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
JOSI RAMOS HORTA, the Nobel Laureate from East Timor, on the Indonesian genocide which has killed one-third of his people and Ireland and the world can do to help. Report: SIOBHAN LONG.
Muse's live sound engineer Marc Carolan on hair-raising experiences on the Russia-Ukraine border, Mexican earthquakes, Paris Hilton and playing Madison Square Garden and Wembley Stadium.
Annual article: War, famine, pestilence, plague and death...it’s been a cheerful 2005. Here is the Hot Press summary of the events that shook the world.
She may have met her prince in a bar in Santa Fe but their marriage has introduced her to a sacred oriental art that she is bringing to the west for the first time. Princess Marianne of Bali describes how ‘tantra’ turned her life around.
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
Bob Geldof recalls his initial response to the tsunami disaster in South East Asia and outlines the fundamental differences between it and the ongoing crises in Africa.
East Timor may be out of the headlines but for those on the ground the problem in that ravaged country is less one of re-building than of almost total construction from scratch. MACDARA DOYLE reports.
A former skateboarding god and young entrepreneur of the year, Davie Philip exchanged the fast life for the good life. Iva Pocock reports on the curious making of a passionate green activist
In the middle of the present rather straitened times, it may seem a bit previous, as they say in Cavan, to be talking about the recession bottoming out. well, actually, in its own rather weary wary piddly way, it is.
An Irish band who don’t entirely fit in at home, Relish can console themslves with a great new album Karma Calling, and an international fanbase that stretches from the U.S. to Japan.
An Irish band who don’t entirely fit in at home, Relish can console themslves with a great new album Karma Calling, and an international fanbase that stretches from the U.S. to Japan.
If there were handouts for the shy and retiring, Dervish would be at the back of the queue. Never backward in coming forward, this Sligo/Roscommon ensemble have elevated audience rapport to an art form that's sadly all too rarely practised round these here parts. Lead singer, Cathy Jordan (the sole Roscommon interloper amid a quintet of Sligomen) delights in the more quirky and bizarre backgrounds to the band's songs and tunes. And somehow they all seem to treat a night flight to Kuala Lumpur with the same gravity as they would a skite to Kenmare. Dervish live and breathe on the road. Its interminable miles are the band's sustenance, its cat's eyes their compass to the next town, the next continent, and the next gig.
BellX1 have given one of the tracks from their Flock album to Oxfam as a free download to publicise the charity’s ‘Generation Why’ arms control initiative.
On Sunday 16 October a unique event takes place in The Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, as the climax of the 1994 Dublin Theatre Festival. Organised by Amnesty International, Voices Of The Disappeared is intended to highlight their campaign on “ Disappearances” and Political Killings. Stuart Carolan reports.
This, Tarika's fourth album, has been recorded and ready for quite some time, but was back-burnered for several months following the dissolution of their label, Wicklow.
Dirk Whittenborn started his writing career on the cult us show saturday night live in the 1970s when the hedonistic, cocaine-fuelled lifestyle claimed the talents of many of his contemporaries, including John Belushi. Whittenborn survived - but only after brutal heart surgery.
As Barack Obama gets ready to take up residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Bob Geldof, Josh Ritter and Laura Izibor offer their views on his presidency. Plus what the rest of the rock ‘n’ roll community including Bruce Springsteen and Ani DiFranco are saying about the new man in the White House.
After years when her triumphs were in danger of being masked by her tribulations, DOLORES O RIORDAN is back in defiantly upbeat form. She talks to STUART CLARK about confidence, critics, Calvin Klein and her confirmation-size breasts ! Pics: MICK QUINN.
Former cop, private eye and the only man on the Presidential ballot paper, derek nally is the dark horse candidate who could yet shake up the race for the Park. Here he holds forth on low standards in high places, how Sean Doherty almost destroyed the gardai , the foul treatment of Albert Reynolds, the case for the decriminalisation of prostitution and why he wasn t surprised by J. Edgar Hoover s penchant for frocks. Interview: liam fay.
Pix: Cathal dawson.
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.
She calls Him her “Great Lover”. He tells her to “call Me Daddy”. At any hour of the day or night Himself is likely to drop into the life of Vassula Ryden for a bit of a chinwag. She, in turn, broadcasts His words to the world at large. All of which means that, in what amounts to the metaphysical journalistic coup of the century, our Liam Fay gets an exclusive interview with The Holy Spirit.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers visited Lansdowne Road, Dublin on July 8 but we caught up with the band in Paris recently and heard why the west coast warriors of funk-rock have never been hotter
A mere six months after taking on the role of Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern has been appointed by Kofi Annan as one of four envoys to assist in the reform of the United Nations and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals. Jackie Hayden spoke to him last week in his Dundalk office about this key appointment, as well as a range of key issues including the war in Iraq, political bribery, Shannon refuelling stops, Gerry Adams and the IRA, our immigration policy, the Health service, his real hopes for the Peace Process and the influence of Dave Fanning on his musical tastes. Photography by Emily Quinn.
Dublin's unlikely new Lord Mayor, Tomás MacGiolla, gets a lot off his chest on subjects as diverse as pomp and ceremony, government discrimination against Dublin, the re-zoning scandal, violence and prostitution on the streets of the capital, conspiracies to undermine the Workers Party and, inevitably, his palpable bitterness towards Democratic Left. Interview: Liam Fay. Pics: Colm Henry.
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]
While the international community comes to the aid of the South East Asia tsunami victims, it’s worth remembering that an equivalent number of people die every week in Africa from disease and starvation.
The violence sparked by cartoons mocking the prophet Mohammed forces us to ask serious questions about the importance of free speech – and the responsibilities which that right entails.
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...
Unfortunately, it may mean the US getting into a huddle with "rogue states" but the important business of keeping women and gays in their place has seen the creation of an unlikely Islamic-Christian alliance