Previous Day
Chinese can't get enough 'Godot'
The Irish Festival of Arts and Culture has been drawing huge audiences in China, writes Rosita Boland p
The state of the parties
Forget the films - at Cannes the parties are rated on a scale of martinis. Michael Dwyer attended some, purely in the line of duty p
The Brendan voyage
Brendan Kennelly is retiring next year, but the publication of his new and collected poems shows he has no intention of hanging up his pen, he tells Arminta Wallace p
Arts
Raising a roof for Synge
Artscape: IT seems ironic in a year marked by two productions of Synge's Playboy - with more Synge to come from Galway's Druid Theatre - that for the want of €2,500, the future of Teach Synge on Inis Meáin could be in jeopardy, writes Lorna Siggins . pBeing Christy Dignam
On the Town: Watching Christy Dignam on stage is "unreal", according to one fan, Rob Smith, from Terenure. Dignam, lead singer with veteran Dublin band Aslan, always sings in his bare feet, using his whole body to interpret songs. pPolitics laid bare
On the Town: It was a roll call of some of the best-known faces from Leinster House. There was barely standing room as the resident politicians and political correspondents of Dáil Éireann squashed into the upstairs bar of Doheny & Nesbitts in Dublin to mark the publication of The Naked Politician, by Katie Hannon this week. p'Savoy' gets a good grilling
On the Town: There was a great sense of excitement on the opening night of Eugene O'Brien's second full-length play, Savoy. All eyes were on O'Brien, whose first play, Eden, won the Stewart Parker Best New Play Award 2001, the Rooney Prize for Literature 2003 and was deemed Best New Play in the Irish Times/ESB Irish Theatre Awards 2001. pPortraits of the young artists
On the Town: Some of the most talented and creative children received congratulations from the President, Mrs McAleese, in Dublin this week. p
Golden eagles soaring down from Donegal
Even with only half a sky (the ridge behind us hides the rest), I live with more heaven than most. Out of doors, a part of me is always tuned upwards, to the familiar transit of crows and gulls, the soaring of pipits and larks. pSlurry hits the fan
Failure to tackle the level of slurry use on Irish farms has long been a bugbear of anglers and environmentalists, but it has now come to a head with the Government being cited for inaction by the European Commission, writes Iva Pocock pHorizons
Nature events and notices pEye on Nature
Observations on nature pEcoWeb
Nature on the web p
Sensitive salute to a traumatised town
Anthology: As the Dublin bombs occupied the news on Friday May 17th, 1974, households in Monaghan Town were hurrying the evening tea to go to the annual parish retreat in the Cathedral. pHere is the fearsome weather forecast
Environment: In the blink of an eye, by geological time standards, we are engaging in an experiment which could return our planet to the atmospheric conditions that existed 50 million years ago, when crocodiles patrolled the warm water swamps of Greenland. pUnsettled in the suburbs
Irish Fiction: Chris Binchy's début novel was hailed as an up-to-the-minute X-ray of the zeitgeist, with its out-of-control "toxic bachelor" (Helen Fielding's phrase) serving as emblem of a crumbling Celtic Tiger. pChoking on self-indulgence
Fiction: Andrew Norton, described by the book blurb as "poet, visionary and hack" but exposed through the meandering narrative as an aimless writer, ego and self-important bore, undertakes a journey. pThe Dail uncovered
Politics: If you have ever wondered what makes politicians do the things they do, or even why they become politicians, then both these books will give you plenty of answers. pInscrutable advocate of the state
Current Affairs: Under Stalin, the disappearance of innocent citizens was a fact of life. Two million Soviet army chiefs, priests, professors and other "enemies of the people" were murdered during the Great Terror of 1937-38. pA moving tale
Popular Fiction: Jenny Dempsey lives by the sea in Dublin with her little boy, Charlie, and their dog, Sausage. She is content to have turned her back on a hectic career in journalism and more than happy to be living the quiet life of a freelancer. pA class act
Film: Asked to provide a mini-biography for the Planet Britain project, Ken Loach wrote that a recurring theme of his work "has been to explore the two curses of the labour movement: Stalinism and social democracy, the latter exemplified by the Blairite project of trying to give a radical gloss to hard-line capitalist politics". His entry was omitted. pWelcome slice of summer
Romance: In the course of her work as a reporter for the BBC, Roisin McAuley has made documentaries on subjects as diverse as animal rights, the Intifada, and cholera in Peru. pClassic ingredients
Children's Literature Prize/The Bisto Shortlist: The winner of the 14th Bisto Book of the Year will be announced on Thursday. Orna Mulcahy assesses the 10 contenders pWriters recall first Joycean encounters
Sadbh: With the Bloomsday centenary on June 16th looming nearer, there could be few better ways to get into the mood for the big bonanza than by perusing the James Joyce Bloomsday Magazine 2004 just published by the James Joyce Centre. pPark Avenue princesses go name-dropping
Popular Fiction: Eew! Haven't come across that expression before? In the New York world populated by the Park Avenue princesses of Bergdorf blondes, it means a little scream of surprise and horror, usually when someone has beaten you to the latest designer label or fashion trend. pAudio Books
The Irish Times looks at a selection of audio books p
On the tourist trail
The Last Straw: A number of Monaghan football supporters have asked if I could, please, please, write off the team's chances of beating Armagh again tomorrow. pWomen's Hour - all week
TV Review: For Inside 252, seven ordinary women were plucked from obscurity to take part in . . . Excuse me? Celebrities? Oh, great! Where? Here? Oh. pEurovision and other charity cases
Radio Review: 'I love these bored housewives ringing up having an opinion," said Louis Walsh on Liveline (RTÉ1, Monday), and with that one patronising line he prompted listeners sitting on the fence over why Ireland bombed at the Eurovision to leap off it immediately. p
