Enterprise 15-02: Snow Patrol

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ENTERPRISE LINKING DUBLIN AND BELFAST

Volume 15:02

SNOW PATROL

The North’s Finest Come Roaring Back

The World-Beating Antrim Chef Clare Smyth

No One Can Stop Dublin Michael Darragh MacAuley

Spotlight on Ards & North Down

TV3 XPOSÉ’S CASSIE STOKES + ANDREW SCOTT ON THE DELINQUENT SEASON

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ENTERPRISE – V O L . 1 5 / N O . 0 2

CONTENTS R E G U L A R S RICH GILLIGAN

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16 F E A T U R E S

16.NORTHERN LIGHTBODY Snow Patrol main-man Gary Lightbody talks to Stuart Clark about his battle with writer’s block, exorcising his personal demons, his heartbreak over Northern Ireland’s football team and the band’s stunning new album, Wildness.

20.BARING HER SOUL Acclaimed Irish artist Cathy Davey talks about her new album, Bare Bones: Live At The Unitarian Church, and her work with the My Lovely Horse Rescue.

22.THE SECRET OF HIS SUCCESS Sherlock star Andrew Scott speaks to Roe McDermott about working with Cillian Murphy on his new movie, The Delinquent Season, and making Shakespeare accessible in his West End production of Hamlet.

26.THE BAILIE NEWS Journalist and co-founder of Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre, Stuart Bailie tells Peter McGoran about his new book, Trouble Songs, which chronicles the history of Northern Irish music during the Troubles.

34.DRAWN & QUARTERED With the GAA’s inaugural Super 8s underway, Dublin’s star midfielder, Michael Darragh MacCauley and Kerry forward Darran O’Sullivan chat about their 2018 ambitions, their fierce rivalry and exciting prospects coming up through the ranks.

06. ENTER HERE A rundown of what’s hot and happening at your next stop.

13. RAIL NEWS Up to the minute news from Irish Rail and Translink.

2 8 . T R AV E L An in-depth guide to the must-see attractions in Ards and North Down.

38. CELEBRITY TA B L E We catch up for a bite and a chat with TV presenter, Xposé’s Cassie Stokes.

41. REVIEWS We pick out the highlights from the latest book, album and Netflix releases.

4 4 . AT T R A C T I O N S Markets, bars, restaurants and hotels, and the best in shopping both North and South.

ENTERPRISE – EDITOR’S LETTER

VOL: 15 ISSUE:02

CREDITS EDITOR: Máirín Sheehy COMMISSIONING EDITOR: Roisin Dwyer CONTRIBUTORS: Stuart Clark, Roisin Dwyer, Peter McGoran, Roe McDermott, Paul Nolan, Mark Keane, Stephanie Costello, Peter McNally, Ian Mangan, Colin Gannon, Laura Harff, Stephen Porzio, Laura Grainger DESIGN & PRODUCTION: Hot Press, 100 Capel Street, Dublin 1 DESIGN: Lili Ferreira, Eimear O'Connor Karen Kelleher ADVERTISING MANAGER: Tom Corcoran GROUP ADVERTISING MANAGER Catherine Madden

PUBLISHER: Niall Stokes ENTERPRISE IS PUBLISHED FOR N I R A I LWAY S A N D IARNRÓD ÉIREANN BY: Osnovina Ltd 100 Capel Street, Dublin 1 TELEPHONE: +353 1 2411 500 EMAIL: enterprise@hotpress.ie LETTERS: The Editor, Enterprise Magazine, 100 Capel Street, Dublin 1 PRINTED BY: Boylan’s Print While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine is correct, the publishers cannot accept any responsibilities for errors. The views contained in this magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily those of N I Railways and Iarnród Eireann.

All material © Osnovina 2018.

All rights reserved.

Reproduction of material without permission of the publishers is strictly prohibited

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Malahide Beach: stunning in the warm weather

THE HEAT IS ON Ireland has enjoyed some spectacular weather this summer, but the outbreaks of wildfire have highlighted the risks that come with high temperatures – and why we all need to be extra-careful.

T

hey say that every silver lining has its cloud.

And it is true. Our lovely summer so far has not been without its perils. But the truth is that in Ireland, we are lucky still to be in what is a temperate zone. It has been hot here. But it has been far hotter elsewhere, with consequences that have been profound and in many cases tragic.

We have seen major fires in California, in Portugal, in Australia and in parts of Europe. Even, here on this small island, on the Eastern edge of the Atlantic Ocean, carelessness on the part of individuals has led to forest fires and gorse fires that were avoidable.

There has been destruction, in the Wicklow mountains, and on Curracloe Beach in Wexford. A major blaze on Slieve Guillon mountain in Northern Ireland required the combined capability of the Irish Air Corps and local emergency crews to successfully quell it.

These events are not new. In the first week of May 2017, there were over 500 wild fires in Northern Ireland. It was estimated by the authorities that over 90% of these were started deliberately.

That story is repeated all over Ireland. While the precise cause of fires can be difficult to establish, carelessness is often a factor. Vegetation is burned to clear an area – and the fire left to smoulder reignites.

Similarly, fires lit for barbecues or for cooking – or creating a ‘camp’ spirit – not being properly extinguished are a major factor; broken bottles being left around can magnify the temperature of the sun, and lead to spontaneous blazes breaking out; or cigarette buts, being tossed to the ground while still

lighting can start a conflagration. The conclusion about recent fires in a Coillte forest in the Cloosh Valley in Galway were that they had almost certainly been started deliberately.

The scale of the devastation when wild fires kick into life in vulnerable, inhabited areas has been seen across Europe and further afield. It is a shocking and deeply upsetting aspect to the brightness and beauty of a fine summer.

Travelling along the lovely East coast from Dublin to Belfast, or vice versa, the natural beauty strikes you again and again – from Malahide, up to the Mourne Mountains and beyond. Why would anyone want to put the extraordinary beauty of Carlingford and the gorgeously atmospheric mountains there, that lead on into County Down, at risk?

It should go without saying, but there is a real need for everyone to have a sense of civic pride and to accept that we all share personal responsibilities to one another – and to the wonderful place we inhabit.

What we can do, as individuals, is to make certain not to take any unnecessary chances whatsoever.

Lighting fires in a prolonged heatwave is a fundamentally risky activity. Taking chances with the natural beauty of this very special corner of the earth is simply not right. We should put the interests of the people and the place we live in first – and take extra care. We are only passing through.

Take care out there. And enjoy the attractions of the fantastic cities, Belfast and Dublin, at either end of the Enterprise Express journey. We are lucky to be in a position to. Aren’t we?

_MÁIRÍNSHEEHY | EDITOR

B E L FA S T ’ S O R I G I N A L B L AC K TA X I T O U R Belfast Historical Buildings Tour Belfast Political & Mural Tour Cruise ship Day Trips & Excursions Game of Thrones Tour & Antrim Coast Giants Causeway & Antrim Coast Post Conflict & Political Studies Tour

Phone: 028 9064 2264 | 07702449694 Email: info@belfasttours.com Website:www.belfasttours.com

16 Oct03 Nov

2018

12 P RE M I E RE S • 125 E VE N TS • 12 COU NTR I E S

#BelFest2018 belfastinternational artsfestival.com

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by Colin Gannon & Ian Mangan

BRITNEY SPEARS 3Arena Dublin, August 20

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The pop icon brings her Piece Of Me tour to the 3Arena for a keenly anticipated Dublin date. The dazzling show is filled with stunning visuals, complex choreography and classic hits from Britney’s back catalogue making for a state of the art pop extravaganza. It has all the ingredients for a memorable summer’s evening in Dublin.

ENTER|HERE

FRANKIE FOUGANTHIN

B E L FAS T V I TA L

WICKED

Boucher Road Playing Fields, Belfast, August 25 This island’s axis of electronic music has been tipping north in recent times, with Belfast not only producing, but also attracting some of the world’s top DJing talent. Dutch prodigy Martin Garrix hits Boucher Road on his return to Belfast after he headlined Belsonic last year. The 22-year-old Tiesto protege shot to the top of the DJ world with megahit 'Animals' at the tender age of 18. and has remained there since. In tow this time will be former Swedish House Mafioso Steve Angello and ‘Lush Life’ superstar Zara Larsson (above).

Bord Gáis Theatre, until September 1 Boasting a truckload of awards, this reimagining of The Wizard Of Oz is one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history.

The theatrical extravaganza offers a great experience for the whole family, with dazzling performances from the entire cast and stunning music and lyrics courtesy of the Grammy and Oscarwinning Stephen Schwartz – known for his work on Disney pictures like Pocahontas and The Hunchback Of Notre Dame.

Pay a visit to this magnificient place of worship at the heart of Belfast’s bustling Cathedral Quarter - a treasure trove of art, culture and music Discover more at www.belfastcathedral.org

Rita Duffy: Strength & Glory

Rita Duffy: 2 2 J U LY – 2 S E P T E M B E R Strength & Glory 2 2 J U LY

– 2 SEPTEMBER

DROGHEDA MD UR N IOCGI PHAELD A AM R TU N I C I P A L CA O LRLTE C T I O N

COLLECTION

Highlanes Gallery, Laurence St, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland Highlanes Gallery, Laurence St, T. + 353 (0)41 9803311 .W. www.highlanes.ie E. info@highlanes.ie Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland t. + 353 (0)41 9803311 .w. www.highlanes.ie e.

info@highlanes.ie

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ENTER|HERE

B E AT YA R D F E S T I VA L Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, August 3-5 Proving that fun by the seaside is not the sole reserve of youth, this year’s Beatyard is a generational culture mix for the ages. Legends like The Jacksons, The Family Stone and The Sugarhill Gang all line out alongside relative upstarts like Kamasi Washington, Django Django, Modeselektor and dance innovators, Orbital. Set against the stunning backdrop of Dublin Bay, the festival provides all you need to keep funkin’ till late, with the expansive Eatyard area and its 100+ vendors catering to all tastes.

B E L FAS T I N T E R N AT I O N A L A R T S F E S T I VA L Various Venues, Belfast, October 16 – November 3 Dating back to 1962 and formerly known as the Belfast Festival at Queens, The Belfast International Arts Festival is one of the longest running celebrations of theatre, dance, classical and roots music, visual, film and digital arts and literature on the island. Renowned for bringing the world’s best and most innovative artists to Belfast and providing an impressive range of international talent and creativity that promises to surprise and inspire audiences, the festival’s 2018 year’s line-up has yet to be revealed, but exciting early announcements include one of the leading bluesmen of his generation, Eric Bibb, and One of the Guardian’s ‘Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World’ multi-Grammy Award-winning Beninese singer-songwriter, actress and activist, Angélique Kidjo.

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B U L M E R S L I V E AT L E O PA R D STOW N Leopardstown Racecourse, series runs till August 16 Bulmers Live At Leopardstown is already up and running, providing another summer full of top class horse racing, superb live music, festival food and fun, all at Leopardstown Racecourse. Following 10 years of attracting some of the biggest names in Ireland and further afield, Live At Leopardstown is back. The menu includes glam rockers of ‘Living Next Door To Alice’ fame, Smokie (August 9) and culminates with the hugely popular and artistically vital Celticinspired rockers, The Waterboys (August 16). As always, a top class card of horse racing will precede great musical entertainment. Dates and ticket information can be found at leopardstown.com

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PAS S E N G E R

TWILIGHT MARKET

Ulster Hall, Belfast, September 2 With his latest single ‘Hell or High Water’ garnering much praise, and a tenth studio album set to come out at the end of August, folk superstar Passenger is on the crest of a wave. His 2016 album Young As The Morning Old As The Sea was another hit, maintaining a run of commercial success that commenced in earnest with his 2012 single ‘Let Her Go’ – which reached number 1 in 19 countries. Expect the English singer to deliver another spellbinding performance in Belfast.

NEWTOWN, MONASTERBOICE, CO.LOUTH

M1 Southbound Exit 11 and Northbound Exit 10 follow signs for Monasterboice

St. George’s Market, Belfast, July 31–August 1 Returning again to St. George’s Market, the Twilight Market plays host to over 100 traders specialising in local and continental foods from around the world. In addition, traders will have stalls for handmade arts and crafts for lovers of quaint and original products.

And completing the mouthwatering package, there will also be tons of chef demonstrations and live music.

Dublin’s hippest theme restaurant, slap bang in the heart of trendy Temple Bar

OPEN 7 DAYS Variety of Rooms for all Business Events and Family Occasions

Live DJs every Friday and Saturday night!

OPEN FROM 8am MONDAY TO SATURDAY OPEN FROM 9am SUNDAYS & BANK HOLIDAYS LAST FOOD ORDERS AT 9pm & 10pm ON SATURDAYS Breakfast Served 7 Day from 8am s Sundays Bank Ho & lidays 9am-12

W: www.monasterboice-inn.ie

T: 041 983 7384

Award winning cocktails Kids eat for free on Sundays (up until 6pm) +353 1 6794057 reservations@thunderroadcafe.com Fleet Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

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ENTER|HERE CALEB PURCELL

DUBLIN HORSE SHOW RDS, Dublin, August 8-12 In many eyes, the Dublin Horse Show is the social happening of the summer – a blend of cultural institution and top-rank sporting contest. Considered one of the top three equestrian events in the world, the show, which runs for five days, boasts one of the largest prize funds of any international equestrian event. International and national show-jumping events run for the duration, while the competition is almost as fierce during Ladies’ Day (August 9) as female attendees vie for the “best-dressed” crown.

DUBLIN COMIC CON Convention Centre, Dublin, August 10-12 Back for its sixth outing, Dublin Comic Con is the biggest celebration of pop culture of the year. It brings fans face-to-face with artists, comic book writers and actors, for another fun-filled weekend of cosplay, panels, workshops and more. Show your creativity by donning a costume of your favourite comic book, TV or film character, and you might get rewarded for your efforts at the costume contest. The three-day event also offers activities like interactive sets, indie film screenings and gaming tables.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ICC

CRICKET: IRELAND V S . A F G H A N I S TA N Bready Cricket Club, Derry, August 20–31 After the landmark news that Cricket Ireland has been included on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tours Programme for the first time - guaranteeing them a stacked calendar against the world’s top sides - a limited-overs series against Afghanistan is confirmed for August 20–31. Ireland played their first Test against Pakistan in Malahide in May and, following Cricket Ireland’s ascension to full membership status of the ICC last June, there has been notable progression in the sport on Irish shores. Three T20s and three one-day matches will take place later this year against Afghanistan, who also received Test status last year. Bready Cricket Club in Derry will host the T20s, and, with cricket seeing a welcome spike in popularity, it promises to be a captivating series.

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ENTER|HERE

KATHRIN BAUMBACH

T H E B I G G R I L L F E S T I VA L Herbert Park, Dublin, August 16-19 Europe’s largest BBQ festival, the Big Grill celebrates the art of cooking with fire and smoke, attracting chefs, cooks and pitmasters from around the globe. Over 20,000 visitors learn about all kinds of barbecuing, grilling, smoking, vegetables, meats, delicacies and drinks.

More than 20 restaurants will be in attendance – but must adhere to the rule that they cook with fire, using natural charcoal and wood only. The event is a great excuse to catch some competitive cooking, and try some excellent BBQ and craft beers.

DIONNE WARWICK Vicar Street, Dublin, September 10 After recently finishing the recording of her latest album, which celebrates her 50th anniversary in the industry, legendary singer Dionne Warwick is set to return to iconic Dublin venue Vicar Street for an unmissable show. The five-time Grammy winner has recorded an endless string of hits across her extensive singing career and has sold over 100 million records over the years. Her latest outing will feature new material from her old friend, legendary composer Burt Bacharach, meaning fans in attendance are in for the show of a lifetime.

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DON’T MISS:

Marshes Shopping Cen Best Dressed tre Lady €4k on12th July 2018!

DOG TRACK brings you small plate dining where the best of local produce is the firm favourite.

When seated at the Track you’ll have an unobstructed view of our Chefs as they work.

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ENTER|HERE

W H I S K E Y S O C I A L B E L FAS T

Grand Opera House, Belfast, August 15-18 One of the minds behind Little Britain and a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, David Walliams brings the live adaptation of his popular book Awful Auntie to the stage for the very first time. An amazing tale of frights, fights and friendship, featuring a very old car, a very large owl and a very small ghost – this wonderful show utilises Walliams’ comedic flair and deft storytelling approach to the full.

This show is sure to offer a night of laughs, scares and enjoyment for all the family.

Waterfront, Belfast, September 10 A brand new festival celebrating Irish whiskey at the Belfast Waterfront, this event will offer an insight into some of the best distilleries and independent bottlers from Ireland and around the world. It will showcase the best of old, new and experimental Irish whiskey; attendees are given a Whiskey Social branded tasting glass on entry, and are free to explore the numerous exhibitions and chat with fellow whiskey lovers and makers. Onsite caterers will also be serving up some Irish cuisine for a traditional experience.

photo : brian connolly

AWFUL AUNTIE

Eastern Seaboard Bar & Grill

casual dining at it’s finest 041 9802570

Brown Hound Bakery good baked goods 041 9833792

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FA W LT Y T O W E R S DINING EXPERIENCE Belfast Castle, September 7 This night offers the dinner event of the year, which combines a sumptuous three-course meal and classic comedy action as Basil, Sybil and Manuel do their very best to look after you in their typical crazy style. Chaos and mayhem are served in large portions and very likely to interrupt the proceedings, but all should end well, as the stars of hotel and catering management do everything they can to keep the evening on course! Expect a big fun night out in a friendly party atmosphere with some of the best comedy actors around.

TRAIN|NEWS

COMMISSIONER PHIL HOGAN CALLS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR PORTS TO IMPROVE BREXIT CONNECTIVITY

IARNRÓD ÉIREANN LAUNCHES PERMANENT PIANO AT CONNOLLY STATION

R O S S L A R E E U R O P O R T S E T T O B E H U G E LY S T R AT E G I C I N P O S T- B R E X I T W O R L D EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan has said that the Ports of Ireland should get additional funding for infrastructure improvements to allow greater connectivity for business after Brexit.

Speaking at a “Keeping Trade Flowing” a special conference on Brexit and International Connectivity organised by the Irish Road Haulage Association and Rosslare Europort in June, Commissioner Hogan said that Brexit will happen, the model of Brexit being the only question.

The Commissioner challenged Irish state agencies and business to be prepared for all Brexit possibilities. He called for a doubling of capacity at Rosslare and for all ports to examine capacity.

He said the forthcoming round of EU Regional policies 2021-2027 represented an opportunity for funding for which Ireland must be ready.

The objective of the conference was to examine ways in which the Road Haulage industry in Ireland and Rosslare Europort and other ports within the south-east region can benefit from Ireland’s strategic location, given the potential changes in distribution patterns for international freight in the context of Brexit.

Commissioner Hogan Was joined

by Former MEP and Minister of State, Avril Doyle. Madeline Quirke of Wexford Chamber of Commerce and Economist, Jim Power spoke about

positive impact that Brexit may have on the Wexford economy, given the even greater strategic importance of Rosslare Europort in the context of Brexit.

Verona Murphy, President of the Irish Road Hauliers Association speaking at the event said: As the Europort in Rosslare represents the shortest sea route for goods and passengers to continental Europe, the Port is ideally positioned to expand and grow in a post Brexit scenario. The Port can be a catalyst for investment within the region and offers real potential as a base for increased commercial and employment generating activities. In particular there is major potential for Rosslare to become a significant port for the transportation of agriculture and food products and as such it should receive the necessary designations and inspection facilities to enable this to take place.

This would be of huge benefit to Rosslare, Wexford and the South East generally” Jim Meade, CEO of Iarnród Éireann, which owns and operates Rosslare Europort, said: As a key valuable strategic asset to the South East Region, Rosslare Europort can play a vital role post Brexit in supporting both the freight and tourism markets for the region and the island of Ireland.

Delegates at the conference included leaders from the haulage, freight and transport industry as well as representatives from the business and tourism community.

In June, the latest permanent public piano at our stations was unveiled at Dublin’s Connolly Station.

The Connolly piano is the third public piano to be installed at Iarnród Éireann Stations. The piano at Pearse was installed last September and the piano at Heuston was installed last March, both have brought delight to those waiting at the stations.

Artist Holly Pereira has illustrated the piano. She wanted to tell a story of the many thousands of people that pass through Connolly and the story of the building itself. She has also recently visited Mexico and Poland and was inspired by their folk art and took influence from what she saw on her travels.

Speaking at the installation John Murphy, Piano Tuning & Repair said: “The Connolly piano is the third public piano that I have worked with Iarnród Éireann on and I am thrilled that so many people are getting to play the piano in a public place and provide entertainment to the many thousands of passengers that pass through the stations every day” Station Manager, Connolly Eddie Halpin said: “Myself and my team here in Connolly are so looking forward to hearing lots of musicians give us a tune here at the station and I’m sure it will contribute greatly to the atmosphere for everyone who passes through”

H E AT WAV E : S TAY C O O L !

Our Summer has begun with the most wonderful heatwave, and customers are taking the opportunity to hit the coast and see the sights!

Let’s hope it continues, and whether you’re a daily commuter at peak or travelling with us for a special trip, remember to take steps to make sure your journey is comfortable during warm weather.

- Stay hydrated: make sure you have water with you at all times - Avoid unnecessary travel if unwell - Ask for assistance or, if on a busy peak service, ask for a seat if you become unwell while travelling - Wear comfortable clothing - Remember your hat and sunscreen if you are enjoying the sun on the platform, or sitting in direct sunlight on the train Iarnród Éireann has also put in place a series of hot weather protocols to ensure services operate without disruption. Fleet maintenance will focus on cooling systems on board, and on ensuring air-conditioning is operating well on equipped fleets, with fleets being monitored remotely and in maintenance centres.

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TRA I N | NEW S

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Pictured are (l-r) Jim Meade, Irish Rail/Iarnród Éireann Chief Executive; Frank Allen, Irish Rail/Iarnród Éireann Chairman; Frank Hewitt, Translink Chairman; and Chris Conway, Translink Group Chief Executive.

AMBITIOUS CROSS-BORDER STRATEGIC RAIL PLAN LAUNCHED ' B E T T E R C O N N E C T I N G D U B L I N A N D B E L FAS T ' P L A N T O E N H A N C E S E R V I C E Translink and Iarnród Éireann have launched an ambitious new strategic development plan for the Cross-Border Enterprise Rail Service between Belfast and Dublin. Called ‘Better Connecting Dublin and Belfast’, the strategy sets out a road map of how both companies jointly plan to further enhance the service on this important north/south rail corridor.

The plan launched by the chairmen of both organisations envisages a three-stage approach – starting with the introduction of a new fleet to allow for an hourly frequency between the two cities. With additional investment in infrastructure and line improvements, it sets out to reduce the average journey time to less than two hours. From there, the longer-term aspiration would be to introduce electrification on the line and new rolling stock, which would achieve further frequency improvements and a journey time of potentially 90 minutes or less.

The plan was launched at the centrepiece of a business and stakeholder event held as part of Bus + Train Week 2018 at the Europa Hotel, where the theme was “Transforming Public Transport Infrastructure in NI”. Attendees at the event also heard from Peter May, Permanent Secretary, Department for Infrastructure; Anne Graham, CEO, National Transport Authority Ireland; Chris Conway, CEO Translink; Jim Meade, CEO Irish Rail; and Richard Kirk,

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from the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), who are behind the 2018 NI Year of Infrastructure platform #Infra2018.

Chairman of Translink Frank Hewitt said: “Developing the CrossBorder Enterprise Rail Service will be essential to further strengthening economic links, and is key to building competitiveness and increasing close communication links between our two capital cities. Last year we carried almost 1 million passenger journeys on Enterprise, and we believe more and more people want to use public transport as a way to enjoy high quality, affordable travel experiences.”

Frank Allen, Chairman of Iarnród Éireann said, “This is a strategy founded in partnership – the partnership between both railways, within which generations have worked together from platform to boardroom to build the joint service we offer our customers today. Our joint strategy builds upon that legacy to continue to enhance the role we can play for the customers and communities we serve. The next steps are to secure funding to take this project forward. Translink and Iarnród Éireann are keen that approval is granted to start procurement of a new Enterprise fleet, and to fund a project to undertake a detailed Technical and Feasibility study to further assess the journey time improvement options.”

TRAIN|NEWS

NI PUBLIC DEMONSTRATE ‘WASTE OF SPACE’ ON OUR ROADS ROAD SHARE FILM URGES NORTHERN IRELAND TO TAC K L E T R A F F I C C O N G E S T I O N

OPEN HOUSE FESTIVAL BANGOR BY THE SEA

The Road Share project shows the advantages of sustainable travel Bus + Train Week 2018 got off to a striking start when 105 volunteers, 90 cars, two buses, one Glider vehicle and 50 bicycles gathered in Belfast City Centre to demonstrate the advantages of sustainable travel in a bid to combat congestion in towns and cities here.

Championed by Translink, the Department for Infrastructure, Belfast City Council and the Institution of Civil Engineers, a short ‘Road Share’ film and still images tell an important story about how transport choices impact the health, wellbeing and overall prosperity of everyone in Northern Ireland.

As traffic congestion in NI continues to hit the headlines, ‘Road Share’ succinctly illustrates and compares the typical space occupied in a city street by four common modes of transport – cars, buses, cycling and walking – transporting the equivalent number of people.

‘Road Share’ involved the closure of one of the most instantly recognisable and often congested roads in Belfast – Oxford Street. The project used 105 people, as this is the capacity of the new Glider vehicle; a striking new rapid transit system for Belfast starting service this September.

Speaking at the making of the film, Translink Group Chief Executive Chris Conway, said: “Public transport is well known for its many benefits in busy cities: improving air quality, well-being, saving money and reducing traffic.

Equally, catching the bus or train can help save something that all cities desperately require more of – space.

“Our Road Share exercise in Belfast very clearly demonstrates how moving large numbers of people by car around cities is not efficient, particularly during commuting times.

“We hope this short film and striking images will communicate a strong and clear message – space in our cities is limited and we all have a responsibility to share the road using more sustainable transport modes whenever possible.

“I would like to thank everyone involved today, for giving their time and support to help us tell this important transport story.”

Also speaking at the filming, Moira Doherty, Director of Public Transport, Department for Infrastructure said: “The draft Programme for Government sets out a clear ambition to transform how we travel by increasing the number of people walking, cycling and using public transport.

“We know that encouraging more people to consider sustainable travel options will help to reduce congestion on our roads, protect the environment and, importantly, lead to improved physical and mental well-being. The Department is therefore pleased to support this innovative event which demonstrates very clearly the impact of the over-reliance on private cars on our roads.

“If we all start to think about how we might shift some of our journeys from the car to public transport, walking or cycling, we can help to drive economic growth and create healthier towns and cities for now and the future.”

‘Road Share’ also forms part of ‘Mobility Month – Connecting People and Opportunities’ during NI Year of Infrastructure [#Infra2018] co-ordinated by the Institution of Civil Engineers.

The #Infra2018 campaign aims to show the public just how infrastructure impacts our lives, connecting and protecting, enabling investment and boosting overall quality of life.

Open House Festival Bangor is a vibrant music and arts event that runs throughout August in the picturesque seaside town of Bangor, Co. Down. The festival aims to regenerate Bangor through arts and culture, and it has firmly established the town as one of Northern Ireland’s go-to destinations – especially during August. Just a 24-minute train journey from Belfast, the festival is celebrating its 6th year in Bangor this summer, with more than 140 free and ticketed events in 39 local venues and locations.

The eclectic programme incorporates music, film, theatre, food & drink, books, local history, talks & tours, and visual art, in venues such as boats, band stands, pubs and parks. This year’s visiting acts and artists include: the everpopular Waterboys; American/Icelandic singersongwriter John Grant; Helen Pankhurst - greatgranddaughter of leading suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst; author and war reporter Martin Bell; Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan; and punk legends Public Image Ltd (PiL), who will be playing their first ever Northern Irish gig.

This ‘train-friendly’ festival features many events that integrate with the NI Railways timetable for convenient journeys to and from Bangor. For full details and tickets go to openhousebangor.com

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NORTHERN LIGHTBODY New record Wildness is a document of Gary Lightbody’s struggles with his personal demons.

Here the Snow Patrol frontman tells STUART CLARK how he exorcised them - and of his heartbreak over Northern Ireland’s football team

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Snow Patrol

atience is not just a virtue, but a necessity for Snow Patrol fans, who’ve had to wait seven years for new album Wildness They got a shock back in March when frontman Gary Lightbody’s anticipated “Hey, we’re back!” interview with BBC Radio 2’s Jo Whiley turned out to be something altogether more revelatory.

“The new album comes from quite a lot of soul searching, like depression that I’ve suffered with since being a kid,” he told her. “I never really spoke about that before or my father - he’s had dementia for a few years now - or my alcoholism and that I'm sober now for two years.

“When the depression hits me it takes so much, and I’m sure that’s the same with everyone and people are incapacitated. Friends of mine who I’ve spoken about it with have had similar experiences, like nothing makes sense and there is no light and trying to write in that place is extremely difficult, you have to kind of get out of that place before you can write about it.

“Plenty of people reached out to me to try and find me in my darkness, bless their hearts for doing that, it means a lot to me now but at the time I felt hurried, I wanted to stay in the place I was in.”

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That Gary’s drinking had spiralled out of control wasn’t actually a total surprise. Prior to their international breakthrough, Snow Patrol gigs had been alcohol-soaked affairs as evidenced by their overly refreshed singer tumbling from the Olympia stage into the orchestra pit in 1999.

A few years later, Gary confessed to me that Jonny Quinn had taken him aside and said: “‘This has to stop, which me being belligerent, it didn’t straight away. I used to get pretty angry and kick and demolish things on stage too, which was down to me being cripplingly unhappy in my private life. Eventually though the penny dropped...”

How disconsolate Gary had become is evident when I tell him that ‘Heal Me’ is the Wildness track I keep coming back to. “'Heal Me' is about somebody very special to me that saved my life. It’s a good one to pick, which is the extent to which I can really talk about it.”

With such couplets as “Can you heal me baby I’ve been dancing in this fire for way too long/ But I kinda like it, oh I like it coz it’s more dangerous than me/ There’s a siren somewhere but I’m pretty sure it’s only in my head/ So tell me how’d you hear it, is there something supernatural in your bones”, it’s a rival in the searing honesty stakes to Nick Cave, who

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“The new album comes from quite a lot of soul searching, like depression that I’ve suffered with since being a kid”

inadvertently helped Gary overcome his writer’s block.

“It was filtered through (producer) Garret Lee, whose job was made even harder because of what I was going through. I won’t go into that, I’m not happy to, but I kept talking myself out of things. It was like Garret was at the party and was two cocktails in and I was sitting in the taxi being like, ‘I don’t know if I want to go in, there’s too many people in there.’ I didn’t have any confidence in me. And I thank God for being in a band that never stopped believing in me. They never once gave me shit.

“I had to get through a lot to make this record and doing that meant I opened a door in myself that has never been opened before, and now it’s closed again. But now, I’m not afraid to look in that door again. I’m not afraid to go into that deep, deep place. I’m not afraid of what is going to come up. I’ve faced all my demons. “’What does this have to do with Nick Cave?’ you ask... Well, I’d been serially listening to ‘Jesus Alone’, the first track from his recent album, Skeleton Tree. Garret stuck it on one day in the studio. The punishing opening of that song, the intensity, the subject matter... we listened to it about ten times. The boys left to go and get a sandwich round the corner and when they came back I’d written ‘A Youth Written In Fire’, which is the song that unlocked everything. It and ‘Soon’ made me think, ‘If I can be this brave, nothing else is going to scare me.’ The purge. After that, everything else just fell into place.”

Revealing Gary’s hitherto unknown talent for singing in falsetto, ‘A Youth Written In Fire’ is another emotional tour de force that proclaims: “Remember the first time that we kissed/ It felt like a planet forming/ Though we were just novices at this/ It felt like an ancient wisdom/ There was lightning then/And those songs were all proved true/ No wonder I still think so much about you.”

If that doesn’t make you get your hankie out, you have no soul.

Asked whether it feels good being back on the horse, Gary immediately shoots back, “Yeah, 100%. I’m really looking forward to doing some big gigs, some big festivals. I didn’t realise that I missed it because it was such a long time away. My muscles got stiff: they’re loosening up again now. I actually got emotional when the record company handed me a vinyl copy of the album. I was like, ‘It’s really done, it’s really finished, it’s really ready to go.’

We’ve always thought in terms of a body of work. As we were recording tracks, I knew what was going to be the opener and what was going to close it out. It’s a proper, old fashioned record, which feels really great.”

Gary was resident for most of the recording in Santa Monica, “A perfect little town,” he says.

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“I had everything I needed - a little beach, three cinemas and some cool record shops. Even though I’ve got what you might call ‘celebrity friends’, I stay away from that scene and see them in scenarios where they’d be away from the spotlight.

LA music is a genre in itself. To understand it you have to live in sunshine every day with the beach and the palm trees. I had to reconfigure my brain to write in the sunshine rather than the rain and unrelenting gloom I’m used to. It takes a while to get miserable enough in those types of surroundings! After August, I won’t be there anymore. I’ve had a place in Bangor since 2009 that I’m moving back to full-time. I’ve been missing all of Northern Ireland’s home games!”

Did Gary make it over to France for the Euros?

“I was in LA, it was coming up to my 40th birthday, which would have been the day before the Ukraine game in Lyons, and by way of celebration I’d booked flights, hotels and tickets for me and five mates. The week before I was doing my fitness routine in the gym – I bet you never thought you’d hear me saying that! – and as I came up from touching my toes it felt like an earthquake. When this ‘earthquake’ didn’t stop, I phoned a friend versed in these things and he said, ‘I think you might have vertigo.’ This feeling didn't go away, so I went for a CT scan four days before I was due to fly out and was told, ‘Your sinuses, your ears, your whole head is infected.

No way can you travel.’ I was and still am heartbroken. I’d hoped to get to the World Cup but we were robbed of our place.”

Gary also had his heart broken in August 2013 when word reached California of Seamus Heaney’s passing.

“Johnny and myself were supposed to be playing a few acoustic songs as he read at a festival in St. Columb’s College in Derry, but he passed away a couple of months before. My favourite work of his is ‘Anahorish’, which Lisa Hannigan set to music. There’s sublime beauty in that poem.”

Given all the personal travails he had to overcome to make it, does Wildness feel like a really important record to Gary?

“Yeah, it took a lot to make,” he nods. “I think that might be muddying the water when I think about the size of it. It perhaps has extra emphasis on it because of what we went through. I refuse to say the line, ‘This is the best record yet…’ even though I’m technically about to do so! It’s the record I’m most proud of, which is something I’ve never said before. I have tremendous amounts of faith in it and a tremendous amount of love for it. I’ve never truly had this level of affection for a record.”

Wildness is out now

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RICH GILLIGAN

BARING HER SOUL Acclaimed Irish artist Cathy Davey talks about her new live album, Bare Bones: Live At The Unitarian Church, her work at the My Lovely Horse Rescue, and why she’s utterly committed to honesty in her music.

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For Davey, it has to be that straightforward. This is where she is now; it’s a less stressful and, ultimately, more liberating way of revisiting her back catalogue. She’s also reached a stage where she can feel entirely comfortable about making, writing and recording her music.

“I’ve tried to never stray away from the reasons I began writing in the first place,” she says. “Like, you have these rules, or whatever, when you’re young. And you can believe that you live your life by them, when in actual fact it’s a little impossible to do so. The psychology of us gets in the way. For instance, when I was young – in my teens – I told myself to always do what I loved doing as a kid. Do that as you get older and then you’ll always love it and get better at it.

“But the more people who come into your life who you want to please… well, you start to judge your own abilities through their eyes, or through how good they think it is, or how good they think it will be, or what you’ll get as a reward. That encroaches on your own belief system that you’ve set up.”

This was something that Cathy came up against when she released her debut album, 2004’s Something Ilk. “When I first signed up to Parlophone, I really looked up to this older male figure who was very charismatic,” she reflects. “I would have let his opinions dominate – I could have thrown away a handful of songs because he didn’t like them.

Whereas, if it was another person they could have loved them. And you’re struggling with that knowledge – you know you’re doing it at that time, but you don’t know what to fight against. I love people who know what they want and don’t listen to anyone. I don’t know how they got like that.”

She may have felt that struggle upon first signing a record deal 15 years ago, but in a circuitous kind of way, the older Cathy Davey has returned to the belief system she thought was impossible to hold onto as a child.

“I won’t do anything I don’t want to now,” she says straightforwardly. “I don’t work on things that I think are superficial, that I know would have furthered my appeal in my younger days. The whole thing is checking in with yourself again, remember what it was that you loved to do when you were young. Doing it more, blocking out the voices that you’ve accumulated in your head over the years.”

BARE BONES

ANIMAL SANCTUARY

Phones switched off and back to the present moment then. Cathy is only in Dublin for a short time. Having released her live album, Bare Bones: Live At The Unitarian Church, in March, she’s doing a brief bit of promotion in the capital.

The live album itself saw Cathy joining with two of her closest musical allies, Derren Dempsey (guitar) and Stephen Kiernan (drums), for a show that featured some of her best loved songs, in an entirely stripped down set. “This is where I’m at, at the moment,” she explained in the album’s press release. “My new songs are very exposed and raw, unashamedly anti-lush. The nakedness of the Bare Bones setup suits me much better now that I’m older, and feels less vulnerable.”

This set-up works remarkably well throughout the album, and most notably on some of her older tracks. It allows for a breathtakingly climactic ‘Sing For Your Supper’ and gives real, dramatic space for Cathy’s vocals on ‘Reuben’.

“I wanted to only have melody and drums and maybe one more instrument to provide some chords,” says Cathy. “But I wanted it be very basic and simple. I wanted the hard-edge of the percussion.”

Of course, all of this has been put into perspective by the fact that Cathy now looks after around 45 animals on a daily basis (she helps run the My Lovely Horse Rescue out in Kildare, along with The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon). It must be hard even to get the time to work on her ideas?

“It’s very hard!” she smiles. “It’s obviously meant there have been long gaps between doing albums. So yes, it has been hard. I’ve had to cancel loads and loads of gigs because of the work that I do. I get so stressed by the animal welfare. It’s also obviously very physically draining too and the burnout you get is quite hard, meaning if there’s a gig coming up I’m a bit more worried that something will go wrong.

“Stuff gets in the way and stops you being able to focus on the day as a result – to rehearse even. All those things really do affect my music. But at the same time, it’s my choice to do it and I do it because I love it. I have to slap myself in the face and remember that I’m trying to have the best of both worlds.”

Cathy Davey

alf 11 on a Wednesday morning at the Westbury Hotel.

Cathy Davey and your Go Rail correspondent are watching a YouTube clip from The Muppet Show on Cathy’s phone.

French/American tenor Charles Aznavour sings to a small inchworm in the forest, while, silhouetted in a cabin behind them, The Muppets multiply numbers in a contrapuntal melody. “2 and 2 are 4,” they sing. “4 and 4 are 8”. The pattern is routine, lullabyesque and strangely haunting, just as Hans Christian Andersen intended it to be.

A train of thought, which began when I asked Cathy whether she keeps her ear to the ground in terms of emerging artists in Ireland or not, has led us here. The hows and whys aren’t important – what is striking is how Cathy’s experiences with her art form run so contrary to expectation.

“The trouble with me is that I’m not really able to listen to music,” she admits. “Maybe I’ll listen to Randy Newman songs every six months, but that would be about it. When I hear music it either throws me into a manic state – full of too-much energy, kind of scary – or it affects me too much and makes me feel really low.

Even some bad song that has minor chords can affect me too much.”

Davey has directed me towards the ‘Inchworm’ video to prove her point. It’s a children’s lullaby, but it’s also a song that Cathy believes was written by someone who has found “the ultimate sadness in the world.” It’s a revelation for her just to listen to it again.

“I don’t know if there’s other people who don’t listen to music and they don’t want to admit it or…” She pauses.

“I mean it seems that everyone I know loves music and I don’t know why. I love making it because I get satisfaction out of expressing something that is usually hard to express. Or even if it’s about something silly, I’m still finding a melody that expresses it on another level. That’s important.”

And as unusual as this all might seem, it makes sense that Cathy Davey would feel this way about music. As an artist, she’s always been at the mercy of her art form. When she creates music, she loads every verse, melody or riff with ore. When she encounters it, it can never just be a passive experience.

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"My new songs are very exposed and raw, unashamedly anti-lush"

Bare Bones: Live At The Unitarian Church is out now.

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Cillian Murphy

Andrew Scott

THE SECRET OF HIS SUCCESS Best known for his brilliant performance as Moriarty in smash hit TV show Sherlock, Irish actor Andrew Scott’s latest film, The Delinquent Season, is a fascinating exploration of modern love. He discusses his excitement about working with Cillian Murphy on the movie – and conquering TV and film.

Interview Roe McDermott

ver since exploding onto our screens and into our consciousness as Sherlock Holmes’ volatile archnemesis Moriarty in 2010, Andrew Scott has had fans and filmmakers alike craving more of his incredible talent and charisma. But just like Moriarty, Scott has kept us guessing.

The actor has deliberately chosen to pursue a wide range of different roles, appearing in blockbusters like Spectre and Alice Through The Looking Glass, while also staying close to home with smaller Irish dramas such as Jimmy’s Hall, The Stag and Handsome Devil. For good measure, he has also racked up some major theatre credits.

Last month, Scott was nominated for an Olivier Award for his role as Hamlet in Robert Icke’s acclaimed, sell-out production, and has even kept his latest film work somewhat theatrical, starring in playwright Mark O’Rowe’s directorial debut, The Delinquent Season. Scott plays Chris, a man desperately trying to conceal a life-changing secret from his wife Yvonne (Catherine Walker) – but his emotional struggle ultimately drives a wedge between them, and she seeks comfort in the arms of Jim (Cillian Murphy). Scott says he was a huge fan of O’Rowe’s work for years, and was eager not only to work with O’Rowe and his fellow cast members, but to explore something relatively new for Irish cinema.

“I don’t think we’ve done a lot of these types of stories in Irish movies,” Scott muses, “these explorations of what sex and relationships look like in modern Ireland. And it was so deftly written, and there were brilliant people attached to it, so I jumped at it.”

Many audience members will know Scott for playing sinister, larger-than-life characters, and the actor was intrigued by the character of Chris, who is at once ordinary and volatile.

“Without spoiling anything, the character goes through quite a bit of a journey,” says Scott, “and a lot of what the film explores is that no-one

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really knows what goes on in a marriage. I spoke to Mark about Chris and the fact that he’s concealing this huge secret from his wife and kids, and we talked about why. And the point of art is to dive deep into these messy questions and not wrap them up too easily, which I think this film does.

“We don’t ever really get a full picture of what kind of marriage my character has with Yvonne, which creates this sense of foreboding rather than explosiveness. You know how it’s almost worse if you’re out with a couple who aren’t openly arguing, but there’s this tension that makes you wonder what they’re not saying.

I really enjoy that about Mark’s writing – he conveys so much through what he doesn’t explicitly reveal.”

Working with co-star Cillian Murphy was also a huge draw for Scott, who gets surprisingly few opportunities to work with his Irish contemporaries.

“Because Cillian and I are around the same age, we don’t actually get to work together – you’re usually looking at one suitable part per script,” he notes. “So working with him is one of the main reasons I wanted to be in the film. He’s always been such a subtle, intelligent actor, I think he’s wonderful in this film, and so is Catherine – I like that it’s really her story. And Eva Birthistle is my best mate, so it was great just getting to hang out!”

Netflix and streaming services are completely transforming not only how people watch TV shows and films – but also who has access to entertainment. For Irish filmmakers who have in the past struggled to get international distribution and recognition, Netflix has suddenly provided them with a global audience and fanbase. Scott is delighted with the result, but he’s also on a personal mission to expand this sense of accessibility to theatre. During the run of Hamlet, Scott worked tirelessly to promote the play and to work with theatres to provide low-

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"I used to do little drama competitions when I was about 15 and I would recite a piece from Shakespeare, and I never understood every word"

Andrew as the devilish Moriarty in Sherlock

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cost tickets, so that people who normally feel intimidated by or excluded from elite theatrical circles could feel that Shakespeare was for them, too.

“Yeah, I was obsessed with breaking down these walls,” Scott admits. “I used to do little drama competitions when I was about 15 and I would recite a piece from Shakespeare, and I never understood every word – I think people who say they understand every word of Shakespeare are absolutely lying – but I loved it. I collate Shakespeare with rap, honestly. You may not understand every word or catch every reference, but you understand the feeling and desire for love or power or revenge or respect.”

We’re speaking only a couple of days after Kendrick Lamar was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for music, becoming the first rapper to do so. Could the boundary between what has traditionally been deemed high and low art be shifting?

“God I hope so,” says Andrew. “Because all that divide was ever about was who had access. Shakespeare’s been kidnapped by academics and there’s an assumption you must speak it in a particular way, but I really wanted to make it conversational, I wanted to make it accessible.

Because Hamlet is a young man with mental health issues, and my god, has there ever been a time where that story needs to be told more? But financially, too, we wanted it to be accessible. We sold cheap tickets in the West End, and 28,000 people under 30 came to see Hamlet, which is genuinely amazing.”

For an actor, of course the focus of Hamlet is on the character’s personal struggles, but the play has political themes of power and corruption – something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Many critics noted the modern political resonances, stating that Hamlet, with its secretive leaders and power grabs, has incredible resonance in the era of Trump and international terrorism.

It’s a time when the usual rules of political and even moral order aren’t being adhered to. Having resided in London for over a decade, Scott has experienced the upheaval of Brexit and the five terrorist attacks that occurred in London just last year.

“Yeah, it was terrifying,” he says quietly. “I live close to Borough Market, where the last terrorist attack happened, and you never expect it. I do think, honestly, that the best revenge is to live well, and to just be ferocious about holding onto our courage and trying not to be afraid. And I did really feel that in London. But these are turbulent times, everywhere, in different ways, and I just hope we’re using this period as an opportunity to really talk about things.”

Scott does see drama and films like The Delinquent Season as playing an important role in addressing modern attitudes towards relationships.

“So often, films only address romance rather than love,” he notes. “Romantic love on film is always based on the first three pages of love – falling in love. The challenge in modern relationships is how to work at that, how to maintain it, and why good people fail at that and start seeking out excitement and love elsewhere. It’s time to release ourselves from the stigma of discussing sex relationships openly. Silent shame has not done us any good.”

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THE BAILIE NEWS Stuart Bailie talks about his new book Trouble Songs, a compelling examination of the role music played during the Northern Irish conflict. Interview: Peter McGoran

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Stuart Baillie

aving worked as a broadcaster and a journalist for over 30 years, as well being the co-founder of Belfast’s Oh Yeah Centre – an invaluable resource for emerging Northern musicians – Stuart Bailie is better equipped than almost anyone to write about the history of music during the Northern Irish conflict. Speaking with Enterprise, he explains that the idea of a book of this magnitude had been in his head for a long time.

“Ten years ago I did a piece on the Troubles for the Arts Archive,” he explains. “And it was 5,000 words on music and the conflict. But as soon as it was done I thought to myself, ‘That’s a very thin veneer of what was going on’. A few years later, I realised I’d spent the best part of 10 years working in Oh Yeah. By the end, it was getting quite stressful, and it involved a bit more admin than I would’ve liked. So I thought, ‘I want to write again. I want to do something which most of my adult life has been about’. I spent a few years doing some bits and pieces, trying to get agents, trying to get companies. Then about a year ago, the British Council said, ‘Can we help?’ The follow-up question was, ‘Can you get it out by the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement?’ So they’d set the time, and I had to get the head down for a year of ferocity.”

Trouble Songs begins in the midst of Stiff Little Fingers’ 40th anniversary concert at Custom House Square in 2017. Lead singer Jake Burns proclaims ‘Alternative Ulster’ as the new national anthem and delights in the fact that, decades on from first releasing this defining hit, Northern Ireland has changed irrevocably.

The occasion might not have seemed significant at the time, but as the author argues over the course of his book, the very act of gathering citizens of the city together, for a music event that didn’t adhere to the sectarian divisions of the time, was nothing short of impossible when Stiff Little Fingers first began.

In the early chapters, Stuart explores how protest songs in the late ’60s – used to rouse and connect masses of people in public spaces – led very quickly to reprisals from security forces. In the decades that followed, death threats from paramilitaries struck at the heart of live music entertainment. Notably, The Clash were forced to cancel an ambitious gig in Derry because of a threat from the Red Hand Commandos.

“I think that’s why Rory Gallagher was regarded as a saintly figure in Belfast,” argues Stuart. “He turned up every year to play there. He didn’t grandstand or use it as PR stunt either. He just did it for the people of the city.”

Rather than try to form a simple narrative about the conflict, the book covers many facets of music during the period. From

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Johnny Adair’s stint as a bass-player for a punk band, to the DUP’s Reverend William McCrea and his arena-sized evangelical gospel shows; from David Holmes, Orbital and acid house music, to Van Morrison and Astral Weeks – all musical life is represented here.

“There were dozens of avenues to go down with this book. But at the core of it, I wanted to talk about the songs. Who wrote what, and what did it say about where we were at in the conflict? I think if it got much bigger it would be a doorstop. But I’ve got a file in my laptop with areas that I could expand on.”

There’s a notable disparity between the amount of male and female bands. Was that reflective of the time?

“Yeah, a lot of it was part of the time,” says Stuart. “The music scene in NI, and possibly all of Ireland, was largely a boy’s project until the mid-’80s maybe. Now, one of the projects I’m working on currently involves talking to female punks of the time. There was quite a lot of them around, and a lot of them were terrifying! But, quite a lot of them didn’t get on stage. Obviously, in England, you had the likes of Siouxsie Sioux and The Slits and Poly Styrene. Sadly, in the back catalogue in the Northern Ireland punk scene, apart from the likes of Family Of Noise and Déjà Vu, there wasn’t that many punk records with female voices on them.

“Having said that, the project that I’m working on at the minute, with the Woman’s Work Festival, has put out an open call to get female punkettes to tell the untold story of the time. We want to shed light on this.”

One of the most memorable chapters in the book documents the last-minute concert by U2 and Ash in Belfast, in support of a ‘Yes’ vote in the Good Friday Agreement referendum.

It proved to be one of the most important interventions of music into the politics of the conflict.

“The moderate vote was collapsing,” Stuart explains. “Convicted killers were getting released. Street bombings were still taking place. People were thinking, ‘This deal could be dead in the water’.

And the concert was all done so quickly! People were just winging it.

“But the jubilation at what happened – David Trimble talking about his love for Elvis, John Hume in tears – was incredible. You’re watching the news after it all and thinking, ‘That’s it, the news agenda has been changed’. Politics was throwing everything at this referendum because there was such a powerful opposition, then rock’n’roll – the cavalry – came over the hill! Looking back, I think that the role of music in the conflict has never fully been recognised.”

"Rory Gallagher was regarded as a saintly figure in Belfast."

Trouble Songs is published by Bloomfield Press, with Eastside Arts.

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FIVE FABULOUS REASONS TO ESCAPE TO

ARDS & NORTH DOWN Just 30 minutes east of Northern Ireland’s bustling capital city of Belfast, Ards and North Down is the perfect escape for holidaymakers in search of beautiful wide-open countryside, stunning scenery and charming seaside villages and resorts.

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ith historic stately homes and castles dotted amongst its rolling hills, an expansive and pristine sandy coastline, and the majestic Strangford Lough at its centre, the area of Ards and North Down is a perfectly picturesque, all-inclusive holiday destination. It’s no wonder that this incredibly scenic area was selected to serve as a featured location for some of the most iconic moments in HBO’s blockbusting Game Of Thrones.

In addition to its myriad natural attributes, the area is also home to some world-class restaurants. Many serve delightfully fresh dishes centred on the abundance of delicious seafood available to the area. There is also a great selection of accommodation, ranging from rustic, self-catering stays to cosy pubs, and a five-star estate and spa. While visiting Ards and North Down, you can also avail of a wealth of historical attractions and an abundance of outdoor activities, based on both land and water.

Join Enterprise on a journey through some of the highlights that Ards and North Down has to offer, as we suggest five fabulous reasons that should make this spectacular corner of the island a must-visit holiday destination.

1. PARKS & GARDENS Voted one of the top ten gardens in the world, Mount Stewart (Portaferry Road, Newtownards, Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0)28 4278 8387) is a beautiful place to spend a day for young and old alike. With its recently refurbished stately home and sprawling gardens designed by Lady Londonderry in the 1920s, Mount Stewart also contains a natural play area, styled after Lady Londonderry’s children’s book, The Magic Ink Pot; and an ark of stone animal sculptures for kids to find – the history of which will also

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prove fascinating to adults.

From here, a 20-minute drive will deliver you to the award-winning Bangor Castle Walled Garden (Valentine Road, Castle Park, Bangor, Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0) 28 9127 1200). The garden is divided into four different sections, each with its own horticultural personality. Refurbished and opened to the public in 2009, the formerly ‘secret’ garden sits in the tranquil grounds of Castle Park.

Comber is home to the Castle Espie Wildfowl & Wetland Centre. Set on the shore of Strangford Lough, the centre offers families the chance to get up close to Ireland’s largest collection of native and exotic water birds and migrant birds, whilst taking in stunning estuary views (78 Ballydrain Road, Comber, Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0) 28 9187 4146).

2. STRANGFORD LOUGH Designated both an Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty and an Area Of Special Scientific Interest, Strangford Lough is the jewel in the eye of Ards & North Down. Surrounded on all sides by 9,000 years of history and breathtaking natural scenery – and home to home to one of Europe’s most-richly bio-diverse cultures of wild- and marine-life – the County Down’s inland sea Lough has been a hub of activity for millennia. Tourists flock to the area for its abundance of water’s edge experiences, from boating and diving in the tranquil waters, to cycling and walking along the shores and trial flights above its sparkling waters. What better way to appreciate the surroundings than on the water?

There are many ways to appreciate the beautiful surroundings. Rent a bike and take off on the Strangford Lough Trail. The route, which is linked from Belfast by the traffic-free Comber Greenway, meanders beside the shores of the Ards Peninsula and Strangford Lough along minor

S P E C I A L F E AT U R E ARDS & NORTH DOWN

Clockwise from top left: Mount Stewart, Exploris Aquarium, a local beach, Comber Market and Ulster Folk and Transport Museum

roads, with all the scenery and wildlife right at your wheels.

To get up close and personal to some of the Lough’s inhabitants, and some of their exotic cousins, Exploris Aquarium (The Rope Walk, Castle St. Tel: +44 (0) 28 4272 8062) in Portaferry is Northern Ireland’s only aquarium, reptile exhibition and seal sanctuary.

3. HISTORY On the eastern shore of Strangford Lough, the charming little village of Greyabbey is named for the Cistercian church (Main Street, Greyabbey, Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0) 28 9082 3207) and living quarters founded in 1193 by Affreca, wife of the Anglo-Norman invader of East Ulster, John de Courcy. The Abbey is set in the landscaped parkland of the 18th Century Rosemount House; however, visitors should note that these grounds are private. Visitors are welcome to wander among the ruins and the lawns, where picnics are also permitted. The town itself is a hidden gem. Known locally as the ‘wedding village’, many local businesses are centered on catering to all your nuptial needs.

In nearby Newtonards, Scrabo Tower and Country Park (203A Scrabo Road, Newtownards, Co. Down) boast incredible views of Strangford Lough and the rolling countryside. The tower, which was built in 1857, is one of Northern Ireland’s best-known landmarks. There are many walking trails in this area, through the beech woodlands of Killynether Wood.

One of Ards and North Down’s oldest monuments is

Bangor Abbey. Established by Saint Comgall in 558AD, the church weathered Viking attacks that saw it fall into disrepair. Over the years it has been restored and is now a great destination to learn about over 1000 years of the area’s history.

For history buffs, there is also always something interesting to find at both the North Down Museum (Town Hall, Castle Park Avenue, Bangor, Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0) 28 9127 1200) and The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum (Cultra, Holywood. Tel: +44 (0) 28 9042 8428).

4. AWARD WINNING RESTAURANTS & LOCAL PRODUCE With so many fun activities and so much sightseeing to do, Ards and North Down has plenty to offer to help you refuel. For those new to Northern Ireland, NI Food Tours (nifoodtours.com) are a great way to get acquainted with the local tastes and produce. They’ll soon have you sampling single estate whiskey, artisan dulse wheaten bread and everything in between!

On the first Thursday of every month, the Comber Farmers’ Market – winner of NI Best Local Market at NI Year Of Food And Drink Awards – is a great place to sample and stock up on some fantastic local produce (St Mary’s Parish Church Car Park, The Square, Comber, Co. Down. combermarket.co.uk).

For a before dinner aperitif, take a trip to The Echlinville Distillery (Echlinville House, 62 Gransha Rd. Tel: +44 (0) 28 427 38597, booking required). Northern Ireland’s first newly licensed distillery in over 125 years, The Echlinville Distillery has been at the forefront of Ireland’s spirits

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Strangford Lough and (left) Greyabbey

renaissance since it began production in 2013. It now produces Dunville’s Irish Whisky, Jawbox Gin, Echlinville Gin and Bán Poitín.

Their barley is grown and harvested from their own fields and floormalted by hand.

For destination dining, they don’t come much better than Bangor’s award-winning Boat House (1a Seacliff Road, Bangor, Co. Down.

Tel: +44 (0) 28 9146 9253). Housed in one of the most unique and historically interesting buildings in North Down, dating back to 1849, the Boat House offers fine-dining and its menu features the freshest of locally sourced seafood. For even more seafood treats, head up to The Quay’s Pub and Restaurant in nearby Portavogie (81, New Harbour Road, Newtonards, Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0) 28 4277 2225) for a menu supplied by the local Portavogie fishing fleet – and carried just 50 yards to the restaurant’s kitchen.

For exciting lunch menus, try the Guillemot Kitchen Café next to The Boat House (2 Seacliff Road, Bangor Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0) 28 0085 8821).

5. ACCOMODATION After a long day soaking up all Ards and North Down has to offer, it’s important to find the perfect place to lay your weary head.

Visitors are truly spoiled for choice in this department, as the area offers everything from 5-star luxury to self-catered accommodation and caravans and motorhomes. The 5-Star Culloden Estate & Spa

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(Bangor Rd, Holywood. Tel: +44 (0) 28 9042 1066) is a glamorous 19th Century mansion on 12 acres of rolling grounds, set high in the Holywood hills. There’s a reason that the estate has attracted stars like Bono, David Beckham and Sir Richard Attenborough: its palatial surroundings, exquisite decor, fine antiques and exceptional service combine to give the Culloden Estate and Spa a unique air of elegance.

Just down the road, the Clandeboye Lodge Hotel (10 Estate Road, Bangor, Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0) 28 918 52500) is another awardwinning destination, set amongst the magnificent Northern Irish greenery With meticulously landscaped gardens and stylish and contemporary guest rooms, the Clandeboyne is perfectly located between Belfast and the best Ards and North Down has to offer.

Their award-winning Coq & Bull restaurant serves the best of fresh, seasonal and locally sourced produce.

Less formal accommodation is available at the charming Anna’s House Luxury B&B (35 Lisbarnett Road, Comber, Co. Down. Tel: +44 (0) 28 9754 1566). Here you can relax with a warm cup and look out over the tranquil Lough Tullynagee and its surrounding woods and meadows. There are three luxury suites available and a delicious full Irish or lighter options like eggs benedict, smoked salmon omelettes, pancakes or a continental platter on the menu for breakfast.

Lastly, Game Of Thrones fans might want to book a room at Fiddler’s Green (10 Church Street Portaferry. Tel: +44 (0) 28 4272 8393). When Storm Gertrude blew over the trees along Northern Irelands Dark Hedges (better known to Game Of Thrones fans as the ‘Kingsroad’), Tourism Northern Ireland decided to save that piece of history for the fans. With the fallen wood they carved 10 intricate doors. Two of the famed doors are displayed in this local pub.

For more information on the area, pop in to Bangor Visitor Centre, which is located in a dramatic 17th century tower on the seafront, or if you’re closer to Strangford Lough, the Ards Visitor Information Centre in Newtownards can help.

Helpful links: visitardsandnorthdown.com

A FOOD AWAKENING The latest dining news from resident foodie Stuart Clark

(clockwise from above): Spice up your life, Kinara Kitchen curries favour & Moorish Marrakesh fare

GRILLING IN THE NAME OF With the sun guaranteed to keep splitting the rocks for the rest of the summer – we refuse to countenance anything less! – tickets should be bought immediately for Big Grill, the BBQ, craft beer and music festival that returns to Dublin’s Herbert Park from August 16-19.

This year’s pitmasters include King of the Brazilian Churrascada, Mario Portella; Angie Mar from New York’s legendary Beatrice Inn; Smoke Stak London’s David Carter; and keeping the home coals burning, KAI Galway’s Jess Murphy.

Back by very popular demand are Kinara Kitchen, the Pakistani food crew who will also be our go-to guys in September at the Electric Picnic.

Day tickets start at €18 or go the Whole Hog All Weekend route for €29. biggrillfestival.com.

A COLD CUT ABOVE The Northern Irish food revolution gathers apace with BBC Food & Farming Awards 2018 finalists Ispíní producing a

range of bresaola, chorizo, lomo, coppa and salami that you’d swear had been airlifted in from Spain and Italy.

Using the choicest cuts of meat sourced from their Tyrone farm neighbours, their air dried Irish Spiced Beef is cured in a blend of traditional spices and Dunville’s Belfast Whiskey – a marriage truly made in heaven!

If you can’t find them in your local neighbourhood food emporium, fear not, because all of their delicious wares are available from ispinicharcuterie.com.

READY, WILLING & CAPEL! One of Dublin’s hottest new tables is to be found on Capel Street, the historic thoroughfare, which is just a short walk over the Grattan Bridge from Temple Bar. With a team of chefs from Casablanca, Essaouira and the bustling city that gives it its name, Marrakesh By Mindo (121 Capel Street, Dublin 1. Tel. +353 1 878 8988. Marrakesh.ie) is the real Moroccan deal and includes Couscous Royal, Rabbit Mhancha and Moorish Fish Catch of The Day among its must-tries.

The paired wine-list reflects the sweet and savoury nature of the dishes, and if you’re determined to make a night of it and are of the singing persuasion, Marrakesh has five downstairs karaoke rooms where spirited versions of ‘Don’t Stop Believing’, ‘I Will Survive’ and ‘Dancing Queen’ – that’s our guilty pleasures revealed! – can be belted out with table service and use of a separate bar.

SEAHORSES FOR COURSES Among the numerous reasons to check out Belfast’s new Grand Central Hotel (9-15 Bedford Street, Belfast BT2 7FF. Tel. + 44 28 9023 1066. grandcentralhotelbelfast.com) is The Seahorse, their sleek flagship restaurant specialising in contemporary Northern Irish fare.

A Beef Wellington with Truffle Mash, Green Beans, Caramelised Shallots & Red Wine Jus made for sharing and Roast Cod with Salsa Verde, Olives, Samphire, Spinach & Croutons are two of the reasons why it’s proved an instant hit.

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PERFECTLY CLARE Having set her heart on becoming a top chef, Clare Smyth left her native County Antrim at 16 and trained under Gordon Ramsay.

She talks to Jason O’Toole about the pressure of running Ramsay’s three-star Michelin restaurant, being named “Best Female Chef” in the world and her new venture, Core by Clare Smyth.

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Claire Smyth

s a teenager, Clare Smyth had her first taste of fine dining when working a summer job at a restaurant near her home in County Antrim.

Her curiosity piqued, Clare read every cookbook she could lay her hands on and taught herself how to make classic sauces. Soon afterwards she went to London to pursue her dream of becoming a top chef.

But the London restaurant scene was not necessarily a welcoming environment for a young woman. The culture was exceedingly macho and Smyth witnessed more than one testosterone-fueled screaming match.

“When I was 17 years-old I came to a restaurant for a trial. It was one of the top ones in London,” she recounts. “At the end the chef said to me, ‘What do you want to do? What’s your ambition?’

“I said, ‘I want to be a chef at a top London restaurant or a five star hotel’. And he said, ‘You’re never going to do that because you’re a woman!’”

He twisted the knife in even further by telling her, “It’s man’s world. But if you do come and work here you can start in pastry because that way you’ll have learnt something. You’ll probably leave.”

Clare turned down the offer. But “spurred on” by his disparaging putdown she went on to learn her trade under the guidance of Gordon Ramsay. A decade later she had the proverbial last laugh when her paths crossed again with this arrogant, chauvinistic chef.

At this point, she was a rising star in the industry and onetime Michelin-star gourmand was on the way down.

She picks up the story: “After working for Gordon, I’d been in Le Louis XV Restaurant in Monaco. I returned to be head chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road, which was the only three star Michelin restaurant in London at that time. I was 28-yearsold. I went to meet my veg supplier and it was the guy! The chef was now a veg supplier!

“His jaw dropped,” she continues. “‘What… you? You’re the head chef at Royal Hospital Road?!’ And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s right’. ‘Where did you come from?’ He had one Michelin star.

I was now taking over a three-star restaurant. And I said, ‘Once I was in your kitchen for a trial’. I think that’s a funny story. In life, you should never underestimate anyone.”

Ramsay also alerted her to the fact that Michelin-star kitchens can be a macho environment. “It was always this bit of a joke between us.

Most people didn’t last a week in [Ramsay’s] kitchen – that was the thing. He said I wouldn’t last a week.

It always spurred me on.”

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Such is their bond it was to Gordon that Clare turned last year for advice when she was getting ready to open her own place, Core by Clare Smyth. The restaurant, in Kensington, London, has been up-and-running for less than a year, but is already one of the hottest spots in the UK capital.

“He was the first person that looked at the business plan.

He introduced me to his bank manager. He was really great during the whole process. Gordon’s been very supportive of me opening,” she reveals.

“He’s pretty much helped every single step of the way. He came to see the site with me. He did tastings for me. He’s always at the end of a phone. That’s something people don’t realise about him.

“He told me that he has achieved more in his life than he ever thought he would. He wants to see people like me do well. And he’s been a great support.”

Clare insists that Gordon is nothing like the blowhard we see screaming on TV. “It’s a different skill doing television.

In real life he’s very different,” she proffers. “I didn’t find him difficult to work with. Actually. I find him very easy to work with. You always know where you stand. I worked with him for 15 years and, for me, it was very easy.”

Branching out on her own has already paid off in spades – with Clare scooping the award for ‘Best Female Chef’ from The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in June. She’s a little ambivalent about this. What has gender to do with dining?

“The job is non-gender specific. Being a female has never played a role at all – until I became the head chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. I was the only woman to have ever have run a three-star restaurant. Every single journalist asked me, ‘What it was like to be a female chef?’”

Clare pauses to laugh again. “But (for) my whole career, being female had never had anything to do with being a chef. It’s one of those things. Everyone else is always pointing it out and bringing it up.”

She adds that women are still underrepresented at the very top of the industry.

“If by talking about my career, or mentoring others, I inspire women to come into the industry… that’s a good thing. It’s double-edged. Being female is not the important thing. The important thing is to use my career to highlight the need for more women in the industry. We need a gender balance.”

The UK media were quick to build her up as the first “British Female Chef” to win the award. This doesn’t sit well with Clare.

“I see myself as Northern Irish,” she points out.

She has a funny anecdote about being Irish: “Working in France they called me the little English girl: Petite anglaise.

About nine months into me working there, the chef turned around to me and said to me, ‘Oh, but you’re Irish!’

“And I said, ‘Yes’. And he said, ‘Oh, well that’s okay then’. For nine months I wasn’t okay because I was English. And then he found out I wasn’t actually I was Irish then I was alright! He liked me then.”

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DRAWN & QUARTERED Midway through this sweltering summer, the GAA football championship has caught fire with the kickoff of the inaugural Super 8s. Dublin’s star midfielder Michael Darragh MacAuley talks about the team’s 2018 ambitions, while Kerry forward Darran O’Sullivan chats about their rivalry with Dublin and how the county’s new influx of young guns will help them reach the semi-finals. Interviews Paul Nolan Photography: Miguel Ruiz

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Michael Darragh

hirty-three teams, whittled down to eight - the first ever Super 8. The round-robin replacement for the AllIreland quarter finals purports to give the public more games that matter between the very best.

The game’s aristocrats, Dublin and Kerry, strolled to qualification, winning their provinces handily. They’ve been drawn in opposite groups, so any meeting between the two can only happen from the semi-final on.

Dublin’s star midfielder, Michael Darragh MacAuley says the new format, and being drawn against Donegal, Tyrone and Roscommon, hasn’t affected Dublin’s approach that much.

“Jim handles all that – whatever gets reformatted goes through him. We just push ourselves like lunatics and see what happens!

But no, it doesn’t affect our focus or anything. I don’t even fully understand it, to be honest. I don’t get bogged down in this kind of thing. I believe there’s a Super 8s going on – I genuinely couldn’t tell you too much about it.”

Having reclaimed the National League title in the spring and dished out an 18 point hammering to Laois in the Leinster final, Jim Gavin’s charges are in excellent shape going into the Super 8s, and the bookies’ favourites to once again claim Sam Maguire.

“It’s good that we have a medal in our back pockets after the league, but with the way this team has been going over the last while, people will only remember what happens in September.

That’s the facts of it and hopefully we’ll be there to compete.”

Dublin’s dramatic one-point victory over Mayo last September in one of the all-time greatest football finals secured the three-in-a-row, making them the first team to achieve that remarkable feat since Mick O’Dwyer’s great Kerry team in the ’80s. However, with MacAuley absent for the campaign through injury, he admits he didn’t get fully swept up in the euphoria.

“It was tough because of the year I had, coming back from injury,” he reflects. “I wasn’t involved as much I’d like to have been. Obviously, it was euphoric for Dublin, but personally, I still have a whole lot to prove. It’s all to play for this year. I have zero excuses this season – I feel good, the body’s good, so come what may this summer.”

MacAuley – who was Footballer of the Year during Dublin’s All Ireland winning 2013 season – and Brian Fenton established themselves as the top midfield pairing in the country with some sensational performances in the spring, but such is Dublin’s strength in depth currently, the squad are acutely aware of the necessity of maintaining peak performance.

“I know people keep talking about competition on the team, but it is mental,” points out Michael Darragh. “It doesn’t matter what your name is or what awards you have, it doesn’t mean you’ll be in the starting 15 – it doesn’t even mean you’ll be in the squad these days. That’s how crazy the competition is. We’re all pushing each other and seeing where that ends up.”

It’s not just in-squad competition that encourages MacAuley. He plays a message from his phone: “Michael Darragh – wicked. This

T

is Oliver from The xx and I want to wish you the best of luck on Sunday. I hope you kill it.”

A friend of the footballer’s was interviewing the musician and duly prevailed on him to provide MacAuley with a few words of encouragement. A man who knows his music. MacAuley will draw on them as the championship comes to a head.

KERRY US THROUGH In Kerry, the big talking point is the introduction of a raft of young stars from the county’s recent minor teams, who won a remarkable four-in-a-row of All Irelands from 2014-17. Stylish playmaker Sean O’Shea and extravagantly talented corner forward David Clifford have shone.

One of the remaining veterans, dynamic half-forward Darran O’Sullivan, who captained Kerry to the All Ireland in 2009, can’t wait to get stuck into Super 8s action, acknowledging that the new recruits in the Kerry squad make these exciting times for the county.

“In a lot of the bigger counties, you get these periods of transition,” notes O’Sullivan. “We’re lucky enough that at the moment, it’s looking very exciting. David and Seanie are really exciting prospects. There is that youthful exuberance in the set-up; they’ve won All Irelands at underage and they don’t have any fear.

I’m hoping that the winning experiences they’ve had coming up through the ranks will help them.”

A combination of Clifford, Paul Geaney and former footballer of the year James O’Donoghue gives Kerry a sensational full forward line. Further back, with O’Shea pulling the strings and taking dead-ball responsiblities at 11 alongside older players like O’Sullivan and star midfielder David Moran, Kerry’s front eight is shaping up very nicely - as hauls of 0-32 and 3-18 in the Munster Championships attest to.

“On paper, things look very good, although it doesn’t always work out that way,” cautions O’Sullivan. “You don’t know how things will pan out with injuries, form, suspensions and so on. But the more fellas we have chomping at the bit, looking after the body and feeling good, the better it’s going to be for Kerry.”

Surveying the football landscape, there’s no doubt that Jim Gavin’s Dublin cast a very large shadow. Notably, Kerry’s league final win last year is one of just two big games the Dubs have lost in Gavin’s five-year tenure.

“There’s no denying it, they’re a step or two ahead of most teams at the moment,” Darran acknowledges. “Fair play to Dublin – they’ve kicked it on and maintained their hunger, which is a massive achievement itself. Dublin go and attack the game, play to their strengths and don’t worry too much about the opposition. It’s up to everyone else to concentrate on their own strong points and hopefully on the day, they can push them.”

In the noughties, O’Sullivan’s Kerry team had some mighty tussles with Mickey Harte’s Tyrone. Where does the current Dublin team rank in terms of the best sides he’s played against?

“They’re definitely the best team I’ve played against,” he replies.

“Dublin have done something Tyrone didn’t do, and that’s win it again the following year.”

"On paper, things look very good, although it doesn’t always work out that way"

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Fashion

Totally Tropical Summer is here, and that means one thing: time to say “Aloha” to tropical prints! BY ROE McDERMOTT

Fashion

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ith 90s fashion having a renaissance this year, it’s no surprise that this quintessential retro trend is making a big, bold and bright return to the catwalks, and making seasonally large waves on the fashion scene!

The return of tropical prints means that an explosion of colour, and a kaleidoscopically chaotic mix of flora, fauna, waves, leaves, islands and gardens are going to be splashed all over our clothing – and we’re ready to wear the blend of adventurous trips and relaxing sunshine! Pineapples, palm trees, petals and parrots are all key elements to this summery tropical pattern, which usually come in a larger print than the more delicate floral prints we’ve seen this year. The palette is also distinctive, featuring oranges, reds, greens, yellows and blues, to evoke the palette of a seaside picnic with exotic fruits. Think mango, papaya, watermelon, with sea blues and cactus greens, and lose yourself in the evocative colours.

Though the tropical trend can commonly be associated with men’s fashion, with its Miami Vice and Jimmy Buffet associations, the floral elements of this trend make it wonderfully feminine, which is often emphasized by billowing silhouettes and flirty ruffles, all set to flow in the warm breeze. Altuzarra’s catwalk featured tropical crop-tops layered under simple blazers with ruffled skirts, while Stella Jean’s flowing skirts were ready to billow by the seaside.

To wear this trend, decide if you want to bring just a taste of summer adventures to your wardrobe, or if you want to go all out and make your ensemble a head-to-toe imaginary island escape!

Wearing one tropical piece is easy, and these colourful prints look fresh and summery when paired with simple white basics or classic blue jeans. Tropical playsuits are a great item, as they can be worn on their own or layered with a neutral blazer or even dark tights if you want to tone down the print.

But if you want to a more striking evening look, look for an all-over-tropics outfit, such as a tropical print dress, or a suit – highwaisted trousers are the silhouette of the summer, or a matching tropical blazer and shorts looks fantastic and chic when paired with a great pair of heels or gladiator sandals.

If you want to feel truly daring and wild, and are confident with your ability to carry bold prints, try pairing tropical prints with other strong patterns. Fruits, florals and animal prints all look fabulous against a tropical pattern, or you could contrast and go for more geometrical shapes and some colourblocked fabrics to add some nice contrast and structure to the easy-breezy tropical vibe.

Go forth and triumph in tropical!

Red Tropical Jumpsuit £42, Wallis

Tropical Longline Blazer £50, Simply Be

Navy Blue Tropical Print Trouser £32, Dorothy Perkins

White Tropical Print Dress £48, Wallis

Hothouse Tropical Playsuit £29, Accessorize

Exotic Island Weekend Bag £45, Accessorize

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CASSIE'S COME HOME Over gourmet bites and first-class Japanese-inspired cocktails in Bonsai Bar, CASSIE STOKES talks to Enterprise about being a TV presenter on both sides of the Atlantic, rubbing shoulders with Tom Hanks, her perfect day in Dublin, and why good service will win her over in any restaurant.

Interview: Peter McGoran Photograhy: Miguel Ruiz

ituated just below Taste and above The Rustic Stone, in the heart of Dublin's bustling city centre, is Dylan McGrath's exciting Japaneseinspired food and drinks experience Bonsai Bar. Combining bespoke cocktails with the kind of bar bites that wouldn’t look out of place in a Michelin-star restaurant, it’s a stylish new addition to the evening-time socialising scene with endless combinations to explore.

Bonsai is also brilliantly committed to its Japanese theme, with an attention to detail that is second-to-none. Their ‘Oyuki cocktail’ (Beefeater gin infused with wild hibiscus & rose stirred with hibiscus syrup topped with prosecco), is inspired by a famous portrait of a geisha who died young, and comes complete with a blurred, ghostly image of the haunting geisha, which gradually becomes visible when you raise the cocktail glass to your lips.

Needless to say, Xposé presenter Cassie Stokes and I are beaming when we arrive at Bonsai (although I discover throughout our chat that this seems to be Cassie’s natural state). There’s a moment of uncertainty as we pore over both the bar bites and cocktail menus and we deliberate over what to get, (or what not to get - because we’re both decided foodies and we both mean business); thankfully though, the Bonsai staff are on hand to guide our suggestions, suggesting which cocktails and bites will pair, and even giving us the history of the cocktails – justifying every combination choice. This kind of quality service has already won Cassie over, who stands by the rule that, when it comes to dining experiences, “All it takes is one person to make me come back time and time again.”

“I also like going places where the people are really friendly,” she says. “Where they look after you, remember you if you’ve been there before, and pay attention to you. That’s really important to me. It’s less about the food to be honest. I love good food, but for me, it’s so much about how you’re treated.”

Having built up an impressively diverse CV for herself, Cassie

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“I love good food, but for me, it’s so much about how you’re treated.”

is also firmly of the belief that everybody should work in the hospitality industry at one stage to see how difficult it is from the other side.

“When I was working in Toronto, I started off in the hospitality industry and got to experience it at its best and worst, so I think I’ve found a new appreciation for that industry and for the experience of dining. I’m not a food snob, but I love going to places where the workers are friendly and go out of their way for you.”

Cassie started her career at TV3, before taking a break to work in Canada (where she was born). While there, she ended up working as a co-host on Entertainment Tonight Canada.

Apparently, she’s always had a calling for TV. “I think so!” She laughs. “It kind of kept working out that way.

Any time I went to do something else, I kept going back that way. I mean I’m always pushing the boundaries and trying out new things, but I do always gravitate towards TV. And I’m not complaining, it’s a lot of fun.”

As a committed foodie, Cassie is certainly not complaining when her work gives her the opportunity to explore places like Bonsai. This sets us up nicely for the first round of bar bites.

First up, Nashi Pear features pears pressed in ponzu and honey with avocado puree, umeboshi, radish and sesame; Akame Tuna has sliced yellow fin tuna on a kimchi croquette with burnt cabbage and cured egg yolk; and the Salmon Sashimi is on nori tempura with bonito, avocado puree and radish. Cocktail-wise, we enjoy Momotaro, with Absolut pear vodka with pear purée, freshly squeezed lemon, homemade wasabi syrup, finished with a splash of soda water, peach bitters and grapefruit oils; my personal favourite, the Three Beauties, with Glenfiddich 12, kummell, oleo-saccharum, fresh lime, lychee purée & egg white; and Cassie’s personal favourite, Oda, a Mezcal-based cocktail with freshly squeezed lime juice, summer berry conserve, agave, a touch of pimento liqueur & big peat scotch. With locations like this, it’s enough to make Cassie happy that she made her triumphant return to Dublin…

“If someone had said to me three years ago that I’d be living in Dublin, I would’ve told them there was no chance,” she says.

“Because at that time, I wasn’t ready to be back. I went to London briefly because I wanted to be closer to home, then I got offered this job and it gave me an excuse to go home. Now though, I’m definitely not opposed to living here. So for the

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foreseeable future, I’ll be in Dublin I think.”

Cassie got the call-up to audition for TV3’s Xposé in 2016. She’s found herself work as both a presenter and a producer for the show, which was a dream come true.

“I love the buzz of not knowing where my week’s going to take me. You get to meet some amazing people – and I’m more than happy to spend my life talking to people. There’s real freedom to be creative and come up with ideas too. I’m not just a presenter, I’m a producer as well, so if I have an idea and I want to see it through, I could do that. If it was a huge corporation I might not have that freedom, but with TV3 I do. It’s nice to be able to have ideas, work with them, and run with them yourself.”

Aside from being able to pursue her own ideas, the job has also allowed Cassie to cosy up to some of Hollywood’s elite. She bonded strongly with Jake Gyllenhaal over their mutual love for tattoos, but Tom Hanks takes the mantle for her favourite ever celebrity interview.

“Coolest person in the world!” she insists. “I was at a red carpet event in London, for his film A Hologram For The King, and he must’ve been in a great mood, because when I asked him ‘Here c’mere Tom, tell me your Ireland story,’ he gave me everything. He started chatting about this Irish guy who told him to go into acting, did this great impression of him and everything, and it was the most brilliant thing to hear.”

Aside from taking Xposé to new and exciting places, Cassie has also been there to chart TV3’s remarkable progress as a TV channel. She was excited when they announced their recent merger with Virgin Media.

“Considering TV3 only started about 20 years ago, it’s progressed so much and has given RTÉ a run for its money. I think that’s a huge testament to the people who have worked there. I worked there when I was young, and I’ve been there for about 12 years, so to see the developments is amazing. It’s moving forward. It’s always moving forward. They’ve got a new channel for sports.

They’ve always got amazing shows, and – not forgetting – they’ve got Ireland’s Got Talent. Who could want more?

Cassie’s career so far has been an example of going out on her own and establishing her own success, but she’s the first to assert that behind

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every great woman…is six or seven others.

“In terms of people who’ve really inspired me and been there for me, Cheryl Hickey on Entertainment Tonight in Canada was huge. She worked her way up from being a camerawoman to one of the biggest presenters in the country and that’s hugely inspiring. Glenda Gilson as well, I have to say, has had my back since I started. We started talking on my second week in TV3 and she’s really been there for me ever since. She’s one of the soundest people in the whole world.

It’s funny because one of the first questions people always ask me is ‘Is Glenda Gilson nice in real life?’ And I can reply 100% that she is one of the nicest people I have the pleasure of knowing.

If you know her – you’re a very lucky person.

Then apart from that, my mum, my granny, all the women in my family. They’re all inspirations, they all taught me how to be strong. Some I admire for their business sense and for what they’ve done with their careers, some I just admire for showing me how to enjoy life.”

As we talk, more bar bites and cocktails arrive, each one as deliciously unique as it is perfectly Instagrammable (Cassie’s story attests to this fact). By the time our plates are finished, we’re plotting which ones to try when we next return.

Cassie’s already tipped it as a new favourite spot in the city. But how would she spend her perfect day in Dublin?

“For starters, sitting and people watching outside Grogan’s,” she says. “People-watching is one of my favourite things to do in Dublin. Then probably Grogan’s to Hogan’s. Then when the sun’s shining in, Berlin on Dame Street is a great place to be. They play a lot of chilled, melodic house music, which I love, it’s difficult to beat.

Then sometimes I’d go to the Bernard Shaw for a pizza, or Fade Street Social. There are so many great pockets of Dublin to visit when the sun is shining.”

Who could argue with that? And with Bonsai Bar, we’ve both discovered a new, exquisite food and drinks experience to add to the list.

Bonsai Bar 17 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 526 7701 Thebonsaibar.com

One of Bonsai's Talented Chefs

THE DAMAGE

Bonsai’s Japanese-inspired cocktails are priced between €11-€17 Bonsai’s light bites are priced between €4.50-€9.

E N T E R | TA I N G O R I L L A Z

I N

O U R

M I D S T

The excellent latest offering from Damon Albarn's animated quartet is among the highlights in our round-up of the best new albums.

TOM BEARD

ASH Islands (Infectious Music)

GORILLAZ

With a 25-year career and seven studio albums, Downpatrick act Ash are one of Ireland's most reliably catchy bands. The

The Now Now (Parlophone)

good news for fans is that their latest release,

One of the hardest working individuals in pop, no

Islands, ticks all the punk-pop boxes.

sooner had Damon Albarn (of Blur and Britpop fame)

It opens with ‘True Story’, a breezy summer

released last year's Humanz, with his Gorillaz project,

singalong that recalls previous hits such as

than he was getting stuck into its follow-up, The Now

'Girl From Mars' and 'Shining Light'. Singer Tim

Now.

Wheeler doubles as the album's producer and

High as Hope (Virgin EMI Records)

is clearly of the mind that if it ain't broke, why

Since bursting onto the music scene in

usual sprawling cast of collaborators. Albarn handles

fix it? Chugging guitars, driving basslines and

2008 in a floaty outfit that looked like it was

the vocals on the majority of the tracks. There are,

infectious melodies all sound as if they were

stiched together from old dolls from your

however, fine contributions from George Benson on

beamed directly from the indie charts circa

grandmother’s house, Florence Welch has

‘Humility’ and Snoop Dogg and Jamie Principle on

1993.

become a major pop star. Blessed with a

‘Hollywood.’ The former is an infectious slice of sunny

There are occasional departures. ‘Confessions

rafter-raising voice and mesmerizing stage

pop, the latter a brilliantly moody electro-funk effort.

in the Pool’ features a sparkly, polyphonic

presence, for the last decade this Machine has

synthesiser, and a disco beat from drummer

been unstoppable and her stadium-rattling

Now feels like a more personal album from Albarn.

Rick McMurray’s, though those familiar

music has spawned a sub-genre of its own.

Written while touring Humanz, it finds him returning

powerchords eventually come sweeping back

to one his his recurring themes: a sense of alienation

too.

This surprise release does not feature Gorillaz's

The modest cast of collaborators means The Now

from the modern world.

‘All That I have Left’ slows the tempo slightly

FLORENCE & THE MACHINE

With all that in mind, one would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the singer pitched the concept for fourth album High

for further catchy keyboard cruising. And

as Hope . “Less Florence-y” than previous

from isolation / ‘Cause right now, that’s the ball

Wheeler whips out his sweetest croon on

releases, it is the sound of an artist at a cross-

where we be chained” Albarn declares on opener

‘Don’t Need Your Love’, a breezy, '60s-style

roads.

'Humility'

ballad that belies its dark lyrics.

Melancholy pervades the record. ‘Calling the world

But the album lives up to its mission of

Single ‘Buzzkill’ is one of the most rollicking

showcasing a more mature side. If hits such

‘Kansas’ finds Albarn wearily singing “I’m not gonna

songs here. Wheeler has drafted in Undertones

as ‘Dog Days Are Over’ and ‘Kiss with a Fist’

cry.” He seems a bit fed up with life on the road,

men Damian O’Neill and Mickey Bradley, with

are the songs indie kids put on before a big

adding, on the same track, “I’m on my journey

pop-tastic results. Darker moments are rare,

night out, the more sombre ‘The End of Love’

home / With no fuel, alone." The lush ‘Magic City’,

though ‘It’s a Trap’ is comparatively stark.

are those they will play in the early hours

He remains in a funk throughout the record.

meanwhile, sees Albarn hoping “he makes it home

A few years ago Ash announced they had

to soothe the soul. Florence climbs inside

by Wednesday”. The tracks may vary in style and

abandoned the album format in favour of

a confessional booth and opens up about

pace but this pervading sadness gives The Now

exclusively releasing singles. They've sort

her hard-partying (‘South London Forever’)

Now a cohesion the more loose-limbed Humanz was

of stayed true to that formula, as Islands is

struggles with self-esteem (‘Hunger’) and her

criticised for lacking.

essentially a collection of 12 potential seven

constant worry of disappointing her mother

inches.

(‘Grace’).

Still, the album isn't a complete downer. ‘Lake Zurich’ is a summer club jam that would fit nicely

Thankfully there’s nothing here as egregious

Yet there's a case that High as Hope would

on a Todd Terje collection. And ‘Tranz’ is the closest

as Free All Angels single ‘Candy’. Any fleeting

be better with less soul-baring and more

the record has to a hit single in the tradition of ‘Feel

moments of experimentation or evolution

stadium-sized bangers. This is by no means

Good Inc’ with its thumping bassline and darkly

still fit nicely within Ash's fundamentally

a bad record. At times, though, it is quite

catchy dark chorus.

undemanding marriage of energy and melody.

claustrophobic. Her outpourings of nostalgia

Islands showcases what is best about Ash.

about her lost youth feel a bit troweled on,

courtesy of ‘Sorcererz’, while ‘Idaho’ and ‘Souk Eye’

It is a solid collection of catchy three-minute

too, considering she is just 31. Fans – to say

are vintage slices of dream pop. If Humanz reaffirmed

power-pop that will add nicely to their live

nothing of Florence's record label – will hope

Gorillaz as the ultimate party band, The Now Now is

repertoire. Ash still sound like Ash. And that

she gets back to her old, hit-making ways and

a reminder they can tug the heartstrings too.

will keep a lot of people happy.

sooner rather than later.

Elsewhere, there are seductive hip hop grooves

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E N T E R | TA I N

W O O L F

A T

T H E

D O O R

The debut novels from two of Ireland’s finest emerging writers – Helen Cullen and Rebecca O’Connor – are just some of your essential summer reads.

MIGUEL RUIZ

H E I S M I N E A N D I H AV E NO OTHER Rebecca O’Connor (Canongate) He Is Mine And I Have No Other, Rebecca O’Connor’s first novel, is claustrophobic in a good way. Set in the 1990s in a small Irish town, the novel centres on 15-year old Lani Devine. Lani has fallen irrevocably in love with Leon Brady, a teenage boy who visits the graveyard next to her house almost daily.

Leon has a tragic past, as does the town. The local orphanage burned down, resulting in the deaths of 35 young girls. O’Connor has very skilfully captured the mental landscape of female adolescence, as well as the claustrophobia of small-town thinking.

At one level a coming-ofage novel, He Is Mine… is also an exploration of the myriad different ways Irish girls and women have been made to suffer at the hands of individuals and institutions.

Written with verve and flair, the novel is impressively atmospheric and provides some real character insights.

A beautiful, heartbreaking and assured debut.

WAR ON PEACE Ronan Farrow (William Collins) Having deservedly won a Pultizer for his reporting on the Harvey Weinstein scandal in The New York Times, Ronan Farrow now consolidates his status as one of his generation’s most outstanding journalists.

The book explores the erosion of America’s international diplomatic efforts in recent decades, a process accelerated in the aftermath 9/11. One of the main strands is Farrow’s relationship with the late diplomat US Richard Holbrooke, a complex, temperamental figure whose commitment to painstaking negotiations marked him out as the kind of figure increasingly absent in American political life. While America’s misadventures in Iraq are well-known, one of the most shocking revelations concerns the US military’s backing of anti-drug military death squads in Colombia. Overall, a brilliant and compelling read.

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THE LOST LETTERS OF WILLIAM WOOLF Helen Cullen (Penguin) Helen Cullen is a former RTÉ 2fm staffer, who also contributed album and gig reviews to Hot Press. Her debut novel tells the story of ‘Dead Letters Detective’ William Woolf, a middle-aged British Royal Mail employee who sifts through undeliverable post in East London. William unearths a series of letters from a young Irish woman – addressed simply to ‘My Great Love’.

The discovery sends him on a mission to find someone he regards as a potential soulmate, while also forcing him to confront the truth about

his unfulfilled dreams and stagnating marriage.

Stated like that, the premise of the story might seem a little bit too quaint. But Lost Letters quickly develops into a moving story that deals expertly with themes of miscommunication, words unspoken and the other rocks on which longterm relationships can so often founder if not recognised and addressed. It makes for a hugely rewarding and bracing finale. Put this on your summer reading list. The Lost Letters of William Woolf is a very fine debut indeed.

G O D S AV E T E X AS Lawrence Wright (Allen Lane) Best known for his masterpiece The Looming Tower – which explored the US security services’ failure to stop 9/11 and the history of Al Qaeda – in his latest book, New Yorker writer Lawrence Wright turns his attention to the complexities of his home state.

Though acknowledging Texas’ multiculturalism and the vibrant arts scene in city’s like Austin, he doesn’t pull any punches in criticising the poisonous influence the state’s conservative movement has had on national political discourse. Furthermore, the climate change deniers in their ranks have possibly left Texas wide open to a catastrophic weather event, which had an ominous glimpse of last summer due to torrential rainfall.

Wright does point out that there is hope for the progressive agenda in that, were the State to turn Democratic (requiring a mere 10% turnaround from the 2016 election), the party would have a lock on the Presidency for the foreseeable future – one of many fascinating points in this brilliantly insightful read.

S M E L L S

L I K E

T E E N

S P I R I T

Compelling teen drama The Edge Of Seventeen leads the way in our look at the best new movies on Netflix, with Ghostbusters and The Impossible also among the stand-out releases.

The Edge Of Seventeen

Ghostbusters

THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN Hailee Steinfeld stars in this witty examination of teen angst and low self-esteem. Steinfeld gives a piercingly intelligent and winning performance as Nadine, who feels she never fits in. Her sense of alienation is exacerbated by the effortless cool of her older brother, Darian (Blake Jenner.) When her best friend and brother start dating, she feels even more isolated. In that vulnerable state, she taps into the pain of losing her father a few years previously. Nadine is whipsmart and funny her banter-filled relationship with wisecracking, secretly wise English teacher (Woody Harrelson) evocative of Good Will Hunting meets Mean Girls.

Angst, embarrassment and plenty of laughs are on the menu as Nadine attends parties, goes on dates and interacts with her high-strung mother.

Yet writer-director Kelly Fremon Craig taps into something deeper than traditional teen movie fare. Funny, moving and relatable, it’s one for parents and teens to watch together. They will end up understanding each other better.

GHOSTBUSTERS As soon as Paul Feig announced his plan to direct an all-female Ghostbusters, the world as we know it ended. At least, that’s what enraged fanboys across the planet believed. Due to the furore - including unfairly having the most down-voted trailer in Youtube history - Feig’s Ghostbusters would have to be perfect to prove the haters wrong. It’s not, but it’s still a very entertaining romp with originality and zingers to spare. Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon star as the eponymous paranormal experts, amateurs and exorcists. They are tasked with saving the world from a spectral invasion – despite a city full of people doubting their abilities. The stars are hilarious in their own right and share an irresistibly chemistry as they struggle to master their ghostbusting technology.

The ghosts have an old-school Halloween charm, and McKinnon gets to be delightfully weird as well as landing the best moment of the film, bustin' ghosts just as Ray Parker’s classic theme song kicks in.

The Impossible

THE IMPOSSIBLE Maria, Henry and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of 26 December, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the centre of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel towards her. When she wakes, the land surrounding her has been decimated, she’s severely injured – and she has been separated from her family, with no idea where they are. Against the backdrop of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and a pre-Spiderman Tom Holland give incredible performances in this story of a family trying to survive and reunite in the aftermath of a horrific disaster. While the fact that the film centres a white family instead of some of the thousands of local Thai people whose lives were ruined by the tsunami lodges in the craw slightly, there’s no denying the brilliant acting.

JACKIE Jackie is a searing portrait of a tragic moment in American history, seen through the eyes of the iconic First Lady, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy

Jackie

(Natalie Portman). Jackie is set in the immediate aftermath of her husband’s assassination.

Celebrated for her dignity and poise, here we see a psychological portrait of the First Lady as she struggles with the sudden loss of her husband. In the film’s shifting timeline, Portman’s Jackie gives a very controlled interview with a visiting reporter for Life magazine (Billy Crudup), prepares the funeral arrangements for her husband, confides in her favourite priest (John Hurt) and thinks back to her famous televised White House tour. In one of her strongest ever performances, Portman plays the First Lady as vulnerable, tough, demanding, confused and authoritative – sometimes all at once. She’s hyper-conscious of her legacy even as history is unfolding around her, and the movie isn’t afraid to paint her as stiff and highly-strung, and very aware of her image. That remains the case even as we are aware of how close she is to losing control of it, and her grief. It’s a complicated, nuanced portrayal heightened by the film’s beautiful visuals and a haunting score

by Mica Levi.

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Dublin & Belfast

ATTRACTIONS

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

Glasnevin Cemetery Tours, Dublin

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DUBLIN EPIC – THE IRISH EMIGRATION MUSEUM The CHQ building, Custom House Quay, Dublin 1 Tel: (01) 906 0861 epicchq.com One of the newest major attractions in Dublin, EPIC tells the unforgettable story of the 10 million Irish people who left their homeland over the centuries – and how they influenced and shaped the world. The interactive galleries make this family-friendly experience an essential destination for everyone with an interest in Ireland’s people, culture and history.

The museum also houses the Irish Family History Centre, with experts helping visitors uncover their Irish roots. Shortlisted for European Museum of the Year 2018 and included in the Top 5 Irish Museums on TripAdvisor, EPIC is open from 10am to 6.45pm daily (last entry 5pm).

GLASNEVIN CEMETERY TOURS Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11 Tel: (01) 882 6500, glasnevinmuseum.ie The largest non-denominational cemetery in Ireland, Glasnevin is the resting place of some of the most

44

famous figures in Irish history.

Daniel O’Connell, Charles Stewart Parnell, Michael Collins and Eamonn DeValera are buried here, next to well-known artists such as Brendan Behan, Luke Kelly and Christy Brown. The hauntingly gorgeous Victorian Garden cemetery covers 124 acres of glorious parkland.

Guided tours of the cemetery and museum are available daily, with each guide being passionate about telling the stories of Ireland’s complex and fascinating history.

The tour of Glasnevin Cemetery, aptly named Dead Interesting, gives a fascinating view of the heritage within Ireland’s largest cemetery.

Topics include the vault that held secrets during the Irish War of Independence and prominent graves in the complex.

KILMAINHAM GAOL Inchicore Road, Kilmainham, Dublin 8 Tel: (01) 453 5984, heritageireland.ie For anyone interested in Irish history, Kilmainham Gaol is a must-see, as it is intrinsically linked with the story of Ireland’s struggle for independence.

The majority of the leaders in the great rebellions were imprisoned

there, while 14 leaders of the Easter Rising were executed in the Stonebreaker’s Yard. The recently refurbished courthouse – where decisions that sealed the fate of many were made – is also open to the public, as is the museum on the history of Irish nationalism.

THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF IRELAND Merrion Square West, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 661 5133 Nationalgallery.ie First opening its doors in 1864, the National Gallery of Ireland is located in the heart of Dublin city centre and holds the largest collection of European and Irish fine art, with 2,500 paintings and approximately 10,000 other works in different media including watercolours, drawings, prints and sculpture. Every major European school of painting is represented in the gallery, while the JB Yeats room is a particular highlight of the museum.

NATIONAL WAX MUSEUM PLUS 22-25 Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2 waxmuseumplus.ie One year ago, the National Wax Museum Plus was opened in

the iconic Lafayette building that divides Westmoreland Street and D’Olier Street - an appropriately central location for a museum full of figures central to Irish history.

Visitors can explore the past via the museum’s own Augmented Reality app – watch Brendan Behan’s face spring to life and recite poetry, or a sketch of the Liffey morph into an animated pictorial history of Dublin.

Kids will love how the app gamifies the museum too, with treasures (and ghosts!) to find. Watch out also for their Night at the Museum events, where visitors are taken through the museum in masks and actors bring exhibits to life.

Dublin & Belfast

ATTRACTIONS

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

St.Annes Cathedral Belfast

BELFAST BELFAST CATHEDRAL The Cathedral Church Of St. Anne Donegall Street, Belfast Tel: +44 (0) 28 9032 8332 belfastcathedral.org One of Belfast’s most magnificent buildings, The Cathedral Church of St. Anne – situated in the heart of Belfast City – was built over a period of 80 years, with the foundation stone laid in 1899 by the Countess of Shaftesbury. With beautiful stained glass windows depicting scenes from the Old Testament, Italian mosaics by the Martin sisters and a handcrafted Pall in memory of the Titanic victims, it attracts tourists and believers alike.

St Anne’s is open for worship and services outside of visiting hours.

TITANIC BELFAST 1 Olympic Way, Queen’s Road, Titanic Quarter, Belfast Tel: +44 (0) 28 9076 6386, titanicbelfast.com “It’s really quite phenomenal. It’s a magnificent, dramatic building, the biggest Titanic exhibit in the world,” enthuses Titanic film director James Cameron, and we’re not about to disagree with him. The

Titanic Belfast is an unmissable experience and since opening, thousands of visitors have thronged to the centre to learn about the history of the world’s most famous shipping disaster. It was even voted the World’s Leading Tourist Attraction at the 2016 World Travel Awards in the Maldives, an honour comparable to an Oscar nod in the world of tourism. Titanic Belfast is open daily.

ULSTER MUSEUM Botanic Gardens, Belfast Tel: +44 28 9044 0000 nmni.com/um The Ulster Museum is Belfast’s one-stop-shop for all things art, archaeology, zoology, geology and history. Since opening its doors more than 80 years ago, it has gathered one of the most extensive collections of Irish art on the planet. The exhibits don’t stop at artistry; the museum also houses a vast collection of natural history pieces from specimens of birds, mammals, insects, plants and even dinosaurs. No trip to Belfast would be complete without a visit to this cultural and historical hub; opening hours are 10am to 5pm

Tuesday through Sunday and with free admission, it’s an unmissable day out.

BLACK TAXI TOURS Tel: +44 28 9064 2264 belfasttours.com A great way to soak up the history of Belfast is to take a tour in a classic black taxi. Out of the chaos of the Troubles came some of Belfast’s most recognisable landmarks: its murals. The 90-minute taxi ride will take you from east to west and north to south, taking in both sides of the community and how they depicted the conflict through amazingly detailed murals. All of the drivers have their own lived experience and are always willing to help visitors gain a deeper understanding of the city’s history.

DINE AROUND DEANES 537 Lisburn Road, Belfast Tel: +44 28 9066 3108 michaeldeane.co.uk/dine-arounddeanes Dine Around Deanes is a unique opportunity to sample the delights of Belfast’s most famous restaurant

by visiting each of its four locations throughout the city. Originally created in 2013 to mark Belfast Food Week, the idea was so popular that it was extended into a regular event.

Beginning at Deanes and Decano, in the heart of the city centre, you will be ferried around the city in Deanes’ own double decker bus, stopping at each location for a different course – including a stop at the Michelinstar Deanes at Howard Street – and learning about the city’s cuisine along the way. Book early as tickets get snapped up fast!

CAVE HILL COUNTRY PARK Antrim Road, Belfast visitbelfast.com Climbing to the top of Cavehill over unsurfaced paths, caves, moorlands and meadows, you’ll arrive at the most breathtaking vista at the top of McArt’s Fort; a sweeping panoramic view of Belfast, the Lough and (on a good day) the outline of Scotland and the Isle of Man can be seen from the hill’s pinnacle. As well as this, the surrounding country park features a variety of wildlife, several historical and archaeological sites and the famous Belfast Castle.

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Dublin & Belfast

RESTAURANTS

DINING OUT MIGUEL RUIZ

MIGUEL RUIZ

Klaw - Dublin

BELFAST

DUBLIN FADE STREET SOCIAL 6 Fade Street, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 604 0066, fadestreetsocial.com Fade Street Social is one of Dublin’s hippest eateries – and for good reason. It’s a meeting place, restaurant, tapas bar and cocktail winter garden, with each constituent part sitting effortlessly alongside the others; each attracts its own crowd and project its own vibe. The restaurant offers homegrown produce assembled into simple dishes packed with flavour. The gastro bar, meanwhile, allows you to delve into the sharing menu, choosing bite-size, tapasstyle taste bursts. And for good measure, experimental tastes abound in their smart cocktail bar.

MARRAKESH BY MINDO 121 Capel Street, Dublin 1 Tel: (01) 878 8988 marrakesh.ie Capel Street's standing as the world food capital of Dublin is further enhanced by the arrival of this superb Moroccan restaurant, which has private karaoke rooms for those really wanting to make a party of it.

The food is as moreish as the décor is Moorish, with classic dishes like Merguez Meshwi, Kabda and Lissan brought to the table a theatrical flourish. The tagines are all melt in the mouth, and the pastilles just the right blend of sweet and savoury - we love the rabbit one.

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Deanes Love Fish - Belfast

Wine and cocktails are a big thing here, with the all night €26.90 Three-Course Menu tremendous value.

KLAW 5A Crown Alley, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 549 3443 klaw.ie If you can't make it to New England, fear not, New England will come to you courtesy of this cosy crabshack in the heart of Temple Bar. It's all about the quality of the ingredients landed daily by the fleets in Galway Bay, Waterford, Dooncastle and Flaggy Shore, which must consider itself unlucky not to have a starring role in Father Ted.

EDO 2 Capital House, 3 Upper Queen Street, Belfast. Tel: (028) 9031 3054 edorestaurant.co.uk One of the hottest tables at the moment in Belfast, EDO – it’s Latin for “I eat” – is presided over by Johnny Elliott, a charismatic talent who worked with Gordon Ramsay and Gary Rhodes before becoming a Russian billionaire’s personal chef. It offers a contemporary take on Spanish tapas and larger raciones, which are cooked over pear and apple wood, and chunks of peat to give them their unique BBQ flavour.

DOG TRACK Unit 1, 11B Ormeau Avenue, Belfast Tel: (028) 9031 9454 dogtrackbelfast.co.uk Owners Michael O'Connor and Michael Fletcher promise that “food should make you happy, and the possibilities at Dog Track are endless!” and this atmospheric city-centre restaurant duly delivers with a delicious array of small plate western tapas dishes like Spiced Sticky Pork Belly, Tynedale Goat Pie with Sweet Potato Mash and what Team Enterprise reckon to be the best sliders in town!

Watch as their talented team of chefs prepare the 60 menu items, which are served on different coloured plates according to price, and then help yourself to the ones you want as they travel round the

track! ​The accompanying Drinks Menu was put together with the food in mind, and includes a fine selection of wines available by the glass, carafe and bottle.

It’s a great value, fun way to eat with signature cocktails like Beetroot & Chilli Sour and the Belfast Southside adding to the sense of occasion!

DEANES LOVE FISH 28-40 Howard Street, Belfast Tel: (028) 9033 1134 michaeldeane.co.uk A 100-seater addition to the Deanes family, Love Fish offers one of the best lunch deals in town with a range of £6.50 Lunch Specials – the Prawn Open Sandwich with Fries gets the Enterprise vote! The nighttime fare is just as exciting with the Crispy Fillet of Seabass with Garlic Butter, Fries & Salad a delicately flavoured treat. There are burgers and a perfectly cooked 8oz Sirloin with all the trimmings for the carnivores among you, and some thoroughly decadent desserts. The room is bright and modern, with lots of polished wood and chalked up Daily Specials.

Dublin & Belfast

BARS

LIQUID REFRESHMENT

MIGUEL RUIZ

Sale of the century: Titanic Belfast

The Crown Liquor Saloon - Belfast

The Black Sheep - Dublin

BELFAST

DUBLIN THE BLACK SHEEP 61 Capel Street, Dublin 1 Tel: (01) 873 0013 galwaybaybrewery.com/blacksheep Affectionately known as 'The People's Pub' The Black Sheep is conveniently located at the corner of Capel Street and Parnell Street.

Featuring an eye-popping range of craft beers and spirits, you'll be able to go back time and again and try something new on each occasion.

The Black Sheep also serves food from noon up until ten in the evening, with succulent steaks and mouth-watering wings among the highlights. Great as an after-work spot, or as a pre/post-cinema location, you'll find yourself at home here on both weekdays and weekends.

PIPER'S CORNER 105-108 Marlborough St, North City, Dublin 1. Tel: (01) 873 3503 facebook.com/piperscornerdublin With renowned uilleann piper Sean Potts (whose father was a founding member of The Chieftains) and Dublin publican Eamonn Briody at the helm, Pipers Corner has already become a Mecca for Irish traditional music and Gaelic games fans in Dublin, despite having only opened in July 2017. Located across the road from the Abbey Theatre, Pipers Corner has trad sessions round the clock, and any given

night could see the likes of Sean McKeon, Liam O’Connor, Kevin Glackin and more performing, with Damien Dempsey and members of Lankum also known to pop their heads in for a session on certain nights….

URBAN BREWING Vault C, CHQ Building, Custom House Quay, North Dock, Dublin 1 Tel: (01) 568 5989 urbanbrewing.ie Brewers of the award-winning O’Hara’s Irish Stout, Irish Red and Irish Pale Ale, Urban Brewing is one of the newest additions to O’Hara’s ever developing Dublin Docklands home. It combines a craft brewery with two unique bars and the bespoke Stack A Restaurant. Other offerings at the Brewery include Taps & Tapas, an open kitchen featuring an array of tapas style dishes and two fully licensed bars; Brewmaster’s Table, which is ideal for group parties to experience food and wine/beer pairings; and Brewery Tours, where you can immerse yourself in the brewing process, taste selected beers, and meet the brewers for an in-depth and approachable chat.

THE CROWN LIQUOR SALOON

MURIEL’S CAFÉ BAR

46 Great Victoria Street, Belfast Tel: +44 (0) 28 9024 3187 nicholsonpubs.co.uk All tourists travelling into Belfast, take note: when leaving the Europe Bus Centre, keep your eyes firmly fixed in front of you, and you'll gaze upon the essential tourist spot to start your journey. Boasting stunning Victorian architecture, The Crown Bar is one of Belfast's best-known bars. Thanks to its cosy snug, great pints and brilliant atmosphere, you won't go wrong here.

12-14 Church Lane, Belfast Tel: +44 (28) 9033 2445 facebook.com/muriels.cafebar Belfast’s newest gin bar reflects the changing character of the city centre. Mixing its classy setting with a decadent interior (lingerie hangs brazenly from the roof), Muriel’s Café Bar is part of a number of emerging bars which have made Belfast a hub for nightlife and tourism.

Known for their excellent gin selection, they offer some of the best cocktails you’re likely to find anywhere, the Bee’s Knees in particular - featuring Hendrick’s gin and a slab of honey to garnish - is the perfect concoction for long summer evenings.

THE SPANIARD 3 Skipper St, Belfast Tel: (028) 9023 2448, thespaniardbar.com Tucked away in the Cathedral Quarter, there’s a chance you could pass this gem without even realising; we can’t stress what a mistake that would be. Combining a traditional feel with flavours of Iberia and good old-fashioned rock’n’roll, it boasts a flabbergasting array of rums and an unbeatable atmosphere, ensuring there’s never a quiet night. Keep your eyes peeled for a familiar face or two, as the likes of Bill Murray and Sean Bean have been known to pop by when in town.

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Dublin & Belfast

SHOPPING

BEAUTIFUL BUYS CONOR HEAVEY

& Other Stories - Dublin

DUBLIN & OTHER STORIES 26-27 Grafton Street, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 247 0100 stories.com A relatively new addition to Ireland’s fashion scene, And Other Stories opened its Grafton Street store in 2016, and has already built up an adoring fanbase of fashionistas. A part of the Swedish H&M family along with COS, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday, And Other Stories features simple, welltailored pieces that’ll make you look instantly stylish. They stock classics like jeans, t-shirts and jumpers, as well as on-trend pieces and a great selection of beauty products, jewellery and handbags.

COVET Powerscourt Centre, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 679 9313 covet.ie Described as a store that provides ‘luxurious lends’, Covet will make you feel as if you’re on your way to the Oscars. With dresses to rent from Alexander McQueen, Oscar de la Renta, Badgley Mischka and Rachel Gilbert, they will also style your hair and make-up for a big night out. You can even borrow

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Covet - Dublin

BELFAST a pair of Christian Louboutins to match your outfit.

RHINESTONES JEWELLERY AND GIFTS 18 St Andrew's St, Dublin, D02 T382 Tel : (01) 6790759 A blink and you’ll miss it treasure trove of quirky one off pieces and a mecca for in the know fashion insiders, Rhinestones is the destination to add that final je ne sais quoi element to any outfit. It deals in early Victorian brooches, Edwardian lockets and Venetian glass beads as well as jawdroppingly sumptuous gemstones beautifully displayed in antique glass cabinets.

Prices range from €20 to €2000, so you’ll be sure to find something suited to all pockets.

IRISH DESIGN SHOP 41 Drury Street, Dublin 2.

Tel: (01) 679 8871 irishdesignshop.com A love of Irish craft and good design led jewellers Clare Grennan and Laura Caffrey to establish their gorgeous craft store in the heart of Dublin. Promoting not only Irish wares but the talented

designers behind them, the fourstorey building contains both a retail space and a metalwork studio, emphasising the relationship between design and product.

Clare and Laura hand-pick the covetable pieces which include homeware, stationery, jewellery, accessories and fantastic wall prints. The Irish Design Shop also hosts craft workshops, such as weekend events teaching you how to work with metal, and design and create silver jewellery. They also run special workshops for couples looking to design and make their own wedding rings, which would make a perfect engagement present for a loved-up couple.

NO ALIBIS 83 Botanic Avenue, Belfast Tel: +44 (0) 28 9031 9601 noalibis.com Specialising in crime stories, No Alibis - which opened in 1997 - was immortalised in Colin Bateman's thriller Mystery Man, with the nameless protagonist bearing a striking resemblance to the store's owner David Torrans.

Without doubt one of the most unique bookshops you'll find in Ireland, No Alibis also hosts regular jazz nights and readings.

ST GEORGES MARKET 12-20 East Bridge Street, Belfast Tel: +44 (0) 28 9024 6609 If it’s atmosphere you’re after, look no further than this indoor Victorian market known for its selection of beautifully crafted goods and mouthwatering street food stalls. Open for only three days a week, (Friday - Sunday) St. Georges is brought to life by a live band strumming in the aweinspiring surrounds and it’s local independent retailers.

Dublin & Belfast

A C C O M M O D AT I O N

STAYING OVER

The Clarence - Dublin

DUBLIN

Bullit Hotel - Belfast

BELFAST

BROOKS HOTEL

THE MARKER

RAMADA ENCORE

62 Drury St, Dublin 2 (01) 670 4000 Brooks Hotel is a distinctive, luxury four-star boutique hotel in Dublin’s Creative Quarter, a short walk from Grafton Street. Enjoy modern Irish and international cuisine at Francesca’s restaurant, a favourite of the critics, where Head Chef Pat McLarnon serves dishes created from locally sourced ingredients, including fresh herbs from the Brook’s very own ‘urban herb garden’. Elsewhere, you can also visit Jasmine Bar at Brooks, an award-winning Great Whiskey Bar of the World with over 100 different types of whiskey. Bedrooms are well appointed and spacious with quirky design. For good measure, the hotel also boasts an oakpanelled Residents Lounge, a private cinema room and a fitness suite.

Grand Canal Square, Docklands, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 687 5100 themarkerhoteldublin.com Extraordinary, surprising and luxurious, this is the perfect urban retreat for those who crave the unconventional, yet still expect exceptional standards of service.

Rising up from the rich urban heartland of the Dublin Docklands, the hotel slots seamlessly into one of the most vibrant cultural hubs of the city. The sleek architecture combines elements of the Irish landscape with an urban aesthetic, creating an experience that is distinctly Irish and truly inimitable.

For those seeking a sanctuary within a haven, the wellness spa boasts a stunning 23 metre infinity pool, while there are also a host of beauty treatments on offer, including lava shell massages.

THE WESTBURY HOTEL

6–8 Wellington Quay, Dublin 2 Tel: (01) 407 0800 theclarence.ie Located on Wellington Quay, right next to Dublin city’s trendy Workman’s Club bar and music venue, The Clarence is a timeless boutique hotel with comfort and style at the forefront of its ethos.

The Octagon bar, meanwhile, is not to be missed. The art-deco style drinkerie so impressed Bono and The Edge, they decided to buy the entire hotel! Equally impressive is the Liquor Rooms, a basement venue dedicated to cocktails; perfect to unwind in after a long day.

20 Talbot Street, Belfast BT1 2LD, UK Tel: (028) 9026 1800 www.encorebelfast.co.uk Luxury comfort in a great location, The Ramada Encore is a perfect choice to experience the best of Belfast. With 165 ensuite bedrooms including double, twin and family rooms, Encore Belfast is ideal for both business travel as well as short city breaks. Situated in St. Anne’s Square adjacent to The MAC - Belfast’s arts centre, The Encore Belfast is also close to many other local attractions including the ‘must see’ visitor attraction - the Titanic Belfast, St. Anne’s Cathedral and City Hall.

In addition to all these nearby attractions the hotel is also home to the beating heart of the Cathedral Quarter, The SQ Bar & Grill. With live entertainment, an inviting outside terrace seating area overlooking the square, and a tempting cocktail list created by the in house mixologist, you really will have an experience to remember at SQ Bar & Grill.

Balfe Street, Dublin 2 TEL: (01) 679 1122 doylecollection.com Dublin hotels don’t get more central than The Westbury, an opulent five-star hotel overlooking Grafton Street’s buzzing shopping hub. Among its most fabulous attractions are the grand piano on The Terrace, a popular firstfloor meeting place for afternoon tea, the €1 million worth of Irish art acquisitions on display in The Gallery Lounge, the high-art cuisine in the Wilde restaurant and the 1930s-style glamour of The Sidecar.

THE CLARENCE

CULLODEN ESTATE & SPA Bangor Road, Holywood, Belfast Tel: +44 (0) 28 9042 1066 hastingshotels.com/culloden-estateand-spa Perched high on the slopes of the Holywood Hills, Culloden Estate was originally built as an official palace for the Bishops of Down. This palatial mansion, which overlooks Belfast Lough and the Antrim coastline, stands in 12 acres of beautiful secluded

The Merchant Hotel- Belfast

gardens and woodland, making it perfect for a romantic break. It also has an incredible spa, with eight treatment suites, relaxation rooms and a juice bar.

BULLIT HOTEL 40a Church Lane, Belfast Tel: (028) 9590 0600 bullitthotel.com Want to stay somewhere with all the necessities, none of the nonsense and extra comfort?

Look no further than the Belfast Bullitt Hotel, named in honour of the classic 1968 mob movie starring Steve McQueen. Straddling Victoria Street and Ann Street, the hotel has 74 rooms, a courtyard beer garden, three bars, and an Espresso Bar. If you’re a foodie (who isn’t?) you can get a good grilling at Taylor & Clay, the in-house restaurant, before washing it down with a Bullitt beer in the Bullitt Bar or head on up to the rooftop bar and garden Babel – a quirky spot for some seriously cool customers. Bullitt offers a variety of room choices, ranging from ‘Dinky’ over ‘Comfy’ to ‘Roomy’, catering for both those travelling solo and those on a family city break.

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M Y

C I T Y | D U B L I N

Iveagh Gardens

the Horseshoe Bar in the Shelbourne is always a laugh.

Where do you like to pick up ingredients for cooking?

The Asia Market… and Fallon & Byrne.

FIACHNA Ó BRAONÁIN MUSICIAN, HOT HOUSE FLOWERS

Convention Centre 50

Where do you shop for clothes?

I’ve given that up! Mostly online these days, but I do enjoy some retail escapism in Brown Thomas.

Favourite Dublin building?

That beautiful one on the corner of Parliament Street and the quays.

Your Dublin music?

On Grafton Street! Provided you pick the right times... when the real buskers are out, as opposed to the touristenticing chancers! O’Donoghue’s still provides a decent trad session too.

What do you like best about Dublin?

Despite the changes over the years, Dublin has remained true to itself in terms of its people.

Favourite Dublin neighbourhood?

The square mile known as Baggotonia…

Raglan Road, Wellington Road, Waterloo Road and Pembroke Road.

What’s the most iconic thing about modern Dublin?

I love that building that looks like a glass can tilted on its side!

What’s your most loved spot in Dublin to catch some me-time?

I love Herbert Park and the Iveagh Gardens.

What’s your favourite place to eat and why?

L’Geuleton... it transports me back to my time living in France. Great food, great wine and a great spot to sit.

Your favourite place to bring friends / family when they visit Dublin?

All the aforementioned places, followed by a visit to the Irish art in the National Gallery.

Dublin’s best bar?

It’s ages since I’ve been in a Dublin bar… but I have a fondness for Kehoe’s that goes way back. And if you fancy a bit of Dublin posh,

Your Dublin hero?

Brendan Behan – a lyrical Dubliner with a spiritual foot in the west of Ireland.

Media

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DUBLIN CITY CENTRE

Midweek Breaks

(Sunday to Thursday inclusive) With NIR Travel Staying at the Harcourt Hotel Fashionable City Centre Hotel close to Grafton St and St. Stephen’s Green.

Your break includes:

Return rail from any NIR Station. 2 nights Bed & Breakfast. 3 Course Early Bird Dinner on one evening in the elegant 1900 (Nineteen Hundred) Restaurant.

August/September £169 • October £145 • November/December £129 CERTAIN EXCLUSION DATE BUT YOU WILL BE ADVISED AT THE TIME OF BOOKING.

For reservations contact NIR Travel call 028 90 242420 NIR Travel 10-12 Glengall St. Belfast. www.harcourthotel.ie