Rí Rá - 5th july by The Irish Post

Rí-Rá THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION JULY 5, 2014 www.irishpost.co.uk

Time to come clean Interview: Brendan O’Carroll on the phenomenal success of Mrs Brown’s Boys Music: Are We Cut Corners one of Ireland’s best new bands? • Film • Your guide to what’s on this week

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

Irish pair invited to join Academy

July 5, 2014

NEWS

ACTORS Cillian Murphy and Michael Fassbender have been invited to join the body that awards the Oscars. The Irish pair were among 20 actors named this year by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as individuals who have “distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures”. The films 12 Years a Slave and Shame for Michael Fassbender and Murphy’s The Dark Knight Rises and Inception were cited as works of note. Second-generation Irishman Steve Coogan was named in the writer’s category for his work on the film Philomena.

Damo eyes lifesaver’s course after saving two drowning men DAMIEN DEMPSEY has said he would consider signing up for a lifesaver’s course after rescuing two young men from drowning just hours before a gig last month. Recalling the incident, in Enniscorthy in Co. Wexford, the singer-songwriter explained that he had arrived to the concert venue with his crew when they saw two men struggling in the river. “One of them was bobbing up and down and trying to come up for air,” said Dempsey. “I happened to find a sheet, waded into the river and threw it to the lad who grabbed it so I could pull him in.” However the Dubliner dismissed the idea he acted like a hero, joking: “I’ll do a lifesaving course and maybe become a lifeguard. Who knows?”

HOW’S HER-SELFIE?: Irish pop star Niall Horan gets up close with Caroline Wozniacki. The One Direction singer paid a visit to the annual tennis tournament at Wimbledon while in London. This picture was taken at the event by the 23-year-old Danish tennis player, who shared it on Twitter. Holywood-born golfer Rory McIlroy, who recently broke off his engagement with Wozniacki, did not respond. (Photo by @CaroWozniacki on Twitter)

MODEST: Singer Damien Dempsey

British tour for Sharon Corr

Ahern uses humour to deal with third cancer

VIOLINIST Sharon Corr will tour Britain later this year. The Corrs star, who releases a new solo album The Same Sun on September 8, plays a total of eight shows. The run starts at the Ironworks in Inverness on September 14 and ends at St James in Piccadilly in London on September 25. Tickets are on sale now. For a full list of dates see Rí-Rá’s listings page.

WRITER and actress Caroline Ahern has revealed that she uses humour to cope after being diagnosed with cancer for the third time. Ahern, who co-created and starred in British comedies The Royle Family and The Mrs Merton Show, recently revealed that she was undergoing treatment for lung cancer. The Ealing-born star, who is second-generation Irish, has previously suffered from cancer of the bladder and eye. Speaking at a Macmillan Cancer Support event in Manchester, the 50-year-old said: “So many funny things happen when you’re in there [hospital]. You have a right laugh with the nurses; but I was on morphine so maybe it was just me. “That’s a way of coping. If you can separate yourself from it and have a sense of humour it really helps.”

STAYING POSITIVE: Caroline Ahern

July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

EW Irish bands write as catchy pop songs as the ever-brilliant PictureHouse. From hit singles such as Sunburst, Heavenly Day, Everybody Loves My Girl and Somebody Somewhere, the band are a stalwart in any Irish DJ’s set and guaranteed to get everyone at a party in an upbeat mood. On July 28, PictureHouse will release their acclaimed album Evolution in Britain. As a taster for the new album The Irish Post is delighted to offer its readers a free Digital EP featuring some of the tracks from the album and some of the band’s greatest hits! To download your copy of the EP completely free, simply log-on to www.picturehouse.ie/irish-post/ and insert the password ‘post’ Here, PictureHouse mainman Dave Browne talks us through the five tracks on your exclusive Irish Post PictureHouse EP:

2. Snow in Summer – “A song of love and loss and a beautiful duet with Irish singer Ingrid Madsen, this song speaks of a mourning that will be felt forever and never forgotten.” 3. Hello – “Written as a co-write with Swedish songwriter Lasse Anderson, this powerful song was written on the piano in the famous Dublin nightclub Lillie’s Bordello.” 4. Rules of Science – “The rules of science themselves shall be broken to preserve the love felt in this song, every element of the periodic table will be shattered in order to keep it together, there is nothing on earth that will keep us apart.” 5. Papers in the Park – “I wrote this with Graham Lyle (Gallagher and Lyle) in 1992. We’d forgotten it until recently and we needed something quirky for the album. It was fun to write and we had great fun recording it with Yann on piano.”

1. Sunburst – “We recorded this song in Hastings, England in the summer of 1997 with Pete Glenister, we had a great time and it went on to become the most played song on Irish radio in 1998!!!”

Minstrel Music

At THE IRISH CENTRE 12 / 14 High Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B12 0LN Tel: 0121 622 3763 Mobile: 07976 380817 Fax: 0121 622 5859 AN ALADDIN’S CAVE FOR ALL THINGS IRISH (Established 1979)

TOP 30 CD’S AT MINSTREL MUSIC 1. NATHAN CARTER – WAGON WHEEL SHOW LIVE 2. DEREK RYAN – THE ENTERTAINER LIVE 3. MICHAEL ENGLISH – COUNTRY ROOTS 4. BIG TOM – ULTIMATE COLLECTION (2 CD) 5. PHILOMENA BEGLEY/ RAY LYNAM – COMPLETE DUET COLLECTION (2 CD) 6. JIMMY BUCKLEY – ESSENTIAL COLLECTION 2 CD) 7. MARGO 50 SONGS – 50 YEARS (3 CD) 8. DAVITT’S COUNTRY BAND – MARLENA 9. MICK FLAVIN – THE FIELDS OF HOME 10. JIM DEVINE – DEVINE COUNTRY 11. THE WOLFE TONES – PLATINUM COLLECTION (2 CD) 12. JOE BURKE/ CHARLIE LENNON – BUCKS OF ORANMORE 13. LISA MCHUGH – DREAMS COME TO LIFE 14. OLIVER BARRETY – YOUR’S LOVE 15. THE OUTLAWS – BEST PART OF DAY IS NIGHT 16. TRUDY LALOR – THE COLLECTION (2 CD) 17. CHRISTY MOORE – WHERE I COME FROM (3 CD) 18. SEAN KEANE – NEVER ALONE (3 CD) 19. DUBLINERS – 50 YEARS (3 CD) 20. KATHY DURKIN – TWO SIDES OF 25 YEARS (2 CD) 21. JOE DOLAN – THE PLATINUM COLLECTION (3 CD + DVD) 22. BOB BROLLY – TILL WE MEET AGAIN 23. DANIEL O’DONNELL – PICTURE OF YOU 24. FRANCIS BLACK – THE ESSENTIAL COLLECTION (2 CD) 25. SEAMUS HEANEY/ LIAM O’FLYNN – THE POET & THE PIPER 26. CAITLIN – THE COLLECTION (3 CD) 27. TOMMY FLEMMING – THE PLATINUM COLLECTION (3CD) 28. MIKE DENVER – THERE’S ONLY ONE 29. ROBERT MIZZELLE – DON’T WANT TO SAY GOODBYE 30. THE HIGH KINGS – FRIENDS FOR LIFE 1,500 VARIOUS CDS IN STOCK (COUNTRY/IRISH/FOLK/TRAD)

Irish Dancing Shoes I “The Choice of Champions” I Antonio Pacelli – Hullachan Pro I Fay’s jig shoes — Rutherford jig shoes I Ladies Set Dance Shoes I Claddagh & Celtic Jewellery I Newbridge Silverware — A Touch of Magic I Rovada Irish Watches I Waterford Irish Crystal I Belleek Parian China I Derrycashel Craft Clocks – for all 32 counties I Genesis Bronze Fine Arts – Druid bronze craft I O’Neills County Shirts for all 32 counties I Family Crests To Order

THE LARGEST AND MOST UP TO DATE STOCKISTS OF IRISH MUSIC OUTSIDE IRELAND On CD and DVD OPENING HOURS: MONDAY-SATURDAY 9AM-5PM SUNDAY 11AM-3PM. CLOSED ON WEDNESDAY MAIL ORDER SPECIALISTS PROPRIETOR: JOHN FITZGERALD (PLEASE NOTE, WE ARE OPEN ON CHRISTMAS EVE 9AM – 5PM)

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TOP 30 DVDS AT MINSTREL MUSIC

1. DANIEL O’DONNELL – FROM THE HEART 2. DEREK RYAN – THE ENTERTAINER LIVE 3. PHILOMENA BEGLEY – 50 YEARS OF MUSIC & MEMORIES 4. NATHAN CARTER – THE WAGON WHEEL SHOW LIVE 5. BRENDAN SHINE – LILY OF THE WEST 6. THE BENN SISTERS – BY REQUEST 7. LOVE/ HATE – IRISH GANGLAND DRAMA – SERIES 1-4 8. SEAN WILSON / TONY MAC – IRISH TO THE CORE 9. BIG TOM – STORY & SONG 10. COME WEST ALONG THE ROAD – PARTS 1/2/3/4 11. THE WOLFETONES – AT THE THEIR VERY BEST 12. SHARON SHANNON – LIVE AT DOLANS 13. BRENDAN GRACE – BOTTLER 14. D’UNBELIEVABLES – ONE HELL OF A DO 15. FILM – IT’S THE REAL MCCOY 16. LOUISE MORRISSEY – COUNTY & IRISH NOW 17. 1916 SEACHTAR NA CÁSCA – THEY GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR IRELAND 18. CLASSIC IRISH MOVIE COLLECTION – VOL 1 & 2 (6 DVDS) 19. THE DUBLINERS – 50 YEARS 1962 – 2012 20. 60 ALL- IRELAND HURLING/ FOOTBALL FINALS 21. LIAM MANNERING – WALK IN THE IRISH RAIN 22. JOHNNY BRADY – HE SINGLES COLLECTION 23. FRANK MCCAFFREY – IN CONCERT 24. JOHN MCCORMACK – ICON OF AN AGE 25. CHIEFTANS – DOWN THE OLD PLANK ROAD 26. IRISH FILM – STRUMPET CITY 27. IRISH FILM – PILGRIM HILL 28. THE GREAT FAMINE – WHEN IRELAND STARVED 29. MIKE DENVER – LETS DANCE – THE LIVE 30. JOE DOLAN – LIVE IN CONCERT 400 VARIOUS IRISH DVD’S IN STOCK (MUSIC – SPORT – FILMS)

July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

Tight-lipped talent

CAMERA SHY: Mathews is keen to downplay his career highlights

Father Ted co-creator Arthur Mathews remains modest despite his achievements

HERE’S humble and then there’s Arthur Mathews humble. The man best known for co-creating the most significant Irish sitcom has accumulated a body of work that is comprised of some of the funniest creations in television history. And yet he’s in no great hurry to talk about it. So much so that it hadn’t occurred to me to talk to him on the Irishman Abroad podcast. Not because I didn’t respect him as one of our greatest emigrants, but mainly because I’d never heard him speak. It wasn’t until I heard him tell a story of bringing a donkey into Dublin’s Baggot Inn as part of the U2 parody group he had created that it occurred to me how rare and entertaining a long conversation with him would be. My friend Shane put me in touch but it wasn’t going to be easy. You see Arthur Mathews speaks in the same way you might expect a person who has come back from a round-theworld hiking trip. Someone who doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it for fear others will think that they’re bragging. Just as with the returning traveller reluctant to

JARLATH REGAN tell his tales, the more you speak to Arthur Mathews the more it dawns on you the distance travelled and the heights he has climbed in the world of entertainment. Researching for our chat was difficult to say the least. The details of his childhood are sketchy, but like many comedy writers he grew up on the outside looking in. While attending Castleknock College he felt invisible as he “never fitted in. I never fitted in anywhere”. Like most of the fee-paying private schools in Dublin, an obsession with rugby was foisted upon the students. To some extent this was what would give birth to his feelings that all establishments were

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silly by their existence. The strangeness of never-ending group rehearsals of songs to sing on the terrace — instead of actual classes — wasn’t lost on him. “Even when I was 12 or 13 I thought that this was an absurd scenario.” His version of events is that it wasn’t until he met Graham Linehan some 10 years later at Hot Press magazine that his creative life really took off. “I wasted a lot of years during the 1980s” — taking courses in screen printing, mural painting and anything that was going. “People had no jobs so everyone did courses or they did nothing.” Yet when you scratch the surface at all the truth of his

In England it was a meritocracy. In Ireland you had to know someone

achievements even, during this bleak period in Ireland’s history, they are significant. His illustrations were being published in a national newspaper in Ireland and throughout Britain in the legendary Viz magazine. He was creating a reputation for himself as a poster artist within the music industry. So much so that he was appointed art director at Hot Press. He explains this achievement away by describing the role as “basically sticking bits of paper onto other bits of paper” and the interview as a laughable experience. “They asked me if I’d ever worked hard before. I said no and they gave me the job.” It’s hard sometimes to get to the truth of a high-achieving Irish person when they so doggedly refuse to see themselves that way. Quizzing Arthur on the details of how he and Graham sent their sketch ideas for their smash hit show to Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones is a waste of time. His version of the events is a downplayed vision of something quite incredible. Two nobodies, from another country. with no experience, sent their writing to the

number one British comedy duo of the day and within six months they were sitting in production meetings and helping make the final product. It’s still riveting to hear how liberating that experience was, having come from the bleakness that they had known. “In England it was a meritocracy. In Ireland you had to know someone. So the idea that you could come from nowhere to having things on television — in Ireland it just wouldn’t have happened. People were just very welcoming to us.” This level of humility unsettles some people but feels perfectly fine in this part of the world. To me it adds to the charm of a man with Arthur’s awards and accolades that he would not mention them. It’s something a lot of us could learn from. The whole conversation is available to

download free as part of my award-winning Irishman Abroad podcast. ■ Listen to Jarlath Regan’s An Irishman Abroad podcast available for free on iTunes TOP TED: The famous Irish sitcom is just one of Mathews’ successes

July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

HILL TOPS: Melissa is an international No 1 bestseller

A beach read to Remember Novelist Melissa Hill on switching banks for bestselling books

“T

HE BUZZ of seeing your book on a bookshelf in a shop stays with your forever. I remember the first time it happened to me. It was in 2003 and there was my book between Stephen King and Marian Keyes. They were both huge favourites of mine. It was so surreal. You get that feeling every time you go into a shop and see your books, but it’s never like the first time.” Bestselling Irish author Melissa Hill is back with another offering and she’s in great form, knowing that thousands of Irish people heading off on their holidays this summer will more than likely pick up a copy of her latest work. A Gift to Remember is a love story set in Manhattan, another twisty page-turner written in the contemporary style that Hill’s legion of fans love so much. “A new book is always exciting, especially in paperback. It’s summer reading, hopefully everybody will be reading it by the pool,” she says. “There’s always a pressure

ENDA BRADY and it gets harder because readers have expectations and you have to live up to those. Right now, I’m close to a deadline on the next one so I’m always thinking ahead. I can’t concentrate on it because I’m working on the next one. “We work so far in advance and then when publication happens it all tends to come back to you. It’s good to know that you have readers out there who will want to read it.” Originally from Bray, Co. Wicklow, Hill now lives in Blackrock with her husband Kevin and their four-year-old daughter Carrie. Once her daughter is

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dropped off to school in the morning it’s straight to work for Hill, a discipline that she has stuck to for years and one that has served her very well. “I always write at home, in my study, as soon as our daughter is at school. So that’s pretty much from 9am-5.30pm each day. I treat it exactly as a full-time job, I keep business hours with my writing. “It’s the only way that I can do it. So many people ask me ‘what do you do all day if you are a writer?’ You keep your own hours, but I am my own worst taskmaster. You’ve got to get the hours done on the job,

In Ireland we have the most loyal readership. Irish readers are voracious

the biggest pressure comes from yourself.” Hill’s method of writing clearly works and a glance through her back catalogue shows you just how successful she has become, with her books now translated into 25 languages, including Chinese and Japanese. Women’s fiction — like all literature — may have suffered a slump post-Celtic Tiger, but she’s thrilled that so many readers stayed with her and kept devouring her work. She added: “The market, in general, is down and that does stem from the recession. In Ireland we have the most loyal readership. Irish readers are voracious. For the size of the country, the market is just huge in comparison to say Britain or Australia. “It’s always going to be competitive and tough, so you have to write better and overcome that. I think Irish people, first and foremost, are great readers.” You’ll always see Hill’s name on the same bookshelves as Marian Keyes, Cecelia Ahern and others, so what is it about Ireland that has seen us

produce so many fine female novelists lately? “I think, at heart, we are great storytellers, the Irish. We just love to tell stories. Irish people always have something to say, always have a story to tell. There’s a self-deprecation too that comes across well in our writing and people all over the world can empathise with that. (Obviously so, given how many countries her work has been translated in). “To me, my books are a uniquely Irish experience, so I don’t know how or why a certain book gets selected for translation. But the story must come across well.” Hill began her working life in the Bank of Ireland, so how did she make the transition to the world of fiction? “I always loved writing in school, but your career guidance teacher is never going to suggest that you should become a writer because it sounds a bit

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flakey. I never considered it as a career. “For many years I was in the bank and I was reading Patricia Scanlon and Kathy Kelly and thinking to myself ‘I could probably do this’. And then once I started I couldn’t stop, I loved it so much. “For people who aspire to be a writer I would say that you shouldn’t compare yourself to any published writer. Forget about all the other stuff that’s out there, write from the heart and see where you go. Just write freely, don’t worry about structure and stuff like that at this stage.” Hill says she likes nothing better than a walk on the beach to switch off after a day’s writing. But can you ever switch off when there’s a good chance someone on the beach is reading your work?

Your career guidance teacher is never going to suggest that you should become a writer

■ A Gift to Remember by Melissa Hill is published by Simon & Schuster UK

July 5, 2014

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Wet your whistle for Return to Camden 2014 Irish trad double-header kicks off a month of shows, tours and festivals

ENNEDY Hall at Cecil Sharp House, in London’s Camden Town, plays host to a fundraising concert ahead of this October’s Return to Camden Festival. The show, on Friday, July 18, features a trad double bill of Le Chéile and The London Lasses with Chris O’Malley. The musicians involved don’t need much of an introduction – they’ve been a big part of the Irish music scene in the capital for years. Le Chéile were the cult trad Irish group of 1970s London, while The London Lasses have been wonderful ambassadors for the diaspora in their travels around the globe. They are currently working on their fifth album, along with pianist/guitarist O’Malley. Tickets are on sale now for the Cecil Sharp House gig, which should be a cracker. Sticking with a traditional theme, Matt Cunningham takes his ceili band

JOE GILTRAP on a nine-date tour around Britain in July. The Co. Galway multiinstrumentalist – who plays button accordion, fiddle and tin whistle among others – has recorded twenty five albums, seven videos/DVDs and has a platinum disc to his name. Matt Cunningham plays St. Bonaventure’s Parish Hall, Bristol (July 18), Pope John Centre, Hounslow (19), Millenium Village Hall, Cliddesden (20), London Irish Centre, Camden (21), St. Kentigern’s Social Club, Manchester (22), St. Michael’s Irish Centre, Liverpool (23), Talbot Catholic Club, Eccles (24), The

TOWNIES: The London Lasses were one of the headline acts at last year’s Temple Bar Tradfest FOLKTRONICA: Beth Orton (right) Emerald Club, Wolverhampton through July and August, including Thompson has recorded over forty (25) and Dorestone Hall, Hereford (26). albums and received countless awards Cambridge, which is already sold out. Meanwhile the historic Hatfield Both acts are sure to bring a in a long career that began when he House in Hertfordshire is the quaint contemporary twist to proceedings. co-founded Fairport Convention in setting for the superb Folk by the Oak The brilliant Northumbrian piper the ’60s. Festival, a one-day event taking place Kathryn Tickell will also be there with Beth Orton, who has won a Brit on Sunday, July 20. her new ensemble, The Side. There award, makes a rare festival Legendary singer/songwriter will be lots more going on and it has appearance and award-winning Richard Thompson – of whom the LA the makings of a great day. singer/songwriter and multiTimes called “the finest rock instrumentalist Seth Lakeman has songwriter after Dylan and the best ■ For more on these concerts been credited with changing some of electric guitarist since Hendrix” – is see www.returntocamden.org, the old common-held negative the headline act. www.mattcunninghamband.com perceptions of folk music. Organisers have crammed a and www.folkbytheoak.com. He’s set to play a series of festivals fantastic line-up into a single day.

Country classics for the road

The 3rd Anne & Pat Molloy

Irish Trad Music Summer School 26th & 27th July 2014 South & City College, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5SU

:HHNHQG :RUNVKRS All levels welcome!

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•All Trad Instruments •Sean-nós Dance •Singing

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Saturday 26th July 7.30pm

Concessions Workshoppers

The London Lasses and

ALBUM REVIEW American Heartland: Legends of Country (Sony)

THIS 3-CD compilation from Sony Music mainly features hits from country music’s big names through the years. Sixty tracks are drawn from as many different artists

Texas outlaw’s on-form return BY CONTRAST, Texan songwriter Billy Joe Shaver’s new album, Long in the Tooth, is a different kind of country. This is not slick Nashville. We are in Texas outlaw territory and it’s the first album in six years from an unrepentant outlaw whose songs have been covered by the likes of Waylon Jennings, Johhny Cash and Tom T Hall.

Chris O’Malley

with support from elite traditional musicians

www.patmolloysummerschool.co.uk

07964 873355 COUNTRY CLASS: Billy Joe Shaver

including the likes of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Don Williams and Dolly Parton. Given that all the songs here have been hits from the fifties to the noughties, there are no surprises; but it is very nicely presented and should prove a popular addition to the record collection of country fans – plus it’s a great collection for a long car journey. ■ American Heartland: Legends of Country is out now

ALBUM REVIEW Long in the Tooth Billy Joe Shaver (Lightning Rod Records) Life has not always been too kind to Billy Joe Shaver, who turns 75 in August. He lost parts of four fingers in an early sawmill accident. His mother, first wife and only son (guitarist Eddy Shaver) all died within a year of each other. Shaver broke through with new generations and broader audiences as the Americana and Texas roots music gathered steam. This latest record is classic Texas roots. Its opener, Hard to be an Outlaw, with Willie Nelson, is brilliant with great lyrics performed by a couple of defiant old outlaws who have been there, done it all and got the scars to prove it. A truly great album. ■ Long in the Tooth is released on August 4

Let’s hear it for trad singers

Pete Quinn WHILE there are countless traditional sessions around the country where instrumental music is the main focus, I have always felt traditional singing has been a bit neglected. Fear not – help is at hand. Renowned singer Kathleen O’Sullivan – who appeared, toured and recorded with The London Lasses and Pete Quinn for seven years – is holding traditional singing lessons on Tuesday evenings in Ilford, Essex. The classes will be devoted to sharing and teaching songs while extending attendees’ repertoire and knowledge. The lessons will be held at SS Mary and Erconwald’s Catholic Church Hall from 7.30pm9.30pm. Kathleen can be contacted on 07582662442 or e-mail her at knockoutsullivan@ postmaster.co.uk

July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

OMETHING has changed about We Cut Corners. Their second album, Think Nothing, is a world apart from their well-received debut, Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards. The rawness is gone. The aggression is gone. And so is the chaos. The new record is melodic, well-produced and, most notably of all, infused with lyrical darkness. Yet, as the Dublin duo prepare for a busy summer promoting their new record, it’s like nothing has changed at all. The band’s members are the same — John Duignan and Conall Ó Breacháin. So is the basic format of their music — short songs on drums and guitar. And so are their lives — those of full-time primary school teachers who squeeze a music career into all the evenings and school holidays God sends. Even their voices remain the same — Ó Breacháin sounding like the nice guy to Duignan’s cool kid, the former’s enthusiastic, speedy diction contrasting with his bandmate’s slow, considered delivery. So why the big change? Why the newfound darkness? It’s not the result of any events in their personal lives, according to Ó Breacháin. “There has been no catastrophic event in either of our lives that has sent us down this dark tunnel,” he says with a defiant laugh. “We knew the first record was maybe a bit whimsical at times and it was intentionally that way. “But we wanted to take it in a darker direction this time.” As far as Ó Breacháin is concerned, he and Duignan were “naïve” when they recorded Backwards, marching on without a clear idea of the album they wanted. This time they entered the studio with a purpose and a “full vision” that extended far beyond the music itself. Like their first outing, Think Nothing has its fair share of grungy riffs and mixes delicate ballads with frenetic rock songs. The pair also added strings to their sonic repertoire. Compositions from their former college lecturer John Buckley add a musical maturity to their follow-up that was missing in Backwards (not that that stopped it being nominated for the Choice Prize). But realising their vision for Think Nothing did not end when Ó Breacháin and Duignan recorded the tracks in March last year. Instead, they spent 14 months trying to perfect it. They agonised over everything from the music videos to the album’s artwork — a painting by Canadian artist Drew Young discovered after weeks spent trawling through the internet. “The image is suggestive of somebody who is detached from real life to the extent that they are clearly fixated on a screen,” Duignan explains.

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CHOICE CUT Niall O’Sullivan talks to We Cut Corners about their darker, yet more melodic second album WHITE NOISE: Conall Ó Breacháin and John Duignan

“There is a blue wash of a screen on the character and I suppose in that is what we are focusing on lyrically in the album, the way we distract ourselves from real life.” Broadly speaking, the lyrics deal with “loneliness, isolation and escapism”. That’s clear from the outset,

We were naïve when we wrote our first album. This one’s different

as Think Nothing’s opening track Wallflowers depicts a grim figure clad in a “depressing gown” who spends their days browsing “the digital aisles”. Then there’s Mammals with its dim view of an “emblem of undiluted love” as a “composite of every face I’m yet to take advantage of”. Meanwhile, Maybe in The Future, where the record’s strings are used to their sweetest effect, details the missed connections of a

protagonist who “didn’t get home to make the children”. And even when he gets his chance, he discovers: “You’re not that gifted, you’re just beautifully gift wrapped.” It’s a bleak picture. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be much room for hope in Think Nothing at all. “I guess so,” Ó Breacháin admits. “I am frantically flicking through the lyrics in my head.” His search is in vain as he

concludes there “is not that much hope” in the record. However Duignan is quick to play that down, contrasting his band’s “three-minute psychodramas” with the likes of Daughter’s 2013 debut If You Leave, a whole album dedicated to one break-up. What is more, he says their new record’s intentional bleakness bears little resemblance to his or his bandmate’s mental state. “We are both really positive

7 people and we have really amazing family lives and great friends,” he explains. “That has endured anything coming close to a personal crisis, so that makes us hopeful. “We are really inspired by the music that we make and playing together still after all these years and our personal careers are really, sort of, livening as well.” Those careers in teaching present the kinds of difficulties that most musicians need not consider. Laughing, Duignan admits they wrestled with the reference to drug-taking in This is Then before deciding to hope their students (and their students’ parents) would not judge the song to be autobiographical. “We would fall into the cleanliving category of musicians, definitely,” he adds. But as both he and Duignan grow closer to middle-age — they are both 33 and in longterm relationships — they know they will have to make big decisions about what they really want in the near future. Ó Breacháin admits it will soon be “a lot trickier” for them to submit their notices and focus their energies fully on music. That’s an option over which they have “laboured quite a bit”, he comments. And Duignan’s doubts are crystal clear. He says he would only hand in his notice if Think Nothing reached enough listeners to make a tour of Britain, Europe “and maybe the States” possible. “If nothing happens with the new record, Conall and I would still meet up a couple of times a week and play a few jams,” he adds. “We are not beholden to some kind of agenda that means we have to really put ourselves on the line in any way.” That answer will disappoint We Cut Corners’ fans. With very little time to perform outside school hours, it’s hard to see how the band will be able to meet Duignan’s high standard. In Think Nothing, the Dublin duo have put their vast songwriting talents on show for the world. They have taken a big step forwards since Backwards, itself a great record. It would be such a waste if fate would have it that Ó Breacháin and Duignan never gave it their all. And it would shame for us listeners if we never got to hear that. ■ We Cut Corners will be playing in London at Camden Barfly on July 11. For tickets visit www.mamacolive.com/ thebarfly

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July 5, 2014

‘I ended up doing Mrs Brow Brendan O’Carroll’s Mrs Brown’s Boys keeps getting bigger and bigger. Now with a movie packing cinemas, Nemesha Balasundaram meets the funnyman…

July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

wn’s Boys by pure accident’ Y

OU’VE got to hand it to Brendan O’Carroll. On a sunny Thursday in central London the 58-year-old star of Mrs Brown’s Boys is as upbeat as the weather. He’s dressed for the occasion too, sporting a vibrant rouge-coloured shortsleeved shirt which seals a bronzed complexion honed by spending much of the year in Florida. Warm, animated and hugely welcoming in person, the Dubliner is in town to plug Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie, his latest Agnes Brown vehicle and a widescreen incarnation of the hit BBC show that has enjoyed phenomenal success since first going to air in 2011. O’Carroll has been on a journey with Mrs Brown since 1992 and his resilience through the highs and lows makes him a fascinating character. A member of Mensa (O’Carroll’s reported IQ of 153 puts him in the top 1 per cent in the world), he owes much to his own mother, Maureen O’Carroll who, at 41, was elected to the Dáil serving as the Irish Labour Party’s chief whip from 1954 to 1957 — all whilst also raising 11 children. In part, Mrs Brown is O’Carroll’s gift to her. We sat down with the comedian to talk about Mrs Brown, the influence of his own family and how his success may have turned him into a very different person three decades ago… Brendan, Mrs Brown’s Boys the show has made you an overnight success at 58. How would you have handled fame had it happened earlier on in your career? I’d probably be a junkie! I feel terribly sorry for the likes of Justin Bieber and young boybands that have it thrust upon them. It’s not easy. You look at today, I’ve done 25 interviews and Graham Norton tonight will be the 26th. You try doing that when you’re 15 or 16 years of age and people ask questions that you think are quite innocent and they know they’re not, because they’re a lot older than you are, a lot more experienced than he [Justin Bieber] is. So, I think everything has happened for me the way it’s supposed to. I accept that when something happens, that’s what’s supposed to happen. You were 30 when you started out as a comedian, so it’s taken almost three decades to hit this level of success. Were there ever times that you felt like giving up or did you always keep the faith? I always kept the faith, but there are times when I look back and wonder what kept me going. You know, you drive 180 miles to a gig and there’s 14 people in it. You’ve spent £60 on petrol, you’re [earning] on the door and it’s been £2 in, so it’s been £28 in total. You go on and do the gig, come off the gig and then you have to make your way home. And then you hope that you have enough money from the gig to get you enough petrol to get home, and yet the next morning you get up and do the next gig and you wonder ‘what in the hell made me think that this would work?’ I don’t know what it was, but I think it’s because I was put in a position where there was nothing else that I could do at that time, there was no work about. It was 1989/90, which was the last Irish recession, there were no other jobs. So, it was a case of keep going, and what kept me going was probably the fact that I had no choice but to keep going.

You’re the youngest of 11 kids — is that where the on-screen interaction of family came from? I think you’re probably right, a bridge of closeness. Not just a love of family, but interdependency when you’ve got so many kids in the family. I never knew what feminism was, that kind of thing when the boys shovel the coal and the girls make the beds, I don’t know that. Our house didn’t operate like that. The boys made the beds when the beds needed to be made and the girls shovelled the coal when the coal needed to be shovelled, whoever was handy. It didn’t matter whether you were a boy or a girl. We were interdependent, we reared each other. I was the baby and that gave me a bit of a start in the ‘notice box’ as we call them in Ireland. I only had to walk across the floor and they all clapped. I think that was helpful. By the time I got into my formative years, because I was such a late child and my mother was 46 when I was born, the rest of them had emigrated or married and headed off on their own lives. My dad died when I was seven and by the time I was nine my mum retired from politics. Now there was just me and her, and I had the undivided attention from this genius of a woman. The comedic end of things probably stemmed from that. First of all she was a very huggy, lovey person, which I am and which my kids and family are. And also, my life’s goal from that age on was to make my mum laugh and I did, many many times, all the time. I think I just wanted to impress her. It’s very hard for every one of us to get out of bed in the morning without having a reason. When you go and have your first kid, within six months of having that kid you can’t remember life before that child. You can’t remember what motivated you. Obviously the stark motivation is if I don’t feed this thing it dies. But, after that you can’t remember what motivated you. You’d do anything for this child, nothing would stop you. There’s that motivation and that steer, but it’s having a reason and my goal was to keep my mum laughing. It wasn’t that she was depressed or sad; I just liked making her laugh. When my mum laughs, she was a big woman, she rocked with laughter and it made me feel so f****** good, it still does, making people laugh.

“

How did the movie version of Mrs Brown challenge you? First of all, the challenge was not to go mad. I didn’t want to betray her or the audience. I wanted a Mrs Brown audience to go to a Mrs Brown movie and feel like you’re in a Mrs Brown movie, not Mrs Brown in a movie. So, I didn’t want to do the clichéd thing of taking her to Spain, Australia, America, or Africa, which is usually what they do in a TV series. They take them away and see how they cope in a Crocodile Dundee type of thing. I just wanted to expand her world and tell one of her stories within her world and allow the audience to peek into the bits they know about. They know she’s a dealer in a market, now I get to show her selling fruit at the market. See her direction with authority, because they know she doesn’t like authority, but it’s usually authority on the phone or authority someone else is talking about. Here, we get to show the authority and to reel in and make sure she doesn’t have the power of flight. I’m lucky enough I have a director who’s perfect for that. When I come up with a scene he’ll say it’s a great scene, but he’ll say ‘is it Mrs Brown?’ We’re able to tell a Mrs Brown story within the context of her surroundings and I think we showed the best of the characters and my city. It’s a love letter to Dublin, Dublin looks magnificent. Dublin tourism should write Mrs Brown a cheque and say thank you. You’ll look at it and you’ll want to go there, I live there.

If something is successful you’ve got to treat it like disco music, don’t analyse it just dance with it

Could you imagine how your life would be now without Mrs Brown? I think it still would have been okay. I’d have done well at something. I’m an eternal optimist, I’m one of these people that grew up thinking I was always a millionaire, I just never had the money. But, I was always destined. I grew up knowing I was different from other kids, because my mum spotted it. I didn’t know I was dyslexic. Back in 1960 who knew what dyslexia was?! But she knew I couldn’t learn like other people, she was a really sharp woman. She knew I had to find a different way of learning so that I could keep pace. So, without realising it, she was teaching me how to think outside the box without realising she was doing that. So, I’m always proud. I left school at 12 so I had seven years of formal education but I’m a member of MENSA. I’ve got an IQ in the top 1 per cent in the world and I’m very proud of that. And that comes from the fact that I lived with the genius of this woman who constantly made me challenge myself and challenge what I think. Every day you’d get up and think, is what I think today the same? If it is, then challenge it and challenge yourself. I’m 58 years of age, and I realise that I only feel alive when I’m challenging, so it’s her.

The British seem to have this affinity with a guy dressed as a woman, what was the appeal for you? Getting paid for it! It was a complete accident; I wrote Mrs Brown for the radio, it was five-minute soap opera every day. I had no money so I got everybody I knew to do the voices. If you look at granddad, he was my window cleaner; Pepsi was my roadie, who plays Mark; and Rory was my press agent for 22 years. When we did a recording I had an actress booked to play Mrs Brown, and she didn’t show as she had a kidney infection. We had the studio booked so I thought I’d read her lines and when I get her in, we could just play it back and she could do her lines. So for fun, I did Mrs Brown’s voice. I brought it into the editor when he was digitising. He asked me who the actress was that was playing Mrs Brown, I said: ‘f*** off that’s me.’ He said: ‘you have to keep it! I believe her!’ That’s how I started doing it on radio. When it came time to changing it for the stage I would get a woman who sounded like Mrs Brown to play her, but Jenny said ‘give it a go, why don’t you just try it?’ So I rang the Dublin Institute of Technology, where they did all aspects of the movie business. I asked the make-up department if they had a good guy or girl coming out of the department. They said they had a guy graduating this year, Tom McInerney. He’s subsequently gone onto win IFTAs and awards for The Tudors and other stuff. I told him I wanted him to make me up as Mrs Brown. I told him, ‘I want you to see what you think is Mrs Brown, but don’t show me a mirror until it’s finished. And if I turn around and I see Mrs Brown I’ll do it, but if I don’t see Mrs Brown I’m not f****** doing it.’ Then he said, ‘one thing’s missing’. He made a mole and said, ‘done!’ Then I turned around and thought ‘f*** me, it’s Mrs Brown’. That’s how I ended up doing it, completely by accident. My mother had a great word for success. If something is successful you’ve got to treat it like disco music, don’t analyse it just dance with it. Since five minutes on the radio, I’ve been dancing. ■ Mrs Brown’s Boys D’Movie is out now

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July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

British justice in the dock

ON TRIAL: (l-r) Nico Mirallegro, Philip Hill-Pearson, Jack McMullen and Andrew Ellis take the stand in Common

“I

T’S not about innocent or guilty, it’s about getting working-class scum off the streets,” is the caustic opinion expressed of Joint Enterprise Law, the legal theme at the heart of Jimmy McGovern’s upcoming TV film Common. Set in an unnamed northern town, McGovern’s riveting (and timely) feature-length BBC drama is an intricate story about the convolutions of British justice and the nature of individual responsibility. McGovern, now 64, has spent decades creating biting narratives on gritty subjects. His high points in TV drama are too many to mention, but they include successes like The Lakes, Cracker and The Street. His work in cinema includes screenplays for Antonia Bird’s Priest (1994) and Stephen Frears’ Depression-set melodrama Liam (2000). McGovern always claims that his post-War Liverpudlian upbringing fuels the fire of his dramas. That he was raised in an IrishCatholic household — one of nine children — in a poor, working-class area of England helps to inspire his narratives with aspects of struggle, injustice and personal guilt. He emerged as a TV dramatist in 1982, writing for Phil Redmond’s popular soap Brookside. Both McGovern and Redmond (also of Irish descent)

“

Jimmy McGovern’s latest BBC TV film drama probes the law of the land, writes Steve Martin followed on from tough northern scriptwriters like Alan Bleasdale, Willy Russell and Jack Rosenthal. His scripts are shaded with simple, everyday familiarity and there’s a sense that McGovern knows his characters personally. When he wrote the screenplay for the award-winning Hillsborough (1996), about the 1989 football stadium disaster, he originally became involved at the request of the victims’ families (two bereaved mothers literally knocked on his door). The families felt their side of the tragedy was being ignored by the media, but they trusted McGovern to fully tell the unacknowledged story. McGovern insists that the themes in his work should be researched exhaustively. He took two years to clarify the detail surrounding the Bloody Sunday shootings for his documentarydrama Sunday (2002), repeatedly interviewing witnesses, friends and families. He used expert researchers to cross-reference official records. The political and social nature of his writing deliberately arouses controversy, but McGovern likes to be

McGovern took two years to clarify the detail surrounding the Bloody Sunday shootings for his 2002 documentary-drama Sunday

certain of his own ground before stirring up uncertainty in anyone else’s. These days he uses former World in Action producer Katy Jones as his editor, to keep him “calm and objective,” so he says. McGovern’s diligence and his eye for unexpected complexity now reappear in Common. Highlighting frailties relating to Joint Enterprise Law (sometimes termed Common Purpose Law, or “Common”), the drama offers insight into how people’s lives can be cruelly affected if they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. The story turns on a fatal stabbing in a pizza parlour, a sadly familiar enough act of futile violence. Common follows the tragic misfortune of two ordinary families ensnared in the aftermath of events — the Wards, whose teenaged boy Thomas is the victim, and the O’Sheas, whose 17year-old son Johnjo becomes inadvertently implicated in the crime. As McGovern’s expertly-spun plot unfolds, it’s the pressures forced upon these two households that give the film its richly ironic and bitter flavour. When Johnjo is casually asked for a lift by some local tough guys, he is entirely unaware that their intention is to attack a member of a rival gang. After the actions of his mates lead to murder, Johnjo’s obligations are split between giving information to the police or staying silent through a

Margaret (the equally excellent Susan Lynch), mother of the victim whose grief is so intense she vents her longheld resentment at the boy’s father, her estranged and wayward husband Tommy (Daniel Mays): “Don’t you dare cry,” she scowls at him. In one searing scene Margaret identifies her son’s corpse and it’s hard to recall a more powerful portrayal of the raw pain felt by a grieving mother. Indeed, in a drama that reveals uncertainty at every turn, the interaction between the two mothers conveys the most acute moral and emotional dilemmas. Though Colleen and Margaret are outwardly antagonists, McGovern somehow convincingly gives them an unlikely shared empathy. Common is essential viewing (BAFTA nominations must surely follow). It resonates with Johnathan Kaplan’s The Accused (1988) or John Sayles’ Eight Men Out (1988), and even Orson Welles’ adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial (1962). All see characters tried for crimes where their guilt or innocence is ill-defined and unclear.

sense of loyalty. The twisted ethos of his home district sees being a “grass” as anathema but, as Johnjo’s conscience grows more troubled, he sees cooperation with the police investigation as the stronger duty. However to his appalled astonishment Johnjo finds cooperation entangles him in Joint Enterprise Law, a legal device that heaps suspicion on all individuals connected to a crime — whatever their involvement. People on the periphery of events get sucked into the middle, along with those responsible. Johnjo’s position becomes complicated and risky. He gets drawn into shady plea-bargaining and deal-making with the authorities, as his lawyer acidly informs him that his cooperation has no value and that he naively “gave it away for nothing”. Meanwhile the pressure builds on Johnjo’s mother Colleen (the superb Jodhi May), who strives to protect her son but also questions his motives. Colleen is STILL MOURNING: Susan Lynch counterpointed by plays a grief stricken mother

■ Jimmy McGovern’s Common airs on Sunday at 9pm on BBC One

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

Irish radio in your area BEDFORDSHIRE ■ Jim Carway presents Luton Irish Live on Diverse 102.8FM and online every Tuesday evening 6-8pm. Contact Jim on 07977 063233 BRADFORD ■ Joe Sheeran presents Echoes of Ireland on Bradford Community Broadcasting 106.6FM every Sunday at noon. The programme is repeated on Mondays at 9am and Wednesdays at noon and can be accessed online at www.bcbradio.co.uk COVENTRY ■ Hands Across The Waters on Hillz FM, Mondays from 12-2pm and online at www.thehillz.net GLASGOW ■ Celtic Music Radio on 1530AM and www.celticmusicradio.net featuring Paddy Callaghan’s Trad with Pad every Tuesday from 6-7pm HERTFORDSHIRE ■ Radio Verulam 92.6FM and online at www.radioverulam.com featuring The Emerald Hour with Kathy Weston, Lydia El-Khouri and Shane every Thursday from 7-8pm, and John Devine’s Traditional Irish Music Show, featuring The Irish Post’s Joe Giltrap, every Monday from 7-9pm (available on the website for seven days after broadcast) LONDON/SOUTH-EAST ■ Gerry Byrne hosts Irish Spectrum on Spectrum Radio on Saturday from 12-2pm and from midnight to 1am on Sunday night/Monday morning on 558AM ■ Johnny Jameson hosts Ireland’s Eye on Resonance 104.4FM every Sunday, 6.30-7.30pm ■ Emily Horgan, Pippa T and Róisín O Rourke broadcasting What’s the Craic? every Tuesday from 7-8pm on West London’s ONFM 101.4 ■ Johno’s Irish Hour, ONFM 101.4, every Saturday morning from 1011am with presenter John O’Sullivan. Anything and everything Irish including traditional Irish music, news and sport MANCHESTER ■ The Full Irish Radio Show with Martin Logan and Joe Casserley on 96.9FM, Wednesdays 7-9pm and Sundays 3-5pm ■ The Irish Connection Show with John Lowry on Wythenshawe 97.2FM, Saturday from 10am to noon MIDLANDS ■ Bob Brolly’s Irish Show, Sundays 4-7pm on BBC Radio WM 95.6FM and DAB Radio NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE ■ Jim Bennett, Fiona Clelland and Tommy McClements present NE1 Irish from 5-7pm every Wednesday on 102.5FM or www.ne1fm.net. Text NE1 + message to 60300. Contact 0191 261 0384 OXFORD/BERKSHIRE ■ BBC Radio Oxford/BBC Radio Berkshire hosts Henry Wymbs’ Irish Eye, Sundays from 2pm on 95.4FM | 104.1FM ■ A Little Bit of Blarney with Anne Morris, Thursdays from 11am until noon. Listen live at www.reading4u.co.uk or listen anytime at www.mixcloud.com/nansheen SALFORD ■ The Irish Connection airs on Salford City Radio 94.4FM every Tuesday from 7-8pm. Presenter John Lowry showcases Irish music, culture and chat. Visit www.salfordcityradio.org for details. TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC ON THE RADIO ■ John Devine, Monday evenings from 7-9pm on Radio Verulam in West Hertfordshire 92.6FM or through the internet at www.radioverulam.com. Facebook www.facebook.com/rvirishmusic ■ Paddy Callaghan’s Trad with Pad, Tuesday evenings from 6-7pm on Celtic Music Radio, 1530AM and www.celticmusicradio.net ■ Joe Sheeran’s Echoes of Ireland is on the air for 60 minutes every Sunday from noon, Monday from 9am and Wednesday from noon. The show is also available on the internet at www.bcbradio.co.uk ONLINE ■ Mid West Radio, the home of Irish music, chat, news, culture and gossip 24 hours a day! www.midwestradio.ie ■ RTÉ Radio operates four primary national stations — RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ 2fm, RTÉ lyric fm and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta — and seven exclusively digital stations — RTÉ Radio 1 Xtra, RTÉ Choice, RTÉ Pulse, RTÉ Chill, RTÉ Gold, RTÉ 2XM and RTÉ Junior, available online. ■ Alan O’Leary of Copperplate presents two hours of Irish traditional and folk music every Wednesday at 4pm (repeated Friday at 5pm and Sunday at 8pm) on www.liveireland.com — 24/7 live Irish trad and folk Catch MARTIN LOGAN on Wednesdays 7-9pm with all the GAA news, Irish language class lots of great music, plus highlights from THE IRISH POST Join JOE CASSERLEY every Sunday 3-5pm playing you the best in Irish and country music along with your requests and the What’s On guide. Tune in to 96.9FM Manchester or listen online at www.allfm.org

Stars come out HERTFORDSHIRE BOYZONE star Shane Lynch was among 250 guests who turned out in support of the Immigrant Counselling and Psychotherapy charity at their Midsummer Ball. Tickets for the glitzy event were £1,000 a pair and attendees were treated to a champagne reception, a threecourse dinner and an evening’s entertainment to boot. Guest of honour for the night, which carried on into the small hours, was Irish boxing legend Barry McGuigan. The charity ball, which took place at five-star The Grove Hotel in Hertfordshire, was organised by John McVeigh and Phil Cusack — both longstanding supporters of ICAP. Funds raised from the night will support the charity’s work to provide more than 9,000 psychotherapy and counselling sessions every year to vulnerable Irish people in Britain.

SAY CHEERS: Organisers Phil Cusack and John McVeigh with their wives Mary and Liz

Pictures by Malcolm McNally

GREEN TINTED: Ingrid Gallen and Wendy Cullen STAR TURNS: Guest of honour Barry McGuigan with ICAP founder Theresa Gallagher and Jerry Kivlehan

LENDING SUPPORT: Michael O’Flynn, Jayne Eustace-O’Flynn and Colin McNicholas

TOP DAY: Jerry Kivlehan, ICAP founder Theresa Gallagher and Philomena and Sean Fitzpatrick

IRELAND’S EYE RADIO SHOW Resonance 104.4FM

JOHNNY JAMESON Every Sunday 6.30pm-7.30pm The best music with less chat

Presented by

SPONSORED BY Irish THE

Post

July 5, 2014

GOOD GAS: William, Eithne and John McGowan with ICAP’s Sinead Crowley

July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

for ICAP’s summer ball

RECEPTION CALL: Boyzone’s Shane Lynch with Danny and Ingrid Gallen, Ciaran McDonagh and Fiona and Mort Reidy GOOD TIMES: Michelle and Richard Lye

WORLD CHAMP: Guest of honour Barry McGuigan, centre, with Catherine Hennessy, Paul Brankin, Máire Brankin and Maureen Slattery

ALL THE GIRLS: Marie McGinley, Bridie Burke, Noreen Coyle and Eileen Crossan

HAVING A BALL: left to right are Terry Gallagher, Rhonda Bellamy and Francesca O’Sullivan and ICAP trustee Don O’Sullivan HAVING FUN: Ellie O’Donoghue and Maria Carter

GREAT DEAL: Andy Rogers from ICAP with Toastmaster Dave Collins

UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT: Mick Crossan, Kevin Coyle and Kieran McCarthy

July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

What’s on... SEND EVENTS IN YOUR AREA TO: listings@irishpost.co.uk

Brenden Behan’s Women See Wednesday

MONDAY London

THIS WEEK JULY 2-8

Brenden Behan’s Women See Wednesday

WEDNESDAY

Nottingham

Fathers and Sons See Wednesday Brenden Behan’s Women See Wednesday

Hozier Bodega, Nottingham

London Fathers and Sons Donmar Warehouse, Covent Garden. Brien Friel adaptation from Ivan Turgenev’s novel. Until July 26 Brenden Behan’s Women New drama, based around the Irish playwright’s womanising, set in the Chelsea Hotel in New York during the ’60s. Pentameters Theatre, Hampstead. Until July 20

Southampton SUNDAY Bristol

Get Rhythm Irish Johnny Cash tribute act play The Talking Heads, Portswood

David O’Doherty and Andrew Maxwell Irish funnymen both perform sets at Bristol Comedy Garden 2014

London

Cheltenham

Fathers and Sons See Wednesday

Get Rhythm Irish Johnny Cash tribute act play Frog & Fiddle, 313315 High Street

Brenden Behan’s Women See Wednesday

TUESDAY

THURSDAY London London Fathers and Sons See Wednesday Brenden Behan’s Women See Wednesday

FRIDAY London Fathers and Sons See Wednesday

Fathers and Sons See Wednesday

Get Rhythm Irish Johnny Cash tribute act play Fiddler’s Elbow, Camden

THUMBS UP: David O’Doherty plays Bristol Comedy Garden on Sunday

OUT ON HER OWN: Sharon Corr tours around Britain this September, starting in Inverness on September 14

Brenden Behan’s Women See Wednesday

SATURDAY Gloucestershire Hozier Barn on the Farm Festival

London Fathers and Sons See Wednesday

NEXT WEEK JULY 9-15

July 11: We Cut Corners Camden Barfly

Cash tribute act play Irish Club, Sheepscar

London

July 12: Tedfest Fr Ted tribute day at the London Irish Centre, Camden. The event will feature Ted’s Got Talent, The Craggy Cup and The Lovely Girls Contest

London

Southend-On-Sea

September 17: Johnette Napolitano and Mick Flannery The Jazz Café

Until July 26: Fathers and Sons Donmar Warehouse, Covent Garden. Brian Friel adaptation from Ivan Turgenev’s novel.

The Libertines (pictured) and The Pogues Hyde Park. Huge open air show. Spiritualized and Raglans also perform.

Until July 20: Brenden Behan’s Women New drama, based around the Irish playwright’s womanising, set in the Chelsea Hotel in New York during the ‘60s. Pentameters Theatre, Hampstead. July 9: Dublin Legends Kempton Park Racecourse, Sunbury-OnThames

July 10: Get Rhythm Irish Johnny Cash tribute act play Riga Club, Westcliff-On-Sea

Nationwide Milton Keynes July 11: Get Rhythm Irish Johnny Cash tribute act play Craufurd Arms, Wolverton

FUTURE EVENTS July 9: Get Rhythm Irish Johnny Cash tribute act play Tamesis Dock, Albert Embankment

REGULAR EVENTS Birmingham Irish language classes Mondays at Birmingham Irish Centre. B12 0LN. 8pm

Gloucester Set Dancing lessons Mondays at Gloucester Irish Club. All levels welcome. 8.30pm. Call Rosaleen on 07788 715725

Hertfordshire Bradford Irish classes Weekly at East Bowling Unity Club. BD4 7JS. Contact Margaret McNulty on 01274 786896

Coventry Irish language lessons for all ability levels Mondays at St Osburg’s Club, Hill Street. 7.30pm

Crawley Irish language classes Wednesday fortnights. Hosted by the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society at The Emerald Club, Southgate Ave. Contact John Nolan on 07956317492

Essex Irish language classes Fortnightly in Chelmsford. Phone 01277 249247 or email AnColaiste@aol.com

Irish language group Thursdays in Letchworth. 8pm. Phone Pat Barrett on 01462 623961

Huddersfield Irish language classes Thursdays at the Huddersfield Irish Centre, from 8pm

Traditional Irish music session slow session at Park Tavern. Tollington Park. Friendly session. All musicians welcome. Contact pub for dates on 0207 263 1800. The Commitments until October 19 at Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue Once: The Musical Phoenix Theatre, Charing Cross Road Ceili lessons at Camden Irish Centre every Sunday. 8pm. Music by Tony Kearney. All welcome.

Leicester Traditional Irish music session Wednesdays at 8.30pm and Sundays from 2pm at Duffy’s Bar, 8 Pocklingtons Walk, Leicester. Contact Jackie on 0116 2555717

London Ceilí Dancing classes and tuition including basics and footwork. Open to all Nationals and ages. With live music and dancing until 11PM. Irish Centre, Camden Square. Contact organiser Anton Coyle 02072725815

Irish language classes Wednesdays at Providence Court, Upper Street. N1 0RN. 7pm. Contact Michael on 07535 204700 Community Irish Studies Intermediate language class at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Free. Contact Dr Ivan Gibbons on 020 8240 4081 Irish language classes Tuesdays at Lewisham Irish Community Centre. 7.30pm

Irish classes At the London Irish Centre, Camden. All levels welcome. Call 020 7916 2222. Irish language classes Thursdays at Dulwich Hamlets FC, Champion Hill Stadium, SE22 8BD. 6.30pm. Phone Anne on 020 7564 6089. Irish traditional session Sundays at Powers Bar, 332 Kilburn High Road, Kilburn Traditional music session At the Kilkenny Tavern every Tuesday and Sunday at 9pm. 131 Merton High Street, London SW19 1DE Council of Irish County Associations (C.I.C.A.) monthly meeting on the third Tuesday of the month in the London Irish Centre, Murray Street, London NW1. £10 per person for the year.

July 19: Set, Ceili and Social Dance The Pope John Center, Eton Ave. Heston, TW5 0HB. 8pm. Band on tour from Galway. £10.

Leeds July 16: Get Rhythm Irish Johnny Conradh na Gaelige weekly classes at Irish World Heritage Centre, M8 8UF. All abilities welcome. Wednesdays at 8pm. For more details all Patrick Hoswell on 01613 686185

September 2-December 13: Riverdance 20th anniversary tour September 14-25: Sharon Corr British tour ahead of the release of Corr’s new album The Same Sun October 2-December 7: Tommy Tiernan stand-up tour

Sandwell Irish language classes Monday mornings at Irish Centre, Langley High Street. Beginners and intermediate. 11am

Sheffield Milton Keynes Irish language classes Ranganna Gaelic. For beginners and improvers at Irish Centre, Fenny Stratford. Second Thursday of the month. £30 for full 10-week course. Phone Tom Bolton on 01908 506666 Irish Dancing classes At The Julie Herlihy School on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Call 07729 468 075

Irish classes every Monday in Grapes, Trippet Lane. 7.30-9.30pm Irish language class at Flynn’s Pub, Trippet lane. Contact Gerry on 0114 261 8788 or 07544 979686

Stevenage Irish language classes at Stevenage College. Mondays. 7pm. Call Pat Barrett 01462 623961

Irish music lessons fortnightly Saturdays at Irish Centre. 10am. Phone Tom Bolton on 01908 506 666

Manchester Irish language classes For adults of all levels of ability at St Kentigern’s Social Club, Fallowfield. 8.00pm. Contact Pat McGuinness on 0161 225 0645. Free

Oxfordshire Coffee/bingo Wednesdays from 11am at The Black Swan, Crown Street, Oxford. Call Bernie 01865 711885

Email your listings to listings@irishpost.co.uk

Slainte!

The best music in the best bars in town

The Alexandra

9-10 Central Buildings, The Broadway, Ealing, W5 2NT Tel: 020 8567 4737 91 High St, Wealdstone HA3 5DL Tel: 020 8427 5210 253 Edgware Rd, Colindale, London NW9 6LU Tel: 020 8200 8066 COLINDALE Saturday, July 5

MICK LEE

14 Clapham Common South Side, London SW4 7AA 020 7627 5102

Best craic in Clapham

Live GAA on all weekend

Sunday, July 6

EALING Saturday, July 5

, TIPPIN UP THE STAIRS

WORLD CUP AND LIVE GAA SHOWN ON 4 SCREENS The Royal Exchange

STILL ON THE BREW from 9.30pm from 8pm

020 020 8560 8560 5543 5543

LIVE FOOTBALL SATURDAY

HARROW WEALDSTONE Saturday, July 5

DJ ROB

O’Riordans

33 HIGH HIGH STREET, STREET, BRENTFORD, BRENTFORD, MIDDLESEX MIDDLESEX TW8 TW8 0DX 0DX

JAM NIGHT

26 Sale Place, Lancaster Gate, London, W2 1PU 020 7402 4368

A proper authentic pub with grub Horse Racing shown all day everyday

every Thursday from 9.30pm

LIVE MUSIC every Friday and Saturday night

ALL WORLD CUP GAMES SHOWN HERE No 1 The Broadway, Fulham, London, SW6 1AA Tel: 020 7385 2003 www.brogansfulham.co.uk

The Plough & Harrow

THE GREGORIAN

419 HIGH ROAD LEYTONSTONE E11 4JU Wednesday 2nd July -

96 Jamaica Road, Bermondsey SE16 4SQ

Comedy Night starring Terry Alderton (Eastenders)

Bermondsey’s New

in aid of local children's hospice - Haven House. £11 entry from 7:30p.m.

All World Cup and GAA Championship games shown on our 5 big screens.

FRIDAY 4TH JULY

Karaoke and disco with terrific TOP MARKS

020 020 8558 8558 2660 2660 Accommodation Accommodation available. available.

The Herschel Arms 22 Park St, Slough SL1 1PS 07904 107565 Monday –

Traditional Session Thursday –

Folk and trad. Live music on a Sunday afternoon

Irish pub

(8pm)

Station Parade, Ealing Common, London W5 3LD

Phone:020 8993 8919 Fri 4th July -

TOM JENNINGS 10-12

Sat 5th July -

MICHAEL O’HAGAN 11-1am Sun 6th July CURRAGH 7-9pm WORLD CUP & GAA MATCHES SHOWN LIVE!

G Live GAA shown every weekend G Food served all day G Live Traditional Irish Music Session every Sunday 6-8pm

SATURDAY 5TH JULY

Fabulous songstress

LIVE MUSIC

CHLOE (9pm)

ST TLY NO ADRMIC AFTERIS11SIONS pm

Try our Great Gregorian Roast Fresh homemade food, 12-8pm, every day

ALSO SHOWING LIVE SPORTS FROM PREMIER

THE VILLAGE INN

The Hop Pole Wandsworth, 4th July Friday:

64 Putney Bridge Road, Wandsworth, SW18 1HR

LEE LIMERICK @9.30pm

187 Streatfield Road Queensbury, Harrow Middlesex HA3 9DA

5th July Saturday:

CELTIC CRUNCH @9.30pm 6th July Sunday:

ASHES TO ASHES @5.30pm MUNSTER FOOTBALL FINAL AND LEINSTER HURLING FINAL ON TV

HENNESSYS GREENFORD

5, Broadway, Greenford, London UB6 9PH — 0208 204 3377

Sat J uly 5: LIVE MUSI C WIT H

DENO

Tel: 0208 204 4422

66 Boston Road, Hanwell, London W7 2ET 020 85796104 Friday July 4:

The Monday Club @9.30pm

Saturday July 5:

Elvis

@9.30pm aka JC Aaron tribute (by popular demand) Sunday July 6:

Mick Lee @9.30pm Take Your Pick £750

SUDOKU 4

QUICKQUIZ

4 2 9

7 2

YOURSTARS

Our resident astrologer and Celtic mystic Cara Lorcan casts the runes by consulting the ancient Celtic lunar tree months and the signs of the Zodiac.

We’re currently under the Zodiac sign of Cancer, with the moon continuing to wax. Those whose birthdays fall in this astrological phase include former Boomtown Rat bassist, now record producer, Pete Briquette (Patrick Cusack) who will be 60 on July 2, and former international footballer Steve Morrow who is 44 on the same day. Boyzone’s Shane Lynch is 38 on July 3, while cyclist Nicolas Roche is 30, also on July 3. Wicklow-born Róisín Murphy (pictured), one half of electronic music duo Moloko, is 41 on July 5, and Shane Filan of Westlife is 35, also on July 5. Olympic gold medallist Mary Peters is 75 on July 6, boxer Wayne McCullough is 44 on July 7, and footballer Robbie Keane is 34 on July 8.

6 9

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July 5, 2014

RÍ-RÁ — THE IRISH POST ENTERTAINMENT SECTION

Cancer June 21 – July 22 Adventures could happen whether you’re looking for them or not. Have an open mind, and keep your bag — or your excuses — ready. Be receptive to new ideas at work — they may pay off. Because of the waxing Cancer moon, Cancerians can look forward to an exciting week. In financial matters don’t be overly anxious about risks taken.

5 4

Sudoku requires no calculation or arithmetic skills. It is essentially a game of placing numbers in squares using very simple rules of logic and deduction. It can be played by children and adults and the rules are simple. Simply fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. However each number can appear only once on each row, column and area. Answer next week.

Last week’s solution: 6

1. Who plays Father Charles ‘Chuck’ O’Malley in the film Going My Way?

6. Gerald Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, was also known by what name?

2. Joyce wrote most of Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in which city?

7. The Castlereagh Road and the Castlereagh area are both in Belfast; the Castlereagh Lakes are in Mayo; but in which Asian country is Castlereagh Lake?

3. Which president of Ireland was born in London?

Scribble pad

4. During the War of Independence, Éamon de Valera ordered which flag to be flown in Dublin to “emphasise the principle for which we are fighting”? 5. What was the name of the law that invalidated all Irish legislation not previously approved by the English authorities?

8. In 2008, Dana announced that Ireland would be better withdrawing from the Eurovision Song Contest rather than sending this act. To whom was she referring? 9. Ravenhill Park is the main rugby ground where? 10. Which award did the writer pictured above win in 1993?

Answers: 1. Bing Crosby; 2. Trieste; 3. Erskine Childers; 4. The US flag; 5. Poynings Law; 6. The Great Earl; 7. Sri Lanka; 8. Dustin the Turkey; 9. Belfast; 10. Roddy Doyle won the Man Booker Prize for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

CROSSWORD

Leo July 23 – August 22 In work-related matters try to be proactive in a major project. This will most definitely make future plans much easier to co-ordinate. At times of dynamic change it can be a real anchor to make sure your friendships are kept in good repair, so pay attention to that in opportunities that will arise this week. A period of regrouping is indicated in financial matters.

Virgo August 23 – September 22 It’s largely up to you what to make of emotional developments. Being a Virgo you can be analytical as well as organised — this week use both of those attributes to the maximum in a joint enterprise. It could fall on you to bring a bit of magic to mundane business or employment matters. You will, as always, rise to the occasion.

Libra

Clues Across

Clues Down

1. Do they protect your hands from erasers? (6,6) 7 & 16a. Rob icon vigorously for musical instruction. (3,4) 9. Prison. (4) 10. Chapel. (6) 11. Worry about part of the guitar. (4) 14. Irish county, ‘The Kingdom’. (5) 15. Poor, in want (5) 16. See 7 across. 18. Musical from the age of work. (5) 21. Fool. (5) 22. A word might be misconstrued in this village in Cavan. (5) 23. How one loses fruit from the blackthorn. (5) 24. Large percussion instrument. (4) 25. Photo of a desirable person. (5) 26. It’s used to make poitín — even now. (5) 29. Snakes identified as an afterthought. (4) 33. Quarrel in a petty way. (6) 34. Part of the bottle that helps you keep your head? (4) 36. Stitch together. (3) 37. Novel exam? That’s the last word to a character finding half of a good book. (3,9)

1. Valley always in the heart of Brian. (3) 2. Chime. (4) 3. Engrave part of a stretcher. (4) 4. Thin, transparent fabric. (5) 5. Happen. (5) 6. Mark on the skin from an old wound. (4) 8. Ration a plank out in an area for all to enjoy. (8,4) 9. In which jarveys travel, scaring junta. (8,4) 12. The principal unit of the Roman army. (6) 13. Unhealthy sacs in the body. (5) 14. Transform Tokyo into a different Japanese city. (5) 17. Getting along in a boat — by arguing? (6) 19. Artist’s support, comprising headless vermin. (5) 20. Change to suit a particular requirement. (5) 27. Dance with Dickens’ Oliver. (5) 28. Bodies of 26 across water. (5) 30. Piece in chess. (4) 31. Her name is written in the firmament. (4) 32. Joint in the leg. (4) 35. Turn in court for an incision. (3)

Last week’s answers: Clues Across: 1. Assumption 6. Daft 10. Gruel 11. Anastasia 12. Antenna 15. Input 17. Book fair 19. Elver 21. Windows 23. Bugle 24. Frau 25. Loin 26. Lyric 28. Grafted 33. No comment 34. Curve 35. Eddy 36. Wall Street Clues Down: 1. Argo 2. Squinting 3. Melee 4. Twain 5. Oban 7. Aesop 8. Tractor run 9. Strikes 13. Nazi 14. Abiding 16. Off balance 20. Vertebrae 21. Welcome 22. Whoa 27. Raced 29. Ratel 30. Facet 31. Leda 32. Vest

September 23 – October 22 Demands will be made on you at work or in an area (hobby, club etc) in which you’re involved. However be sparing with your time — use it like the limited reserve it is. Mid-week there could be an opportunity to spoil yourself — take this chance to recharge batteries. Elsewhere, share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

Capricorn December 22 – January 19 The waxing Cancer moon could provide very positive news this week for those born under the sign of Capricorn. These next few days could see the beginning of the most active and dynamic period of progress you’ve experienced in quite a while — in relationships, work or business. However, be careful not to let other distractions lead you from your chosen path.

Aquarius January 20 – February 18 The waxing Cancer moon crossing the path of Venus midweek will help you during a week when revelations will allow missing pieces of a puzzle to slot into place, probably relating to a relationship matter. At work there may be pressure to move quickly — but resist all requests until you’re sure of the next move. Travel may be an important factor this week.

Pisces February 19 – March 20 Remember that you can often achieve more if you don’t want the credit. In family matters or at work, this might be a valuable lesson to take on board — or perhaps explain to a friend. Discussion could be the key to a number of issues later in the week — you may be astonished at the amount of support you’ll receive.

Aries March 21 – April 19 Everything indicates you’ve done the correct thing as regards career-related moves, and as much as can be expected of you. Sit back and relax. Resolutions and results will probably be more satisfactory than you could possibly have hoped for. In family matters, travel is once again on the agenda. Your social life looks set to receive a boost from an unlikely quarter.

Scorpio October 23 – November 21 This month’s waxing Cancer moon may allow events to segue neatly with each other — something not often the case! In business, career or work matters — keep a very open mind as regards developments. They may be better than you suspect. The outlook is fair in a family matter important to you, although you may have to proceed slowly with your own plans.

Taurus April 20 – May 20 Your determination will be greatly enhanced this week by the waxing Cancer moon, a major influence on your fortunes this week. Opportunities at work or in a business project have never looked rosier and you’ll be in a position to take full advantage. In family relationships a revelation should greatly add to your understanding. In friendship matters an agreement will be reached.

Sagittarius November 22 – December 21 Friends are around at the moment to share in some good news. In relationships a considered approach will probably bring constructive results in an ongoing situation. In career or job related matters, a bold approach that you may not have tried before could yield very promising results. A good planetary configuration occasioned by the waxing Cancer moon could greatly enhance the situation.

Gemini May 21 – June 20 Relationships may hold a surprise this week — a new departure from the norm may be in the air again. Some good news could materialise on the family front. At work what seems like a setback could be constructive news in the long run. In family matters, make sure you know exactly the terms of any future plans that affect you.