Tag Archives: insignia

The Wexford Opera Festival is a bit of an unusual proposition but it works and has done for years. Take three obscure operas, some of which haven’t seen the light of day since their début performance, and stage them again over the course of a few weeks. Of course, some operas are obscure for a reason and maybe they should be left mouldering but for every duffer there are several gems. This year was promising, with all three operas sung in Italian. It’s a general rule of mine not to go near German language opera. I find it dark and depressing. Surprisingly, opera in English is often woefully bad. There’s the advantage of being able to fully understand what’s going on without resorting to subtitles but there’s just something wrong about English language opera. You’re generally safer sticking with Italian or at a pinch, French. We travelled down in the aftermath of Ophelia and just before storm Brian made itself …

Although the star of the Opel stand at Frankfurt was their gorgeous Monza concept, back in the real world, we had the Insignia. Although described as a new car, it really is more an extensive facelift. It’s recognisably an Insignia but in every way it has been improved – dramatically in some areas. Inside, you’ll find a refreshed interior, with an impressive 8″ touchscreen to control various systems in the car, including audio and communications. The touchscreen is joined by a mousepad affair between the seats and I’m told that this advanced tech will be standard on all bar the base model when the car reaches Ireland before the end of the year. Next month, we’ll have a chance to drive the car on Irish roads and experience the new 1.6 litre turbo, which delivers a very impressive 170 bhp and is said to have exceptional fuel economy. A 70 litre tank makes this an ideal choice for company drivers …