months.
The inside story of Veronica Guerin starring Joel Schumacher, Gerard McSorley, Ciaran Hinds and Cate Blanchett. Rolling tape Tara Brady and Craig Fitzsimons
Ten, nine, eight… we count down the contenders for 2003. Words Hannah Hamilton, Colin Carberry, Niall Stokes, Richard Brophy, John Walshe, Eamon Sweeney and Stuart Clark
June 6 sees Radiohead's Colin Greenwood and Ed O'Brien spinning old faves, previewing newies and generally making with the conversation on BBC Radio Ulster's Across The Line
There’s enough 1970s-style rock and roll on this wildly eclectic album to boot it firmly out of the folk category. But with the likes of Andy Irvine, Martin Hayes, Cara Dillon and Bert Jansch on board as well, who’s to argue? Besides, it’s a good cause. With all profits going to the Ulster Wildlife Trust and the WWF, this labour of love by music journo Colin Harper is – amazingly – the first wildlife charity recording since the Beatles gave ‘Across The Universe’ to No One’s Gonna Change Our World back in 1969.
And then there were two
Only Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding remain from one of the most appealing bands to emerge from Britain's post-punk boom, . . .
While lots of Northerners have moved on to fresh pastures over the past few years, new Hit The North columnist COLIN CARBERRY believes that it s a good time to stick around
Some of the nation’s top comedians – plus visiting international stars – will appear at this summer's Carlsberg Comedy Festival, which takes place in the Iveagh Gardens, Dublin.
WALK ON THE WILDE SIDE
Directed by Oliver Parker. Starring Ben Barnes, Colin Firth, Ben Barnes, Rebecca Hall, Ben Chaplin, Emilia Fox, Rachel Hurd-Wood. [112mins. Cert 16]
This year's Murphy's Kilkenny Cat Laughs festival features a strong line-up of both Irish and International acts that includes some old favourites and a smattering of Kilkenny virgins. Below we offer some top tips from the Laughlines' Cat Laughs Comedy Card. Ladies and gentlemen place your bets...
The line-up has been revealed for ‘An Fiach Dubh’ – Fingal Songwriter's Weekend. The first in an annual series, the weekend will bring Irish and international songwriters together to provide master classes in the art.
This collection of about 50 Irish and British artists performing folk-rock works mostly written by former music journalist Colin Harper is a seriously handsome affair.
In Case Of Fire are one of a clutch of NI bands that are helping to spearhead a new alternative Ulster. With a string of high profile festival dates on the cards, they talk about their plans for world domination.
with a higher profile internationally than at home, and the support of heavyweight friends, The Devlins have recorded an impressive third album. COLM O'HARE reports
He’s been the artist to watch for years in Belfast, with a critically acclaimed David Holmes collaboration one of his many achievements. Now Phil Kieran is finally getting around to releasing an album. He talks to Colin Carberry about the long journey from drawing board to completion.
Annual article: 12 months ago Colin Carberry was reaching for the Prozac, now he’s more bullish about the Norn Iron music scene than he has been since he started shaving.
Devendra Banhart tells Colin Carberry that wearing a turban and having a beard can get you into all sorts of trouble these days. Lucky for us, he's still looking forward to the Electric Picnic.
Colin Carberry meets Darren Smyth and Pete O’Neill, the men behind Fortune Cookie Music, the leftfield promotional company who continue to bring a range of America’s foremost alternative artists to perform in Belfast. And in Meg White’s case, to crash in their gaff!
“It’s the toughest thing we’ve ever had to do, it’s broken our fucking hearts.” While the recent sacking of founder member Mark McClelland has taken its toll on Gary Lightbody, the Snow Patrol mainman remains upbeat about their not-at-all-difficult fourth album, supporting U2 and their own stadium headliner in Killarney. Interview by Colin Carberry. Photography by Bradley Quinn
For the Chinese community in Northern Ireland, life can at times be difficult in the face of racism and violent attacks. But they can also spare a little time to party, as our very own Chinese checker Colin Carberry discovered on a visit to the hectic offices of the Chinese Welfare Association. Photos: Amberlea Trainor.
Colin Carberry looks back at twelve months in which Bill Drummond’s Soup Line tour of Ulster was one of the Northern arts scene’s undoubted highlights.
Controversial underground magazine The Vacuum has been drawing severe criticism from the more conservative elements of Belfast City Council, including threats of an outright ban. words Colin Carberry
What would the old bishop of Down have made of the avowed feminist who made her name singing about blow-jobs in public places? The answer is open to debate, but as Colin Carberry discovers, maybe the bishop and Alanis Morissette have more in common than you might think.
John O’Neill of legendary northern rockers The Undertones talks to Colin Carberry about the creation of their most famous hits, becoming godfathers to a new generation of garage rock heroes, and why the band won’t be happy until they’ve written a multi-million selling album.
If you’re looking for modesty, you’ve come to the wrong place. Colin Carberry meets Dirty Stevie, the balls to the wall rockers who are determined to become Belfast’s biggest band ever!
Dom Joly hasn’t heard them but says they’re his favourite band. Noel Gallagher hasn’t heard them but thinks they’re probably shite. And what has country troubadour Crawford Bell got to do with all this? The Embers explain all to Colin Carberry
Geoff Topley just can’t help writing songs and releasing records. And going entirely solo hasn’t stemmed the flow. “it’s an addiction,” he tells Colin Carberry
The biggest obstacle to Belfast becoming the European City Of Culture may be the reluctance of its own people to accept that it deserves the title. Colin Carberry reports
Having been dogged for years by sectarianism, Northern Irish sport has finally found a team that everyone can support. Colin Carberry reports on the phenomenal rise of the ice hockeying Belfast Giants
A hit album, critical acclaim, sell-out shows… everything was going swimmingly for DAVID KITT until a sunday paper made serious allegations about him and his Government Minister Dad. In a gloves-off interview with COLIN CARBERRY, Kittser responds to his detractors and explains why, despite the journalistic flak, 2001 has been a great year
Twenty-four-year-old ANDY VOTEL is the man behind Badly Drawn Boy s Twisted Nerve label, and he s just released a self-penned new album. COLIN CARBERRY gets jealous RICKY ADAMS gets pics
It s taken ten years, but AGNELLI & NELSON have finally made it to the top of the DJ pile with their Hudson St. album. COLIN CARBERRY meets the Ulster dance merchants whose superstar fans include U2
Together for only a year, MR NORTH are causing more polarisation on the Dublin rock circuit of than any band since the legendary Muff Divers.
Within the past six months they've been tipped for world domination by some and written off by others as nothing but ground up Chili Peppers. Which side will you be on when lines are drawn? Interview: TARA MC CARTHY
Nailed is a heist movie with a difference. It’s been written, produced and shot in Belfast. Director Adrian O’Connell believes it could revitalise the north’s film industry.
There’s a strange din echoing around Belfast these days. It can only be sometime satanists, occasional folkies and day-tripper pagans The Factotum Choir.
Having previously worked with directors of the stature of Danny Boyle and Anthony Minghella, and with a role as the main villain in the next Batman movie in the offing, Cillian Murphy is one of the hottest young actors around. Joe Jackson caught up with murphy to discuss his central role in Garry Hynes’ version of Synge’s famous play, the Playboy of the Western World.
From Kilkenny to LA, kerbdog have been on a seven-year learning curve that's produced a powerful second album, On The Turn. barry glendenning hears how, after an inauspicious beginning, they finally got their act together. Pic: cathal dawson.
Snow Patrol and Ash are just some of the North’s rock ambassadors who have given their backing to the Oh Yeah Music Centre, a state-of-the-art multi-media development which will put Belfast on the international musical map.
Whether you are looking for a new bass player, an entire new set of comrades or merely a human beat box the famed hotpress musicians contacts guides will help you look for you northern soul mates.
Students are renowned for their loud music, substance abuse and copulating in the streets. But eating disorders, anxiety, stress and depression may be more true to life.
Guitar heroes Rodrigo Y Gabriela have gone from busking on Grafton Street to jamming with Metallica. The acoustic duo talk about their long, strange journey, their fantastic new album – and their debt to the metal world
If you’re going to follow up a hit like East Is East, best to do it in style – by turning to Blackpool, darts and morris dancing. Damien O’Donnell tells Craig Fitzsimons about his “uncool” new movie
Following on from Hot Press' extensive polling of musicians around Ireland, we herewith present The 100 Greatest Irish Albums Of All Time as voted by You, the population of hotpress.com
Whether you are looking for a new bass player, an entire new set of comrades or merely a human beat box the famed hotpress musicians contacts guides will help you look for you northern soul mates.
Young, hungry, professional film crews and equally young, beautiful and professional actors. What’s the Irish film industry come to? Just ask Speed Dating stars Nora Jane Noone and Hugh O’Conor.
Action movie sweetheart and FHM-proclaimed second sexiest woman on the planet Jessica Biel gives us the lowdown on upcoming period rom-com Easy Virtue... and nothing else.
Impartial, level-headed Offaly supporter BARRY GLENDENNING chronicles the good, the bad and the downright Bizarre in this year’s All-Ireland hurling championship and predicts that the Liam McCarthy cup is, once again, bound for the Midlands.
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?
It's Friday, May 22. The votes haven't even been counted yet, but already a succession of post-ballot parties are taking place. Your prime location is the Mandela Hall at Queens University Belfast, where a few hundred groovers will congregate around an event organised by those feverish tykes from the local music magazine, Blank. The name of the game is 'Keep Ulster Brattish' and admission is a mere quid.
It's Friday, May 22. The votes haven't even been counted yet, but already a succession of post-ballot parties are taking place. Your prime location is the Mandela Hall at Queens University Belfast, where a few hundred groovers will congregate around an event organised by those feverish tykes from the local music magazine, Blank. The name of the game is 'Keep Ulster Brattish' and admission is a mere quid.
Irish football fans had plenty to cheer in 2004 as The Boys In Green marched to the top of their World Cup qualifying group, and Shelbourne went stud to stud with some of Europe’s finest.
From child actress to Emmy and Oscar-winning veteran, Helen Hunt exhibits Streep-like intelligence and versatility. She's now about to make her directorial debut with Then She Found Me.
Lunar Records supremo Brian Molloy has enlisted the help of such luminaries as Bertie Ahern, Eamon Dunphy and Bono in the making of voices and poetry of Ireland, a one-off CD being released to benefit the homeless this Christmas.
The last time we met Cillian Murphy he was fighting Black and Tans in west Cork. Now he’s the star of a lavish Danny Boyle space opera. Still, no matter what the subject matter, the actor keeps his feet firmly on the ground.
They've had their share of troubles but now arch Hollywood bad boy Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer are back on the A-list - and fronting a movie together.
Ever feel like chucking your job and doing something completely different? John Bishop did. The result is Stick Your Job Up Your Arse, the comic's journey from the corporate to the comedic world.
Indie golden boys Delays are back – and they’ve gone all shiny and techno on us. But then that’s what happens when you make a record with produer-to-the-stars Trevor Horn.
Along with the music, beer and scoffing, there was some serious talking done at the Electric Picnic. Shilpa Ganatra was taking notes as The Chalets, Flaming Lips, JJ72, Bob Mould, James Blunt, Tommy Tiernan, Declan O’Rourke and The Devlins were subjected to a public grilling by the Hot Press journalistic elite. And John Walshe.
Hilary and Jackie director Anand Tucker’s latest film And When Did You Last See Your Father is an even more heartbreaking version of the story first told in Blake Morrison’s memoir of the same name.
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
Whether you are looking for a new bass player, an entire new set of comrades or merely a human beat box the famed hotpress musicians contacts guides will help you look for you northern soul mates.
Having admitted that he really doesn’t know what he’s talking about, Brendan Dempsey briefs Paul Nolan on the upcoming Montreal Comedy Festival. and other stuff
Now that he’s officially “too big for the perrier award”, Dara O’Briain is turning his attention to
conquering TV land. Here, he gives the lowdown on his new RTE series, The Panel, and attempts to rescue Angus Deayton from his titty bar hell.
Life has never been so sweet for Pugwash's Thomas Walsh with a cracking new album, a song on an A-List Hollywood movie, and a cricket-loving pal to play with.
With a new album ready for release, Idlewild 's Irish bassist Gavin Fox talks about celebrity spotting in LA, touring with Pearl Jam and why Warnings/Promises is the best thing they've ever done. Interview by John Walshe
Whether you are looking for a new bass player, an entire new set of comrades or merely a human beat box the famed hotpress musicians contacts guides will help you look for you northern soul mates.
Three years ago this month, MICHAEL HUTCHENCE s body was found in a Sydney hotel room. Now, his mother PATRICIA GLASSOP and half-sister TINA HUTCHENCE have written a book about their memories of the singer s life and the bitter legal battles which followed his death. They spoke to NIALL STANAGE
Whether you are looking for a new bass player, an entire new set of comrades or merely a human beat box the famed hotpress musicians contacts guides will help you look for you northern soul mates.
Tara Brady takes a look at the enduring appeal of Japanese cultural icon Hello Kitty – the billion-dollar company which has spread into areas as diverse as mobile phones, toasters, leopard-skin legwarmers and – you guessed it – porn.
At the age of 20, kathryn harrison embarked on a full-blown sexual affair with her own father an incestuous relationship which the acclaimed author has now chronicled in detail in her latest book, The Kiss. joe jackson meets the woman who has been attacked as a mercenary slut wanting to capitalise on shock value .
Pix: colm henry.
Such is the close proximity of most of the well-known pubs to each other and to other central locations that Galway could quite conceivably have been designed with the pub crawler in mind. The sheer abundance and variety of pubs that Galway has to offer the thirsty reveller is one of the big attractions of the City of The Tribes. Galway pubs are renowned for their unique and friendly atmosphere, mighty craic and impromptu traditional music sessions.
Four Weddings And A Funeral and Notting Hill man Richard Curtis is back with another film that has heartstrings and funnybones in its sights. But is Love Actually any good? Craig Fitzsimons and Tara Brady endeavour to find out
Ed Byrne has just finished a smash-hit series of concerts at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre as part of his hundred-date tour but those who are missing him already can tune into the new Network 2 show Just For Laughs which finds him wearing his TV presenters’ hat. and shades.
When former IRA prisoner Marion Price decided to go public about the intimidation she claims to have suffered,
she did so on Radio Free Iireann. STUART CLARK reports on the New York station that s providing a focal point for dissident Republican opinion.
By taming Celtic in their own back yard, St Patrick’s Athletic showed how far Irish club football has come in recent years. But as STUART CLARK discovers, when he meets manager PAT DOLAN, not everyone in the National League is heartened by their progress.
Things are on the up and up for Snow Patrol whose long-overdue commercial success means they’re now getting matey with pop divas, soap stars and footballers. Gary Lightbody tells Stuart Clark how it all went right.
The evidence of two British soldiers about the shooting of unarmed civilians, heard in public for the first time, but largely overlooked in coverage of the Saville inquiry, is a direct challenge to the “official” line on bloody sunday which has held for more than 30 years.
GERRY MALLON is the brains behind The Murphy's Comedy Club which has been running weekly in Galway's GPO for the last three years, despite one Englishman's determined attempt to incinerate the joint. Interview: BARRY GLENDENNING.
A smart, savvy actress with a wry take on the vagaries of fame Sarah Michelle Gellar has her feet planted more firmly on terra firma than the average Hollywood starlet. In an exclusive interview with hotpress, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer star discusses her blood-curdling new movie The Grudge, being a teen icon, marriage, celebrity and much else besides. Just don’t mention the English coffee.
By now one of the most esteemed events on the Irish cultural calendar, the Galway Arts Festival 2003 will once again bring you the best in contemporary theatre, literature, comedy and music
Our correspondent gets his snout out of the suey trough long enough to watch Hal, The Revs and former Snow Patrol man Iain Archer participate in the Eurosonic talentfest in Groningen. Words and Photos: Stuart Clark
Just returned from his latest visit to Baghdad, Labour TD Michael D. Higgins reports on an already embattled people braced for more suffering – and argues that there is a moral imperative to oppose the proposed war
RADIOHEAD are just about to release one of the most uncompromising and controversial records of the year in Kid A. As the band prepare for their upcoming Irish dates, mainman THOM YORKE talks about the genesis of a record that seems destined to divide rock fans for years. Not to mention Bono, Britney and Alicia Silverstone! Interview: DAVE FANNING
Belfast human rights lawyer PAT FINUCANE was shot dead in his home by the UFF ten years ago. There has long been a suspicion that the security forces colluded in his assassination. Recent developments do nothing to alter that belief. By NIALL STANAGE.
John Walshe had a ringside seat for all the music, speeches, laughs and tears that made the 2002 hotpress Irish Music Awards in Belfast a night to remember.
So what does the arab world really make of Saddam Hussein and the threat of war? En route to Baghdad, Peter Matthews stops off in Amman, Jordan and hears the word on the street.
No-one knows a city like a local and so we asked Mike Edgar to be our guide to Belfast. Here he chooses ten things for visitors to do in the North s leading city. Only one problem: he forgot to tell us where to get an after-hours drink!
Having already conquered Ireland and the UK, SAMANTHA MUMBA is poised to join Britney and Christina at the top of the American pop chart. Not bad for someone who two years ago was fired from a panto by Twink! Now, with her new album Gotta Tell You ready for release, the Dublin singer talks candidly to JOE JACKSON about drugs, sex and the break-up of her parents marriage
He survived the IRA London bus bomb of February 1996 only to find himself wrongly accused of involvement in terrorism by the British press. His name having been duly cleared young Dubliner BRENDAN WOOLHEAD should have been able to put the worst behind him. Instead, he succumbed to heroin addiction and died in a London hospital having just undergone a costly and controversial detoxification treatment that is now being advertised in Ireland. In the week of the inquest into his death, OLAF TYARANSEN reports on the disturbing implications of a tragic case.
An icon of the radical left, Noam Chomsky has long been one of the fiercest critics of US foreign policy. During a rare visit to Ireland, he explains why the Bush Presidency might be the most dangerous yet.
The murder of human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson sent shockwaves throughout Ireland and beyond. As was the case with the murder of Pat Finucane almost exactly ten years before, there are suspicions of security force collusion, and a feeling that anyone who speaks out for the beleaguered nationalist community is putting their own life in Danger. Report: Niall Stanage.
From circus dwarves, incest and lesbian love affairs to severed organs and transvestite Indian brothels, John Irving’s novels are awash with enough tales of screwball sex and lurid violence to make even Quentin Tarantino blush. With his mammoth new 633-page novel A Son Of The Circus just published, the multi-million selling New Hampshire author indulges in a spot of verbal wrestling with liam fay, who discovers why he should keep this particular tête-à-tête purely literary. Pix: Cathal Dawson.
Gosh. 2004. We came (almost literally when Quentin T. swaggered back into town), we saw, we felt gooey. An awesome, sweltering, overwhelming time was had by all – well, by movie buffs at any rate. Dead genres arose and appeared to many. Documentaries – long the bridesmaid of cinema history – got their groove back, thanks in part to that Moore fellow’s rants and raves.
Released in 1999 Paddy Casey’s debut album went double-platinum, establishing him as one of Ireland’s brightest prospects. but the intervening four years have seen that crown slip, as a succession of homegrown singer songwriters battled their way into contention, outstripping him in terms of record sales – and hard graft. now casey is back in the frame, with his long-waited follow-up, the cheekily titled Living – an album that sees him gloriously back on top of his game. why did it take four years to make? the answer to that burning question may go back even further. because Paddy Casey’s life story is truly a remarkable one.
Moviehouse meets the creative team behind King Arthur, the rollicking action-adventure story shot on location in County Wicklow. just don’t mention the Irish weather.
From A to Z, Paul Nolan and Ronan Fitzgerald introduce all the runners and riders for Punchestown – throwing in a baker’s dozen of acts who are not to be missed* along the way
When it was first published, very few people would have predicted the extraordinary, best-selling success of Fever Pitch. Now, NICK HORNBY s winning story of a chronic football obsessive has been elevated to the big screen. But, in a world of bungs, bootboys, bandwagon-jumpers and the relentless hype of Sky Sports, is he still in love with the (sometimes not so) beautiful game? Interview: CRAIG FITZSIMONS.
When it was first published, very few people would have predicted the extraordinary, best-selling success of Fever Pitch. Now, NICK HORNBY s winning story of a chronic football obsessive has been elevated to the big screen. But, in a world of bungs, bootboys, bandwagon-jumpers and the relentless hype of Sky Sports, is he still in love with the (sometimes not so) beautiful game? Interview: CRAIG FITZSIMONS.
The Corrs hit paydirt with In Blue, an album of memorable pop songs that topped the charts in over twenty countries around the world. It gave them the breathing space they needed to re-establish their roots, to live a little and to reassess their purpose as a band. Now, with the release of Borrowed Heaven, they’re back in the music biz frontline – slightly older, considerably wiser, but still with the same hunger to make great and honest records.
The technology which drives home entertainment is changing, and it's changing fast. Colm O'Hare takes a close-up look at what's happening in hi-fi, television, video and home cinema technology and discovers that the future has already arrived.
Moving on from last year's Guiding Light album, singer songwriter John Hegarty is to perform a special set of 'Joyce' songs at the James Joyce Centre in Dublin.
Hard house is this year s biggest dance craze, and it was born at the most renowned
after-hours gay club in the world, Trade. MARK KAVANAGH talks to LAURENCE MALICE,
the Caligula of clubland , about excess, success and his Irish roots. Photographs: Myles Claffey
Hot Press' answer to Russell Grant, Jackie Hayden, slips into his chunky-knit jumper, gazes at his crystal ball and comes up with more predictions that probably won't come true. Like last year.
JEAN BUTLER was at the very heart of the Riverdance phenomenon, as the original Eurovision interval set-piece was transformed into the most successful dance stage-show ever. Now, for the first time, she tells her side of that extraordinary saga. In a blistering broadside, she accuses her co-star MICHAEL FLATLEY of rampant egotism and argues that she's never been given the credit she deserves for the show's sensational impact. And then there's the question of money...
Interview: JOE JACKSON
With a self-recorded and self-released album – called simply O – Damien Rice has emerged as a major force in Irish music. But that’s just the start of it: the record is now in the charts in both the U.S. and the U.K., and with the kind of momentum he has generated, the feeling is that it might just go all the way.
Hailed as one of the UK s hottest young talents, and having appeared in such successes as Michael Collins, The Magnificent Abersons, and Velvet Goldmine, Jonathan Rhys-Myers is in fact Dublin-born and raised in Cork. OLAF TYARANSEN met the rising star. Thesp Behaviour: Peter Matthews
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.
A top American psychologist claims she has unearthed disturbing evidence of CIA involvement with British Intelligence in Northern Ireland.
Olaf Tyaransen reports.
Hot Press is 20 years old? Drokk it , so is 2000 AD! The mag edited by an Alien, produced by Art & Script-Droids, and read by Earthlets everywhere the one which revolutionised the comic industry, and of the Graphic Novel. ANDY DARLINGTON assesses its cultural impact and legacy.
Our annual HP-7 summit brings together some of the pre-eminent movers and shakers in irish music to reflect on everything from backstage catering to the end of war, pestilence and famine. Your host: Stuart Clark.
It should have been the biggest indoor rock n roll knees-up of the year but oasis three nights at The Point were as notable for what happened off stage as for what happened on it. Does Liam s partial no show spell the end for the dreadnoughts of Britpop or is it just the latest hiccup in a career that seems to thrive on adversity? Report: siobhAn LONG.
The long, barren post-World Cup drought is almost over as the promised land of yet another footie season hoves into view. Jonathan O’Brien assesses the contenders and no-hopers for the 1998/99 Premiership
An overnight success story that was years in the making, The Strokes have been dismissed as flagrant hype and lauded as the saviours of rock 'n' roll. Eamon Sweeney, a journalist who has spent more time in their company than most, gets the fullest account yet of the rise and rise of New York's band of brothers. "Whatever happens, we'll be there together," they tell him. "we won’t let each other fall."
Fermanagh is a county that s accommodated a rake of musical traditions both past and present. Split by the sibling lakes of Upper and Lower Lough Erin, Fermanagh s musical identity is as diverse as her geography, to the extent that at times there s little or no crossover in musical style from north to south of the county and vice versa.
In an exclusive interview, Once stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova talk about the love affair that sneaked up on them, recall their Oscar-winning adventures, give us the inside track on the movie's remarkable success and explain what it's like to hang out with the Coen brothers for an evening.
It’s the guide Ladbrokes, the Central Bank, Mystic Meg and Mark Lawrenson turn to at the start of each year – Jackie Hayden’s cultural, sporting and political forecasts for the forthcoming twelve months.
In a remarkable interview, the legendary David Kelly looks back on a long and adventurous career including parts in box office smashes, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and Waking Ned.
It's been over four intriguing years since Damien Rice's extraordinary debut album O was launched. That record went on to become a huge underground international hit, selling in excess of 2 million copies. Now his long-awaited follow-up – the similarly simply titled 9 – is finally ready to hit the shops. So how did Rice so successfully capture the collective imagination? And will the latest instalment in the Rice musical biography propel him to even greater heights? Hot Press talks exclusively to some of the key players in his remarkable rise and rise.
The Waterboys are back, with arguably their most complete record yet, Book Of Lightning. In this remarkably open and honest interview, Mike Scott talks about his songwriting genius, about relationships, his family, his boozy years in Galway - and turning U2 onto Greenpeace.
During the late eighties, Aslan were among the most celebrated of Irish rock acts, immensely popular at home and signed to EMI, a major multinational label, on which they released their debut album, Feel No Shame. And then it all came unstuck, amid squalid tabloid accusations of drug addiction, egotism and recrimination. Now they re back, older, wiser and more resolute but with their musical batteries recharged, a new contract with BMG under their belts and that old emotional band intact. Report: Liam Fay (with additional reporting by George Byrne).
During the late eighties, ASLAN were among the most celebrated of Irish rock acts, immensely popular at home and signed to EMI, a major multinational label, on which they released their debut album Feel No Shame. And then it all came unstuck, amid squalid tabloid accusations of drug addiction, egotism and recrimination. Now they’re back, older, wiser and more resolute – but with their musical batteries recharged, a new contract with BMG under their belts and that old emotional band intact. Report: LIAM FAY (with additional reporting by GEORGE BYRNE). Pix: MICK QUINN
MIKE SCOTT once fronted the greatest rock n roll band in the world, but before the world got a chance to wake up to the fact he had gone west and invented raggle taggle. Now with a new Waterboys album, A Rock In The Weary Place, just released, Scott takes time out to reflect on his strange but true adventure. By PETER MURPHY
CORONATION STREET. It s an
institution. So who wants to live in an institution? Well - there s Ken Barlow, Vera Duckworth, Deirdre, Fiona . . . you know them all, don t you? Be
honest! ANDY DARLINGTON visits
the Street of Dreams, and finds out that it s real!
Snow Patrol keyboard-player Tom Simpson was absent from court this morning as his lawyer successfully asked for a continuation of his cocaine possession case.
"It simply cannot find a grammar to make a bunch of people sitting at computer screens look any more interesting than they might do in a civil service office."
Joining the ranks of surveillance flicks such as My Little Eye and Section 8, this latest post-reality TV offering is (initially) suitably sinister, conceptually quite challenging and loaded with big, hefty ideas that nod toward Foucault and Orwell and so forth. But just as you’re there thinking ‘Ah, so we make our own prisons’ and, ‘So Big Brother isn’t just a vile televisual concept of ever-limboing standards’, things go terrifically awry.
Misleadingly pitched as 'Die Hard in a POW camp' thanks to the presence of Bruce Willis, Hart's War is actually a thoughtful if undeniably plodding drama
The first single to be taken from the Devlins’ forthcoming ‘Consent’ album, ‘Static in the Flow’ is the kind of single that seems ideally suited to the airwaves in America.
Us (and it must be said, what a hackneyed, brilliant title) is a poignant little gem of a record, powered by enough gorgeous hooks and melodic tricks to, partially, confirm MacIntyre’s reputation as a Pro Tools Brian Wilson.
April 26 sees radio duo Donna Legge and David O’Reilly enter the realm of the audio-visual in Across The Line TV, with Snow Patrol playing a starring role in the warm-up special
The oft-overlooked green of the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin will be the location for The Modern Comedy Carnival, featuring the likes of Tommy Tiernan, Des Bishop, Emo Philips and Keith Barry.
This fascinating album sits down fiddler Séamus Creagh, accordionist Aidan Coffey and guitarist Mick Daly alongside five of their Newfoundland counterparts, to collaborate on tunes from both traditions.
Snow Patrol’s former record company, Jeepster, cash in on the band’s newfound success by re-releasing their Songs For Polarbears and When It’s All Over We Still Have To Clear Up albums in expanded form.
Not only can you vote your fave new band onto the Witnness bill via Today FM - you can do the very same via BBC Radio 1, whose Northern Ireland Sessions are also bringing the power to the people
Whether you are looking for a new bass player, an entire new set of comrades or merely a human beat box the famed hotpress musicians contacts will help you look for you northern soul mates.
…Unless, that is, you live in Belfast. Colin Carberry talks to Sean Kelly, director of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, about the exciting and diverse range of events lined up for this year’s programme.
Colin Carberry talks to Jimmy Devlin, co-founder of the No Dancing label, which continues to provide an invaluable outlet for young Northern Irish bands seeking wider exposure.
Foul-mouthed rebels with their fingers on the trigger and a take-no-prisoners attitude - no, it’s not the latest from Stormont, it’s Colin Carberry’s guide to the Northern Irish bands to look out for this year.
The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival offers a take on modern Belfast that rings true, as well as an eclectic musical line-up and some controversial readings from modern UK writers says Colin Carberry
After more than 15 years BBC Radio Ulster's Across The Line is undergoing something of a re-vamp. Colin Carberry reports on why this is good news for fans, and bands, on both sides of the border
Either we’re intoning for the good weather of last year - we’ve been thoroughly spoiled with great outdoor shows this summer - but there’s no chance whatsoever of picking up the much coveted farmer’s sunburn at this year’s Oxegen. If you thought to bring an umbrella to this year’s festival, you’re certainly ahead of the game…
It seems that two of Galway's finest comedy venues have come to an agreement about how to maximise the entertainment in the Tribal city
Brendan Burke has branched out into the promotions game and is hosting a series of comedy gigs in Gibney’s of Malahide on Friday evenings
The oh-so-lucky winners of the trip to NYC (not to mention a trip to Donegal, Hot Press subscriptions and a huuuge signed poster of The Revs) are announced
The Strokes? Pah! Last night's jammed Billy Bob Thornton gig in Vicar Street (stars on the stage, stars in the audience, queues round the block) is the current front runner for gig of the year. Hot Press, of course, was there (consider us your private radio)
If sweat beads and airbrushed, anaesthetised rock is your thing, then Skin will set your hair on end. If on the other hand, you hanker for a sound that’s a touch more thoughtful, save your sheckels for Bruce or Ani.
Once mocking pop-art contenders and Virgin’s original intercontinental explorers, XTC now settle in Swindon and purvey a rural psychedelia that’s as English as tuppence, cucumber sandwiches and cream teas.
Reluctant to follow in the tradition of 'toilet tour' promotion, Autamata will be selling his music - and a few cars - when his track 'Fragments' features in an American TV ad for Mitsubishi
So far, think classic '80s Depeche Mode, The Young Gods, Nine Inch Nails, Faithless and Death in Vegas - good goth/dance/pomp rock/freaked out fusion stuff - all shouty and melodramatic but still sweet and smooth
Rock the Vote Ireland is a non-profit, non-partisan organisation with one simple aim: to increase youth voter turnout in Irish Election. Find out more here [free content]
Bronagh Gallagher, Autamata, The Radio and The Divine Comedy are among the artists that will be performing as part of RTE's new season of Other Voices, Songs From A Room
At last, Caesar, news from our legions in the North... Empire comedy club regular Patrick McGaughey recently visited the International's Comedy Cellar where he easily won over that most discerning of audiences with a flawless routine
...because the new Reindeer Section album is en route, arriving June 14th and featuring peeps from The Vaselines, Belle and Sebastian and Mogwai among others. Our sources say it's just brilliant, too
The first solo album in nine years is an inspiring example of how a legendary superstar can still make challenging music long after what one might justifiably have assumed to be his sell-by date
THIS WEEK'S batch of demos includes some by bands who have had my feet tapping in the past. Unfortunately, the results aren't always quite as captivating as first time round.
Nice to see Father Ted’s Graham Linehan back in Dublin recently, taking a break from writing his latest project, a comedy feature film set in ‘20s Paris
It appears that the Smuggler’s Tour scheduled for Vicar St on February 18th and featuring Howard Marks and Robert Sabbag has been canceled
Tommy Tiernan is keeping schtum about his recent visit to the USA where he ‘had talks’ with TV entertainment giant NBC
Dunno if there were too many Red Bulls in the backstage rider this evening, but something has given Thom Yorke wiiings. In fact, along with Thom’s frantic making-shapes-in-the-air dancing, there are many factors to indicate this is not a garden-variety Radiohead experience...
With The Panel set to return for a series of election specials, show regular Mairead Farrell discusses the state of the body politic, doorstep meetings with Bertie Ahern and her encounter with Bill Clinton.
Not content with making audiences around the country laugh, comedian IAN COPPINGER recently came perilously close to causing Irish comedy s first mirth-induced death.
BARRY GLENDENNING hears all.
In the Port-au-Prince shanty Cité Soleil, “the most dangerous place on earth”, the violent youths employed to do the bidding of then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide are called chimeres or ghosts. The name is apt; those who aren’t dead soon will be.
Of the many festivals that took place over the Bank Holiday weekend, Indie-Pendence – previously known as the Mitchelstown Music Festival, but since raised a level or three in the coolness stakes – had the most to offer, yet was the most precarious.
Armed with a bigger budget, it might’ve been tempting for Snow Patrol to buff up their sound, but thankfully they’ve retained the rawness and fragility of old.
In between stifling yawns at the relentlessly flashy edits, one can expect mucho macho angst, and a Christian allegory so fixated on salvation it could be authored by Mel Gibson’s Free-Presbyterian equivalent.
Keyboards at the ready, modems on standby: here it is, a quick-fire tour of some of the entertainment websites from the north that matter. In theory, we were going to give you the definitive A-Z guide, but we couldn't find anything beginning with a Q or an X . Neverthless, here we go . .
'I feel my quill is broken! The organ of my imagination has withered! The very towers of my genius have crumbled!' Aye, pal, I know that feeling well: it seizes me every fortnight as I sit down to crank out my copy. The difference is that people actually read Shakespeare, even many centuries after his departure.
Pugwash are justifiably chuffed this week after hearing that one of the songs from their Almanac album, ‘Anyone Who Asks’, has made it on to the soundtrack of the new Ed Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight movie, Pride & Glory.
Tim Wheeler from Ash, Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol and Radio 1’s Colin Murray are among the active supporters of a project to establish a dedicated music centre for Belfast.
Colin MacIntyre of Mull Historical Society divulges his festival secrets to Hannah Hamilton, including an encounter with Ian Brown in the ladies' toilets...
While we have taken RTE television to task in the past for its less-than-perfect comedy output it seems that RTE Radio 1 is determined to make up for lost ground
He is the doyen of one-liners and one of the great physical comedians of the age. But don’t expect Emo Philips to crack up when conversation turns to the subject of Ireland’s roads.
Today sees the first unveiling of the complete Hot Press Covers Exhibition online, featuring a selection of the great and historic images that have adorned the front page of the magazine, from June 1977 onwards
It was a well deserved triumph for bloody-minded independence when Glen Hansard lifted the Oscar for 'Best Original Song', with his Swell Season partner Marketa Irglova at his side.
Niall Stokes kicks off the second installment of Hot Press’ Asian themed issues by arguing that Michael McDowell’s proposed withdrawal of work provisions for Chinese nationals is misguided and reactionary.
The press didn t want him in the Ireland team, he had to mark a 6 4 Czech on his debut, and he got hauled off at half-time. Paul Butler . . . come on down!
WE ARE pleased to report that following the second anniversary of the Murphy’s Corduroy Comedy Club (The Norseman, Temple Bar, Thursday nights), resident compere John Henderson has decided to move upstairs (metaphorically speaking, of course – the Club is already upstairs) in order to oversee Corduroy affairs from his new position as Director of Comedy.
They go out in the freezing cold at 3am for condoms and spend hours searching for the G-spot. With St. Valentine’s Day romance in the air, our sex columnist says, ‘Let’s hear
it for the boys’...
The Irish music industry has spawned a number of official bodies and companies, who provide invaluable services especially relevant to artists going the independent route. But what do these operators actually do? Here, we present a handy run-down on the key bodies and expert companies out there waiting to serve you.
OKAY, SO Manchester United may have been held to a 2-2 draw by David Elleray last week, but there can be no doubt as to the biggest story of the footballing fortnight.
Former Oranmore oyster farmer Gerry Mallon may regard himself as something of an accidental stand-up, but nevertheless he’s one of the main players in the burgeoning Galway comedy scene.
It was the year Annie Kelly posthumously made her mark on the Northern Prison system and Janet Jackson caused uproar with her mammary moment at the Super Bowl. All in all, 2004 was a weird but not always wonderful 12 months.
It was the year Annie Kelly posthumously made her mark on the Northern Prison system and Janet Jackson caused uproar with her mammary moment at the Super Bowl. All in all, 2004 was a weird but not always wonderful 12 months.
FOUL Play would like to say "Fair Play" to Sonia O'Sullivan for winning the silver medal in the 15,000 metres, and for fooling everyone - the media, the general public, the other athletes - into thinking that she was really going for the 3,000 metres, and that she was only out for the gallop in the shorter event.
How the Sunday Independent is boosting the tourism industry by convincing English readers that Ireland is populated exclusively by amiable drunkards, rock stars, men who drive fast cars and women wearing little or no clothing.
It s a kind of an honour to be invited in here. The scenery isn t so special a rented office in an industrial park in west Belfast, lined with concrete.
The Hot Press Irish Music Awards proved to be as keenly contested as ever with U2, Ash and The Corrs emerging as big winners. But the number of awards acknowledging nascent talent prove there’s more heavy-hitters waiting in the wings
If we can force the Western armies out of Iraq then we will have put a halt to the gallop of those who are using the might of the US military to impose their brute agenda on the world.
U2 frontman speaks about "the biggest pandemic since the bubonic plague" and urges middle America to use their nation's huge financial power and get involved. "Our age will be remembered," he says, "for three things: the war against terror, the Internet, and how we let an entire continent burst into flames and stood around with water in cans"
The fact that he’s incapable of giving a simple answer to a simple question is the least of the many reasons to want George Bush out of the white house.
Last issue we profiled a selection of Irish acts who released records for the Christmas market. Here JACKIE HAYDEN, GERRY McGOVERN AND COLM O’HARE PROFILE five more who've come up trumps – from Jimmy MacCarthy, one of Ireland's best known songwriters, to young hopefuls, Sunbear.
On this, the occasion of my last Demo Parade (yes, readers, the sad truth is that by the time you read this I will be back home in the United States) I thought it would be appropriate to look back on my reviews and pick out the ten best demo tracks of my year at Hot Press.
With politicians up in arms about flower-beds while Raytheon helps destroy Lebanon, it’s enough to make even Tony Blair frown. Thank god we still have rock.
RELISH
Another Downpatrick act with the chance to make good. Now signed to EMI Ireland, a single is due presently. Previous demos found them mixing a gleaming American rock sound with soulful vocals, not unlike Roachford or Terence Trent d Arby. A challenge to anyone s marketing department, but still preferrable to the average indie toss.
Folk centre with Sarah McQuaid: the forthcoming debut solo album from Nollaig Casey features contributions from such luminaries as Sharon Shannon, Rod Mcvey and Liam Bradley.
I think I know how Ireland could win more gold medals at athletics. The thought struck me as I watched the wondrous performances of the Kenyan squad at Stuttgart, and recalled both the role played in Kenyan athletic success by the Irish Catholic clergy and the rather different role played at home by the Christian Brothers.
Following in the footsteps of such luminaries as W.B. Yeats, Ray McSharry and Tommie Gorman, western folk heroes Dervish have recently been honoured as Free Men of Sligo.
The glut of fingerpointing and speculation in the wake of our World Cup exit has generally been based on ignorance and a green-tinted view of the past. Niall Stokes asks the hard questions, and answers them.
EAMONN McCANN journeys to America s west coast and encounters the same GLOBAL issues of bigotry and prejudice. To compensate, though, he also savours the pleasures, musical, cultural and alcoholic, of San Fran.
