The lives and times of James Galway
But the 73-year-old flautist is far from talked out. Full of laughter, he has an anecdote at the ready for any question, drawing on a store of memories from his working-class Protestant childhood in Belfast, to his globe-trotting career as a soloist.
Galway, who has lived in Switzerland since the 1970s, is in town to receive a lifetime achievement award at the National Concert Hall. “It’s a very moving thing, and a very special thing,” he says. “There’s only one honour like this conferred. It’s not like something a lot of people get. It’s special for me because it’s in the Republic: this is real Ireland. Well, the other bit is real Ireland too, but they won’t admit it,” he adds with a mischievous laugh.
