Des O’Driscoll

1 month ago | irishexaminer.com | Des O’Driscoll

Sounds From A Safe Harbour (SFSH) has revealed some of its headliners for the September event in Cork. Not surprisingly, the biennial event is also planning a number of tributes to Eoin French, the late Cork musician who released music as Talos, and was involved with the festival since its founding in 2015. An opening concert entitled ‘Remembering Talos’ at the Opera House will feature many of the people who collaborated with French through the years.

1 month ago | irishexaminer.com | Des O’Driscoll

He created a smash-hit tale of Cork’s northside, and now the man behind is aiming to work his magic on a story set in a village in Co Kerry. Peter Foott, who launched his classic tale of Conor and Jock in 2016 and watched it snowball into an Irish entertainment phenomenon, is planning to film his latest project later this year, with a likely cinema release in 2026. is based on the real-life story of a Kerry woman with an incredible singing voice who is also something of an outcast.

2 months ago | irishexaminer.com | Des O’Driscoll

★★★★☆A jazz festival isn’t just for October. Almost six months after a back injury scuppered Kamasi Washington’s scheduled gig at the Guinness-sponsored music extravaganza in Cork, the American saxophonist finally took to the stage at the city’s Opera House. Over approximately two hours and nine expansive tunes, the 44-year-old showed why he’s considered one of the leading lights of the modern jazz scene.

2 months ago | irishexaminer.com | Des O’Driscoll

Luke Jerram’s sculpture of the Earth was a major hit at Cork Midsummer Festival in 2022, and the British artist looks set to again draw crowds to his latest work at this year’s event. Helios is a spectacular six-metre representation of the Sun that will hang at St Fin Barre's Cathedral during the festival in June. Created to scale, each centimetre of the artwork represents 2,300km of the real Sun’s surface, and features such details as sunspots and solar flares.

2 months ago | irishexaminer.com | Des O’Driscoll

Neuroscientist Dr Brian Pennie of Trinity College presents a three-part series on the science of addiction, and the pathways out of it. Alcohol and drugs are dealt with in episode two, while the first programme deals with those modern afflictions of addictions to phones, gaming, and gambling. In the final episode we’ll hear about recovery. As well as the science, Pennie has personal experience of his subject, having extricated himself from the horrors of heroin addiction.