Civil rights activists, and a small handful of political supporters in Dail Eireann, are campaigning for marriage rights for gay couples in Ireland – at precisely the moment that Rome has upped the ante in its condemnation of homosexuality. once again, old style battle lines are being drawn between church and state. Imogen Murphy reports
The grand dame of country and western music tells Olaf Tyaransen about her enduring passion for her music, her attachment to her tennessee roots, the ups and downs of her 36-year marriage and her ambitions to record an album of traditional Irish tunes
Dublin singer-songwriter MICHELE ANN KELLY has been nominated as “Advocate of the Month” by the Marriage Equality campaign, having declared her support for the concept of Marriage Equality by dedicating a share of proceeds from the sale of her current single ‘Time’ to the campaign.
Cowboy X’s follow up to debut ‘Gabbi’ continues their marriage of Kim Deal vocals and Goldfrapp melodies, amid wafts of guitar-induced electronica. Peppered with hooks, ‘Between The Hit And The Miss’ references punk and radio-friendly pop before erupting into a mass of sunshine electronica. Constantly shifting styles and consistently engaging, this is pop music for the thinking man. Good stuff.
Oh Jesus. This reminds me of the time I got my Dad to rap. Granted, we couldn’t afford an expensive-sounding backbeat – unlike Brown, who puts a brilliant marriage of chugging strings and delicate harp arpeggi utterly to waste. The tooth-grinding rhymes and turgid flow are truly horrendous, and the best part of the song arrives in its closing seconds, when Brown lets guest star Sinéad O’Connor sing without his tuneless groan sprawling all over it.
They don’t call him the Mighty Stef for nothing – brimming with showmanship and out-on-a-limb theatrics, this double A-side is the perfect marriage of knowing, indie melody and uplifting, crowd-pleasing pop. ‘Liars’ gives the Nolan Sisters a wry nod (as you do), while on first impression ‘Prayer For The Broken Hearted’ sounds as though Nick Cave found the happy pills (and cabaret).
The label which brought us The White Stripes, Electric Six and The Avalanches now treats us to this visionary marriage of melodramatic funk and Queen-like mock operatics.
Earlier this year, Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford spent £20,000 on a full page newspaper ad to put an end to rumours about their three-year-old marriage. It boldly declared “We got married because we love each other and decided to make a life together.
Bearing far more resemblance to the languid rhythms of Iranian cinema than Head On or other recent emanations from the Turkish new wave, Climates charts the slow, painful dissolution of a marriage.
On first impression Making Music So You Don’t Have To is a ticklish, impulsive body of work, but its happy, functional marriage of strings, piano and guitars hints that the band have played nice, taken their hyperactivity medication and developed the album into a gratifyingly mature, ambitious and reflective work.
This ethnic marriage comedy centres on the poignantly plain Toula who made for a ‘swarthy six-year old with sideburns’ and at thirty is even more badly in need of industrial-strength moustache bleach than ever
Francois Ozon’s latest, a clinical dissection of marital failure, is a cunning, contemplative film that relies on the implication rather than the explicit presentation of drama. As the title suggests, the film is structured episodically with five scenes from Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Stephane Freiss’ marriage.
Gilpin has a natural feel for folk, rock, blues, bluegrass and country and on this album he makes a true marriage out of what can often be a shotgun wedding
Suzanne Vega talks to COLM O HARE about the
proliferation of serious female artists, the break-up of her marriage and incorporating spoken word into her performances
They scream and bawl at each other, and to the casual observer it looks like just another mutually abusive relationship. But we know better. This is the sound of discordant devotion, a marriage of highbrow concepts and barbarian rhythms spawning sweetly twisted music.
This graphically personal and confessional album is reputed to be about the agonising and acrimonious break-up of Dylan’s marriage to Sara Lowndes, and it sees him alternately at his most vicious and his most vulnerable.
Since he debuted with Dressed Up Like Nebraska in 1998 Rouse’s music has got mellower by the album. His last effort 1972 was a tribute to the light rock of his birth year. This treads similar ground and is an introspective singer-songwriter affair.
Each song is deeply personal and focuses on the mundane. Recorded during the dissolution of Josh’s marriage, the general mood is melancholic.
The forthcoming single ‘Time’ by Michele Ann Kelly, to be released in June, is being dedicated by the Dublin singer-songwriter to the campaign for Marriage Equality.
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.
PEOPLE BUYING magazines for sick Grannies in hospital beware! It may sound like the sort of publication that has Russell Grant doing the horoscopes and Richard Madely talking about his perfect marriage, but the only pricks in For Women are of the bell-ended variety.
The gay marriage debate was reignited when the Government’s Civil Partnership Bill, while allowing for same sex partnerships, fell short of legislating for gay and lesbian marriage. In an unusually frank exchange, Green Party justice spokesman CIARAN CUFFE debates the merit of the bill with Dermod Moore.
Undeniably powerful, ruthlessly emotive, deeply manipulative but competent in the extreme, it's the (somewhat sanitised) life-story of Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Forbes Nash, his marriage and his recurring battles with paranoid schizophrenia
Kirsty MacColl has added another string to her bow with a new album heavily influenced by Cuban and Brazilian music. She told Niall Stanage about the album s genesis, the break-up of her marriage to Steve Lillywhite and why there s no Left in Britain anymore .
Her novels have charmed millions of readers around the world, but in Ireland she remains best known as the Taoseach's daughter. As her third book is published, Cecelia Ahern talks about success, politics and how her parents' separation coloured her thoughts on love and marriage.
Tanya Donelly star of the upwardly flying Belly, wouldn't sleep with Robert Redford for a million dollars and she wouldn't throw her knickers at Tom Jones. But she is engaged, believes in the concept of marriage - and is on her way to Sunstroke. Interview: Andrew Darlington
Sex abuse by priests is just one reflection of a problem that is at the heart of the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church-its defininition of sex outside the confines of marriage as a sin.
CHRIS DONOVAN looks at the incremental progress of the would-be King of Slane, who tells him about life, love, Christianity, veganism and scoring for films Plus: Profiles of Slane s other attractions, MACY GRAY, MEL C, BRYAN ADAMS, THE SCREAMING ORPHANS and DARA. Also: A Quickie with LORD HENRY MOUNTCHARLES
The recipient of a Late Late Show tribute and the outgoing presenter of The Arts Show, MIKE MURPHY avails of a timely opportunity to reflect on the highs and lows of his personal and professional life and to assure JOE JACKSON that, contrary to certain popular mythology, he is neither a marshmallow nor a flowerpot man
Mary Harney grew up on a farm in Co. Dublin, experiencing what she herself calls "a normal childhood". Having completed a convent education she studied at Trinity College, and became the first woman auditor of the prestigious Hist. Soc., where she mingled and met with many of the then present and future politicos of the era.
THE CORRS' public image is one of unblemished beauty and soaraway success. But beneath the pop sheen lurk the darker lyrical themes of Andrea
Corr.
JOE JACKSON talks to her about the inspiration behind some of the Corrs' biggest hits, hears her anger at recent critical reaction and finds out what "Ireland's sexiest woman" really thinks about love, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll and the whole damn thing.
The trauma of his mother's death; the joy of his marriage to Yvonne; the truth about his sex life; the pressures of growing up in public; the importance of peer respect; the offers of a solo career; and how America might hold the key to keeping boyzone together. In his most personal and revealing interview to date, ronan keating talks to joe jackson
The trauma of his mother's death; the joy of his marriage to Yvonne; the truth about his sex life; the pressures of growing up in public; the importance of peer respect; the offers of a solo career; and how America might hold the key to keeping boyzone together. In his most personal and revealing interview to date, ronan keating talks to joe jackson
The trauma of his mother's death; the joy of his marriage to Yvonne; the truth about his sex life; the pressures of growing up in public; the importance of peer respect; the offers of a solo career; and how America might hold the key to keeping boyzone together. In his most personal and revealing interview to date, ronan keating talks to joe jackson
From stardom with Westlife to the breakup of his marriage, and a subsequent attempt to kickstart his solo career, Brian McFadden had an extraordinarily eventful year. With his private life routinely splashed all over the tabloids and controversy currently raging over everything from his latest video to his admiration for Nirvana, he remains in the eye of the storm. In a candid interview with hotpress, he discusses living his life in the media spotlight, his decision to leave Westlife, drink, drugs, sex and the continuing fallout from his break-up with his wife Kerry.
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.
Why do so many gay men find it difficult to honestly express their feelings towards their partners? And would the introduction of gay marriage really change anything?
With his new album sex, age and death in the shops, BOB GELDOF, songwriter and performer, is back in our midst. but after the traumatic personal events of the last five years - events which inform the songs on the new record - the private man is arguably under scrutiny as never before. In this heartfelt, eloquent and, at times, angry interview with JOE JACKSON, Geldof talks about the loss of Paula Yates, the death of Michael Hutchence and his own painful journey back to happiness
In his latest book, the high profile psychiatrist addresses the idea of masculinity in crisis. But is it fact or fiction? And how have his own experiences as husband, father and professional informed his views? Joe Jackson asks the questions. And, oh, is size really important. Doc Shots: MYLES CLAFFEY
In the second and final part of the ultimate interview, elvis talks about colonel Tom Parker, marriage to priscilla, his '68 comeback, his quest for enlightenment and the truth about his drug intake. but as he dreams of an exciting future, at 42 he doesn’t realise that the end is close at hand
*The quotes in this recreated interview are drawn from a wealth of reliable sources and involved extensive research into many rare articles and books
Love, sex, filth, money, sex, abortion, politics, sex, family, marriage, sex – and the whole damn thing. The BRENDAN O’CARROLL interview by JOE JACKSON. Pix: Michael Quinn.
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
“All men are bastards” Country star trisha yearwood firmly believed – until she met the one who would become her husband. Here, she talks to Joe Jackson about how her marriage to Robert Reynolds of The Mavericks has changed the way she looks at the opposite sex. She also discusses her rivalry with LeAnn Rimes, and the darker side of the Nashville country ’n’ western scene.
Pix: Cathal Dawson
Confronted by an autobiography with a dual narrator, Joe Jackson asks the real Ray Davies to stand up and testify on homosexuality, marriage, groupies, the essence of Kinkdom – and the true story of Lola.
One of the government’s most vocal and effective critics, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte could well be the next Tánaiste. He talks about iPods, happiness, gay marriage, breaking the law - and Enda Kenny’s hairdo.
Meeting the Pope, marriage to the Taoiseach’s daughter, the trouble with relationships, why they couldn’t have a hit with Bono, bad language on kids’ telly, golf in drugs out, Louis’ biggest lie and other tales from the lives of Westlife.
No problem! Eamon Gilmore has just taken over at the helm of the Labour Party. Here, in a wide-ranging interview, he talks about Bertie Ahern, the future of Labour, Gay marriage, God, abortion, bias in the media – and a whole lot more besides.
Having scored success with their TV series Pure Mule, director Declan Recks and playwright Eugene O’Brien have re-teamed for this fine award-winning drama.
In an exclusive interview with Hot Press, Green Party justice spokesman Ciaran Cuffe reveals the huge differences that exist between the Greens and Fianna Fail in government.
Ahead of his show at the comedy tent, Ireland's favourite comedian Tommy Tiernan dropped by the Hot Press Chatroom last night to answer the fans' questions.
The movie is a bit too langorous about establishing characters and themes, but the ultimately compelling depiction of entangled relationships and human frailty make it easy to see why the film has seduced critics
In an exclusive interview with Hot Press, Green Party justice spokesman Ciaran Cuffe reveals the huge differences that exist between the Greens and Fianna Fail in government.
ESSENTIALLY A warm and feelgood north-English comedy of the Full Monty variety, East Is East may not exactly cut it as a masterpiece, but it’s as enjoyable and curiously sweet as any film I’ve seen in recent weeks, and it deserves more than a good run at the “plexes.
"Today the world is top-heavy with information. Humans are losing instinct and are like domestic animals without masters. Dance is the only way to restore the senses to a body in crisis." - Oguri
The idea for a Sylvia Plath biopic has been knocking around since the writer’s suicide in 1962, and over the years various screenplays have visited the life of the tragic feminist icon.
With a string of hits for other performers, Gretchen Peters is very much a writers' writer, with Bryan Adams - co-writer of seven songs with her on his On A Day Like Today album - and Trisha Yearwood prominent on her list of admirers.
Backcombed bouffants, mullets and white boy Afros. No, we’re not talking about The A – Z Of Really Bad Haircuts, but the new Anton Corbijn photo-book, U2 & I, which serves up a pictorial history of the band from February 1982 (New Orleans) to April 2004 (Portugal). Pictures supplied courtesy of Anton Corblin/ U2 & I published by Schirmmer/Mosel
The fans took For The Birds to their collective bosom, and it went multi-platinum, establishing Hansard and co as the pioneers of Ireland’s burgeoning independent scene.
The extremely swish and sonically streamlined production will put off those who like their electronic music a little more rough and ready, but those who prefer their grooves to be as smoothly atmospheric as possible cannot fail be impressed.
A lot of people have expressed shock and outrage at the fact that the bishops and the clergy have been giving Bertie Ahern and his partner, Celia Larkin, a hard time of it recently
MIND-BOGGLING. There is no other word for it. A decade ago the country was tearing itself apart over the legalisation of divorce. Three years ago, we introduced it by the most slender of majorities – the vote split almost evenly down the middle and succeeded by less than one per cent. Now Councillor Anne Devitt of Fine Gael has proposed that we open up castles by the sea as “romantic” places in which to have civil weddings.
The charm of rural Ireland caught the attention of a couple rather out of the ordinary - supreme goth Marilyn Manson and his new wife Dita, a stripper.
Here's a "conversation" I had recently on the Internet, with someone I hadn't met before. We met in the "gay skinheads" group. It speaks for itself, really. Thanks William.
Fashion mags have been drooling over Sheffield’s Long Blondes for months now – a pavlovian reaction, one guesses, to frontwoman Kate Jackson’s knack for looking quite dapper in a vintage neck cravat.
But whereas previous solo albums had real fire and zest, the 12 tracks on Signature are impeccably played, crafted and sung, and it’s more likely to reveal its worth on repeat visits than hit you over the head on first hearing.
When the Pope claimed that condoms increase the problem of AIDS, he was putting the ideological and doctrinal interests of the Catholic Church ahead of the health of people.
TRM fans will take delight in being both surprised and disorientated - two signs of an excellent band that aren't afraid to flip the script and take a couple of risks
Cynics may see this album as a stop-gap release designed simply to fill the void back home, while
David Gray sets out to break America with White Ladder.
Music Review | Live
25% | 5 Jul 2004
Tanya Sweeney
The Datsuns have been riding high in the band-it’s-cool-to-love stakes.
Despite the overblown hype that has propelled the band to tabloid rock greatness, the Datsuns appear ungoverned by fad. Quite the opposite: their decidedly non-trendy brand of taut 70’s primordial rock wins tonight’s audience over.
The more I think about it, the more angry I feel. What is this bullshit the bishops have been peddling, about not understanding fully the seriousness of child sexual abuse?
The new album from Gomez has less of the 'shambling' quality of old - they retain some of the bluesy New Orleans muse that marked their previous albums Bring It On and Liquid Skin, but combine it with a harder-edged technological feel
This first solo offering by longstanding Jurassic 5 turntable maestro Cut Chemist has been eagerly awaited (hearing the latest Chemist-free J5 album was a telling reminder of how skilled a producer he is). Although it’s not a knockout performance, The Audience’s Listening delivers enough quality to satisfy most listeners.
By his own admission, Oklahoma-born Johnny Dowd lived the textbook American childhood, “driving in Daddy’s car, falling in love and listening to the radio”
By his own admission, Oklahoma-born Johnny Dowd lived the textbook American childhood, “driving in Daddy’s car, falling in love and listening to the radio”
Although One Dove's debut album Morning White Dove was only released in 1993, it seems like a lifetime ago that Dot Allison's sultry voice last graced a record with its Dusty Springfield-esque charm.
Duhan’s pedigree stretches back to his founding membership of '60s act Granny’s Intentions and encompasses a later songwriting career that has seen his generally dark and introspective songs covered by Christy Moore (as in the title track here), Mary Black, Francie Conway and Dolores Keane.
They may be one twin sister down, otherwise things remain stubbornly unchanged in camp Múm. Recorded largely in a deserted lightkeeper’s house, Summer Make Good boasts appropriate titles such as ‘Hu Hviss – A Ship’, ‘Abandoned Ship Bells’and ‘Oh How The Boat Drifts’, and the overall effect is a tender, intimate exploration of heavenly, frosted soundscapes.
The R Kelly saga continues with the frankly titled double album Happy People/U Saved Me. That’s right, Mr Robert Kelly, also known as “the Pied Piper” and now calling himself “the Musical Weatherman”, is back, and clearly he’s as eccentric as ever.
Headgear is the brainchild of Limerick studio rat Daragh Dukes – or perhaps brainstorm would be more apposite, given that this album teems with more ideas per second than Philip K Dick on a caffeine buzz.
While The Great Destroyer is a much more straightforward rock record, there is certainly still much to be admired in Parker and Sparhawk’s muted chemistry. Their cuddly intimacy has given way to a much more charged sound.
For some reason, the name that Galwegian Declan Burke has chosen for his altar ego, Larry Beau, is almost exquisitely intriguing; conjuring up greatly rich notions of theatrical showmanship and fanciful decadence. Fortunately, his debut album doesn’t disappoint in this respect.
McGuinness has established himself as something of a retro antidote to Dublin’s modern-day, introspective singer songwriters – the emphasis, it would appear, is on making fun, psychedelic records, and looking damn fine while doing it.
Under the direction of Joe Devlin, the Focus Theatre has taken on an impressive range of projects – not least two plays that tackle burning contemporary issues. Devlin tells us how he’s been carrying on the Focus tradition.
Absolutely pathetic on any number of levels, there is still a playfully awful je ne sais quoi about the film, which somehow compels you to take it to your heart.
RUGRATS IN PARIS –
THE MOVIE
Directed by Paul Demeyer and Stig Bergqvist. Featuring the voices of EG Daly, Cheryl Chase, Christine Cavanaugh, Kath Soucie, Casey Kesem, Debbie Reynolds, Susan Sarandon and John Lithgow
The second big-screen outing for the massively successful animated anklebiters, Rugrats in Paris is certainly as entertaining as the original movie.
If you’re in recovery from a head trauma or just jonesing for some prime Hollywood cheese might we point you in the direction of Awake, a suspenseful thriller with more holes in its story than Gary Condit and O.J. Simpson combined.
After endless procrastination, the Government is finally planning to introduce civil partnerships for gay people. But reports suggest that gay couples are to be denied the right to adopt.
From their inception, Electronic were always going to be dogged by high expectations. Let's face it, what act could possibly translate into music the point where three Manchester angles (The Smiths/Joy Division/New Order) trisected?
South Korean anime has always lagged behind that produced by big brother Japan, but Sky Blue’s lush dystopian tableaux and extravagant Wagnerian staging rivals practically anything the neighbours have come up with. Seven years in the making, you can see where Sky Blue’s vast team of animators put in the hours.
A frankly rather cynical Joe Jackson (no relation) suggests that love might not be the only reason that Lisa-Marie Presley's decided to become Mrs. Michael Jackson.
While An Taoiseach insists that being presented with thousands of pounds in a suitcase by shady businessmen is completely ‘normal’, the rest of us have our doubts.
When a long-term relationship ends, our sex columnist finds that her friends all want to rally around to uncover a brand new mate for her. Sometimes, however, their approach is somewhat less than subtle.
When Mr Smith went to Washington - or, actually, Hollywood - to perform his Oscar-nominated 'Miss Misery' from Good Will Hunting at the Academy Awards a few years ago, a worldwide audience of sensitive indie mopers cheered at the vindicating incongruity of it all.
Neither a ‘best of’ nor a collection of new material (the 14 tracks on the first CD are re-recordings of old songs); it’s a record that forces you to recontextualise the band’s work – asking questions about how their critiques of Thatcher’s Britain retain relevance in Blair-weary days.
Though much has been made of the darkened hues in Tim Burton’s new adaptation, few who saw Mel Stuart’s original screen version of Roald Dahl’s classic 1964 novel ever needed to be told about the dangers of strange men with sweets again.
The Royal Tenenbaums is clever, likeable and often funny - it's by no means the life-changing masterpiece you may have been led to believe, but there's no arguing with it while it lasts
The referendum of late 1995 at long last made divorce legal in Ireland. But lawyers are now charging #7,000 for even the most straightforward cases, if they can get away with it. JACKIE HAYDEN gives his own personal account of attempts at a legal rip-off. Pics: Sasfi Hope-Ross
Manson's impenetrable coldness and lack of emotion helped to make him a compelling figure, so it’s a little disconcerting to hear him wail with sadness over something as banal as heartbreak.
The quiff may have thinned somewhat, but at the grand old age of 43, Morrissey is still in great shape, his white shirt soon transparent with sweat, his collar loosened to accommodate frequent skin-revealing tugs
There is some predictable tomfoolery involving chewed furniture and an obedience school run by Kathleen Turner, but Marley And Me sneaks up and coalesces into something unexpected.
Nobody will mistake this with a great screen weepie, but Holly’s compellingly narcissistic, Oprah-fied ‘journey’ will surely do for right here, right now.
It ought to have been perfect. Everygirl meets Everyfratboy, their collective likeability bolstered by an off-screen romance and sympathy garnered from the Brangelina fallout. Finally, we thought, Jen’s found a vehicle to properly showboat with her finely attuned comic skills. She and Vaughn tear strips off each other while Jon Favreau quips like it’s 1996. Go Vaughniston! Can’t fail, right?
STUDENTS of religion will no doubt have been struck by the recent spate of articles concerning the relationship between the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern and his partner Celia Larkin.
No-one could contemplate using a headline like that in Hot Press unless of course it was to sum up an article about Howard Stern, the New York DJ who credits himself with having invented the concept of penis jokes on radio. Tape: craig fitzsimons.
Quite the most terrifying movie ever to feature a kid, this phenomenally spooky psycho-thriller is by some distance the darkest blockbuster offering of the year thus far, and had this most hardened of critics jumping out of his none-more-pale skin.
Daniel Lapaine and Alice Evans are the stars of The Abduction Club, a restoration romantic comedy set in Ireland. "It's like Jane Austen after having a good shag," insists Daniel
Funeral is a diverse collection of absorbing songs, each rich in both its thematic and sonic content. Colours of death, love, life, youth and family are splashed across a lush soundscape that seamlessly blends searing violin and subdued cello with indie riffs and disco beats.
Since men first emerged from the water, they have written psalms in praise of the river. Old Man River. The River of Jordan. The Rivers of Babylon. Moon River. Shenandoah...
From the name you might think Celtic trad, from the album title you might think indigenous Australian and on first listen you might assume French, but hip-hop three-piece Daara J are 100% Senegalese.
WITH THE Spank, sorry, Bank Holiday Weekend upon us, we thought you d be interested in a magazine that enables you to get the most out of your leisure time.
Lamb’s fourth studio release cements their reputation for consistently brilliant and imaginative releases, begging two questions – is there anything they can’t make sound amazing, and if not, is it something it in the Mancunian water?
The Dark Is Rising, an adaptation of Susan Cooper’s massively influential children’s classic, is a big, plodding dud that bares little or no resemblance to the book that inspired it.
There's a bit of a tendency to take The Chieftains for granted. They, and mainman Paddy Moloney in particular, have been so prolific and have been responsible for so many interesting and varied musical experiments that one album can tend to blur into the next. It's a view that does them an injustice, however.
George Bush’s victory in the US presidential election is likely to usher in a swing back to religious dominance. We shouldn’t let the same thing happen here.
“Don’t give in, 2000 man,” sighs Jason Lytle through the nine-minute prog-epic heartbreaker that is ‘He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s The Pilot,’ and a theatre-ful of enthusiastic Lytle-people are delighted to have him looking out for us.
How does a parent react when a teenage son commits a horrific murder? In what has been a surprise best-seller, Lionel Shriver has confronted a taboo subject – with chilling results.
After witnessing a sermon from a Catholic Archbishop, our columnist is decidedly unconvinced that the Church will be enjoying a renassiance any time soon.
A new book gives vivid voice to Irish women's experience of abortion. Here we publish Michele s story a harrowing account of the circumstances in which termination became one woman s choice.
The sticker on the cover bears an NME quote proclaiming Giant Sand "the founding fathers of modern Americana", and while that does some disservice to everyone from Lewis & Clark to The Long Ryders, it'll set curious newcomers in the right direction.
As a rule, it’s good to be wary of the autobiographical purge. Wonder then at Noah Baumbach’s exhilarating fourth feature, The Squid And The Whale, an intensely personal satire inspired by his parent’s 1990 divorce and early contender for Best Film of 2006.
It was a night of songs about drugs, guns, murder and love, rendered on acoustic, national steel guitar, decks, mandolin, and “the kind of banjo that scares the sheep in Donegal.”
Thirty lucky fans were treated to a special acoustic Bell X1 show in the intimate surroundings of Bewley's Cafe Theatre in Dublin on Sunday. **NOW UPDATED with photos!
For decades Irish authority figures prattled on about family values, while in real life our attitudes to children were Victorian compared to Mediterranean cultures. It’s time the State enshrined their welfare in our constitution.
This is a big, bad whirlwind of a movie with remarkably complex protagonists and appropriately storming performances which simultaneously provides Turkish delights and great big ‘Welcome To Hell’ placards. An absolute shot in the arm for European cinema.
Inexplicably subjected to a recent barrage of lukewarm-to-hostile reviews, The Luzhin Defence is, in my much-sought-after opinion, the single sweetest love story of the last five years or so, and mandatory viewing for anyone with a brain and a heart.
Occasionally somewhat drab, and erring on the side of over-earnestness, A Love Divided is nevertheless one of the more heartfelt and instructive films to emerge from this isle in recent years.
Unquestionably, Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within is a seminal film with respect to CGI technology. And while most people will undoubtedly find it worthwhile only as an intermittently entertaining high-tech Manga movie, there’s no doubt at all that it would be supreme if only we were all still twelve.
This suitably simmering study of racial disintegration in L.A. marks Million Dollar Baby screenwriter Paul Haggis’ directorial debut, though his deft, frequently caustic Short Cuts style -chain drama is surprisingly epic for a first timer.
Darkness At The Edge Of Town was the album when Bruce Springsteen and his repertory of characters finally grew up. Which makes it a hard act to follow.
Caitlin Murphy's darkly comic new play imagines the relationship between Joyce's daughter and Beckett's wife, one which would have been fraught with tension and sexual jealousy
Senile old men, feline old women, pillars of society, killers in search of notoriety and "a guy wearing plastic antlers [who] presses his bum against the glass." Times may change, empires may rise and fall, but the characters who populate Nick Cave's world remain as lunatic as ever.
Senile old men, feline old women, pillars of society, killers in search of notoriety and "a guy wearing plastic antlers [who] presses his bum against the glass." Times may change, empires may rise and fall, but the characters who populate Nick Cave's world remain as lunatic as ever.
Marianne Faithfull possesses a voice made out of Blue Velvet; cracked and compelling in its evocation of ruined innocence.
This wayward aristocrat has had a reckless career; in the last two years alone Faithfull's gone from fronting Brecht and Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins to gracing Metallica's 'The Memory Remains' with the kind of performance she could moan in her sleep.
"I PLAY rock'n'roll and that's it. That's all I do and it's all I've ever wanted to do. It's the rock'n'roll that kept us alive," Lou Reed once declared proudly.
Rolling Thunder finds Dylan and his travelling minstrel band reveling in novelty, comradeship, a sense of the mischievous and, most tellingly, the freshness of the then newly released Desire album.
This Cape Breton quintet have been on the road almost a decade now, and Uprooted finds them asserting their independence and hankering after the traditional Nova Scotian sound at one and the same time.
Depending on your viewpoint, it was either a glorious marriage of rock and classical music, or an overblown travesty by proggers who had lost the plot. Now, Deep Purple’s fabled ‘Concerto For Group and Orchestra’ is coming to Ireland. Its creator Jon Lord talks about the piece – and the controversy it created
She’s gotten hitched and given up the navel-gazing, and suddenly the world can’t get enough of her. As mainstream success looms, MARTHA WAINWRIGHT talks about marriage, familial rivalry and being asked out on a date - well, sort of - by Bob Dylan.
What an average week for Irish rock. Shane MacGowan in marriage rumours, Brian McFadden explains why he refused to squirt all over Kerry and Bono gets it from the Queen.
Marriage and babies have given The Dandy Warhols a fresh perspective on life. But they aren't ready to turn their back on sleazed-up rock'n roll just yet
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.
Having disbanded the band, the man who is Divine Comedy sets out to make music that makes his soul happy. The reformed jack the lad talks music, memory, marriage and fatherhood with Peter Murphy
Having disbanded the band, the man who is Divine Comedy sets out to make music that makes his soul happy. The reformed jack the lad talks music, memory, marriage and fatherhood with Peter Murphy
Famously opinionated Dubliner and textbook Renaissance man, ULICK O'CONNOR still has plenty to say about everything – even if RTE, he claims, don’t want to hear about it. following the recent publication of his first volume of diaries, the great man offers his views on marriage, drugs, the North, art, corruption, wild times in the Chelsea hotel and more.
Words: OLAF TYARANSEN
Seven years ago, CATHERINE ZETA-JONES was so down on her luck that she was having to open supermarkets to pay the rent. Then came a move to Hollywood and the patronage of, first, Steven Spielberg and, then, Michael Douglas who was so taken with the Welsh actress' charms that he married her. In London last week for her new film, Traffic, she talked to CRAIG FITZSIMONS about life among the Hollywood A-list
Lina is a sultry diva who looks set to achieve major success with her harmonious marriage of R 'n' B with Roaring Twenties Harlem jazz, incorporating the distinct style and presentation of the era.
Niall Stokes: People would make an assumption that since The Corrs have sold millions of records, you ve already got it made. Does it feel like that to you?
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
In the second and final part of our exclusive interview, JONI MITCHELL tells her story from the ground-breaking Blue to the present day.
Having grown increasingly disenchanted with a music biz providing junk food for juveniles it took the classic songs of Billie Holiday and Etta James to restore her faith and give her own career a new lease of old life. Once a romantic always a romantic, she tells JOE JACKSON
The legendary GRACE JONES is coming to Dublin.
OLAF TYARANSEN caught up with her in New York to talk about drugs, stalkers, her recent marriage and period pains.
Bloom with a view after a four year sabbatical, Hothouse Flowers are back. John Walsh talks to arch-otanists Liam, Peter and Fiachna about just
what it was that kept them out of the limelight (or should that be sunlamp) for so long.
In Perth, Western Australia, Michael Dwyer sees two sides of REM on the opening brace of shows in their first world tour proper in five years. He also reports on behind-the-scenes developments, including the marriage of Pete Buck.
In what may well be the most effective marriage yet of rock and pragmatic politics, U2, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed and others are pushing the Amnesty International message on the 'Conspiracy Of Hope' tour. Pat Singer joins them on the road.
Senile old men, feline old women, pillars of society, killers in search of notoriety and *a guy wearing plastic antlers [who] presses his bum against the glass.* Times may change, empires may rise and fall, but the characters who populate Nick Cave's world remain as lunatic as ever.
It might now be appropriate for the Government to declare an amnesty for those asylum seekers who have come here, whether as refugees or as economic migrants
It might now be appropriate for the Government to declare an amnesty for those asylum seekers who have come here, whether as refugees or as economic migrants
Why, more than ever, the Irish government must lead the fight against racism from the front - by behaving in a manner that is absolutely "beyond reproach"
Four years is a hell of a long time in pop music – the fact that The Corrs could afford to lay low for such an extended period is a testament to the band’s confidence in their audience...
This issue coinciding with Valentine's Day, Caught In The Net has decided to show it has a sensitive side that's willing to woo and not just jump into bed on the first date
From psychedelic anime to Japan's answer to Trainspotting, the Japanese Film Festival 2008 brings a delightful miscellany of movies to Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
With the next government looking increasingly like another Fianna Fáil/Labour coalition, BILL GRAHAM questions what role the Fine Gael Leader will play now that he has missed the boat yet again.
Burton’s Planet Of The Apes is a visually lush affair, in no small part thanks to Rick Baker’s groundbreaking use of make-up and Burton’s ever-reliable visual flair.
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
For every macho posture, there are two images of Rock strumming an acoustic or blowing on a harmonica. Flip through the album credits and there are also indicators that there is more to Cocky than meets the eye.
They're back. With a bang. Never ones to do it colour by numbers, The Cranberries waited 'til their third trip to the studio before encountering the difficult album syndrome.
Rough Magic, one of Ireland’s outstanding theatre ensembles, returns with a production of Shakespeare that examines the battle of the sexes in Ireland.
Goldfinger might be the intelligent face of punk-pop with politics, animal rights and MTV baiting their subject matter. But bassist Kelly Lemieux insists that they remain balls out rock'n'rollers
The Dublin Theatre Festival celebrates its 45th birthday in 2002 with a quality combination of classic and more recent works in musical theatre, comedy and drama
The Dublin Theatre Festival celebrates its 45th birthday in 2002 with a quality combination of classic and more recent works in musical theatre, comedy and drama
Watching an Oscar Wilde play in full flight is one thing, right? As in Alan Stanford s meticulously directed version of An Ideal Husband, now running at Dublin s Gate Theatre.
THEY HAD not understood child sexual abuse. Cardinal Cahal Daly said on behalf of the men who run the Irish Catholic Church. They had not known enough about it.
A screwball farce with a keenly observational core, Caught In The Net examines manners and mores in the 21st Century. The play’s author Ray Cooney talks about his journey from would-be matinee idol to subversive playwright.
Over the past ten years – no, make that twenty! – Irish society has undergone a transformation, casting off the shackles of the moral authority imposed by the church and embracing a more open, experimental and, let’s face it, downright horny attitude to sex and sexuality. The momentum towards change has been accelerated by significant advances in health care – not to mention the media environment – so that we are now more up for it than ever before.
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.
Joe Jackson talks to Susan FitzGerald, star of Landmark Productions’ Irish premiere of Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, the controversial play which explores a range of taboo topics.
American singer-songwriter SHAWN COLVIN explains that her fourth and latest album A Few Small Repairs is about more than just her recent marital breakdown. Interview: JOE JACKSON
Brian Wilson is among the most influential forces in modern music and created, in The Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds, what many music fans agree is the greatest record ever made. In February he takes his world tour to Dublin's Point Theatre and Stephen Robinson asks what's on the set-list
She made her reputation as a poet but Gil Adamson’s debut novel is no work of high-flying lyricism. Instead, it’s a gritty morality fable set in the Canadian wild frontier. She talks about making the transition from poetry to bloody reality.
Arsene Wenger’s whingeing over Alex Ferguson’s outspoken comments on Arsenal is merely the latest manifestation of a career-long behavioural pattern, which in France has earned him the nickname, The Cry Baby.
He's come a long way, baby - once a poster-boy for rampant hedonistic excess, Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan has since settled down and learned to channel his energies into the area in which he excels, haunting, dream-like though reliably attitudinal - rock n roll.
A STRANGE sound can be heard in L.A. late at night, when the traffic has finally begun to die down, Mickey Rourke has parked his Harley, Bruce Willis has turned off his 1,000 megawatt speakers and the denizens of the Dream Factory are getting ready to embrace the great unconscious.
melys are more than just the latest Gorky's soundalikes or Super Furry Animals copyists to emerge from the wilds of Wales, according to an enthusiastic nick kelly.
I used to sit up nights fretting about LiR, puzzling over their hyper-intricate arrangements and their gratuitous exhibition of their flawless, and often pointless, musical technique
YOU KNOW, Sam Snort was beginning to run out of hope that the true spirit of rock 'n' roll could ever be redeemed in these scabrous times. But now it has. It has indeed.
It was hardly the perfect start to guitar-based London outfit Rialto’s career when, after scoring three hit singles and recording their debut album, they were unceremoniously discarded by their record label. Interview: Nick Kelly.
He was one of the greatest Irish novelists of the 20th Century – a man with a singular vision and a commitment to the work that was at once bold and exemplary. He will be greatly missed.
On a personal level, I knew Paula Yates only to the same degree many journalists might, after meeting her for a few hours for an interview and socially afterwards. But there was a feeling that you knew Paula better than that. Her name was seldom far from the headlines, and her life was lived in the glare of the celebrity spotlight. Undoubtedly it was part of a great part of her undoing.
It may be the time of year for staying indoors, but there are plenty of comic treats around to keep you entertained, including a brace of top class new TV shows and the return of one Christopher Morris.
Documentarian Morgan Spurlock takes it upon himself to track down America's Public Enemy Number 1 in his new film Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?
Stanley Kubrick’s 13th and last film in a glittering career is finally upon us, having been the subject of excessively feverish anticipation for well over a year now.
Fresh from the blockbuster success of her last novel Zoe Heller has taken a radically different approach as she explores the American intelligentsia’s short-lived crush on Communism.
A true-life tale of a once-famous Victorian murder investigation paints a fascinating picture of a society undergoing profound changes – and has eerie parallels with today’s fears about the rise of a surveillance culture, explains author Kate Summerscale.
Dropped by Warners, but buoyed up by mega-sales of a soundtrack hit, Nick Lowe is back with a great new album, The Impossible Bird, and lots to say about Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello and a benevolent devil with the feet of a chicken. Interview: Joe Jackson.
They may be Europe s premier exponents of dishevelled cool and string-laden romance, but, as tindersticks mainman stuart staples explains, there s always been that Nottingham Forest element to their music. We re 35% more popular in Greece than Sting, he tells a gobsmacked stuart clark.
The church's obstinate refusal to adopt a progressive stance on social issues means it continues to alienate a significant section of society – even at Christmas.
WE WERE at a dinner party the other night, meeting some cousins of mine, and our host, hearing Him Beside talking about our going home together, enquired whether or not we were living together.
From Bill Clinton’s infidelity to his country’s version of foreign policy, the concept of “moral indefensibility” makes a twisted kind of sense in the United States
Making her solo debut, Andrea Corr has set about re-casting herself as a vampish singer with a taste for dark beats and sultry wordplay. In a forthright interview, she talks about her unexpected re-invention.
Hunter S. Thompson gets the biopic treatment he deserves courtesy of Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney who wants to remind the world how important the Great Gonzo was.
For most bands, a gritty rehearsal room or their parents’ garage must suffice. But Belfast indie popsters Heliopause have opted for a rather more individualistic practice space – their drummer’s kitchen.
Discovered that there is life after Brett-pop, that is. nick kelly gets the lowdown from "the bloke who left Suede", Bernard Butler, whose mightily impressive solo debut People Move On, has just been released.
Hunter S. Thompson gets the biopic treatment he deserves courtesy of Oscar-winning director Alex Gibny who wants to remind the world just how important a social commentator the Great Gonzo was.
The relationship between sex and love is a thorny one. The cliché is that sex is better with someone you love – but the truth is that people play away for a reason…
With the 2008 battle for the White House turning into the most gripping saga in years, the best-selling novel The Race, by Richard North Patterson, could hardly be more timely.
A special interview from the Hot Press archives, first published in 1985: Minister for Women's Affairs Nuala Fennell talks feminism, sex and contraception with HP editor Niall Stokes.
The actor, director, novelist and husband of Uma Thurman on the thrill of being a non-specialist and the challenge presented by "the greatest adventure you can have" - being in love
FAGHAG is an ugly word, describing a heterosexual woman who spends a large proportion of her leisure time in the company of gay men. It may surprise many people to learn that there is quite a degree of misogyny among gay men, for all their supposed ‘identification’ or ‘association’ with the feminine.
At the tender age of seventeen, Dubliner Sinéad O'Connor packed up Ton Ton Macoute, packed her bags and headed for London. Two years on she's had a few close shaves, recorded with the Edge and is on the verge of seriously launching her career with an album in January. Interview: Molly McAnailly Burke.
The Supreme Court decided last week that a lesbian couple, and a child, have the right to be recognised as a de facto family. It is a decision with profound and hugely positive implications for gays generally...
Tara Brady talks to director Pete Docter about the latest Pixar mega-hit Up, which tells the story of an elderly widower who sets sail on an Amazonian adventure.
Not a bad ambition at all. But you have to think of yourself as well. When she did, Anne Sexton realised that she could only come, as it were, if she let herself go – and that meant being prepared to make a lot of noise indeed at critical moments. Everyone say: AAAAAAAAAGH……….
First she learned to pout - then she learned to kick butt. from Revlon to Resident Evil, Milla Jovovich explains how a girl from the Ukraine conquered the world. In Prada boots, of course
A communication from Peter Lundy comes in response to my recent musings about how Irish songwriters might choose to write from their own experience rather than recycling second-hand views
Lee Dunne is reputed to be the most banned author in Europe and, by his own reckoning, has slept with over 1,000 women. You could says he’s got a story or two to tell.
As cats all over Ireland prepare to have their fancies tickled, Jackie Hayden reflects on the comedic talents of one of the star turns at this year’s Smithwick’s Cat Laughs Festival, Tommy Tiernan.
This week sees the start of the first-ever national TV campaign on the issue of Violence Against Women under the banner End The Silence. Hot Press talks to a victim of domestic violence and a violent man, as well as getting the response of a leading expert working at the front line of the campaign against domestic violence in Ireland. Words Jackie Hayden
Dating is an activity I’m trying to get the hang of recently. It requires a little confidence, and probably a good dose of maturity. Which is probably why I haven’t done much of it before.
He comes from a long line of priests – including his own father. But now, as Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. John Neill is one of the most influential people in the Anglican church.
Tales of high profile solicitor Gerald Kean's astonishing ability to make truckloads of money - and spend it - have become the stuff of tabloid wet dreams.
Intriguing new developments are afoot in the world of Ulster rock ‘n’ roll. Plus tidings of a new Limerick indie compilation and the usual round-up of news from around the country.
Overnight success was a long time coming for American novelist Lionel Shriver, whose breakthrough book, We Need To Talk About Kevin was her seventh novel. Here she talks about a life-time of struggle, unsympathetic women, her blistering tennis novel Double Fault – and how she is coping with the pressures of sudden literary fame.
COLM O'HARE meets SCOTT YOUNG, father of Neil, and a renowned journalist, author and broadcaster in his own right. In this rare interview he talks about his best-known subject - his famous son.
YOU WON'T GET STRONG ODDS ON THESE
ROMANTIC PAIRINGS HITTING IT OFF IN 1995 BUT THE BOOKIES HAVEN'T RECKONED WITH Hot Press RESIDENT CUPID PROTEGé LIAM FAY DONNING HIS CLERICAL GARB ONCE AGAIN.
It's as sophisticated as any European capital but has the restless verve of an American metropolis. Local gal’ Maria Tecce takes us on a tour of Boston.
Can you see the Forrest for the Gump? Can you explain the cultural phenomenon of Steven Seagal in English plain enough for Seagal himself to understand? Did you recognise any of the actors hiding beneath moustaches in Wyatt Earp, Tombstone and Gettysburg? Are you ready for the fourth annual X-mas rated Blow Up Movie Quiz?
Oh, well, give it a go anyway. Now we separate the movie buffs from the people who have got something more interesting to do than spend all day hanging around cinemas and reading Hot Press. Answers can be found on page 99 but anyone caught peeking will have to live with the knowledge that they are a dirty, rotten, good for nothing, low down cheat. Good luck. And remember, this quiz is just like a box of chocolates . . . you’ll feel sick when you’ve finished.
In June 1993, the legislation decriminalising sex between men was passed in Dáil Eireann and the Seanad, and was later signed into law by President Robinson. Five years on, how has life changed for Irish lesbians and gay men? By DEBORAH BALLARD.
Fifteen years after winning an oscar for his Les Liaisons Dangereuses screenplay, Christopher Hampton has finally managed to make his dream project Imagining Argentina, which investigages the plight of ‘the disappeared’ in 1970s Argentina. The response has been controversial to say the least.
In her latest movie, the supernatural gothic thriller Underworld, Kate Beckinsale plays a slick vampire warrior entrusted with fending off maurading lycanthropes. with love entanglements, engagements and sniping press coverage to deal with off-screen, her personal life has been no less eventful recently.
Niall Stokes: As a band you took more responsibility with In Blue you have a greater level of input into the production and so on. Was that a strain when you were doing it?
His father, the Rev. Ian Paisley, has been one of the dominant figures in Irish politics over the past 40 years. Now Ian Paisley Jnr is a Junior Minister in the new Northern Ireland administration. So how different is he from his father? And how does he feel about cross border co-operation, education, abortion and homosexuality?
From hayseed starlet to rookie director, Sarah Polley has certainly travelled a great distance, as demonstrated by her wrenching directorial debut Away From Her.
But only in the bedroom. There, a little bit of sexual stereotyping – from the hard man with the hard hat to the naughty schoolgirl – isn’t a bad thing at all.
They used to be a bit of a joke but, with the release of their fantastic new record, The Horrors are suddenly a band to watch. Faris Badwan talks about stepping out with Peaches Geldof, ditching the freak-show hair and recalls his traumatic childhood experiences on Palestine’s West Bank
Driven out of India while filming her latest film. Water, Deepa Mehta talks about protests, effigies and the controversy that follows her wherever she goes.
A bizarre ad campaign to prevent Jews inter-marrying with people of other religions and none is being used to lure young US Jews to Israel to occupy land stolen from the Palestinians
Even divorced from the poignant circumstances of his death, a Greek tragedy for our time, the essential wonder of Marvin Gaye’s troubled mysticism ensures that What’s Going On, an album first released in 1971, will remain both relevant and thrilling for generations to come
He might not have been the first rock n roller but he came pretty damn close. And in the success-through-excess stakes no-one could rival Rimbaud. PETER MURPHY savours a revealing new biography of the wild child
Quickies are good! But in general we are in too much of a hurry, even when it comes to sex. Well, it’s time for a change – and that means learning to slow down, live in the moment and really enjoy getting all those sweet and sexy things done to you.
EMINEM s supposedly knowing take on the violence, homophobia and misogyny endemic to rap has lost its lustre with his wife s suicide attempt. Report: Peter Murphy
Jackie Hayden talks to Jackie Mason about the politics of humour, discrimination as a good career move, why he'll never go back to being a rabbi, how his middle finger got him into hot water - and why he probably won't be telling Moslem jokes anytime soon.
Hip Hop guru, political activist and occasional visitor to Inishturk, Speech tells Paul Nolan why his group are still as relevant in the 21st century as they were during their mid ‘90s heyday.
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"
Having put a considerable amount of personal strife behind her, Dolores Keane is back in the public domain with a new album, Night Owl, and a new outlook. Interview: Colm O’Hare.
Best known for his mirth-inducing, deadpan quips on Have I Got News For You, paul merton is travelling to Kilkenny this year for the Murphy's Cat Laughs comedy festival. A typically upbeat barry glendenning asks him about bad comedy, failed marriages, mental breakdowns and Don't Feed The Gondolas.
Best known for his mirth-inducing, deadpan quips on Have I Got News For You, paul merton is travelling to Kilkenny this year for the Murphy's Cat Laughs comedy festival. A typically upbeat barry glendenning asks him about bad comedy, failed marriages, mental breakdowns and Don't Feed The Gondolas.
Best known for his mirth-inducing, deadpan quips on Have I Got News For You, paul merton is travelling to Kilkenny this year for the Murphy's Cat Laughs comedy festival. A typically upbeat barry glendenning asks him about bad comedy, failed marriages, mental breakdowns and Don't Feed The Gondolas.
Pixar founder John Lasseter has revolutionised children's films over the past decade. Now the Toy Story, A Bug’s Life and Finding Nemo creator has done it again with Cars.
From Prince through playboy and baywatch to her current position as queen of the cameo, carmen electra has never been shy about making the most of her assets. But all in the best possible taste, of course, she assures tara brady
I ve had people start crying, people who went Sweet Jesus , and people who stopped coming to my house because of the issues I m dealing with. Paul O Mahony uncovers the extraordinary talent of Tony Crosbie, bubbling under the Dublin art scene with work personally informed by sexual abuse, domestic violence, alcoholism and drug abuse, but pointing the way to discovery and triumph.
LIAM FAY celebrates the re-release of Gram Parsons’ two solo albums, G.P. and GRIEVOUS ANGEL on mid-price CD with an appraisal of the life and work of the man dubbed The Father of Country Rock.
Sinéad O'Connor's records don't necessarily reveal themselves speedily. I know that, on the first hearing, 'The Lion and the Cobra' seemed to me an ill-fitting match of various discordant styles. I didn't really crack it 'till its sixth time round my turntable.
Since bursting onto the world stage with her No.1 single, Orinoco Flow and the multi-million selling album, WATERMARK, Enya has become one of Ireland s brightest star. Now with the release of her new album, SHEPHERD MOONS she prepares to take on the world again, with music of an almost other-worldly beauty. In the throes of a personal odyssey to pastures east, Molly McAnailly Burke explores the genesis of the album, talks to Enya s collaborators Roma and Nicky Ryan and discovers in the work of this extraordinary trinity intimations of mythic grandeur.
Not content with being one of the most successful stand-up comics of his generation, sean hughes has once again turned his hand to the world of prose with the publication of his first novel, The Detainees. barry glendenning, for his part, gives it a ringing endorsement of Eh, quite good. The Booker Prize awaits.
In the wake of Steve Staunton’s sacking as Ireland manager, Eamon Dunphy welcomes Craig Fitzsimons into his Ranelagh home and offers some characteristically forthright views on the state of Irish football.
Men, it turns out are right. You can have great sex without falling in love. Because, it seems, that’s the way we are programmed. So is the romantic ideal of love all its cracked up to be?
Having undergone a punishing regime of drink, drugs and debauchery during Guns N’ Roses’ heyday, few thought that iconic guitar-slinger Slash would ever again venture out into the mainstream rock arena. But having put together a motley crew of collaborators in Velvet Revolver, he’s now back at No. 1 in the album charts and rocking harder than ever.
Kill Bill is widely seen as a vehicle for director Quentin Tarrantino to express his deep-seated fascination with his favourite leading lady, Uma Thurman. But the character of The Bride – the super-deadly vixen played by Thurman in Kill Bill – is based on the blood-thirsty heroines of a bevy of B-Movies with which modern cinema’s most deadly talent is obsessed. So, as Kill Bill 2 hits the screens, we ask who are these foxy ladies, and what makes them such ruthless killers?
With the general election approaching, the leader of the Labour Party offers his views on Bob Dylan, Bono, Ali Hewson, Sile De Valera, RTE, Sellafield, The Abbey Theatre, marital breakdown, the decline in power of the Catholic Church, the rise of Sinn Fein, the irrelevance of the PDs, his ambitions for Labour, and the perception of him as a smoked salmon socialist. All this, and the enduring appeal of a certain song
PETER MURPHY reports on the bureaucratic traps and social hysteria confronting Ireland s tiny immigrant refugee population of 4,000. And he interviews the founder of Immigration Control Platform, Aine Nm Chsnaill.
KATHRYN BIGELOW is one of the few women directors to break through the glass ceiling in Hollywood. What’s more, she makes action movies of a kind not normally associated with ‘girls’. The release of her latest meisterwerk, The Hurt Locker, an extraordinary movie about the activities of a US Army bomb disposal unit in the war in Iraq, sees her being tipped as a contender come Oscar season next year.
I was living fast, planning to die young and I was probably gonna take a few people with me, says Fatima Mansions firebrand Cathal Coughlan of his descent into a personal and creative nightmare. Now back stronger, healthier and with an acclaimed new album, Lost In The Former West, under his belt, he retraces the highs, lows and kicks in the teeth of the last few years with Liam Fay.
More than four years ago, Hot Press called for a Tribunal of Inquiry into the Catholic Church s handling of the issue of child-sex abuse by priests. We have regularly repeated the call since. Now it has been taken up in another publication. Maybe we are getting somewhere.
With her new volume of autobiography, AGNES BERNELLE has turned the spotlight away from the stage and onto her own life illuminating both the happier and dark chapters of a turbulent personal story. Interview: JOE JACKSON. Pix: COLM HENRY
“I was living fast, planning to die young and I was probably gonna take a few people with me,” says Fatima Mansions firebrand Cathal Coughlan of his descent into a personal and creative nightmare. Now back stronger, healthier and with an acclaimed new album, Lost In The Former West, under his belt, he retraces the highs, lows and kicks in the teeth of the last few years with Liam Fay.
’85 was a remarkably stagnant year. Twelve months after the end of ’84, little seems to have changed or advanced musically and I only hope and pray we won’t be running on the same spot when ’86 ends.
A surreal journey into the inner life of an Irish transvestite in ‘70s London is the basis of Breakfast On Pluto, the latest cinematic collaboration from writer Pat McCabe and director Neil Jordan.
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.
Sting – all dull AOR anthems, mawkish charidee singles and empty celeb blather, right? wrong! The artist formerly known as Gordon Sumner here talks to hotpress about the lingering fall-out from the break-up of the police, hanging with über-hip filmmakers Terry Gilliam and David Lynch, and getting the seal of approval from the late Johnny Cash.
Marital breakdown can be hell for both parties. But for many fathers that’s just the beginning of the nightmare, as they are systematically excluded from contact with their children. For A special hotpress report, Peter Murphy spoke to three fathers about their first-hand experiences of Irish Family Law, and here relates their deeply troubling and unsettling stories.
As the major force in the "Club of '22", whose attempts to oust Charlie Haughey from the leadership of Fianna Fail finally resulted in Dessie O'Malley's departure to form the Progressive Democrats, Charlie McCreevy was long considered a thorn in the side of the Taoiseach by the party faithful. Ironically then, it was McCreevy himself who was to be instrumental in setting up the talks with the P.D.s following the recent election which would result in Charles J. Haughey continuing to stay in power in a new kind of coalition government.
Generally regarded as one of the most candid of Irish politicians, Charlie McCreevy here lives up to his reputation as he shoots from the hip on matters both political and personal.
From literary wild-child to haunted son, Bret Easton Ellis has travelled some distance since his clinical dissections of the American ID first scandalized the book world. His new novel, Lunar Park, is perhaps his most entertaining and personal yet.
Flirting, that is. But only if you’re good at it. So what is it that makes a great flirt? Our self-confessed expert finds out, with bit of little help from Sex Guru, Tracey Cox.
Born on 26th February 1932 in Arkansas, the guitarist, singer and songwriter Johnny Cash is one of the true legends of country music, a performer whose popularity transcends the boundaries of that art-form.
‘THE CASE in Ireland of the 14-year-old girl who got pregnant as a result of rape was a key issue in our formation,” said Jessica Neuwirth, President of the New York based organisation of Equality Now.
Almost unheralded, in "Raintown" Scotland's Deacon Blue have made one of the year's outstanding albums. Despite extensive critical kudos, however, the first two singles from the album - "Dignity" and "Loaded" - failed to make any inroads into the charts. A third single, the excellent "When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)" looks as if it might enable Deacon Blue to prise open the door. Nevertheless the band must be perturbed at their relative lack of success to date.
From child actress to Rilo Kiley frontwoman to hanging out with Elvis Costello: every day is Groundhog Day, but when you're Jenny Lewis that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Acclaimed music writer Simon Reynolds has revisited the post-punk era with a fascinating set of interview transcripts. He talks about prising choice quotes from Phil Oakey, David Byrne and, after a tense stand-off, Pere Ubu’s David Thomas - and explains why the internet has taken some of the fun out of music
Kevin Myers' use of the word bastard may have been pernicious – but it was not the most offensive aspect of his attack on unmarried mothers. Plus: the death of the great Hunter S. Thompson.
His novel "Atomised" was a controversial pornographic parable and its follow-up platforme led to him being denounced by Muslims and going into hiding, while his wife endured a nervous breakdown. Notoriously difficult, the County Cork-based French author here discusses – between pauses – monogamy, open marriages, drugs, politics, literature, the World Cup and his desire to be a wolf
She spent years struggling with bit-parts and support roles. But now Naomi Watts is a Hollywood player, in the same league as her friend Nicole Kidman.
One more time with feeling, Tanya Sweeney pays her respects to sex and the city, a television show which had a profound impact on sex, fashion and female singledom. and we haven’t entirely seen the last of Carrie and co. either…
Opening our U2 special, DERMOD MOORE catches up with ADAM CLAYTON during the UK leg of the Elevation tour, and delves deep into the physics of music celebrity, politics and, er, penises
In a candid interview, Sylvester Stallone talks about his lost years and explains why he’s happy that America’s Christian right has embraced the new Rocky movie as a ‘spiritual’ film.
All around us there is pressure to conform, even in love. As we grow up and fall in and out of relationships, the pressure mounts to make a definitive, final choice: to select a partner and commit to a monogamous future. Some people, however, insist on keeping open their options for fresh adventures, new encounters and a multiplicity of lovers…
As Secretary Of State in Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam [pic left by Mick Quinn] played a crucial role in formulation and implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It helped that she is no conventional politician but rather a warm, down-to-earth and decent individual with a genuine commitment to positive action. in both the UK and Ireland, she became by far the most popular British figure in the history of Northern politics - which may explain why, in the end, she was shafted.
ALI HEWSON is the first time presenter of Black Wind White Land, a documentary on the devastation which has blighted Bylorus since the nuclear accident in Chernobyl. Interview: Joe Jackson.
By popular demand, ULRIKA JONSSON is coming back to Belfast to co-host this year's heineken-hot press awards. olaf tyaransen meets up with television's Golden Girl and hears about the world of the small screen, the men in her life, the poet behind the party animal, tabloid intrusion and the importance of Van Morrison in keeping her head straight.
As the supposed redevelopment of the Dublin Inner City area fails to halt its seemingly terminal decline, Gerry McGovern discusses the problems facing these forgotten areas and talks to community worker Paddy Malone.
The creator of cinema’s lost peyote sacraments, mime master, graphic novelist, the man who married Marilyn Manson and Dita Von Teese, and the secret architect of Dune and Alien, 78-year-old Alejandro Jodorowsky is a counter-cultural legend.
With a new novel Eclipse published to universal acclaim, the enigmatic Irish writer emerges from the deep gloomy cavern he inhabits to discuss art, sex, love, hate, humour, death and the battle of the sexes. Interview: JOE JACKSON.
Portraits of the author: CATHAL DAWSON
With the opinion polls predicting a tight finish in the upcoming General Election, there is an increasing likelihood that the Greens will play a part in the next Government. So what is their leader Trevor Sargent really made of?
Raised on the road by evangelical hippies, Joaquin Phoenix has overcome the tragic death of his brother, River, to become one of Hollywood’s most brooding leading men.
Backstage at Creamfields, JOHN WALSHE talks to FATBOY SLIM about the joys of fatherhood, being one half of the posh and becks of the chemical generation; sharing a hot-tub with Baz Luhrman and how he got Christopher Walken to tap-dance
So you thought the Religious Right had all but disappeared? Wrong! NIALL STANAGE gets that sinking feeling as he witnesses the Dublin leg of Human Life International s Call To The Nation Tour. Photographic Evidence: CATHAL DAWSON
There's been an upsurge in the number of women searching for the perfect vagina. It is one of the growth areas of the cosmetic surgery industry. But surely we’re better to love our bodies as they are?
Barry Glendenning had a good idea: as a journalistic exercise – and a guarantee of public humiliation – someone should try their hand at stand-up comedy. Indeed, it was such a very good idea, that he was promptly Hot Press-ganged into doing it himself. This, then, is the true-life story of one man who stood up to be counted.
This is THE CHIEFTAINS as you've never encountered them before - more like mad, trad and dangerous to know than the grand-daddies of Irish traditional music. Smoking dope with Philip Lynott! Busting muscles through wild sex! Yes, it's the bits that aren't in the official biography. But, soft, not a word to Paddy, OK? Part One of an exclusive two-part interview. By JOE JACKSON.
Fr Shay Cullen, an Irish Columban Missionary priest, tells Jason O’Toole about falling in love, the battle against corruption in the Philipines, the scourge of western sex tourism – and why the Irish government isn’t doing enough to protect children from paedophiles.
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.
From being the voice of the toilet duck (no, really) to having his own chat show (well, kind of), actor and comedian Rob Brydon (aka keith barret) has finally come of age.
In the five years since its debut, The Sopranos has grown from an underground show with a small cult following to one of the most successful TV series' of all time. Paul Nolan traces the show’s development from its inauspicious beginnings on HBO to its current status as a transatlantic cultural phenomenon, and also examines our enduring fascination with a man called Tony Soprano.
Olaf Tyaransen travels east to investigate the mail-order bride business in the Ukraine and returns with a story of love, lust, laughs, paranoia, despair and hope. An extract from ‘To Ukraine For Love’, a featured piece in Olaf’s acclaimed new collection of journalism Sex Lines – Adventures In The Erotic Underground
Too many gardai with guns; the international role of the soldiers of bigotry; and a potentially significant advance in abortion law in Northern Ireland.
The Boomtown Rats came burning out of Dublin in the late ‘70s, railing against the Irish establishment to the audible gasps of the nation’s more conservative elements. With their remastered back catalogue having been recently reissued, Bob Geldof here looks back on a period of notoriety, controversy and personal angst, and also reflects on his ongoing efforts to highlight the issue of Fathers’ Rights. Interview by Peter Murphy. Photography by Mark Harrison.
Current affairs anchor – and Ireland's leading ‘yummy mummy’ according to the tabloids – MIRIAM O'CALLAGHAN talks about the challenges of raising eight children, her past marital woes and taking a pay cut at RTÉ.
Five years after the collapse of The Irish Press Group, CON HOULIHAN suffered a fall of his own. Here, he reflects on broken hips, broken dreams and the road to recovery. Interview: SIOBHAN LONG
Actress, writer, director, singer and not quite so archetypal French heroine Julie Delpy renders terms like ‘renaissance woman’ positively anaemic. Currently back on the map with Before Sunset, one of the cinematic highlights of the year, she talks art, sex romance and Gallic caricatures.
THE UNDERTONES have played a series of triumphant gigs since reforming. GEORGE BYRNE met the Derry punk legends, now augmented by Today FM producer Paul McLoone on vocals
andy darlington meets skunk anansie with a live grenade in his hand
Peter Murphy s damning Hot Press review of their latest album Stoosh. You could cut the tension with a knife
which appears to be exactly what Skin wants at this very moment. Will anyone here get out alive?
Having amicably but firmly put the Cranberries behind her, Dolores O’Riordan found refuge in motherhood, but is now raring to get back on the road with her first solo album.
Despite being peerless at his chosen profession, CHRIS MORRIS has been sacked from more jobs than most people will have in a lifetime. He announced the death of Michael Heseltine on live radio, was responsible for a debate about non-existent drugs in the House of Commons and once screamed Christ s fat cock! at Cliff Richard during an interview. BARRY GLENDENNING examines the career of the broadcaster commonly regarded as Britain s foremost media satirist.
With her new movie The Heart Of Me having just hit theatre, acclaimed english actress Olivia Williams here discusses her breaththrough role in The Sixth Sense and what it takes to succeed in hollywood. words Tara Brady
Motherhood has done little to diminish maria doyle kennedy‘s snarling rock chick attitude. Here, she talks about censorship, Chuck Palahniuk and how she’s managed to balance music with big-league acting.
As the only Dail representative of the Green Party, newly-elected TD, Trevor Sargent, has become the most high-profile public face of Irish environmentalism at a time when the entire movement is going through a period of re-definition. In this wide-ranging interview, Sargent argues that the Greens are more than a single issue pressure group and defends the party against changes of innate conservatism and built-in obsolesence. Not surprisingly, however, he also comes out fighting on issues such as animal rights and the ongoing threat of Sellafield.
Prayer as the best remedy for pre-menstrual tension? So says one of Bush’s boys as misogyny stalks the US establishment. Plus: the passing of the great writer and activist Howard Fast.
He's famous for asking the questions and sometimes getting unexpected answers. Like when one woman confessed to a distressing three in a bed romp. These days the RTE reporter is a little more circumsect about his own personal life but still outspoken and controversial on the subject of aids.
Whether starring in popcorn blockbusters or thoughtful art-house movies, Gabriel Byrne is a reassuring presence on our screens. But he reserves his deepest passions for keeping alive the flame of Irish culture among the diaspora.
Responsible dad or not, Liam Gallagher is still capable of some serious rock’n’roll hellraising and giving good quote. Roy Keane, Patsy Kensit, Nicole Appleton, Yoko Ono, Bono and magic mushrooms are all on the agenda as the Oasis singer shoots from the hip. Getting the beers in: Olaf Tyaransen
He's shot U2 and Madonna and numerous nudes, formulated an "aesthetic of the dick", published the perfect magazine and, most recently, hit the headlines for endeavouring to make the Queen of England look "really fresh". He's Rankin Waddell, co-founder of Dazed And Confused and probably the most renowned fashion, music and pop culture snapper on the planet
PHIL COULTER is far from the muzak-producing bore of caricature. Here, he talks to JOE JACKSON about family tragedy, northern politics, drink binges, having songs covered by Elvis and his experiences working with stars like Van Morrison, Siniad O Connor and Luke Kelly. Portraits: MYLES CLAFFEY
The life and work of Stephen Gately was brilliantly remembered at his funeral service by the members of Boyzone. There is a lesson in this for all of us.
The Junk yard: Voices From An Irish Prison is the title of a powerful new collection of writings by inmates of Mountjoy Prison. ADRIENNE MURPHY hears how the pen has replaced the spike for one former inmate, PENNER, and also talks to the anthology s editor, MARSHA HUNT.
PETER MURPHY previews SWEET DREAMS, a new series beginning this Wednesday on RTE1 at 8.30pm, which tells the real-life stories of performers yearning to realise their career aspirations in the entertainment industry.
Beginning 1989 as complete unknowns and ending it with a major international recording deal, two well-received singles and acres of press coverage, the scale of An Emotional Fish s progress has been the envy of their contemporaries. But how did the band go from being minnows to the catch of the year? Paddy Kehoe dons his waders to find out.
He has strong views on Republicanism, Israel, George Bush and Steve Staunton. But, as a TD for Dublin South Central, Michael Mulcahy also reveals how much he loves Fianna Fáil – and how he wouldn’t mind a coalition with the Greens.
She's never been one to pull her punches but even by her standards, Mary Coughlan's latest album is a rollercoaster. Here, she talks about a life of love, loss, pain and redemption.
Kieran Kennedy has just released a solo album – the Donal Lunny-produced Pagan Irish – but, he tells Colm O’Hare, The Black Velvet Band are still alive and well.
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
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service has for some time been making life extremely difficult for homosexual men who wish to donate blood. Whilst the ban has largely gone unnoticed until now, as Ciara Cunnane reports, gay men are no longer prepared to tolerate what they see as a discriminatory system. Photography by Cathal Dawson
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service has for some time been making life extremely difficult for homosexual men who wish to donate blood. Whilst the ban has largely gone unnoticed until now, as Ciara Cunnane reports, gay men are no longer prepared to tolerate what they see as a discriminatory system. Photoography by Cathal Dawson.
It’s a rare thing indeed to hear an Irish lesbian speak openly and frankly about her life, lusts and loves. Gay writer, EMMA DONOGHUE, however, is one of the first of a new and more confident generation. At twenty-four, she has already produced a prodigious body of work ranging from drama to cultural history to her just-published first novel, Stir Fry. In the process, she has emerged as a proud and powerful voice for hundreds of young lesbians in this country. Interview: LIAM FAY. Pix: COLM HENRY
The still vibrant 64-year-old on why Morrissey’s like Father Frank, why Iraq is like Vietnam, and on her meetings with Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Bono, Phil Spector and a whole Oval Office full of presidents.
In his debut novel writer – and Hot Press scribe – Peter Murphy has created a whole new genre, Irish South-Eastern Gothic. Set in his native Wexford, John The Revelator chronicles a troubled teenager's coming of age against a backdrop of rural strife and spiritual turmoil. He talks about the life upheavals that inspired the book – and explains why he draws inspiration from America's renegade writers rather than Ireland's kitchen-sink literary tradition.
The Catholic Church has blamed ‘system failure’ and human fallibility for its failure to crack down on the paEdophile Fr. Brendan Smyth. Not so, argues BILL GRAHAM: here, he
examines the role of the Church and, particularly, Cardinal Cahal Daly in the wake of Fr. Smyth’s crimes, and comes to some damning conclusions.
Nerd godhead Kevin Smith has gone back to the motherlode with his new movie, Clerks II. Middle age has done little to dent his infatuation with potty humour, he tells Tara Brady.
In a world exclusive interview, Morrissey sets the record straight on sex, religion, politics, David Bowie and his Irish heritage, and casts a Trinny & Susannah-esque eye over Brian Cowen
DEREK BELL on art, spirituality and porn! MARTIN FAY on Sean O'Riada, Carnegie Hall and drink! And PADDY MOLONEY on superstar friends, Bono's problematic vocals and his critics, inside and outside the group. Yes, it's the second and final part of JOE JACKSON'S extraordinary interview with THE CHIEFTAINS.
Controversy rages about whether the papers should have published the story about Michael Cleary being a da. What fun. Some say The Phoenix was way out of line printing the yarn when his corpse wasn’t cold in the grave. Others engage in earnest disputation as to whether the story is actually true.
While women are still far from achieving equality of opportunity in music, the last thing women artists want – or need – is to be ghettoised, writes musician and journalist Kim V Porcelli. The point about the women who are at rock’s cutting edge – from Sinéad O’Connor through PJ Harvey to Peaches – is that they defer to no one in their pursuit of greatness.
But try finding someone who doesn’t like it. The album Monster is yet another glittering addition to arguably the most astonishing canon in pop music, ever. Here, in a historic summit, the world’s greatest fortnightly rock paper gets together with the world’s greatest rock band for an intimate chat about the big issues: sex, death, drinking and, of course, rrrrrock’n’roll. What else is there? Interview: Liam Fay
30th Anniversary Retrospective: From indie flicks to Hollywood classics, Irish gems to world cinema masterpieces, Tara Brady here selects the top 101 films of the past 30 years.
Michael O'Higgins interviews Bertie Ahern, one of Fianna Fail's young tigers and a man many are tipping as a future leader of the party and possible Taoiseach
No-one has ever asked suzanne vega before if Luka the story about child sexual abuse which made her famous was based on personal experience. Here for the first time ever the singer reveals that indeed it is and that she is still dealing with the after-effects of that traumatic experience. Interview: SIOBHAN LONG. Pix: COLM HENRY.
SINEAD O'CONNOR has been many things - bona fide pop star, tabloid target, controversial activist, mother and priest. But, above all, she is one of Ireland's most compelling musicians.
With a new album due for release, she talks to NIALL STOKES about love, sex, the Church, fame, racism and why "it's important to make it soul music." Pictures: MYLES CLAFFEY
A once high-flying solicitor who was jailed for fraud, David Elio Malocco is now a budget film-maker with a strong anti-establishment view, a man who says he has swapped a "disgraceful" materialistic lifestyle for a social conscience. Here, he talks about crime, punishment, Sinn Fein, Shelbourne, God and the movies
What on earth is milky-white, squeaky-clean, God-fearin PAT BOONE doing,
wearing leather
and studs and singing heavy metal anthems? JOE JACKSON delves behind the year s most bizarre comeback to extract a rare and fascinating interview with a man who once alienated rockers and now finds himself ostracised by Christians.
‘That’s entertainment’ was the message of the year but not as Paul Weller intended it, for in 1986 popular music was closer to mass entertainment as Declan McManus’ pater knew it than any year since Elvis Presley swivelled his hips on the Ed Sullivan show.
