Article Category: Behind the Scenes

TAXMAN STARS IN ARTHOUSE DRAMA

February 21, 2019

JUST WHEN the dust seemed to have settled on Galway’s dalliance with ‘cultural cinema’ – the bijou Pálás art house having been folded... Read more »

JOSEPHA MADIGAN’S BOTCHED BURSARIES

February 7, 2019

FANS OF The Phoenix will not have been surprised to hear about the sudden brake applied to the €20,000-a-pop “Markievicz bursaries” announced last... Read more »

DEIRDRE DONAGHY’S PLOT SPOILER

February 7, 2019

THE OIREACHTAS Budgetary Oversight Committee had a recent session on tax expenditures (wake up down the back! – Ed), which uncovered some of... Read more »

ROBERT BALLAGH’S ART PROBLEM

January 24, 2019

THE OUTBREAK of tut-tutting over Robert Ballagh’s complaint about the lack of Irish players at the top of many cultural institutions here was... Read more »

ANN MULROONEY’S SUCCESSOR

January 24, 2019

THE HUNT is under way for a new chief executive/artistic director for the VISUAL contemporary arts centre in Carlow, which continues to struggle... Read more »

PASS THE FERRERO ROCHER

January 10, 2019

THE APPOINTMENT this week of an Irish five-a-side squad of “cultural ambassadors” marks the latest wheeze in the much-hyped objective of “doubling Ireland’s... Read more »

JOSEPHA MADIGAN’S PRESSIE

January 10, 2019

’TWAS BUT a week before Christmas and all were asleep when Josepha Madigan bestowed gifts to the tune of U200m to Annie Doona’s... Read more »

EUGENE DOWNES’S NEXT JOB?

January 10, 2019

GOLDHAWK was interested to see an advert for the new role of cultural director at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)... Read more »

BUSY TIMES AT ANNAGH-MAKERRIG

December 13, 2018

EARLIER THIS year, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Josepha Madigan spent a week at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre (TGC) artists’ retreat... Read more »

CURTIN CALL AT THE ABBEY

December 13, 2018

WHILE THE Abbey Theatre’s imported Christmas show, Come From Away, has attracted lots of pre-opening night publicity, one of the board members has... Read more »

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

December 13, 2018

THE PERIOD from mid-November through to mid-January is traditionally a nervy time for idle freelance workers in the film and TV business. There’s... Read more »

JOSEPHA MADIGAN’S BIASED BURSARIES

November 29, 2018

NOT SURPRISINGLY, there was little (ie no) outcry after Josepha Madigan unveiled the government’s latest gender-based culture wheeze, which takes the form of... Read more »

THE ABBEY’S NEW NUMBER CRUNCHER

November 29, 2018

CULTURE MINISTER Josepha Madigan has been busy making appointments to the boards of some national cultural institutions. One of these is accountant Peter... Read more »

SELINA CARTMELL VS GRAHAM McLAREN

November 29, 2018

IT’S THE time of year when our two biggest institutions announce winter and spring programmes – ones that will leave audiences and, more... Read more »

NATIONAL THEATRE’S US IMPORT

November 1, 2018

FANS OF Irish theatre got a treat this week when RTÉ broadcast a show devoted to life inside the Abbey Theatre, where the... Read more »

SIÚN NÍ RAGHALLAIGH’S GOOD NEWS

November 1, 2018

FANS OF Goldhawk will not have been surprised by the inclusion in Pascal Donohoe’s Finance Bill of 10 pages of refinements to the... Read more »

MEL GIBSON’S TAXING ISSUE

October 18, 2018

THE MOVIE suits don’t generally wash their dirty linen in public, which is why Mel Gibson’s spat with Voltage Pictures – producers of... Read more »

SLOWLY DOES IT AT IMMA

October 18, 2018

THERE IS still no sign of white smoke at Kilmainham, where they are waiting for a new director to replace the long-departed Sarah... Read more »

JOSEPHA MADIGAN’S CREATIVE SPENDING

October 18, 2018

THE TENSIONS between the Arts Council and the Department of Culture over the emergence of Creative Ireland (CI) are well known. The new... Read more »

AUDITIONING FOR THE GATE

October 4, 2018

THERE HAS been lots of good news for the Gate Theatre lately, putting quite a nice gloss on Selina Cartmell’s tenure on Parnell... Read more »

NEW FACES AT THE CHESTER BEATTY

October 4, 2018

THERE HAS been some recent (and overdue) activity on the board of the Chester Beatty Library, where some new faces are joining Dermot... Read more »

HELEN BOYLE’S FUNDING BOOST

October 4, 2018

AS MICK Hannigan and Una Feely prepare to fire up their IndieCork film and music festival, it seems that relations between their erstwhile... Read more »

PATRICK SUTTON’S CORE PROBLEM

September 20, 2018

THERE WAS some good news for Smock Alley theatre in Temple Bar this year when the Arts Council upped its grant, but the... Read more »

SCRIPT REWRITE AT THE ITFAs

September 20, 2018

THE LUVVIES of the film and TV business are girding their loins for the hardest part of their job – aggressive self-promotion for... Read more »

JOSEPHA MADIGAN’S NEXT APPOINTMENT

September 6, 2018

THIS WEEK is the closing date for potential candidates to apply for a seat on the board of the Abbey Theatre. However, actors... Read more »

GREEN SCREEN

September 6, 2018

IRISH FILMS are hard to avoid at the moment, with seven titles out or being released over the next few weeks. Fingers will... Read more »

NEW FACES ON MERRION SQUARE

August 23, 2018

MINISTER FOR Culture Josepha Madigan has got around to making some overdue appointments to the Arts Council. It won’t be long before she... Read more »

MARY O’KENNEDY’S NEW GIG

August 23, 2018

THE LATEST addition to the Arts Council’s payroll is fundraising consultant Mary O’Kennedy. She has landed a contract to try and whip assorted... Read more »