A personal blog of ideas, discoveries and perspectives.
John Millington Synge's play The Playboy of the Western World famously caused riots when it was first performed in 1907. Since then it has become essential to the Irish theatrical canon and there have been countless impressive revivals. The 2019 Dublin Theatre Festival opened tonight with a new production that attempts to look afresh at …
This week sees the anniversary of the collective action by Irish tenants against injustice which gave the English language the expression 'to boycott'. Captain Charles Boycott Captain Charles Boycott, who was managing the County Mayo estates of Lord Erne in a manner that brought him into conflict with tenants, found himself ostracised by those tenants, …
Today - September 23 - is International Day of Sign Languages, which serves to highlight the importance and significance of sign languages for deaf and hearing impaired people around the world. According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are about 72 million deaf people worldwide using over 300 different sign languages. In Ireland, …
I have been the host of the National Lottery Telly Bingo on RTE1 television for years and people always ask me what it’s like presenting the show. Here’s a little peak behind the scenes. Telly Bingo, which celebrates 20 years on Irish television this week, is recorded in Studio 6 of the RTE Television building …
For people who experience so much discrimination, it shocks me how easily we [the gay community] can go from victim to perpetrator of discrimination. A quick glance at gay men’s hook-up site Grindr provides a perfect example. On Grindr, user profiles are peppered with discriminatory language and threats to “block” other guys who don’t meet …
