BRIAN: WHATS SO FUNNY ABOUT PEACE, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING?

On April 10, 1999, I was in the producer’s chair in Studio 4 in RTÉ while we aired a special episode of a live Saturday night chat show called Kenny Live, hosted by Pat Kenny. The show was paying its respects to the late actor and comedian, Dermot Morgan, who died unexpectedly the previous year... Continue Reading →

OASIS AND THE IRISH IN THEM

For the week that’s in it, we asked our Toronto Bureau Chief – and long-time Oasis anorak – Eoin O’Callaghan, to file a guest post about the Irish influence on Noel Gallagher’s work.   Margaret ‘Peggy’ Sweeney was an emotional wreck when she arrived in Manchester from Charlestown, Co. Mayo, in 1962. Like so many... Continue Reading →

PULP: FROM THE FIRST TIME TO THE LAST

In a triumphant return to Dublin’s 3Arena, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker took fans on a nostalgic journey through the band’s early Irish gigs—culminating in a sharp, hilarious callback to their very first Dublin show in 1993 at The Rock Garden. This piece dives into that chaotic, shoestring early gig, the roots of the city’s live music scene in the '80s and '90s, and the long, winding road Pulp took to stardom. From basement venues to festival stages, dodgy hotels to stolen gear, this is a story of perseverance, wit, and a band that finally claimed its moment—thirty years in the making

TRASH: ME AND YOU

In this guest post, documentary maker and writer, Ken Sweeney, explains the background to his recent Radio Nova documentary about The Trashcan Sinatras, which is nominated in the IMRO Radio Awards 2024. This piece is accompanied by a companion piece by Colm. The pieces were written together, from two perspectives, about the same subjects. https://soundcloud.com/ken-sweeney-991302946/the-trashcan-sinatras... Continue Reading →

TALK TO JO: THE GARAGE BAND YEARS

To those of us who were getting our groove on during the late 1980s, a pipeline of information and entertainment came via television and radio and, in particular, some of the regular youth-focused output on RTÉ. Much of which we whinged about relentlessly but that now, with the benefit of hindsight, looks far more prescient... Continue Reading →

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