Congrats to director Tom Collins

Having interviewed Tom Collins recently about An Bronntanas and previously about Kings, I know what a hardworking, conscientious film director he is so I am delighted that the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) has presented the Foras na Gaeilge Award to the Derry wan and all-round good egg in recognition of his Outstanding Contribution …

The secrets of Leuven’s Irish connection

This is the English version of the last Irish language blog, Cuairt ar Leuven.   Monday night (23 March 2015) saw a great programme go out on BBC2 NI in which I learned an awful lot about the important role played by a Belgian town in the history of the Irish language. It was the second …

New Arrivals make for great drama

Have you ever spent any time in a house that was lived in by a diverse group of immigrants? Have you ever wondered what life is like for the Roma, the Africans, the eastern European who are living in what used to be one of the most homogeneous places in Europe? I saw Arrivals last …

Alan Doherty’s world of music

Last year, I heard an album that left me hyperentilating. Almost. It was From Tallagh to Halle by a band called Aldoc, named after the head honcho and guiding spirit, Alan Doherty from the People’s Republic of Tallaght in County Dublin. So taken by the band was I that I spend a whole day driving around in …

Aontas na Scríbhneoirí Gaeilge

Cuireadh sibh lá ar leataobh sa dialann don chéad chruinniú d’Aontas na Scríbhneoirí Gaeilge. Beidh an teacht le chéile ar siúl in Áras na Scríbhneoirí, Cearnóg Pharnell, Dé Sathairn 17 Eanáir 2015, idir 10.30rn-3.30in le plean oibre a leagan amach, coiste stiúrtha a thoghadh agus bonn ceart a chur faoin eagraíocht, rátaí ballraíochta san áireamh. …

Tim Edey on the healing power of music

The thing I love most about watching Tim Edey playing either the guitar or the melodeon, is that he seems to be enjoying it so much and when you see someone do that, you are drawn in even more to the joy of the music being played. It’s obviously more than a job to Tim …

All aboard The Holy, Holy Bus

It comes as little surprise to hear that Brassneck Theatre Company’s Holy, Holy Bus has won the Belfast Telegraph’s Audience Award at this Belfast Festival at Queens. Having seen it at the Waterfront Hall  I can understand why. The Holy, Holy Bus, written by Pearse Elliott, is about four generations of women from west Belfast, all …

Clannad: the family from Dobhair

  It must have been around 35 years ago that the usual bar staff of an Irish language club in west Belfast were all off in Donegal. Being someone who often helped out in the bar, I was asked to look after affairs for the night. Cumann Chluain Ard was a place visiting Irish language …