Des Keogh, 81, was born in Birr, Co Offaly, and worked for Guinness for three years before becoming a fulltime actor and presenter in 1963. He’s currently touring in the The Quiet Land by Malachy McKenna, which will run at Cork Arts Theatre from Tuesday, April 11 to Thursday 13.

SATURDAY  

Two buildings have been evacuated at The Mall in Waterford city following a bomb alert.

4/5

Ben Barnes has assembled an impressive cast for the Irish premiere of a play by Eugene O’Neill, writes Padraic Killeen

Best-selling children’s author Eoin Colfer has been recruited by the South-East’s partnership of cities and towns to act as an ambassador for their bid to become the 2020 European Capital of Culture.

Cork Opera House is celebrating its 160th anniversary tonight. It’s a momentous milestone, says Marjorie Brennan.

Gerald Kean mentors golfer Brian Casey in the first episode of The Speech on RTÉ One tomorrow.

The Sanctuary nightclub, where Karen Buckley was last seen, is a busy nightspot popular with students and young people living in the city’s West End that has been open for more than a decade.

BRENDAN Grace has been making people laugh for 40 years. 

SCOTTISH wildlife cameraman, Gordon Buchanan, 42, is from Tobermory on the Isle Of Mull. His November speaking tour of Ireland includes Theatre Royal, Waterford (18); Triskel, Cork (20); and Axis Ballymun (22).

A CHEF clutching a cluster of small copper saucepans is part of the promotion for the new four-part series about the Shelbourne Hotel being broadcast by RTÉ.

Amanda Barrie is getting married to her partner after almost decade together.

Opera: The Invader

Colette Sheridan pays tribute to the late musical director and legend of Irish theatre, Bryan Flynn.

When an Irish composer with stacks of choral works to his credit and an enviable international reputation announces he is composing his first opera, it generates a wave of interest that reaches beyond the confines of new music cognoscenti.

100 years ago today Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’ shocked class-ridden Victorian Britain, writes Robert Hume.

Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter’s portrayal of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s tempestuous relationship has been recognised with a TV Bafta nomination in the UK.

Brendan Behan died 50 years ago this week, He was as famous for his drinking as for his undoubted talents, says Ryle Dwyer

Billing itself as a top Waterford city four-star hotel, the modern-build Fitzwilton comes for sale with a €2 million price guide, just in time for the city’s 1100-year anniversary celebrations.

GIG WISE: You may have missed the news released just before Christmas that Longitude will return to Marlay Park in Dublin on Jul 18-20, with confirmed acts including Disclosure and Ben Howard.

THE fallibility of memory is one of the themes of Shelagh Stephenson’s play, The Memory of Water, which opens at Cork’s Everyman Theatre this evening and runs until Nov 23. This Theatre Royal production, directed by artistic director, Ben Barnes, is about three sisters on the eve of their mother’s funeral.

As Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane ride in as the FAI’s new sheriff and deputy, Dave Kenny looks at some other memorable good cop/bad cop pairings from the archives, or should that be ‘bad cop/bad bad cop’?

Retailers are to be given financial incentives to occupy vacant shops in Waterford as part of a €600,000 drive to revitalise the city centre.

Passengers arriving to and preparing to depart from Waterford Airport got an unexpected bonus when they were serenaded with some high-quality singing by dozens of barbershop crooners.

FIRM favourite to win the Epsom Derby, 100 years ago today, was Craganour, bred by Lord Dunraven at Adare, Co Limerick, and owned by Bower Ismay, brother of the shipping magnate, J Bruce Ismay, who was rescued from the Titanic.

THE spot occupied by this elegant home, Fenton, is, it could be said, in a parallel universe, a garden oasis filled with birdsong in lieu of traffic snarl, sandwiched between Cork city’s Blackrock and Boreenmanna roads.

Enda Kenny got a taste of what it’s like to mint your own money— away from the watchful eyes of the troika, but it was just a fleeting moment recalling times gone by rather than the way of things to come.

A contact centre company, founded with nine staff less than two years ago aims to recruit another 100 employees at a jobs fair today and tomorrow.

Musical theatre director Bryan Flynn’s ten years of directing the Cork Opera House’s biggest productions will be marked on Saturday in a tribute show entitled Hey, Mr Director!.

Dublin plays host to a three-day festival of international actor-led theatre next week, says Pádraic Killeen

MUSIC NEWS: She’s conquered Britain, America and the world, now Adele is following in the footsteps of music legends Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Tina Turner and, er, Sheena Easton.

Mark O’Regan tells Colette Sheridan how he relishes playing a philandering husband in Marina Carr’s acclaimed play, Woman and Scarecrow

A new documentary on Michael Collins: The Musical will be premiered at Cork Opera House tonight, says Colette Sheridan

The entire village of Blennerville, as well as key Georgian and Victorian streetscapes in Tralee town centre, have been designated as areas worthy of architectural conservation.

When he died 100 years ago today, the Irish writer had not received due recognition for creating our favourite vampire, says Robert Hume

A SERIES of free events will take place during the upcoming Waterford Harvest Festival.

A WHO’S who of celebrity chefs will descend upon Waterford city for the annual Harvest Festival next month.

WATERFORD was overrun by pirates of all ages yesterday morning but trainee sailors regained control of the city’s streets in the afternoon as a crew parade resulted in large splashes of colour in the Tall Ships Races 2011 festival.

Saturday

Fresh from receiving critical praise for her return to the West End, Sienna Miller has launched a new collection of clothes with older sister Savannah.

Sienna Miller has received dazzling reviews from theatre critics after making her return to the West End following a six-year absence.

Here are some of the quotes of the General Election 2011 results day: