NATIVE SHORE

NATIVE SHORE

Finished this novel in the early hours and just wanted to congratulate the author, journalist and playwright Phil Mac Giolla Bháin, for the way he melded and contrasts aspects of the republican struggle for a united Ireland with Scotland’s attempt to secure...
Poetry Book Reissued

Poetry Book Reissued

I was honoured and proud to be involved in the publication of Eoghan (Gino) Mac Cormaic’s poetry book, the pen behind the wire. I’d previously worked with Gino in editing his book about the H-Block prison protest, On The Blanket. So, it’s great that the poetry book...
Féile na bhFlaitheartach

Féile na bhFlaitheartach

The bilingual Féile na bhFlaitheartach 2023, which celebrates the story-telling of Liam O’Flaherty, takes place on Inis Mór, Aran, on the weekend of the 26/27 August.  The Liam & Tom O’Flaherty Society is celebrating its eleventh bilingual summer festival,...
I COULD READ THE SKY

I COULD READ THE SKY

Tim O’Grady and Steve Pyke’s photographic novel, I Could Read the Sky, first publsihed in 1997, has just been reissued in a brilliant new edition, along with an audiobook which combines O’Grady’s reading with a score created by fiddler Martin Hayes (who in a concert...
Shorty & Sinead

Shorty & Sinead

I told Sinead O’Connor this story in 1997 in London–and she teared up. I had written it in 1992 in H-3, Long Kesh, for An Phoblacht/Republican News. The next day she gave me a miniature Madonna and Child statuette. SHORTY We had an Irish juke-box in...