A Year In A Thousand

COMEDY
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME-DY
The last echoes of "Auld Lang Syne" may still be reverberating around the pubs, nightclubs and function rooms of the nation, but it appears that plans are already afoot to make 1999 another bumper year for Irish comedy.

Last year saw the stand-up bubble continue to inflate steadily, with the success of the Laughter Lounge, an unprecedented number of Irish comedy festivals and a record number of Irish performers at August's Edinburgh Fringe festival all proving that the harbingers of doom will have to wait indefinitely for vindication.

If the stand-up schedule for 1999 is anything to go by, Irish comedians look set to enjoy their most prosperous year to date.

Murphy's, the brewery with whom comedy in Ireland is now synonymous, have already unveiled plans for no fewer than eight different festivals in Ireland this year, with smirkfests already pencilled in for Cork (twice), Dublin, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Killarney, Waterford and Galway. Add to this the follow-up to last year's highly successful Carroll's Comedy On The (Dublin) Fringe and the confirmation of campus comedy tours, and there is every indication that the tastes of all discerning comedy fans, however quirky, will be well catered for throughout 1999.

Needless to say, it'll be business as usual at Ireland's long-running comedy emporiums, with City Limits in Cork and Galway's GPO continuing to book the finest in international and homegrown talent. Rich Hall, Jeff Green, Lee Mack, Boothby Graffoe and Dom Irrera — to name but a handful — are among those who played in both venues last year. In Dublin, the Ha'penny Bridge Inn improv team continues to pack them in every Thursday while the International Bar remains a Mecca for both locals and tourists alike, renowned as it is both as a breeding ground for emerging talent. Indeed, the Comedy Cellar is still the venue star-turns such as Dylan Moran and Ardal O'Hanlon return to time after time in order to hone their material before taking it to bigger theatres.

Elsewhere, Vicar St. will be dipping a speculative toe in the straits of stand-up this March, with a number of top domestic and international acts already confirmed for a four-night blitz at Dublin's newest multi-purpose venue. Under the banner of the Corduroy Comedy Club, deadpan delivery man Kevin McAleer gets the ball rolling on St Patrick's Night, followed by The Fast Show's Simon Day who doubles up with Alan Parker's critically acclaimed League Against Tedium on March 18th. The stars of Channel 4's Gas show take up the baton on March 19th, with a line-up that includes host Lee Mack and Gas regulars Noel Fielding and Dan Antapolski, among others. Fantasy Football League stalwart, David Baddiel has the job of whipping them in on March 20th.

Comedy buffs can also expect to see last year's Perrier Award winner, the inimitable Tommy Tiernan, coming soon to a venue near them: a nationwide tour is on the cards. His friend and fellow Navan-ite, Dylan Moran, will also be busy, as work has just finished on the second series of How Do You Want Me?, the BBC comedy drama for which the dishevelled one bagged a TV Comedy Best Newcomer gong just before Christmas.

And last, but by no means least, rumours of an impending visit by Jerry Seinfeld refuse to abate. Needless to say, if the mullet-sporting American star does include Ireland on the itinerary of his eagerly awaited comeback tour, I'm Telling You This For The Last Time, it will surely be the highlight of the year for stand-up comedy in Ireland. Indeed, if he does come, it'll give him an opportunity to steal, and subsequently spend, that Irish five pound note which his good buddy George Costanza carries in his wallet.
— Barry Glendenning

TRADITIONAL MUSIC
YANK OF IRELAND
Scanning the crystal ball in search of some highlights for the coming year, it seems that the hot money's on displaced trad acts, and on the more stripped down, bare-boned sound that only a live session can really produce.

For years now the role models on the Irish trad music scene have been homegrown: Liam O'Flynn, Arty McGlynn, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Clannad, et al. But more recent developments have seen the travellers return to triumph. Solas and Cherish The Ladies are two such bands. Plying their trade in the States, these first and second generation Irish musicians have bucked the old trends. Their music is as sophisticated as anything produced on the home front, and they've steadfastly refused to sink into maudlin republicanism as many of their forebears did once they'd left home. Of course, none of this is very surprising, since most of the musicians ricochet back and forth across the ocean with the alacrity of a Richard Branson, but still, it's refreshing to see that the emigrant ship travels both ways.

Watch out too for the demise of the Big Band phenomena of Riverdance and Lord Of The Dance. The cocktail party brigade are renowned for their fickleness, and traditional music can finally return to take its rightful place among the sessions it sprang from.

Anything else emerging from the fog? Probably a lot more indie trad albums, now that the recording process can happen any time, any place, anywhere. Bedrooms and garages will become as favoured places as recording studios. Independence Day has finally dawned.
— Siobhan Long

FASHION
DESIGN OF THE TIMES
With the year 2000 just around the corner and pre-millennium hype gathering momentum at a rate of knots, we're going to see a lot of fast-moving trends over the coming months. Not just in the worlds of music and technology but also in the field of fashion. So what should the discerningly fashion-conscious Hot Press reader be wearing over the coming year?

"I think people will generally be much more into luxury fabrics but with this kind of understated quality of workmanship," says designer John Rocha. "Things like pure fabrics, cashmere, mohair. I think in the spring and summer all kinds of natural fibres like linen will come into vogue, but people will wear other fabrics to mix with them. I think people will be much more refined. You know, these days people perhaps don't buy too much, but they do tend to buy nice qualities."

According to Rocha, culture mixing as opposed to clashing will be much more in evidence in 1999. "The sportswear influence will be quite important," he says. "In the fashion media you'll often see shots of models wearing expensive jackets or great trousers with a pair of trainers — mixing healthy living with fashion as well. I think that'll be seen on the street a lot more. It'll be more luxury dressing but also combined with things like sportswear — mixing two cultures together."

And will the fast-approaching millennium have any noticeable effect on what people are wearing?

"Obviously it's going to be a big celebration, so I think dinner jackets will be the thing for this winter," he says. "But they'll be dinner jackets with a twist — not really the traditional sort, maybe silk or something."

Andy Sharkey, affable frontman of the stylish new Trinity Street clothing store Cuba, agrees. "I think things like big baggy jeans and hoodies have run their course on the streetwear scene," he opines. "There's been a big cycle and I think it's gonna get back to tight fitted, tailored suits."

"I don't know if it's got anything to do with the millennium or if it's just the natural flow of things but I think the look good/feel good thing is going to happen. People don't wanna look like they've just been dragged out of a street corner. Especially here in Ireland, where a lot of people are doing well, and actually have money in their pockets. So I think it's going to go away from the big baggy things. I don't know if it'll go to the opposite extreme with, say, drainpipe trousers but we'll definitely see much more close-cut clothes."
— Olaf Tyaransen

FILM
20/20 VISION
"And it's into the fucking fray" — as Nick Cave once had it, for another year of the best, worst, weirdest, wildest and wonderfullest movies Hollywood's greatest talents can contrive to throw at us. And we should do our damnedest to enjoy it to the full, because as you all know, the planet is scheduled to explode and perish at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. A mere 12 months remain for someone to make the Film Of The Century (I'm inclined to go for Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!) so, just to rob you of any surprise element, Hot Press hereby previews the year that'll be in it.

January, as is traditional, is half-dead on the movie front. All Trekkies will surely already have seen Star Trek: Insurrection, while all Hitchcock fans should approach Gus Van Sant's Psycho with a healthy dose of caution. Evil Dead director Sam Raimi makes a welcome return in February with the psychological thriller A Simple Plan, billed as "a cross between Shallow Grave and Fargo" — while A Bug's Life — Disney's latest — is certain to knock them dead at the box office. Comedy of the season is reputed to be Your Friends & Neighbors, which stars Jason Patric, Ben Stiller, Catherine Keener, Nastassja Kinski and Amy Brenneman as a gang of bed-hopping mates.

The next couple of months should bring more fun, or at least better weather. Terrence Malick, director of the unbelievably brilliant Badlands, makes his comeback (after a 20-year layoff) with The Thin Red Line, a WWII movie fancied to challenge Private Ryan for Oscars. Nicolas Cage's snuff-movie thriller 8mm arrives in April, but is hardly likely to pack out the 'plexes, while Arlington Road (apart from sharing its title with the most sacred street on God's earth) showcases an impressive cast (Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins and others) in a hard-hitting movie about right-wing American terrorism.

No Scream 3 on the horizon (thought not) but I Still Know What You Did Last Summer should catapult the impressively-maturing figure of Jennifer Love Hewitt to mega-celeb proportions, if not entirely for the right reasons. All the summer's cinematic goings-on are certain to be overshadowed by The Phantom Menace, the fourth instalment in the Star Wars series. Nobody knows anything about it except that Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson are in it, that George Lucas is unlikely to fuck around with a successful formula, and that it will out-gross every other movie of the year without a doubt. I can wait, of course, but it's something to look forward to devoutly.

Angela's Ashes is the outstanding Irish prospect of '99: the project certainly seems to be in good hands, with Robert Carlyle and Breaking the Waves' Emily Watson ensuring a certain measure of class. Otherwise, it might be a thin year for high-profile Irish movies.

Other delights to look forward to: Brad Pitt goes all-out to sabotage his sex-shooter reputation by appearing as a shaven-headed bare-knuckled boxer in Dark David Fincher's The Fight Club. Good old Austin Powers makes a welcome return in the groovydelic The Spy Who Shagged Me, while At First Sight stars Val Kilmer as a blind man who regains his vision with the help of girlfriend Mira Sorvino. Sicko highlight of the year is probably Happiness (with a title like that, it'd have to be sick) which is billed as a "hugely-acclaimed black comedy about pedophilia, masturbation and sexual jealousy". Oh, and John Waters has something up his sleeve too.

Happy viewing, and may your bags of popcorn never run out.
— Craig Fitzsimons

MEDIA
DAWN OF A NEW GAY?
Television is a rapidly mutating organism. It's a safe bet, nonetheless, to assume that in the mainstream viewing stakes lowbrow will continue to be the new highbrow, with the sarky satire of South Park, King Of The Hill and the good ol' Simpsons representing the best of American imports. Of course, we've had homegrown versions of the same thing for years, in the shape of Zig & Zag, Dustin and more recently, the God-like Podge 'n' Rodge, so, regarding the domestic scene in 1999, it's safe to assume that even more homegrown weirdos will turn pro (a telly adaptation of Murray and Mackey's Ballyslaphappy anyone?).

On that note, TNaG should retain its position of the only Irish-speaking channel in the world to regularly show classic art-house movies by the likes of Nicolas Roeg. Further down the dial, TV3 is still in its infancy, but things look grim for the foreseeable future, with their indigenously produced news and sports departments largely unable to compete with those of the national broadcaster, leaving the station with a menu of imported Yank sit-coms and feature films which are, for the most part, easily viewable elsewhere. And bizarrely, Martin King's penchant for bringing on the dancing horses and turning the weather forecast into a glorified request show looks like seriously infecting RTÉ's Met Office.

Speaking of 57 channels and nothing on, at the time of going to press, spokespersons for Cablelink were still valiantly insisting that, "there are plans to launch Digital TV this year, but there are no specific dates at the moment."

Of course, the major question facing RTÉ next summer will be, "Who's the new Gaybo?" The only two warhorses capable of filling the little man's big shoes are Marian Finucane and Gerry Ryan, but if RTÉ have any vision, they'll look to relatively youthful, but accomplished interviewers like John Kelly.

In the world of print, Himself magazine's remit is an "ambitious" one — create an Arena for a race of men commonly regarded as having as much style as a Black Oak Arkansas roadie — but against all odds, they might thrive. Certainly as the next century kicks in, and Irish males learn how to dress, feed and groom themselves, the men's magazine market looks set to be blown even more wide open. Furthermore, if the economy holds and certain strata of society continue to eat out rather than in, an increase in Food & Drink style publications looks imminent. Gone are the days of watery spuds and veggies with the life boiled out of 'em. Unless of course, that native dish makes a comeback as some kind of 21st century indigenous nouvelle cuisine gimmick.

Without a doubt, radio should become increasingly more revitalised in '99. The narrow-casting of the Dublin stations will drive more droves of even casual music buffs back to Radio 1 and Today FM, while the thriving state of Irish literature looks like having a knock-on effect in terms of improved spoken word programming and a rehabilitation of that much abused institution, the radio-play.

"I think it'll be a very interesting year. The old order is slowly passing and fragmenting," says Today FM DJ Mark Cagney, who having previously served his time with 2FM and 98FM, knows what he's talking about. "If Radio 1 shake audiences loose for other stations to pick up, I think everyone will get a little closer, and the lead that Radio 1 has will erode."

Obviously, Today FM has survived extinction, but, as Cagney admits, they've still got work to do.

"I'm on board now, Ian Dempsey's on board, so the ship has steadied," he declares. "But it's whether we thrive and prosper that is in question. It's hard to get established these days, but it's much harder to take it from there to where it becomes a serious competitor. 2FM is looking interesting and vulnerable, I have to say. The appointment of Bill O'Donovan's successor is going to be vital to their future. With Ian joining us, the depth of talent in 2FM is shallower than people thought."

"Also, Local Radio has had a very good run, but they've settled very comfortably into their niches and ruts, and maybe some of them take their positions in local regions for granted. For example, Today FM pick up an awful lot of listeners in Cork, and that is not what you would expect from a region that has a natural antipathy to anything that comes out of Dublin."

And what about the pirates?

"Legitimise the dance stations and what'll happen is rebel radio will emerge somewhere else," he claims. "So, the variables are extraordinary. You could be here 'til next Christmas trying to figure out what'll happen, and at the end of the day it could all be bullshit."

Amen.
— Peter Murphy

LITERATURE
IRELAND INK
Once, Irish writers were garishly pissed caricatures, talking their talent away in the pubs of town and country alike. These days, drinking houses are no longer conducive to a good literary bitching session. Besides, writers are now a more disciplined breed, working 9 to 5, sleeping at nights, occasionally attending a book launch or power lunch to network. Nick Hornby-style big money soccer transfer fees are becoming ever more prevalent, meanwhile, with writers being tempted from publishing house to publishing house by audacious advances.

So, as the realm of fiction becomes infested with money-hungry grafters looking for big bucks on the basis of a synopsis and first chapter, one might reasonably speculate that the noble art of storytelling will take a nosedive and become regarded as the new (tabloid) journalism, while non-fiction — biographies, self-help books, memoirs, straight reportage — will become the staple diet of the Eng-Lit connoisseur. Certainly, the recent glut of real-life crime books, spearheaded by Paul Williams, suggests that Irish readers are entirely willing to accept Goodfellas set in Glasnevin. It's also safe to assume that the likes of Pat McCabe, Roddy Doyle, John Banville et al. will continue to hog Booker Prize lists, come runner-up and not give a shit either way. As McCabe recently pointed out, "The thing about English novelists is they're all after one thing: a knighthood."

On the other hand, poetry is in trouble. Apart from established masters like Heaney, Durcan, Kennelly and co., there are precious few youngbloods capable of dragging poetry kicking and screaming out of the drawing room and into the gutter, where it belongs. Yeats once sighed "All things can tempt me from this craft of verse". Now, one thing is sufficient to distract fresh-faced versifiers: lucre. The young Irish thinking class are now far too professional-minded and ambitious to indulge in something as poverty-inducing as the art of poetry, and would sooner turn their hand to screenwriting, or even such nebulous but profitable pursuits as "producing".

However, there's still plenty of room for the mavericks. Reflecting this is the imminent publication of the Donal Scannell/Sarah Champion-compiled anthology Shenanigans (Sceptre/Lir). A diverse but rarely dull journey through the underbelly of new Irish fiction, the collection has been garnering positive responses for its fresh angle on the seedy, sometimes exotic, often drug-addled state of the nation. The book's cast includes Hot Press scribes Olaf Tyaransen and Helena Mulkerns, Songdogs author Colum McCann, Serious Time-er Joe Ambrose, and ex-Toasted Heretic frontman Julian Gough, who has been mentioned in numerous foreign dispatches as the domestic writer most likely to come good in the near future.

Other forthcoming local notables in fiction include Dublin addiction counsellor John Trolan's Slow Puncture (Mount Eagle/Brandon) due out in May, Kevin Whelan's A Wonderful Boy (Marino) and also, a sequel to the hugely successful anthology Finbar's Hotel entitled Ladies' Night At Finbar's Hotel (New Island) featuring the likes of Maeve Binchy, Emma Donoghue and Deirdre Purcell, edited by Dermot Bolger.

On the international front, there's equally as much interesting stuff. Like for instance, two imminent titles from Hodder & Stoughton: James St. James' Disco Bloodbath — described as "Bret Easton Ellis meets Warhol's diaries" — and Simon Hattenstone's Out Of It, the autobiographical tale of "a boy who went to bed with a headache and woke up three years later". Norman Mailer's giant retrospective The Time Of Our Time (Little, Brown) also promises to be truly indispensable. And, from the same publisher, Margaret Wertheim's The Pearly Gates Of Cyberspace investigates the fascinating premise of a holy ghost in the machine.

Finally, in terms of literary trends, this writer reckons origami will become the new football.

But, hey, I might be wrong.
— Peter Murphy

ENVIRONMENT
APOCALYPSE NOW?
According to a huge body of prophetic work, planet Earth and its people are destined for major changes around the turn of the millennium. These include massive shifts in the earth's land and water masses, and corresponding sudden climatic changes. So, hey, don't say we weren't warned!

Before rejecting these predictions as "unscientific" or "unbelievable", it's worth noting (a) the increasing incidence of freak weather conditions around the globe and (b) the substantial scientific evidence pointing to geological upheavals, some surprisingly sudden, that have already taken place on the planet. Continental landmasses have been submerged under the sea; others have risen thousands of metres above sea-level, as evidenced by the shells and skeletons of sea-animals found high in the Himalayas.

Other prophecies foretell not the end of the world, but the beginning of a new era. And certainly, if we look at current trends, there is much to indicate a massive consciousness shift towards a more holistic, ecological perspective on the interconnectedness of all forms of life and nature.

The seas have risen between 10 and 25 centimetres this century. This is because the world is getting warmer, and though carbon emissions — which accelerate this process, and stem largely from the burning of fossil fuels — are still increasing, there is a powerful and much-needed energy revolution underway. Small-scale, locally-run sustainable energy operations are springing up all over the industrial world, and big corporations are also starting to shift investments from oil, coal and nuclear power — where growth is at a near standstill — to wind and solar, which show spectacular growth rates.

Increasing numbers of people recognise that the planet's life-support systems are at crisis-point. Almost half the forests that once covered the vast expanses of the earth are already gone, and the process of deforestation — along with the floods, soil erosion, desertification, mass species extinctions and other destructive "side-effects" which this implies — continues unabated. Biotechnology corporations are causing genetic pollution, scrambling genetic blueprints that have taken millennia to evolve. Other species — upon whose interaction we depend to maintain Earth's intricate web of life — are feeling the brunt of habitat loss and toxification. 25 per cent of all mammal species, 11 per cent of bird species and 34 per cent of fish species are in immediate danger of extinction. Tigers, elephants and whales hover on the cusp of oblivion. Even the sparrow is under threat — in Britain during the last three years, their numbers have plummeted from 8 to 3 million.

All this disruption is causing grave concerns for future food and water security. Food scares are making people think about where their food comes from, fuelling the demand for pure organic food and encouraging a shift from the global market to local production for local consumption. Climate change, economic collapse and the approaching oil shortage may affect the reliability of transglobal food transport.

Aside from this, a major community-led move towards sustainable agriculture, technology and economics is taking place, with sustainable businesses and eco-villages springing up in Ireland and many other countries. Over-consumerism and the waste it produces are coming under stringent criticism. These moves herald a new dawn in our relationships with ourselves, with each other and with the Earth. Seen in this light, the global ecological crisis contains the seeds of its own redemption.

To hook into the Irish movement for sustainability during 1999, begin by checking out The Third Sustainable Earth Fair, to be held at Trinity College, Dublin, 6th-7th March. Guaranteed fun and fascination! Details from VOICE, at 14 Upr. Pembroke Street, Dublin 2. Tel. (01) 6618123.
— Adrienne Murphy

MUSIC
TEENAGE RAMPAGE
As undeniably talented as they are, journalists shouldn't be let within a million miles of a recording studio.

Conclusive proof of this is provided by "To Earth With Love", the absurdly hyped debut single from Gay Dad which shows that the British inkies learned nothing from the Romo debacle.

After claiming one of the all-time great rock 'n' roll monikers, scribbler Cliff Jones spectacularly fails to deliver with a song that wants to be prime-time David Bowie but isn't even so-so Suede.

So with Gay Dad falling at the first fence, who will be our saviours in '99? Probably not Bawl, Blink, The Frames, Mundy or Junkster who, try as they might, haven't been able to turn endeavour into sales.

The boys from the old brigade who may just pull off a shock are The Frank & Walters. Now officially a wacky-free zone, the Leesiders go into 1999 with a small but significant American fanbase which will swell as soon as their third album, Today, hits the racks in March.

Ditto David Holmes who, having sold bucket-loads of records on import, is just a top 40 crossover hit away from taking the States by storm.

Outside of Holmer, it's difficult to see where the mooted "Irish dance explosion" is going to come from, which isn't to say that some spotty 18-year-old isn't constructing a million-seller in their bedrooms as we speak.

Indeed, there are a lot of hopes riding on teenage shoulders with Chicks and the JJ72s both capable of great things if they can overcome their respective Bis and Smashing Pumpkins fixations. Also expect to hear a lot more from refined metallers co.uk, the deliciously lo-fi Snow Patrol and Cane 141, who may just have the wherewithal to become Ireland's Mercury Rev.

Whether or not Geffen have the necessary faith in them remains to be seen, but I wouldn't go ruling out Cuckoo quite yet. While by no means flawless, Breathing Lessons was better than 95% of the debut albums that made it onto the Clarkian stereo last year and, with a tad more songwriting guile, they could be serious contenders.

Meanwhile, following his £1 million transfer to EMI, the only way for their Derry neighbour, Neil Hannon, is up. I'm not sure about the US, but where the UK and France are concerned, untold fame and wealth beckon. He may be joined by Perry Blake who, if anything, has been energised by Polydor dropping him and new Principle hopeful Paddy Casey.

While in Mystic Meg-mode, I'll stick my neck out and say that B*Witched will prove to be infinitely more successful in the States than Boyzone; Sinéad Lohan's second album will see her universally hailed as the new Joni Mitchell; and Ronan Hardiman will also come through on the back of his Lord Of The Dance exposure.

Having dismissed Gay Dad, it's only proper that I namecheck a few UK acts that actually live up to their press releases. Bridging the gap between AC/DC and The Police may seem like an odd thing to want to do in the millennium's penultimate year, but Bristol's Crashland do just that to stunning effect; Indian Rope Man is like Cornershop only better; and Merz will sell millions of records by virtue of being Beck, Fatboy Slim and Youssou N'Dour all rolled into one.

An MP3 sampler of his debut album is downloadable from the Internet — which is where some of 1999's most serious action will be taking place. As you can read in more detail on page 50, a Walkman-like gadget has just gone on sale in the States called the Rio PMP300. Retailing for the equivalent of £135, the machine is capable of storing up to 60 minutes of digital quality sound from the Net and, with no moving parts, never skips.

As it says on the box, "It'll totally change the way you listen to music."
— Stuart Clark

POLITICS

BETWEEN TRIUMPH AND DISASTER
Step back one year - who could have predicted the events of '98? A peace deal in the north seemed long odds bet, all was sweetness and light with Tony Blair's British government, while across the Atlantic, few people outside the White House had heard of Monica Lewinsky.
Contemplating prospects for '99, the north seems again to be balanced on the fine line between triumph and disaster. The tug o' war between David Trimble and Sinn Féin over decommissioning poses grave dangers. Indeed, it is difficult to envisage the IRA decommissioning at all. To do so may seem a sensible strategic move to those at one remove from the conflict; it looks suspiciously like betrayal from the perspective of a Ballymurphy, Ardoyne or Bogside republican.
There is more scepticism within the Republican movement about the Adams-McGuinness strategy than is generally realised, and to surrender weapons at this point would surely split the movement irrevocably. Furthermore, the apparent involvement of dissident republicans in the recent armed raid in Dalkey suggests, depressingly, that for some 'The Long War' is not over.
On the most unionist side, the recent split in Robert McCartney's UKUP may herald the long-predicted realignment of anti-agreeement forces. If so, David Trimble's position will become even more precarious. Drumcree, meanwhile, is set to flare again, with potentially devastating results.
In the Republic, the FF-led government should never steer a reasonably steady course, though there maybe an occasional wobble courtesy of the Independent TDs (particularly Mildred Fox and Jackie Healy-Rae). Bertie Ahern's capitulation to Healy-Rae on the issue of the EU funding set a dangerous precedent in this regard, and is something the Taoiseach may live to regret.
The PDs look increasingly irrelevant, making up the government numbers, but seemingly with less influence than the independents. They must now define themselves more sharply or face extinction. There is, after all, the possibility that Bertie could call a snap election. Assuming the holy grail of the overall majority would not be forthcoming, he would nevertheless form a much stronger coalition with Labour, leaving the PD's nowhere to go but the wilderness.
While on the subject of Labour, their merger with DL at the end of last year is unlikely to have any radical impact.
In the midst of all this, there is still the possibility that the tribunals which will proceed at a...eh...leisurely pace through the year, may yet cause ructions. On past for,, though, don't expect too many heads to roll.
Meanwhile, watch out for the Gardaí - over the course of 1998, there was a tangible increase in their tendency to behave in an intimidating and oppressive manner. If this trend continues it's time to get really worried...
In Britain, Tony Blair has such a huge majority that it is inconceivable that the Labour government could get into serious trouble. Nonetheless, the infighting which often afflicts governments without a credible opposition has already had it's effects in the resignation of Peter Mandelson and Gordon Brown's spindoctor, Charlie Whelan. If the enmity between Brownite and Blairite factions isn't resolved quickly, there may be more self-inflicted wounds to come. In the Conservative camp, Michael Portillo may well return to the fray this year, which could spell trouble for William Hague's leadership.
Events in the US will probably continue to be dominated by the so called Lewinsky Scandal. In reality, the way in which Kenneth Starr and his supporters on Capitol Hill have pursued Clinton is much more scandalous than anything which occurred between Bill and Monica. In the midst of the media frenzy, it fell to Hustler supremo Larry Flynt to expose the total hypocrisy of certain reactionary figures. Encouragingly, though, the polls continue to hold steady for Clinton, and he should survive.
As regards the next presidential race, lay your money on a run-off between Al Gore or George Bush Jnr. on the Republican ticket.
Meanwhile in Kosovo and Central Africa will continue to rage, costing many more lives and the great powers of the western world will do precisely nothing to stop them.
Happy New Year. Maybe...
- Niall Stanage

FOOTBALL

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
"I can give you 10 minutes,"was Brian Kerr's reply when we asked him to cast an expert eye over the footballing year ahead.
Three-quarters-of-an-hour later it's us who's calling time on the interview, such is Kerr's passion for the beautiful game. Off to South Africa this week with the Under-17s for the Meridian Cup, the Ireland's youth manager reckons that there's one player in particular who'll dominate the back pages in 1999.
"In my view, Robbie Keane has the potential to be as good, if not better, than anyone who's currently in the Premiership." he proffers. "There was talk earlier in this season of Arsenal coming in for him, nut short-term he's better off at Wolves where he's a guaranteed a first-team place.
"The recent changes at Molyneux will probably do him good', Kerr continues. "Under Mark McGee, he had far too free a role to be a good team player. He's a brilliant goalscorer but he needs to do more when he hasn't got the ball - y'know, covering and retrieving. He's no shyster, though, and once he's added that to his game, he'll go on to become one of the Irish greats."
As someone who's stock-in-trade is nurturing young talent, Kerr is concerned by the increasingly predatory tactics employed by big English clubs. "According to my information, the main reason for Alex Ferguson being in Dublin last week was to sign a lad who's with Lourdes Celtic U-14s," he reveals. "No matter what the family thought was best for him, it's hard to say 'no' when the manager of Manchester United comes calling to the house. However, I don't think it's any 13-year-old's interests to be contracted to a club that young."
Having run his slide-rule over just about every youth and reserve team there is. Brian has a good idea of who the next generation of footballing superstars are going to be.
"this 15-year-old that Arsenal have paid Notts County £2 million for, Jermaine Pennant, was in the England team that played against us last summer in Iceland. We beat them 3-2 and he didn't have a particularly good game, but everything I've seen and heard of him since suggests he's class. There's a young striker at Everton, Jeffers - if Walter Smith can calm him down, he'll do okay for himself. Joe Cole played against at schoolboy and Under-16 level and didn't really impress, but since then I've seen him in a youth game and he was outstanding.
"The good news," Kerr enthuses, "is that we've got just as many promising lads as England. Dessie Byrne, who was with Cherry Orchard Under-16s up until April broke into Stockport County first-team last week; Barry Quinn's blossoming into a good player at Coventry: and if they give him the opportunity, Ger Crossley can do a job for Celtic. If they pass him up in favour of a big name signing, though, he should consider moving. The same goes for Gary Dempsey who's not even in the Everton youth team. He played for Ireland Under-17s in all five of our Israeli games and I said, 'How the fuck can they leave him on the bench?'"
Before Angry of Inchicore puts pen to paper, Kerr reckons that two of his St. Pat's old boys, Trevor Molloy and Colin Hawkins, are long overdue an international call-up and would slot seamlessly into any English First Division side. Trophy-wise, though, he sees the Supersaints being pipped at the Leauge of Ireland post by Cork City, while cross-channel it's Chelsea and Man U are involved in too many other competitions and Villa don't have sufficient strength in depth," he reasons. "If the Kanu deal goes through and Denis Bergkamp stays fit, Arsenal can do it again."
- Stuart Clark