Welcome to the third part of our journey across Irish literature! In the first part, we talked about Irish literature from the arrival of Christianity to the Middle Ages. The second part of our Irish literature series was dedicated to…
In normal years, Belfast and the rest of Northern Ireland would be preparing for one of the most eagerly awaited weekends, or depending on your political stance, one of the most controversial days of the year. Streets would be decorated…
Over one million people have now downloaded Ireland’s Covid-19 tracker app. Ireland has now joined Italy and Germany who have already activated their tracing apps as tools to avoid a second wave of coronavirus infections. But what does it actually…
What is it like nursing in a Covid-19 ward during the pandemic? Eva McGilloway is a nurse at Altnagelvin hospital in Derry. She spoke to me recently about what it is like taking care of people who have had to…
Last weekend, we saw the six counties of Northern Ireland catch up with the Republic’s lockdown lifting. From Friday 3rd July, bars, pubs and cafes were finally allowed to open their doors to their cold pint, and artisan coffee thirsty…
Many people think of Irish music as traditional only: country style music with an orchestra of traditional instruments, mostly singing rebel songs. The truth couldn’t be further away, however. Over the last 50 years, music in Ireland has had an…
Linda Ervine’s interview video at the bottom of the article I first met Linda Ervine, a proud Unionist and Protestant from East Belfast, a few years ago in Gweedore, County Donegal. We were attending an intensive, residential one-week Gaeilge or…
Dark and unapologetic in nature, the banter-based Irish sense of humour is, well, simply quite special. Add a splash of self-deprecation and slagging into the mix and voilá. Irish banter-based humour is certainly unique. Rest assured you will scarcely find…
Costa Coffee and Starbucks have taken the same step due to COVID-19. Several big fast food and coffee chains, including McDonald’s, have decided to suspend their operation amid the COVID-19 outbreak. South African chain Nando’s closed its restaurants on March…