Clare County Library are celebrating creativity in older age with a host of events throughout the county during the Bealtaine Festival in May.This national arts event is now in its sixteenth year. The Bealtaine festival provides an opportunity to communicate traditions between the generations, to try something new, to share your talents or to come back to something you haven’t done for years. If you have an interest in céilí music an event not to be missed takes place on Tuesday, May 3, at 12pm in the DeValera Library, Ennis. Brian Lawler will give a talk entitled The Golden Era of Céilí Music and Dance from 1955-1970. During the period 1999 to 2004, Brian recorded interviews with 70 people associated with the period, including céilí band founders and members, promoters, dancers and radio personnel. He obtained a total of 42 hours of recorded material. He has put together a talk on the project that consists of a review of the …

Clare County Arts Office is encouraging everyone in Clare to support Bealtaine, the national festival organised by Age and Opportunity, celebrating creativity in older age.As usual the Arts Office has been busy organising a number of events throughout the county, specifically for older people, as well as working with a number of organisations and artists to provide events that highlight the creative work older people are involved in all year round. Working with its partners, Glór and Clare County Libraries, there are lots to do and see over the month of May including exhibitions, concerts, lectures and theatre.The Clare programme of events will be officially launched by Mayor Christy Curtin in Glór on Tuesday, May 2, at 2pm when an afternoon tea dance takes place with music provided by Eoin O’Neill and friends.  This free concert is open to all and no booking is required.  For more information contact the Arts Office on 065 6899091 or email Arts@clarelibrary.ie.

FOLLOWING the success of the Sacred Sounds folk concerts in Tuamgraney, the series is set to expand to include a second weekly night in Ennis.Organiser Kate Purcell is hoping the concerts will help attract more music-loving tourists to the town.The historic St Columba’s Church on Bindon Street will be the home for these evenings of music from the rich culture of County Clare.Starting on Friday, May 6 at 8pm, Sacred Sounds in Ennis will feature some of the best performers of Irish folk and traditional music from across the county.Kate explained that this series of concerts will offer music lovers something a little bit different for the summer evenings ahead.“The whole idea behind these concerts is to cater for people who want something to go to where they can experience the music of Clare but the sessions might be too late or maybe the pubs are a bit too noisy. It’s sort of a cultural evening and what we’ve been …

THE latest fundraising project from Knockanean National School is the launch of their CD titled Starlings. The school’s music club has been joined by some of Clare’s leading musicians such as Martin Hayes, Kevin Crawford, Manus McGuire, Kate Purcell and Blackie O’Connell. They were also joined by parents Monica Kearney, Murty Ryan, Caroline O’Connor and Fèlim Ò Coileàin. The CD will be launched on Sunday, May 8 at 7pm in Cois na hAbhna and all proceeds will go to the Knockanean school building fund. The launch concert is a free family event and everyone is welcome to attend. The CD will be on sale in Custy’s, The Irish Shop and from the school by contacting 083 1119470.

Arthur DIRECTED BY: Jason Winer STARRING: Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Greta Gerwig, Jennifer Garner CERT: 12A This week’s reviews cover a remake and a sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a sequel. This time every week feels like Groundhog Day now, without the laughs. Or the romance. Or the over-sized rodent, whose valued opinions on the weather suggest an intelligence superior to that found in most film studios. I would rather it be otherwise, for all our sakes, but it is not. So let us move on and make the most of it.Arthur is a remake of the 1981 comedy starring the late Dudley Moore, a fine comic actor perhaps most widely known for this role and for the 1979 romantic comedy 10, in which he played alongside bombshell of the day, Bo Derek. (There is a whole generation of filmgoers who have no idea who these people were, which makes this reviewer feel very, very old indeed.)The …

To call The Secret in Their Eyes a fantastic surprise of a film, an unheralded gem that will sweep you away with its intricate, fascinating story, is to reveal my ignorance. There’s nothing unheralded or undiscovered about it. It’s the winner of the best foreign language film award at last year’s Oscars, the second Argentinean film to do so and the country’s most watched film ever.The film spans two timeframes – the 70s and modern times – opening with retired lawyer Benjamin Espósito (Ricardo Darín) returning to his former office to discuss an old case he worked on and now wants to write a book about. He and his ex-boss, now Judge Irene Menéndez-Hastings (Soledad Villamil), re-hash the details of a vicious rape-murder they worked on together in 1974 that saw a co-worker dead and an unsatisfactory end to the case. As they banter back and forth it becomes clear that the case is not the only unfinished business between …

`So are you ready? Do you have an outfit picked out? What time are you going to be there and are you wearing a hat? OMG, it’s so exciting! Yes, for many these are some of the most important questions you may answer this week. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you have most likely not been engaging with the pop culture of the world in the past few weeks and have probably accomplished a hell of a lot more than if you were stuck in front of the television. The day is close upon us. Soon Prince Charming (played in this case by Will Windsor) will marry his true love (step forward Kate Middleton) breaking the curse that has been placed over the broadcasting airways and returning the “I have an opinion on everything” commentators back to the countdown shows and Christmas specials where they belong.At this point there is but one night’s rest before love’s …

TWO Ethiopian teachers recently spent just over a week in South Galway as part of an educational programme between schools in the northern and southern hemispheres. Gort Community School and Tana Haik Secondary School in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, are connected through the scheme which links the Global North and the Global South.