Des O'Driscoll rounds up the latest entertainment news.

Reggae royalty, Ireland’s most famous comedy actress and Cork’s first ever Proms concerts are just a few of the attractions at this year’s Cork Midsummer Festival.

Although he was only a teenager when the Ford and Dunlop plants on the Marina in Cork closed down in the early 1980s, the events left a lasting impression on Pat Kiernan.

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As Corcadorca puts on Patrick McCabe’s play at Elizabeth Fort, Colette Sheridan goes behind the scenes to see the logistics of mounting a production at such a venue

As Corcadorca marks 25 years of great theatre in Cork, Pat Kiernan and Enda Walsh tell Alan O’Riordan about the early days, Disco Pigs and what’s happened since

After 30 years in UCC, Mel Mercier has now taken up a post in University of Limerick, writes Colette Sheridan

The centenary of the Easter Rising has given us an abundance of commemorative

Cork Midsummer Festival returns for 2016 with the announcement of a 20% increase in funding from the Arts Council.

Cork Savings Bank

The only Irish arts show to be devised, commissioned, and funded entirely by a local authority is set to tour China after playing to record audiences over the summer.

Good films and a great atmosphere contributed to another success in Schull, writes Ellie O’Byrne

FUNDING for the arts may be thin on the ground but there seems to be no end to the amount of theatre companies springing up in Cork, often working without anything approaching a budget or, if they’re lucky, getting one-off funding for projects.

A factory in Kinsale has proved to be the perfect location to put on the Irish premiere of a typically energetic play by Enda Walsh, writes Alan O’Riordan

A fiery spectacle in the harbour, a sweathouse by the sea, film screenings in an atmospheric amphitheatre, and traditional music in churches.

He has made it big in film and on TV but Cillian Murphy is happier on stage than chasing stardom. Now he’s set to return to where it all began, writes Alan O’Riordan.

Celebrating three years since Christchurch was opened as part of the Triskel’s expansion and reinvention, a number of free events will take place at the Cork venue on May 22.

Interviewing Fiona Shaw and Cillian Murphy was no problem, writes Sophie Gray, 12.

Actor, director and producer Julie Kelleher is relishing the challenge of taking the helm at the Everyman Theatre, writes Colette Sheridan

Cork French Film Festival celebrates its 25th birthday in style, writes Colette Sheridan

THE Irish premiere of writer and composer Ailís Ní Ríain’s play, Desolate Heaven, opens at the Everyman in Cork in a co-production with the Granary Theatre on Feb 3. Directed by Tony McCleane-Fay, Desolate Heaven stars Mary McEvoy, who plays three eccentric women in their late 50s.

A showcase of theatrical work from six Cork-based companies runs at the TDC (Triskel Development Centre) from Nov 29-Dec 8.

The Theatre Development Centre’s new three-week residencies provide the time and space for test runs of new work in Cork City, says Colette Sheridan

Gary Duggan’s new play Shibari marks his debut at the national theatre, says Pádraic Killeen

President Michael D Higgins led tributes last night to the team behind an Irish musical which triumphed at the Tony Awards in New York.

As the Cork city arts space celebrates its birthday, director Tony Sheehan discusses its future with Colette Sheridan

CORK Opera House and the Vibes and Scribes store were yesterday named as the third quarter winners of the Cork Business Association/Heineken Ireland business awards.

Loughlin Deegan tells Alan O’Riordan how the Dublin Theatre Festival is making the most of the city’s talent

Working on a production of Shakespeare’s most difficult play has been a very satisfying experience for Corcadorca, writes Carl Dixon

Galway Arts Festival is a wild fortnight of theatre, music and comedy, says Carl Dixon

TO MANY, Cillian Murphy is the dark horse of Irish cinema, as likely to be seen in modestly budgeted indigenous films as in high-concept Hollywood blockbusters.

TENS of thousands of visitors are expected in Leeside over the next fortnight as the Cork Midsummer Festival gets under way with dance, music, theatre and art on show until the festivities conclude on June 27.

DON’T look down as the curtain goes up.

THE ‘city of festivals’ has just received a cash injection for two high-profile events in Cork’s cultural calendar.

THE programme for the European Capital of Culture was launched yesterday in Cork, making public for the first time the near-250 events taking place in the city throughout next year.