John Calder spoke at the Abbey Theatre some years ago. The founder and director of Calder and Boyars had published a host of Nobel Prize winners, including Samuel Beckett. Calder stressed that Beckett’s early writing, his novels, had attained modest success. His reputation grew slowly…”Ideas take time” Calder explained. Seamus Deane was born in Derry … Read more
Five takeaways from my experience at Sattva Yoga Academy in india: Have an experience without using words to describe the experience at least once a day. I am much more than my mind. My ego is not the center of me, my heart is. Miracles and mystical experiences happen all the time – be open … Read more
‘We dream – it is good we are dreaming – It would hurt us – were we awake – But since it is playing – kill us, And we are playing – shriek –‘ ‘We dream – it is good we are dreaming’ Emily Dickinson There are quite a few things in life which I … Read more
Robert Fisk wrote: ‘we journalists try – or should try – to be the first impartial witnesses of history. If we have any reason for our existence, the least must be our ability to report history as it happens so that no one can say: “We didn’t know, no one told us.”[i] To be an … Read more
If you follow me baby I’ll turn your money green I show you more money Rockerfeller ever seen Furry Lewis, ‘I Will Turn Your Money Green’ (1928) First of all, it is good to have some of it. Second of all, it is good to have enough of it – which means not too much. … Read more
Patrick Freyne’s satirical 2020 Irish Times article ‘It is now late-period Dermot Bannon. He is on the verge of losing it’ was an unusually humorous appraisal of the kitsch that state broadcaster RTÉ tends to dollop out. In his novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being Czech author Milan Kundera explains that kitsch is an aesthetic … Read more
We need to sing again. We need to be Irish. We need to socialise. We need to be ourselves. So said Sarah, professional singer and mother from Ballina, County Tipperary, on the Late Late Show, only a few hours after Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheal Martin’s address to the nation and his surprise announcement that most … Read more
At a recent debate organised by the English-Speaking Union (ESU) at its HQ, Dartmouth House in London, we considered whether the British government’s response to Covid placed too great a priority on security rather than liberty. Naturally I took the liberty side of the argument. I expressed the fear that such a public forum as … Read more
Last week, the Russia-Ukraine-NATO tensions reached a crescendo when Russia decided to recognize both Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states. Shortly after that, Putin proceeded to launch a full-scale invasion of the Ukraine. The day the news broke I felt great sadness. You see, although I’ve never been to either Russia or Ukraine, I have … Read more
When discussing health these days, if we’re not dissecting the latest updates on the pandemic, we’re often focusing on nutrition and dietary choices –– or mental health and wellbeing. These are areas, after all, in which it’s possible to quickly implement practical changes. For instance, we can make easy changes to our diets, particularly with … Read more