Dublin is shaping up for a real culture shock in the next little while. Visitors and locals alike will be chewing their lips in indecision at how to possibly choose between what can only be described as an entire galaxy of cool events. Here’s what I’m looking at… The Jameson Dublin International Film Festival First [...]

Here are a few of the random facts I knew about Belfast up until today – The Titanic was built there It’s home to the chiseled architectural beauty that is Queen’s University St Anne’s Cathedral has the largest Celtic Cross in Ireland The actor Liam Neeson and writer C.S. Lewis were born there (okay, in [...]

On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent me to Ireland for a twelve day party. On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent me To Kilkenny on Ice I fell down but it’s part of the party. On the third day of Christmas, my true love sent me To Santa [...]

Bet you thought all the best Irish festivals happen during the summer. And bet you thought live Irish music was mostly Céilís and Bodhráns, with the odd sell-out U2 stadium affair or screaming-tweens Westlife gig. Well have we got an October for you. The tuxedos and sparkling gowned-ticket-holders tottering around town will be your first [...]

County Clare is preparing for the tide of dancing and romancing that rushes in with the upcoming Matchmaking Festival Picture, for a moment, an Irish farmer in September, carefully reviewing his To Do list and scratching off his tasks: 1. Gather harvest Tick. 2. Shoe horses Tick His eyes fall to the final line: 3. [...]

Ever been to a play where the actor’s last line is delivered, lights dimmed, curtain lowered and the audience erupts…in riots? Welcome to Dublin, and its amazingly chequered theatrical past and present, says Julie Basque. Okay, don’t fret, you didn’t miss the morning paper! The whole riot thing happened back in 1926 when Sean O’Casey’s [...]

Hey ladies, reckon your gaze holds a particular, indefinable “truth in your eyes”? If so, you may just be the next Rose of Tralee and winner of a five-day festival seeking the sweetest ‘Rose’ based on her intellect, ambitions and aspirations. And those truthful eyes? Well, they’re taken from the 19th century song The Rose [...]

Knives, forks, spoons…baking cutters. Tuck into Northern Ireland’s fascinating food! I’m sitting down at 8.30am in Belfast and having a ‘when in Rome, eat how the locals eat’ moment. “If there’s a breakfast of champions,” my server advises “it has to be the Ulster Fry”. That’s fried bacon, eggs, tomato, potato bread and soda farls. [...]