Trinity College Dublin Student Union President Rory Hearne was arrested, detained and brutalised by Czech police at the World Bank
and IMF protest march in Prague on September 26th. He relates his experience to Stephen Robinson. Pictures: PETER MATTHEWS
As the Creamfields dance juggernaut heads towards Punchestown we catch up with the carnvial at Prague in the Czech Republic and offer a preview of what’s to come
Of course this is not the real Jim Hendrix Experience, nor does it pretend to be, but it's probably as good as we’re likely to get this side of judgement day
Of course this is not the real Jim Hendrix Experience, nor does it pretend to be, but it's probably as good as we’re likely to get this side of judgement day
JJ72 aim to hot up the charts with a re-recorded, John Leckie-produced version of I To Sky track 'Always And Forever'. Read on for details of B-sides and the video
His extreme sports stunt sequences, his supercool boy toys and his unceasing willingness to fuck everything in a thong will make this the most popular flick among teenage boys since The Matrix
The annual Eurosonic Festival kicked off on Thursday, January 8th, in Groningen, Holland. The Northern European university city came alive as acts from all over the continent took to the stages of the city for what has become the finest showcase for new music in Europe, as part of the European Talent Exchange Programme. Think the Eurovision, except with top quality music and without the voting.
The Queen of Zydeco, Boris Bob Dylan Grebenshikov and an erstwhile Rolling Stone were among the unlikely collaborators on ANTHONY THISTLETHWAITE S latest opus, Crawfish & Caviar. COLM O HARE hears more.
"Like The Pogues gig on the other side of Xmas, The Frames at Vicar Street on New Year’s Eve is now a fixture of the season and quite the place to be."
There's a definite buzz about Aileen Mythen, lead singer with B and the Honeyboys, as she talks about the secrets of her trademark black and yellow fashion sense.
RICHARD BROPHY journeyed to the Czech Republic to see CJ Boland perform at the Summer of Love dancefest. But the trip included encounters with lunatic drivers and Beretta-toting security men, too. Pics: Peter Matthews.
Akron singer-songwriter Tim Easton has just settled in Alaska, a place where people “go mad or die”. Thankfully, he’s still alive and sane enough to tell the tale.
Singer Maria Tecce’s wardrobe is as eclectic and as multi-cultural as you would expect from a woman with a repertoire of English, Spanish, Italian, French and Polish songs
Ex-Picturehouse front man Dave Browne talks about differentiating his USB, pushing the envelope, and disambiguating his product with a blue-sky opportunity.
After what was at times a stressful year, Damien Rice is on the verge of a major international breakthrough. Fiona Reid gets the inside story from the hungover but happy singer
John Waters, who was among the most out-spoken critics of the running of last year’s Eurosong 2006 contest by RTE, has emerged triumphant from this year’s event.
The Alien vs Predator movie has resurrected two of the most successful action movie franchises of recent years. You’ll kick yourself – in slow motion, and with gratuitous blood loss, of course – if you miss it, according to the film’s star Colin Salmon.
It’s time to get those Dukla Prague away-strips out of mothballs as Half Arsed Half Biscuit play Dolan’s, Limerick (December 1) and Roisin Dubh, Galway (17).
From Dublin to Hollywood and from hanging around in Ballykissangel to hanging out with Al, Bruce and Tom, actor Colin Farrell is making the most of life as 'the next big thing'. "I'm a lucky bastard," he tells Craig Fitzsimons
The party’s over, and the less well-off are expected to pick up the tab for the excesses of avaricious millionaires. But there are constructive things that can be done to turn the tide...
THE GREAT RADIO DEBATE – 1993’s FINAL INSTALMENT
In strictly commercial terms, 98FM are by far the most successful Irish independent station. But over the past 12 months they have come in for severe criticism for a music policy which has frequently been described as anti-Irish. As a result, says their Australian Controller of Programmes Jeff O’Brien, there have been changes at the station – and there may be more to follow. Interview: Jackie Hayden.
STEPHEN RYAN has made his songwriting reputation on the byways rather than the highways. Now, with a new REVENANTS album finally on release, he takes NICK KELLY on a trip off the beaten track. Pics: Bernard Walsh.
With the release of their fourth and finest album "For The Birds", THE FRAMES have zoomed straight into the Irish top ten for the first time. Now, with critical acclaim ringing in their ears, and their glowing fanbase sensing that something special may be about to take place, they prepare to take the Green Energy Weekend by storm. could it be their time has finally come? Interview: KIM PORCELLI. plus mainman GLEN HANSARD gives us a glimpse inside his private diary. out of frame: MICK QUINN
Does ABSINTHE really make the heart grow fonder or are the Conservatives right in calling for its ban? STUART CLARK and his showbiz chums check out the drink that s taking clubland by storm. Pix: CATHAL DAWSON.
According to the latest Durex Sex Survey, most normal Irish people are perverts at heart. And at Christmas they get an unrivalled opportunity to indulge themselves.
Three-in-a-bed romps! drunken footballers on the rampage! and they’re just the questions! however, given that the interviewee is Ireland’s most beloved player Damien Duff you won’t be surprised to learn that the answers are rather more down to earth – including why, with hindsight, he can now chuckle at being on the inside track for the Roy Keane saga in Saipan. “I’m just a big kid at heart,” he tells Barry Glendenning, as he prepares to play a man’s role in Ireland’s crunch game against Switzerland
The last 18 months have been a hell of a ride for The Thrills, catapulted from the relative obscurity of the south dublin suburbs to the top of the uk charts, rubbing shoulders with Van Dyke Parks and Peter Buck along the way. But are the band suffering from diver’s bends? is that laid-back california-in-my-mind facade starting to crumble? We put on our therapist’s hats and endeavour to find out, if something’s gotta give, what gives?
'Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me' may be their battle cry, but leftist rocker/rappers Rage Against the Machine are new to Dublin and Tom Morello needs to be told how to do everything from crossing streets to putting vinegar on his chips. Here, while strolling through town, the guitarist talks about the band's politics, life in Los Angeles and the camera of the people - the Kodak Electrolux. Tour guide: Tara McCarthy
Funky Ceili, non-conformist politics and the approval of Bob Dylan, Robin Williams and Johnny Cash to name but a few. Larry Kirwan tells Liam Fay how Black 47 have become the hottest band in New York and one of 'The Ten Most Hated Things About America
In a presidential nomination field virtually devoid of candidates of real calibre and charisma, the name of ex-Boomtown Rat and Live Aid hero BOB GELDOF has cropped up again and again. Despite his outright denial that he will run for office, the rumour refuses to die away. Here, in an interview with LIAM FAY, he gives his assessment of Mary Robinson s seven years in the job, and his hopes for the future occupants of Aras an Uachtarain.
Winning an oscar was a culmination of a life-time's struggle for GLEN HANSARD. But success extracted a heavy toll on the singer, plunging him into self doubt and leaving him feeling confused and adrift. As The Swell Season prepare to release their second album, he talks about the long road back to sanity, his romantic break-up with songwriting partner MARKETA IRGLOVA and why, having derided Ireland in the press, he’s now proud of his home country
again. Plus Irglova talks about the end of their love affair and the challenges that fame and Fortune bring.
BECKETT ON FILM is one of the most ambitious cinematic projects ever. Nineteen of Samuel Beckett's plays have been made into movies, directed by and starring numerous A-list figures. To mark the occasion, JOE JACKSON talks to Bono, John Hurt and Enda Hughes about one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists
As the FAI's chief executive and the public face of Irish football, John Delaney has come in for savage public criticism over the last couple of years.
Jape and Lisa Hannigan may inhabit opposite ends of the musical spectrum but their careers have followed remarkably similar paths. On the road together in the UK, he talks about bagging the Choice Music Prize and she discusses her dramatic split from Damien Rice
Colm O’Hare reports on the latest developments in the Irish film world which – thanks to initiatives spearheaded by Michael D. Higgins, Minister of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht – is experiencing an unprecedented boom period.