Behind the Scenes Archives

WEXFORD OPERA’S BIG PRODUCTION

December 11, 2025

WITH THE curtain having come down on the 2025 Wexford Festival Opera (WFO), the focus now turns to next year’s 75th anniversary shindig,... Read more »

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

November 27, 2025

A RECENT investigation by the Guardian in the UK looked into the finer details of the workings of the tax credit scheme for... Read more »

Tailored Films Screen Ireland Perspectives DCCI Crescine Tarka Russell Lara Hickey Reality Check Sarah McInerney Irish Movies Paul Murray Arts Council Dublin Theatre Festival TWU Macdara Kelleher Richard Boyd Barrett DADC Cillian Murphy Terry McMahon Media Commission Ireland Kerlin Gallery Creative Ireland Section 481 Christine O’Donovan RTÉ Storyland NMI Board Vacancies IASCA Ossie Kilkenny RTÉ Original Programmes

PÁLÁS SEQUEL

November 27, 2025

SO FAREWELL then Solas-Galway Picture Palace, the company that was incorporated in 2007 to develop the ‘Solas’ arthouse cinema for Galway, with Lelia... Read more »

CHESTER BEATTY BACKLOG

November 12, 2025

THE WHEELS are moving slowly in the culture department these days and there is still no sign of minister Patrick O’Donovan getting around... Read more »

CONCERT HALL’S NEW TUNE

November 12, 2025

PRESUMABLY, THERE will be a greater sense of urgency when it comes to filling the various vacancies in the National Concert Hall (NCH),... Read more »

While attempts to cancel author John Boyne failed, the Polari Prize was cancelled and so was Boyne’s award from the L&H Society in UCD. Maureen Kennelly (below) didn’t survive long as Arts Council boss after new culture minister Patrick O’Donovan took charge.

ANNUAL 2025: BEHIND THE SCENES – COCK-UPS, CANCELLATIONS AND KNEECAP

November 12, 2025

ANOTHER YEAR of flops and farce in the arts and entertainment world hurtles to a close with the a huge question mark over... Read more »

MAURA McGRATH MAKES WAY

October 30, 2025

AS FANS of Goldhawk are aware, there has been plenty going on at the National Concert Hall (NCH) in recent months and now... Read more »

O’DONOVAN LOSES THE PLOT

October 16, 2025

FANS OF Goldhawk are well aware of a grant awarded to Listowel Writers’ Week (LWW) – now chaired by former Fianna Fáil senator... Read more »

MOLI’S SCARY PLOT

October 2, 2025

ALMOST 20 months on from when it first emerged that the Museum of Literature Ireland (MoLI) on St Stephen’s Green was in financial... Read more »

NCH VACANCY

October 2, 2025

ELSEWHERE IN this issue (see p18) Goldhawk looks at the appointment of a new chief executive at the National Concert Hall (NCH). There... Read more »

DECLAN RYAN’S DISCOUNT

September 18, 2025

GREAT NEWS for fans of saunas and minted publishers. One of the (two) books published to date by Irelandia Press is now being... Read more »

MOLING’S MISSION

September 18, 2025

AS REVEALED by Goldhawk (see The Phoenix 25/7/25), culture minister Patrick O’Donovan has installed his department’s favourite troubleshooter, Moling Ryan, as the interim... Read more »

DIVERSITY DRAMA

September 4, 2025

THERE MUST have been a little discomfort at the Irish Times when hacks covered the latest adventures of scribbler John Boyne, whose presence... Read more »

SINEAD O’CONNOR BIOPIC

September 4, 2025

ANTICIPATION ABOUT an impending biopic of Sinéad O’Connor was boosted when Variety reported a line-up of producers in the UK joining with the... Read more »

BANISHING BANVILLE

August 21, 2025

POOR OLD Jawn Banville must be wondering what he did wrong when he found himself out in the cold earlier this month after... Read more »

DAN COLLEY’S GRANT

August 21, 2025

THE EDINBURGH Fringe is over for this year and a notable result was Dan Colley’s Lost Lear picking up one of the Scotsman... Read more »

VONA GROARKE’S GOOD NEWS

August 7, 2025

GOLDHAWK RECENTLY reported on the appointment of Éilís Ní Dhuibhne as the new Laureate for Irish Fiction – an Arts Council-fronted gig dished... Read more »

NÍ DHUIBHNE’S NEW PLOT

July 24, 2025

LOTS OF coverage for the new Laureate for Irish Fiction, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, whose appointment balances the male/female ratio as expected, with Anne... Read more »

NANCY HARRIS’S REVIEWS

July 24, 2025

IT HAS been a smooth run in recent times for playwright and TV screenplay writer Nancy Harris (daughter of Anne and Eoghan Harris),... Read more »

O’DONOVAN’S ‘ACTING DIRECTOR’

July 10, 2025

THE LATEST Oireachtas outing featuring the antics at the Arts Council took place before Alan Kelly’s art and media committee earlier this month... Read more »

GRABBING GRAHAM DWYER

June 26, 2025

GOLDHAWK WAS surprised to see that the headline-grabbing new documentary on the Graham Dwyer murder of Elaine O’Hara was produced not by an... Read more »

ULTAN PRINGLE’S PROMOTION

June 26, 2025

IN DONEGAL, up and coming playwright Ultan Pringle continues his momentum, ably assisted by the Arts Council. His new play, Snowflakes – partly... Read more »

IMMA’S HALF DOZEN

June 12, 2025

ARTS MINISTER Patrick O’Donovan is seeking applications from worthies looking to fill no less than six upcoming vacancies on the Ali Curran-chaired board... Read more »

BEN BARNES’ BROADSIDE

June 12, 2025

WHILE THE Arts Council has been getting both barrels recently for rather obvious reasons (clue: €7m IT debacle), it is rarely criticised by... Read more »

COUNCIL ARCHIVED

May 29, 2025

GOLDHAWK NOTED Orlaith McBride popping up in the media last week on foot of the Government’s plan for the 1926 census, the first... Read more »

THE BIG GIG

May 29, 2025

AN ADVERT for one of the more prestigious jobs in the arts sector has just been posted by the National Concert Hall (NCH)... Read more »

PATRICK O’DONOVAN’S HEADACHE

May 15, 2025

ANYONE SURPRISED at Donald Trump’s threat of a 100% tariff on films produced in “foreign lands” must not have been paying attention. But... Read more »

PIANO BLUES

May 15, 2025

THE 13TH Dublin International Piano Competition (DIPC) takes place this week in the Royal Irish Academy of Music, with the final showdown at... Read more »

DENIS DESMOND’S MUSIC NOTES

May 1, 2025

THERE HAS been yet more fine-tuning of the corporate set up at LN-Gaiety Holdings, the utterly dominant concert and music venue joint venture... Read more »

LANDMARK’S LOLLY

April 17, 2025

WHILE ARTS and culture minister Patrick O’Donovan has been playing Scrooge with the TV producers over the streaming levy, he has also been... Read more »

O’DONOVAN’S ORDERS

April 17, 2025

THE LEGACY of the RTÉ Tubs scandal is now clearer, with arts and media minister Patrick O’Donovan introducing some policy swerves that will... Read more »

NIALL DOYLE’S NEXT GIG?

April 3, 2025

AS GOLDHAWK revealed (see The Phoenix 7/3/25), Niall Doyle, the long-time head of music and opera at the Arts Council, is one of... Read more »

Susan Bergin Marlowe Mullingar Film Studio RTÉ Self-Employment

MORE ARTS COUNCIL CONSULTANTS

April 3, 2025

AS THE Arts Council prepares for an eventual outing before the Public Accounts Committee, it is business as usual on Merrion Square. A... Read more »

LOTTIE RYAN’S RADIO SILENCE

March 20, 2025

RADIO STATION 2FM unveiled yet another new schedule (yawn) to a largely indifferent public and yet again poor old Lottie Ryan has been... Read more »

ART ATTACK

March 20, 2025

COVERAGE OF the arts took a bit of a hit this week, with the Business Post editor announcing the dumping of the Arts... Read more »

ACTING THE MAGGOT

March 6, 2025

AS ALWAYS, the Oscars garnered plenty of media attention for the stars and producers but on this side of the Atlantic, at least,... Read more »