Our regular contributors select their highlights of the year.

This opener to the White Horse Guitar Club’s sold-out Cork Opera House concert set the high-tempo tone from which there was no going back.

THE Temple Bar TradFest begins in Dublin this week. Promoted by the Temple Bar Company (an association of traders in the city centre), the acclaimed festival of traditional and folk music will begin on Tuesday and run until Sunday next.

Alan Jackson took home his second entertainer of the year award and four other honours at the annual Country Music Association Awards.