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Throwing down the challenge
The NT Shell Connections youth theatre workshops in Cork are a powerhouse of energy and original thinking, reports Belinda McKeon p

Have you heard the one about the Bachs of Oranmore?
A Romanian string quartet and three traditional musician have teamed up in a marriage made in sonic heaven, writes Siobhán Long p

Arts

Melancholy man
Edward Hopper's soul-searching paintings are extraordinarily atmospheric expressions of the urban landscape of America, writes Aidan Dunne p
Plan edging towards emergence
Artscape: The Arts Plan 2002-2006 may be dead, but arts organisations and artists needn't make themselves too comfortable in its absence - a successor is on the way, it was confirmed by the Arts Council this week, writes Belinda McKeon . p
Andiamo a Wexford
On the town: Italians saluted Wexford as a unique location in the world of opera this week. All roads will lead to Wexford this October. Andiamo! Great operatic productions will be staged at this year's Wexford Festival Opera. p
Sit-ups and take notice
On the Town: If Dublin's underworld cronies were present, they kept themselves well hidden in the slick upstairs lounge at Ron Black's bar, where Liz Allen was launching her first novel, Last to Know. Formerly crime correspondent at the Sunday Independent, Allen took over the position after Veronica Guerin's murder in 1996. p
Eigse sunny side up
On the Town: The sun streamed through the glass, reaching down even to the below-ground-level windows of Chapter One restaurant in Dublin, where a crowd of artists assembled to herald the Éigse Carlow Arts Festival, which begins on June 12th. p
Poems at dinnertime
On the Town: The lofty, ornate ceilings of the Board Room in the Royal College of Surgeons eminently suited the lofty words and sentiments in the poetry of Enda Wyley and Gerard Smyth, who were each launching their new collections, Poems for Breakfast and A New Tenancy. Not too lofty, though, for a healthy buzz among the guests, enlivened by the sunshine, warmth and inevitable glass or three. p

About Us

Reprieve for the badger?
In an effort to control bovine tuberculosis, thousands of badgers have been killed. But the introduction of a vaccine may lead to a reduction in the slaughter, writes Seán Mac Connell , Agriculture Correspondent p
To bee or not to bee? That is the question
Another Life/Michael Viney: If I tiptoe through the geraniums these mornings, it is not just because, billowing pinkly into blossom at either side of the garden path, they leave little room for my feet (they are, I should add, geraniums of the wilder, cranesbill kind). No, my care is to avoid discommoding the dozens of bumblebees as they nudge intently into the flowers. Their collective, helicopter buzz reminds me that their family name, Bombus, means "booming". p
Horizons
Nature events and notices p
Eye on Nature
Observations on nature p
EcoWeb
Nature on the web p

Book Reviews

A classic hanger-on
Poetry/Biography: Had Stephen Spender not gone to Oxford at the same time as his great friend, W.H. Auden, he almost certainly would not have become the writer he did and John Sutherland's biography of him might never have been written. p
Monarch with a mission
Biography: Reading the recent and posthumously published devastating critique of former Spanish prime minister José María Aznar, 'La aznaridad' ('Aznaricity') by the outstanding Spanish novelist and commentator of his generation, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán ("Aznar put on the same smile at christenings as at burials"), one is tempted to resist any apotheosis of King Juan Carlos ("A People's King", as Paul Preston subtitles his new biography of the Spanish monarch, without question mark or quotation marks). p
Drawn together by an exiled rebel
An exhibition on James Joyce's life and work is on a world tour as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs contribution to the centenary of Bloomsday. Terence Killeen caught up with it in Lisbon p
Moor culture, less substance
Travel: Travelling companions should be chosen with great care, as much for literary adventures abroad as for fly-drive holidays. If you found Jason Webster a congenial guide on his "journey in search of flamenco" in the critically acclaimed Duende , you will probably enjoy this new book. p
Musical language of loss
Poetry: With loss being one of the great and natural subjects of poetry, in first collections especially both poet and reader are often looking for forms and strategies by which it might be borne. p
A light touch for the lost knight
Spanish Literature: With the centenary of Bloomsday anticipating by only a year the quatercentenary of the publication in 1605 of Don Quixote, Part One - the very book which is generally credited with having set the modern novel on its merry, meandering way - it is a delight to review Edith Grossman's new rendering into English of Cervantes's comic masterpiece. p
A hidden holocaust
History: That history is a form of advocacy is nowhere more clearly illustrated than in the continuing controversies, and silences, surrounding the destruction of the Armenian presence in the Ottoman Empire. p
The futility of force
Peace: Jonathan Schell scared us before. Twenty years ago, his bestselling The Fate of the Earth shocked the world into recognition of the abyss to which nuclear weapons had brought us. Now terrorism and the Western response to terrorism have renewed the shock. p
Write on target and a laugh a line
Popular Fiction: It was only a matter of time before the bestselling author of books including Watermelon , Rachel's Holiday and Sushi For Beginners turned her attention to the industry she has come to know intimately over the past 10 years. p
Passenger watching
Fiction: No matter how many ways writers tug and pull at the notion of narrative, one man's story retains its appeal. Aloft is the earthy, likeable, if lengthy third novel by Korean-born Chang-Rae Lee whose fiction increasingly looks towards the US where he was raised. p
From the Gaeltacht of the mind
Irish Language: Let me declare an interest. Breandán Ó Doibhlin officiated at my wedding; I played a very small part in publishing three of his books with a different publisher; he has spoken as my guest at the John Hewitt International Summer School and, on the occasions we meet (regrettably few), I value his company. I knew him before I met him, however. I read him first while an undergraduate 20 years ago and treasure still discovering his collection of essays, Aistí Critice agus Cultúir , and his novel, An Branar Gan Cur , two seminal works. p
Joyce's days in Pula remembered
LooseLeaves/Sadbh: There is so much on offer as part of the Bloomsday centenary celebrations that it would be easy to miss the smaller events - for example James Joyce in Pula , a recently opened exhibition at the Freemason's Hall, on Dublin's Molesworth Street. p

Seen & Heard

Louder than bombs
TV Review: This week's dramatisation of Omagh fixed its eyes on those it believed responsible and held their gaze. Just as Paul Greengrass's film Bloody Sunday hadn't the patience to wait for the Saville Inquiry, his and Guy Hibbert's dramatisation of the Omagh bombing was outspoken. It named those it believed to be responsible; wrote their names on a list, which it referred to throughout. p
Security and easy money in post-war Iraq
Radio Review: 'From what I gather it's good to have the likes of Iraq on your CV," said Paul Johnson, a coach in a boxing club in a Loyalist area of Belfast. Over the past year he's seen a noticeable drop-off in attendance at the club - a favourite with ex-RUC men and one-time soldiers - because his clientele are in strong demand by recruiters looking for private security contractors in Iraq. p
Poster boys for Europe
The Last Straw: I was alarmed to read in the Sunday Independent last weekend that Fianna Fáil has accused Labour of "sanctimonious postering in the Dáil". If the allegation is true - it's attributed to Willie O'Dea - it marks a very worrying development in the current election campaign. But Willie would hardly make this sort of thing up and, assuming he didn't, the news is not all that surprising. p

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Throwing down the challenge

Have you heard the one about the Bachs of Oranmore?

Melancholy man

Plan edging towards emergence

Andiamo a Wexford

Sit-ups and take notice

Eigse sunny side up

Poems at dinnertime

Reprieve for the badger?

To bee or not to bee? That is the question

Horizons

Eye on Nature

EcoWeb

A classic hanger-on

Monarch with a mission

Drawn together by an exiled rebel

Moor culture, less substance

Musical language of loss

A light touch for the lost knight

A hidden holocaust

The futility of force

Write on target and a laugh a line

Passenger watching

From the Gaeltacht of the mind

Joyce's days in Pula remembered

Louder than bombs

Security and easy money in post-war Iraq

Poster boys for Europe

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