Following the success of Judging Dev, historian Diarmuid Ferriter is to release the sequel, Judging Peig, this September.
Peig Sayers, who dictated her autobiography to her son in 1936, was a staple of the Irish school system, her descriptions of the austere life on the Blaskets a model for DeValerian Ireland. Peig was an early proponent of hardship literature.
But Mr Ferriter has discovered material which suggests she actually ran a brothel.
‘Perhaps an even more shocking discovery is that she was in fact not illiterate,’ according to a press release from the book’s publishers, the Royal Irish Academy.
Mr Ferriter has altered the landscape of Peig studies forever. We now know Pádraig Ó Guithín courted his young bride somewhat atypically. A newly discovered diary tells how he lured the young Peig to the Great Blasket with the promise of a porcelain music box. Something of an ingénue, she accompanied him in his curragh, only to be greeted by an island priest who married them instantly. The island was a very hostile environment for a non-native, and Peig had to toughen up to survive. She took over the local cat-house when the reigning madam died and by sheer dint of personality carved out a leading role in the community for herself.
‘All of this was airbrushed when Peig published her spartan stories of life on the island,' says Ferriter.
'Her son, Micheál, was said to be a gigolo who would never stand for the national anthem. After her death he and all her children emigrated to Massachusettes – a move we can now see as an attempt to start afresh.'
Judging Peig will be launched on September 14. RTÉ director general Cathal Goan is discussing with Mr Ferriter the possibility of a television series to partner the book.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Derailed talks deal Cowen a crushing blow
Taoiseach Brian Cowen was dealt another crushing blow this weekend following the collapse of talks with former Uachtarán Fianna Fail Bertie Ahern.
Mr Cowen, who had travelled to Fagan’s for the encounter, was trying to negotiate a return to power for the Drumcondraman. Talks broke down before closing time last night.
Mr Ahern initially seemed amenable to the idea of turning back the clock, and was particularly confident of his abilities to swing a yes vote in next February’s rerun of the Lisbon referendum, and to save the National Pay Talks.
But sources close to Mr Cowen say negotiations floundered when Mr Ahern insisted on a booming economy before he would retake the reigns. This was Mr Ahern’s only sine qua non.
The Taoiseach was taken aback by Mr Ahern’s doggedness on this issue, and is said to have met the request with repeated silences.
‘Unless the impasse is resolved, social partnership will be a thing of the past,’ said Labour leader Eamonn Gilmore. ‘We need Ahern at this crucial time. If he were to return, I can guarantee the Labour party - and I think i can say the Mulligar Entente - won't mention the 't' word.’
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said failure was ‘indicative of Brian Cowen.’
Mr Cowen, who had travelled to Fagan’s for the encounter, was trying to negotiate a return to power for the Drumcondraman. Talks broke down before closing time last night.
Mr Ahern initially seemed amenable to the idea of turning back the clock, and was particularly confident of his abilities to swing a yes vote in next February’s rerun of the Lisbon referendum, and to save the National Pay Talks.
But sources close to Mr Cowen say negotiations floundered when Mr Ahern insisted on a booming economy before he would retake the reigns. This was Mr Ahern’s only sine qua non.
The Taoiseach was taken aback by Mr Ahern’s doggedness on this issue, and is said to have met the request with repeated silences.
‘Unless the impasse is resolved, social partnership will be a thing of the past,’ said Labour leader Eamonn Gilmore. ‘We need Ahern at this crucial time. If he were to return, I can guarantee the Labour party - and I think i can say the Mulligar Entente - won't mention the 't' word.’
Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said failure was ‘indicative of Brian Cowen.’
Celebrity Wheelchair User
RTÉ this morning unveiled the first of its new autumn programmes – Celebrity Wheelchair User.
Billed as a brand-new eight-part prime-time entertainment show for RTÉ One, it will combine the raw passion of wheelchair pushing with the glamorous world of celebrity.
Celebrity Wheelchair User takes eight Irish able-bodied personalities and throws them in at the deep end as they try to hail a taxi, enter pubs and restaurants and negotiate the ups and downs of footpaths within a specific time limit. Tasks must be performed as quickly as posible – and without any hiccups! Only the most skillful will make it to the final.
The pairs will perform their tasks in an Irish town of their choosing.
The line-up thus far:
Rosanna Davison will be pushed by Barry Egan
Brendan O Connor will be pushed by Aengus Fanning
Lisa Murphy will be pushed by Gerald Kean
Eddie O Sullivan will be pushed by Felipe Contepomi
Eoghan Harris will be pushed by Bertie Ahern
It is rumoured that Bono has agreed to push Ronnie Drew around Dalkey for the show’s bumper length finale.
Celebrity Wheelchair User broadcasts on RTÉ One on Sundays at 6.30pm from September 2nd. RTÉ brings you the best in broadcast entertainment.
Billed as a brand-new eight-part prime-time entertainment show for RTÉ One, it will combine the raw passion of wheelchair pushing with the glamorous world of celebrity.
Celebrity Wheelchair User takes eight Irish able-bodied personalities and throws them in at the deep end as they try to hail a taxi, enter pubs and restaurants and negotiate the ups and downs of footpaths within a specific time limit. Tasks must be performed as quickly as posible – and without any hiccups! Only the most skillful will make it to the final.
The pairs will perform their tasks in an Irish town of their choosing.
The line-up thus far:
Rosanna Davison will be pushed by Barry Egan
Brendan O Connor will be pushed by Aengus Fanning
Lisa Murphy will be pushed by Gerald Kean
Eddie O Sullivan will be pushed by Felipe Contepomi
Eoghan Harris will be pushed by Bertie Ahern
It is rumoured that Bono has agreed to push Ronnie Drew around Dalkey for the show’s bumper length finale.
Celebrity Wheelchair User broadcasts on RTÉ One on Sundays at 6.30pm from September 2nd. RTÉ brings you the best in broadcast entertainment.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Steve Staunton blamed for Lisbon failure
This week Fine Gael’s Maurice Hayes cut short attempts to scapegoat the Forum on Europe, which he chaired, for the Lisbon referendum result. The result is commonly referred to in political circles as ‘a failure.’
‘I wasn’t aware we were supposed to make up for the deficiencies of the education system,’ he said. The comment slipped under the No campaigners’ radar.
Meanwhile, relaxing in Tullamore’s Bridge House Hotel late last night, Taoiseach Brian Cowen confided his preferred scapegoat to barstaff.
‘I trusted Staunton to bring us to the Euros. You can do anything when the soccer’s on,’ he explained.
Two lounge-boys wiped tables and collected glasses in the vicinity as Mr Cowen continued:
‘Nice was rejected in June 2001. But then you had World Cup 2002. People were wetting their pants with anticipation. Sure they even voted us back in in May. We only got to the second round but the feelgood factor lasted till October, when we hit you with Nice Two.’
‘There was nothing like that this time around. My coming to power was good. All the photographs and handshakes. But it was no Saipan…’
‘I wasn’t aware we were supposed to make up for the deficiencies of the education system,’ he said. The comment slipped under the No campaigners’ radar.
Meanwhile, relaxing in Tullamore’s Bridge House Hotel late last night, Taoiseach Brian Cowen confided his preferred scapegoat to barstaff.
‘I trusted Staunton to bring us to the Euros. You can do anything when the soccer’s on,’ he explained.
Two lounge-boys wiped tables and collected glasses in the vicinity as Mr Cowen continued:
‘Nice was rejected in June 2001. But then you had World Cup 2002. People were wetting their pants with anticipation. Sure they even voted us back in in May. We only got to the second round but the feelgood factor lasted till October, when we hit you with Nice Two.’
‘There was nothing like that this time around. My coming to power was good. All the photographs and handshakes. But it was no Saipan…’
Fundraiser for Lawlor tribunal costs
Ms Justice Laffoy ruled this week that the Mahon tribunal cannot pursue Liam Lawlor’s estate for his debts. The costs, which total €430,000, seemed lost to the exchequer – until Taoiseach Brian Cowen called a hasty Cabinet meeting to discuss the best means of recouping the shortfall.
After some deliberation the Government decided to send four Ministers of State – Conor Lenihan, Pat Carey, Tony Killeen and Sean Haughey – on a fundraising walk in Nepal.
‘We hope not only to raise the €430,000 no longer owed by Liam,’ announced Mr Lenihan, ‘but to hit the €500,000 mark. The extra funds will be set aside for the coming revote on the Lisbon treaty.’
‘This money is badly needed,’ said Mr Cowen, laying special emphasis on the hoped for extra €70,000. ‘We were outspent by every party bar the Greens during the last referendum.
The Government team will walk around Nepal, which boasts eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, for two weeks in November, in return for which it will seek sponsorship from the public. Mr Cowen has urged all Cabinet Ministers to get knocking on doors now.
After some deliberation the Government decided to send four Ministers of State – Conor Lenihan, Pat Carey, Tony Killeen and Sean Haughey – on a fundraising walk in Nepal.
‘We hope not only to raise the €430,000 no longer owed by Liam,’ announced Mr Lenihan, ‘but to hit the €500,000 mark. The extra funds will be set aside for the coming revote on the Lisbon treaty.’
‘This money is badly needed,’ said Mr Cowen, laying special emphasis on the hoped for extra €70,000. ‘We were outspent by every party bar the Greens during the last referendum.
The Government team will walk around Nepal, which boasts eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, for two weeks in November, in return for which it will seek sponsorship from the public. Mr Cowen has urged all Cabinet Ministers to get knocking on doors now.
200 children admitted to adult mental hospitals last year
Competition for places in adult mental hospitals is set to continue this year, as new information shows 113 children were allocated places between January and June. It is expected that by October child admissions will have surpassed last year’s figure, which is close to 200.
‘The Central Mental Hospital is the big one,’ said Cillian Healy of the Irish Prison Service. ‘There's an overspill from the prisons so kids are often sent here. But they like it. CMH is a 105 bed campus. Its Dundrum location gives it a certain allure for youngsters who have heard about the Town Centre.'
‘After Dundrum you have a number of institutions fighting for second place,’ continued Mr Healy. ‘Vincent’s in Fairview is very popular. It’s kind of a boutique psychiatric hospital in a Victorian building. St. Conal’s in Donegal was popular when part of the hospital housed the Science Department of Letterkenny IT. But since the walls started falling in that demand has dropped.’
The Mental Health Commission is running a number of open days for young offenders this autumn. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Barry Andrews, is expected to attend all of the larger events.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday Mr Andrews made the following comments: 'The idea is to say to these kids - if we can't fit you in the Joy, Portlaoise or wherever, which psychiatric institution would you prefer? Overcrowding is rife in Irish prisons, so we might as well be realistic.'
Mental Health Commission spokesman Frank Keogh said it was initially feared that housing juvenile offenders with mentally unstable adults would have adverse effects on the youngsters. ‘Au contraire,’ he told reporters. ‘Young offenders like adult company. It makes them feel mature.’
‘The Central Mental Hospital is the big one,’ said Cillian Healy of the Irish Prison Service. ‘There's an overspill from the prisons so kids are often sent here. But they like it. CMH is a 105 bed campus. Its Dundrum location gives it a certain allure for youngsters who have heard about the Town Centre.'
‘After Dundrum you have a number of institutions fighting for second place,’ continued Mr Healy. ‘Vincent’s in Fairview is very popular. It’s kind of a boutique psychiatric hospital in a Victorian building. St. Conal’s in Donegal was popular when part of the hospital housed the Science Department of Letterkenny IT. But since the walls started falling in that demand has dropped.’
The Mental Health Commission is running a number of open days for young offenders this autumn. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Barry Andrews, is expected to attend all of the larger events.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday Mr Andrews made the following comments: 'The idea is to say to these kids - if we can't fit you in the Joy, Portlaoise or wherever, which psychiatric institution would you prefer? Overcrowding is rife in Irish prisons, so we might as well be realistic.'
Mental Health Commission spokesman Frank Keogh said it was initially feared that housing juvenile offenders with mentally unstable adults would have adverse effects on the youngsters. ‘Au contraire,’ he told reporters. ‘Young offenders like adult company. It makes them feel mature.’
Varadical analysis
Ireland's unemployment rate ‘cannot be blamed on the global economic situation,’ said FG spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment, Dr Leo Varadkar this week. Dr Varadkar proceded to list eight well-known countries whose unemployment was less than Ireland’s.
‘Why can’t we be more like Denmark?’ he asked. ‘The Danes have 1.7% unemployment. We haven’t had that since the height of the Celtic Tiger, a year or two ago. What’s the matter with the Government? Ten years of growth and now this, a downturn?’
Dr Varadkar was elected to the Dáil last year, at the age of 28. Not yet a household name, Dr Varadkar made headlines in January when he invited all Dail deputies to his 29th birthday party in Dublin’s Odessa Club. ‘I meant to just invite Fine Gaelers,’ Dr Varadkar said at the time, ‘but I sent the text to everyone by mistake. Of course they were all welcome, but I made sure they knew I had made a mistake.’
Dr Varadkar raised his profile the previous September by criticising in strong terms then-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's financial practices in the 1992 - 94 era.
Party leader Enda Kenny, who was elected to the Dáil at the age of 24, said Dr Varadkar’s comments provided Ireland with a ‘road map out of recession.’
‘Why can’t we be more like Denmark?’ he asked. ‘The Danes have 1.7% unemployment. We haven’t had that since the height of the Celtic Tiger, a year or two ago. What’s the matter with the Government? Ten years of growth and now this, a downturn?’
Dr Varadkar was elected to the Dáil last year, at the age of 28. Not yet a household name, Dr Varadkar made headlines in January when he invited all Dail deputies to his 29th birthday party in Dublin’s Odessa Club. ‘I meant to just invite Fine Gaelers,’ Dr Varadkar said at the time, ‘but I sent the text to everyone by mistake. Of course they were all welcome, but I made sure they knew I had made a mistake.’
Dr Varadkar raised his profile the previous September by criticising in strong terms then-Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's financial practices in the 1992 - 94 era.
Party leader Enda Kenny, who was elected to the Dáil at the age of 24, said Dr Varadkar’s comments provided Ireland with a ‘road map out of recession.’
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