Contemporary Ireland #4

Cashing: Ireland in world’s top 10 tax havens

While the bigwigs at Apple, Facebook, and Google have been reaping the rewards of the Irish tax system for yonks, it’s now officially official. Pippin’ the Bahamas—of all places!—to the post, Ireland has scooped up ninth place on the Tax Justice Network’s list of global tax havens. How d’ya like them apples?!

The listing comes on the coattails of Ireland receiving a rather tidy sum of $14 billion in back taxes from Apple. Meanwhile, the European Court of Justice reckons Ireland’s preferential treatment of Apple has been “unlawful”. It’s giving, “The money was only resting in my account!”.

Chatting: Biden quotes Yeats at final UN General Assembly

If there’s one thing the Irish are damn good at, it’s spinning a yarn. Due credit to the literati, screenplay writers, and poets that have made us so feckin’ quotable—even aul Mr. Biden was at it of late!

At his final UN General Assembly in New York, Biden pulled out a quote from a heralded Irish poet, when he said:

“The Irish poet William Butler Yeats described a world, and I quote, where ‘things fall apart, the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world’.”

He continued, “Some may say those words describe the world, not just in 1919, but in 2024, I see a critical distinction. In our time, the center has held.”

Good work teleprompter!

Winning: 2 Irish hotels win new Michelin award

Two of the island of Ireland’s most lavish hotels have scooped up the highest honour at the brand spanking new Michelin Key Award.

The award system works much the same way as their culinary one does; on a ranking system of one, two, or three keys (three being the highest ranking).

Ballyfin Demesne, County Laois, and Adare Manor, County Limerick, toddled home with three keys each, while Adare also managed to swipe Condé Nast Best Resorts in Europe award. 

Fair play, the lads.

Tuning: Legendary Irish musicians honoured at Culture Night

Dublin’s iconic General Post Office (GPO) played host to a smashing Culture Night event on the last Friday night of September, where some of Ireland’s most-loved musicians from history were honoured.

According to Hot Press, “The special event celebrated the work of four artists who helped shape the sound and soul of Ireland: the late Seamus Begley, Christy Dignam, Shane Mac Gowan and Sinéad O'Connor.”.  On the night, a six-piece ensemble, featuring strings and an uileann pipe, played a phenomenal set of arrangements of their best tracks.

In honour of the four legends of modern Irish music, each of them now appears on a special limited edition postage stamp.

Snooping: Call-out for stories from Donegal Scots

The Donegal County Council (DCC) have put out an open call to anyone with stories, photos, or other memorabilia from Donegal folk who moved to Scotland during the 20th Century.

Over the next couple of weeks, there’ll be events held in Glasgow and Edinburgh where the DCC are hoping to welcome to Donegal diaspora and glean some stories.

Former Celtic goalkeeper Packie Bonner, who’s a Donegal man himself, will be hanging around at the Glasgow event.

Jigging: Channing Tatum’s daughter wins Irish dancing comp

While it might be true that most of us Irish aren’t able to muster up the courage to dance without copious pints down the hatch first, it’s a different kettle of fish for others—including the daughter of Hollywood star, Channing Tatum.

His 11-year-old daughter, whose mammy is a dancer herself, won big at an LA Irish dancing competition recently. Everly Tatum smashed it all together, taking home two trophies at St Ambrose Fall Feis in Los Angeles. 

What did her da have to say about it? Simply, "There is absolutely no words for how proud i am of this lil girl!!!,". 

Ahhhh, sure isn’t that lovely.

Trashing: Ireland vies for Junk Kouture finals in Monaco

Amidst dazzling designs made by sustainably minded designers from around the globe, Ireland has high hopes for the Junk Kouture awards this year. 

The competition first takes place in Dublin’s RDS, where a smattering of international designers will battle it out for a chance to head off to Monaco—saucy!—for the finals. 

Last year, an Irish school won the global event, so there’s high hope for the 2024 iteration. No pressure there, lads.

Influencer: Garron Noone

Now, this chap is truly hilarious. Known for his music tutorials, stand-up comedy, and reviews of Irish towns and food, his catchphrase “Follow me, I’m delicious” has gained him massive social media fame. His Instagram alone has amassed a whopping 1.2 million followers. 

He may be a funny fella, but he’s also had some pretty massive mental health struggles—and makes no secret of it. He’s now stepping up to have the big, hard conversations around mental health in the media.

In fairness to the guy, he’s firing on all cylinders; he’s also got a new podcast on the go, befittingly called “Listen, I’m Delicious”.

Screening: Barry Keoghan’s new flick wins Best Picture in TX

Have any of ye heard the buzz about the new film, ‘Bring Them Down?’. Described as a “dark Irish drama” by The Wrap, the film stole the show and nabbed Best Picture at Fantastic Fest 2024 over in the US of A.

The film festie was held at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar in Austin, Texas. The festival program called the movie “a truly demented, shifty thriller that pits venerable character actors Rush and John Lithgow against one another with the gloves off”. 

Sounds like a good’un—we can’t wait to check it out!

Acting: Dublin Theatre Festival 2024

Running from September 26th through October 13th, folks are flocking to the big shmoke to catch shows at the Dublin Theatre Festival. 

The programme includes shows from the Irish theatre world as well as abroad, with events on offer for children and adults alike.

The schedule is a stonker, with shows featuring well-known names across the board—including The Umbrella Academy’s Robert Sheehan, who stars in a smashing performance called ‘Reunion’.