In this country, sworn testimony is invalid when it comes out of the mouths of musicians.

Or so you’d gather from Judge Mary Fahy, who told a Galway courtroom that “Coming into court and telling lies under oath is considered minor by these people” before finding Sharon Shannon guilty of drunk driving – despite evidence to the contrary from Shannon, from Leo Healy (who admitted to having been driving Shannon’s car on the night, to not having insurance and to having consumed ten pints of Guinness before getting behind the wheel) and from Frankie Lane, who was a passenger in the car and confirmed Shannon’s and Healy’s testimony that Healy was the driver. The garda who made the arrest had testified that Healy and Shannon each claimed to be the driver of the car when he arrived at the scene; Shannon later explained that she had made the initial admission because she knew that Healy was not insured to drive her car.
I can’t help wondering whether that judge would have been so quick to libel – did I write libel? I meant to say label – Shannon, Healy and Lane as perjurers had they been involved in some other walk of life, such as banking or bricklaying. I also wonder why the Sunday Tribune found it necessary to devote nearly a full page to a loathsomely sanctimonious editorial by Fiona Looney on the subject (“Copious drinking is one thing; driving home on it is another; but calculated lies are another matter entirely,” she writes primly).
All three of these people came to court and told the truth, at the cost of considerable embarrassment to themselves (Lane testified that he had gone to sleep in a nearby garden after the accident). That they should be penalised for their honesty by being branded as liars, both by the judge and by the media, is deplorable.
Lots of launches lately. Producer, director, and PR ace Mary McPartlan, whose new CD The Holland Handkerchief is reviewed elsewhere in this issue, gave it a great send-off at the Cobblestone on February 19. Doing the honours was Leitrim playwright and poet Vincent Woods, author of At The Black Pig’s Dyke, who recalled his childhood friendship with Mary and how they shared their growing awareness of music and song back in the 1960s and early ’70s. Mike Allen, General Secretary of the Labour Party, was there, as were casting director Máirín Hughes, RTÉ producer Peter Woods, NUJ Irish General Secretary Seamus Dooley, celebrity chef Kevin Dundon of Dunbrody House and Nicholas Carolan of the Irish Music Archive. Also there were the owners of Las Vegas venue The Nine Fine Irishmen, which for three months last summer hosted a four-hour show put together by Mary on the history of Irish music, song, dance and culture. Naturally, a large contingent of traditional musicians was present, and messages of goodwill came from as far away as Venezuela and Argentina, where Mary initiated and developed a cultural exchange programme a few years ago.
“I Could Write The Book”, a posthumously released album featuring music, songs and stories from the late Roscommon-born singer and bodhrán player Frank McGann, was launched in Matt Molloy’s pub in Westport on February 25 and in Donnellan’s in McGann’s hometown of Knockvicar two days later. Both launches were well attended and local musicians generously provided the night’s entertainment in each case. All proceeds from the CD go to the Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation. The annual Féile Frank McGann festival in Strokestown is set to continue in 2004 (October 8-10); acts already lined up include Four Men & A Dog and the Tulla Céilí Band. For more information, visit .
And Kíla’s Rónán Ó Snodaigh launched his second solo offering, Tonnta Ró, at The Sugar Club on February 24, with Liam Ó Maonlaí and the Kíla boys amongst the entertainers – a great night by all accounts, with a bit of reggae, as they say, after the show. Rónán has been a very busy man lately, not only making an album but publishing two books: Luscadán (Irish for ‘swing’) and Songs – both of them anthologies of song lyrics and poems he’s written over the years. In other Kíla news, Rónán, Colm and Rossa undertook a hectic ten-day tour of Japan in February, promoting the group’s latest album Luna Park and preparing audiences for an August-September tour featuring the full band. They’re on tour in Australia as I write, but will be back on March 16, just in time to play their annual St. Patrick’s Night Gig in the Olympia.
As usual, there’s a plethora of Paddy’s Day gigs to choose from. Iarla Ó Lionáird, Mairead Nesbitt, Emer Mayock and Tim Edey are playing under the collective name Moonsnow at the Temple Bar Music Centre on March 16. The ESB Ceol traditional music festival takes place at the National Concert Hall from March 14 through 17, with concerts by Zoë Conway (performing with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra), Frank Harte with Dónal Lunny, Sharon Shannon and her Acoustic Band with special guest Pauline Scanlon, and Dónal Lunny & Friends.
As part of the St. Patrick’s Festival (March 11-17), the Lucozade Energy Céilí Mór takes place at Earlsfort Terrace from 2.30 to 6pm on the 17th and features the North Cregg Céilí Band, Four Men & A Dog and the Kilfenora Céilí Band.
And if you’re down Ennis way, Glór will be the focus of St. Patrick’s Weekend family fun from March 12 to 14 with music, dance workshops, storytelling, film, face painting and a céilí with the Tulla Céilí Band, plus concerts by Máire Ní Chathasaigh & Chris Newman among others.
Finally – coming soon to a television screen near you is Tango, the new Irish-language short film featuring a score by Máirtín O’Connor. Written by Sean Cooney, Ita Kelly and Ruth Nic Giolla Iasachta, the film was shot entirely on Inis Meáin in the Aran Islands in April of last year and will be broadcast on TG4 on March 16 at 10pm, with a repeat on March 21 at 9.20pm. The project was inspired, says Ita, “by a trip we made to Inis Meáin over ten years ago when we heard the locals use the names ‘Rockies’ and ‘Sandies’. The rockies referred to the people from Inis Meáin and the Sandies those from Inis Oírr – thus the film is about a long conflict between two families, one from each of the islands, who have to get together to stop a wedding between the son from one house and the daughter from the other!”

Musicians and singers with news to share can e-mail Sarah on [email protected]