MARY GAUTHIER has been described by The Wall Street Journal as “one of Americana music’s most admired artists — across the U.S. and...around the world.” The 53-year-old, Louisiana-born singer and songwriter will play five shows in Ireland in May.

COMIC Dylan Moran and British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alistair Campbell are set to be the star attractions at this year’s Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast.

Before Kenneth Branagh, before Liam Neeson, before Stephen Rea there was Stephen Boyd ... the first movie icon from Northern Ireland, the star of such spectacular Hollywood epics as The Fall of the Roman Empire, Fantastic Voyage and, of course, Ben Hur (for which he should have won an Academy Award).