Article Category: Behind the Scenes

SHARON ALSTON’S CHARITY GIG

March 26, 2020
AS WE keep being reminded, the coronavirus does not recognise borders. Nor, indeed, does it recognise pop stars. Along with sporting events and the... Read more »

MAUREEN KENNELLY’S SUCCESSOR

March 26, 2020
GIVEN THE solid financial standing of Poetry Ireland (PI) and its high place in the pecking order as far as the Arts Council is... Read more »

MAUREEN KENNELLY’S TOP JOB

March 12, 2020
THE APPOINTMENT of Maureen Kennelly as director of the Arts Council – to succeed Orlaith McBride, who was in situ for nine years –... Read more »

PICKING UP THAT BAI BOUNTY

March 12, 2020
WHILE THE spotlight turns regularly on the winners in Michael O’Keefe’s generous Sound & Vision funding rounds at the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI),... Read more »

IN PRAISE OF MARIAN KEYES

February 27, 2020
WHILE GOLDHAWK has noted John Banville’s effective marketing of his latest novel, another writer who has been the subject of a huge amount of... Read more »

JOHN BANVILLE’S BLACK BOOK

February 27, 2020
HAVING ADMIRED the wily John Banville’s hype offensive for his latest buke, The Secret Guests, Goldhawk could not resist giving it the once over... Read more »

FUNDING ‘JIHAD JANE’

February 27, 2020
MACDARA KELLEHER and Morgan Bushe have become major players in the film business in recent years with their tie-in to Troy Studios, where Kelleher’s... Read more »

JOHN BANVILLE’S ROYAL FLUSH

February 13, 2020
THE ANNOUNCEMENT of a new annual Irish literary award last week came as a pleasant surprise to Irish writers, who have had limited opportunities... Read more »

ÁINE MORIARTY’S FIVE-YEAR PLAN

February 13, 2020
FANS OF Goldhawk were previously alerted to the disappearance from the 2019 red-carpet calendar of the annual IFTA awards ceremony (see The Phoenix, 31/5/19).... Read more »

IN AND OUT AT THE ARTS COUNCIL

January 30, 2020
SOME ITEMS in the recent Arts Council minutes caught Goldhawk’s eye. For example, it was noted, “There is still uncertainty over the allowable use... Read more »

VARADKAR’S PLOT SPOILER

January 30, 2020
THE UPWARDS trajectory continues for Troy Studios in Limerick, where Siún Ní Raghallaigh, chief executive and shareholder, has proved adept at squeezing public cash... Read more »

BLAKE LIVELY’S RHYTHM SECTION

January 30, 2020
FANS OF The Phoenix who like their Nordic-Noir detective series may have watched the last episode of Wisting on BBC4 last week, but only... Read more »

NEW TUNE FOR THE NCH

January 30, 2020
IT WILL be interesting to see if culture minister Josepha Madigan looks to make a few board appointments before the new government is in... Read more »

DÓNALL CURTIN’S COMMITTEE

January 16, 2020
OVER ON Merrion Square, the Arts Council has been adding to its sprawling art collection with the purchase of 19 new works from assorted... Read more »

KEVIN RAFTER’S REQUEST

January 16, 2020
AS FANS of Goldhawk are aware (see The Phoenix, 29/11/19), the Abbey Theatre is looking to fill three seats on its board that have... Read more »

MARIAN FINUCANE’S ADVISOR

January 16, 2020
GOLDHAWK WAS interested to hear his old friend, tax accountant-cum-filmmaker Kieran Corrigan, pop up briefly at the end of the radio tribute to Marian... Read more »

THEATRICAL LICENCE AT THE ABBEY

December 12, 2019
VERY LATE in the day, the Abbey Theatre has got around to advertising the three long-unfilled vacancies on its board. Unusually, however, the call... Read more »

KATE O’RIORDAN’S RTÉ DRAMA

December 12, 2019
AT A time when Dee Forbes and RTÉ have again been crying wolf about the death of public-service broadcasting, Montrose has given a plum... Read more »

JIM SHERIDAN’S GOOD NEWS

November 28, 2019
IT IS three years since Goldhawk reported on the then prospects for Jim Sheridan’s adaptation of Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture (see The Phoenix,... Read more »

QUESTIONS FOR THE ABBEY

November 28, 2019
EARLIER THIS month, the Abbey Theatre published its 2018 annual report, which generated mainly positive media coverage. However, there are some unusual entries that... Read more »

SINÉAD O’CONNOR’S TAX BILL

October 31, 2019
IT HAS been hard to avoid Sinéad O’Connor (aka Shuhada’ Davitt) recently and her media outings have successfully generated huge interest in her return... Read more »

ALL ABOARD AT ARTS COUNCIL

October 31, 2019
THE LONG-overdue appointment of new Arts Council directors is to be welcomed. The incoming trio includes Claudine McMahon, Vodafone Ireland’s head of, er, talent,... Read more »

JOHN ARKINS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

October 31, 2019
HALLOWEEN MAY not be the most auspicious date on which to close submissions for the audit by the Work Relations Commission (WRC) of the... Read more »

LEO’S HOLLYWOOD LUVVIETHON

October 16, 2019
WITH LAST month’s coast-to-coast luvviethon in the US – which saw Leo Varadkar hobnobbing with Jimmy Fallon and NBC/Universal in New York and then... Read more »

TAXING MATTERS AT VISUAL IN CARLOW

October 16, 2019
WHAT ON earth is going on at VISUAL, the multi-million euro contemporary arts centre in Carlow? The board has lost eight directors and there... Read more »

BROWN BAG FIGURES

October 3, 2019
CONGRATULATIONS to Brown Bag studios founder Cathal Gaffney, who is in the middle of a purple patch. Figures just filed by a company called... Read more »