Not Racist In The Slightest

Who exactly is accusing Ireland’s most stylish taxi driver of racism? How on earth could any of Derry “Elvis” Coughlan’s recent points of view be construed as racist, or even excuses for racism? He’s already stated quite clearly that his union, which goes by the equal opportunities-friendly name of the Cork Taximen’s Association, contains members from Tunisia, Chile, Poland, Albania, Bangladesh, England […]

CowenGate – RTÉ News Too Full of the Milk of Human Kindness

There’s no magic formula for popularity; and how the demand for an apology from RTÉ by the Irish leader’s spokesman Eoghan O’Neachtain is backfiring splendidly. The fact that many news outlets abroad, like the BBC, The London Times and The Guardian, had already carried headlines about the Taoiseach’s finely-reproduced moobs to their worldwide readerships, makes Cowen’s bizarre vanity look, incredibly, even more ridiculous and humiliating. Sadly, it […]

Pat Kenny, Again

Another example of why the Late Late continues to be essential viewing.

Eastern Promise

State Magazine, May 2008 Words: Johnnie Craig Photography: James Goulden & Shawna Scott Belly dancing and cream cakes: State helps to celebrate Persian New Year You can just imagine the gossip-mongering; “Did you hear, there’s another one of those mad parties going on… some place off the Naas Road in Dublin 22, it’s all that […]

Mamma Mia

U Magazine, March 2008 Dear Mum, As it’s soon to be Mothering Sunday, the day in which all us kids stop what we’re doing to honour the woman who brought us into the world and made us the treasures we are today, I thought it was a good time to write a little appreciation of […]

They Is Us by Tama Janowitz

Cautionary tale of America’s apocalyptic future Sunday Business Post, 01 March 2009 America may have elected its new president and laid the foundations of its future on a wave of hope – but, as Tama Janowitz’s fascinating and prophetic new novel warns us, its situation may already be hopeless. Set at the end of the […]

Why Stop At AIDS?

Why does the Pope not highlight the other evils condoms are responsible for? Pope Benedict XVI has denounced the use of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV, telling reporters that AIDS “cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems.” Incredibly there has been an international outcry over this statement, with the […]

The Meteor Music Awards 2009

As Seen On State.ie If there’s one thing Meteor Music Awards does peerlessly, it’s living up to everyone’s expectations. As a showbiz event, it knows its public inside out and feeds them everything they want, like zookeepers throwing fish at penguins. Indie snobs mightn’t like it but, as it proves year-in, year-out, this show isn’t […]

Rubber Ring: A Sad Fact Widely Known

Tea drinking visitors to my house have always, over the years, made polite fun of my collection of Bialetti Moka pots. I have five, graded by how many espressos they make: one, three (I have two of these), six and nine. Being of Italian stock, these ingenious, classic stove-top coffee makers have been a huge […]

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

Engaging Tale Of A Chilling Place In Time Sunday Business Post, 25th January 2009 Simon Mawer ‘s powerful and elegiac new novel centres on mankind’s simple but vital need for a place to call home.On their honeymoon in Venice in 1929, the cultured, wealthy couple Viktor and Liesel Landauer meet a maverick architect called Rainer […]