Humble Serpent is a new record label launched at possibly the worst time you could pick to launch a record label. Sean Finnan caught up with one of the founders, vinny dermody, a 17 year veteran of Ireland’s independent scene with The Jimmy Cake to find out what kind of a contrary bastard starts a label at a time like this.
BEEP BEEP!
The concept of public service broadcasting isn’t really a coherent blueprint for broadcasting practice. Rather is a rather vague concept based on a particular set of institutional arrangements and a particular coalition of class interests. In practical terms what it has meant is that the public interest has been defined largely by people drawn from the upper middle classes who operate in a subordinate relationship to the state.
Starring Dublin As Dublin.
Long-time readers of rabble will know we love to draw attention to Dublin’s architecture and great architects past and present. Therefore, when we found out that the IFI were running an event called Dublin Plays Itself alongside the Irish Architecture Foundation, we were definitely interested. Patrick McCusker caught up with Sunniva O’Flynn, one of the tour guides, to find out more.
Connemara Cinema.
Bob Quinn is a filmmaker based in Connemara whose 1975 film Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire tells the story of a film shoot in a Gaeltacht where the actors rebel against their director. The original suggestion and support for making the film came from Eamonn Smullen, who was Director of Education, Sinn Féin The Workers Party.
Upon release, it was greeted as “the first completely native-produced movie that seems capable of holding its own with the best of the world’s new cinema.”.
After a long period during which the negative was feared lost, it was recovered and restored in 2010. Rabble caught up with Bob Quinn to talk about it.
Get Into The Groove.
They say the past is another country, but in the case of Ireland – it’s probably more like a parallel fecking looniverse. Rashers Tierney caught up with John Byrne to talk about the strange land that gave birth to the utterly fantastic Quare Groove compilation.
Acht Gaelige Anois.
Misneach was set up back in the sixties by socialist-republican Gaeilgeoir and modernist author Máirtín Ó Cadhain. It’s recently been revived by a group of Irish-language activists with a fiercely anti-capitalist bent. Tomás Lynch caught up with Misneach member Seanán Mac Aoidh to talk about the ructions over the Irish language Act in the North and all things Gaeilge.
Shitty City.
Lorcan Sirr is a researcher at the Dublin Institute Of Technology. He has a deep understanding of the ideologies that underpin our approach to cities and our over-reliance on the market to meet housing needs. Caitriona Devery got the super new Red Line Luas to Phibsboro to talk about housing, planning, and the long fingered tentacles of the Catholic Church.
Let’s Talk About Sex.
Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger is on the frontline fight for many issues but especially women’s rights and secular education. Last week she tabled the Provision of Objective Sex Education Bill which wants to ensure that children receive factual, secular sex education. Caitriona Devery spoke to her about the issues at hand.
Bring It Back.
Ever heard of Grace Dyas? You should have. Her recent production Not At Home won Best Production at last year’s Dublin Fringe Festival – and could soon be coming to a town near you. Patrick McCusker caught up with Grace yesterday to find out more and hear about their fundraising campaign to take it on the road.
One Night In Skintown.
Following the publication of his highly acclaimed debut novel Skintown about rave culture in 1990’s Northern Ireland, Enniskillen actor Ciarán McMenamin talks to Eileen Walsh about drugs, protein shakes and orange marches. And with his book being hailed as the new Trainspotting, the film rights to Skintown have already been snapped up. watch this space. People in Northern Ireland are tired of hearing stories about the Troubles, people in the South … Read More