‘Songs are valuable things’

Thu, Nov 25, 2021

NO TWO people’s experience of the pandemic and the lockdowns have been the same. For many, it has been tough, a time of deep uncertainty, something they have had to endure.

'Getting to Know'...Donncha Foley

Thu, Nov 25, 2021

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Happiness to me is often in how you decide to perceive things.

‘We need to realise what we are and what we can be’

Wed, Nov 24, 2021

IT IS a time of change at the Galway Arts Centre. As 2021 draws to a close, plans are being made for 2022 which will see renovated buildings, a new online presence, challenging exhibitions, and even new approaches in how we experience events.

'Getting to Know'...Jo Vahey

Thu, Nov 18, 2021

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A big fire and a good book!

‘I want to make Resurgam better known outside Ireland’

Wed, Nov 17, 2021

THESE ARE changing and exciting times for Resurgam, the Galway project based vocal ensemble. Already regarded as the premier such ensemble in Ireland, its new general manager, Vlad Smishkewych, has ambitions to make them a force across the European continent.

‘We can call ourselves artists, thanks to Galway’

Wed, Nov 10, 2021

THEY WERE formed in the turbulent years following the collapse of the Ceausescu regime in Romania, and in Ireland they survived the recession, and later, the lockdowns enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘The Famine is not finished with me’

Thu, Nov 04, 2021

NICK CAVE, Leonard Cohen, Julian Lennon, Ray Davies, Louise Wener, Graham Parker, Gil Scott Heron...there is a tradition of singer-songwriters turning their hand to fiction via the novel or short story, and to that list we can now add Declan O’Rourke.

'Getting to Know'...Eoin Dara, TULCA Festival

Thu, Nov 04, 2021

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being left alone by the sea.

'Getting to Know'...Tom O'Mahony, comedian

Thu, Oct 14, 2021

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A cleared mortgage.

‘Galway provides the best atmosphere...it has that good reputation’

Wed, Oct 13, 2021

FOR KARL Spain, the return to live comedy, and especially the return to indoor gigs, is “akin to Italia 90 - without the climbing up on cars and big crowds hugging each other, we can't do that yet - but that kind of euphoria”.

‘If Ireland is a young nation, the Famine is our childhood trauma’

Thu, Oct 07, 2021

IT IS 1845, the first year of the potato blight, the first year of The Famine. In Connemara, Colmán Sharkey ekes out a living as a fisherman. He is isolated from his community, except from his brother Patsy, a soldier who has returned home.

'Getting to Know'...a dragon!

Thu, Oct 07, 2021

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Simply to sing, atop a hill or perhaps astride a hillock.

‘I always tell comedians, you need to go to Galway, that’s where it’s happening‘

Wed, Oct 06, 2021

ASK TERRY Alderton about coming to Galway, and the last thing he will give you is the standard “Oh yeah Galway’s a great city, I really love it” most performers trot out. For Terry, coming to Galway is coming to a city where there is a “funky bohemian atmosphere you only get in the west of Ireland”.

'Getting to Know...' Suzanne Black

Thu, Sep 30, 2021

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Reading a good book in an empty house is bliss - chocolate makes it perfect!

‘I love that Baboró is all about art. It is always a positive and happy thing to do or see’

Wed, Sep 29, 2021

THE 25TH Baboró International Arts Festival for Children is taking place from Monday October 4 to Sunday 17. Children are at the heart of everything that Baboró does, and this year young people are co-creators of many of the events, lending their talents, opinions and thoughts.

Jennie O’Connell, artist

Thu, Sep 23, 2021

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Having just ordered in a great restaurant.

‘It means the world to us we can have live audiences again’

Wed, Sep 22, 2021

WITH THE return of live music and concerts, there is a sense of optimism and possibility again, not to mention a determination to make up for the lost time enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘Singing allows me to express parts of me I don’t normally show’

Thu, Sep 16, 2021

“I AM excited. It’s been a long time coming,” says Tolü Makay, about the return to playing in front of live audiences again, after 18 long months where shows and concerts were deemed impossible.