5 for your radar: Reggie for president, Kilkenny Arts Festival, and Stiff Little Fingers in Cork
Martin Hayes, festival artist in residence, helps open Kilkenny Arts Festival, which runs August 8-18. Picture: Dylan Vaughan
One of the premier arts events in the country, highlights include the European premiere of two operas from composer Emma O’Halloran — / with librettist Mark O’Halloran, and by Johann Johannsson. There are dance events and classical music, as well as performances from Martin Hayes, Cormac Begley, and Mick Flannery.
We’re not quite sure how , ridiculed on its debut, has made it to season four, but there are now plenty of people genuinely excited about it. The season is split into two parts, with the first five episodes dropping on Thursday and the next five coming on September 12. Emily finds herself with a busy travel schedule, travelling to Rome and the French Alps over the course of the season. Sacre bleu!
The mayor of Dictionary Corner on , Dent has written a couple of books focused on language and words over the years but now turns her hand, for the first time, to a novel. An intriguing mystery after the disappearance of a woman in Oxford, it’s also said to be a love letter to language. Of course.
Reggie from the Blackrock Road is the richest man in Cork by a huge margin and decides to take a run at the presidency of Ireland following years of tyranny under Limerick’s Michael D Higgins. As part of a tour, he’s reaching out to the ordinary people of West Cork without touching them, unless they are gorgeous. Expect laughs a plenty.
Formed in Belfast in 1977, the legendary band return to Cork for a headline performance as part of their Hate Has No Place Here tour. It’s 10 years since their last studio album but SLF pack a punch live, with almost 50 years of brilliant riffs and hits to draw on.
