Monthly Archives: August 2009

If You Can’t Stand the Heat…

Posted on August 26, 2009 by admin

Picture the scene: You’re a comedian on your first run in Edinburgh. It’s not going so well. Most shows are made up of mates on comps and the odd, stray lunchtime punter. One day you have a solitary paying customer … Continue reading →

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Review of Hotel Missoni, Edinburgh

Posted on August 25, 2009 by admin

From Irish Times 15/08/09: ‘I’D WORK here just for that jacket,” my girlfriend declared after we finished checking in. As I’m a man who shops twice a year, and even then does it under duress, the receptionist’s sartorial style had … Continue reading →

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Edinburgh Jumps to the Beat

Posted on August 21, 2009 by admin

Top comics make a packet from the Fringe but for lesser lights it’s a real struggle. In this feature from last week’s Sunday Business Post I talked to artists in the black and the red after a month in Edinburgh. … Continue reading →

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Some more Edinburgh reviews

Posted on August 18, 2009 by admin

I’m still in Edinburgh reviewing away, here’s a couple of other pieces from The List Phil Nichol ‘Tonight Matthew, I’m going to be Bobby Spade.’ Phil Nichol’s transformation into a white-suited lounge lizard with a sideline in psychopathy, is so … Continue reading →

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Edinburgh Fringe Reviews

Posted on August 11, 2009 by admin

At the moment I’m over in Edinburgh covering the fringe. Biggest doesn’t always mean best – I’ve seen plenty of dross already – but it’s still a great festival. Here’s a couple of reviews I’ve done for the popular Scottish … Continue reading →

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40 years of the British Army in Northern Ireland

Posted on August 10, 2009 by admin

Feature from latest Sunday Business Post August 15, 1969. Even those with the most cursory of interests in Northern Irish history will recognise the date of the British Army’s first deployment in Belfast. But for almost 40 years no photographic … Continue reading →

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Review: Fiachra Sheridan – The Runners

Posted on August 10, 2009 by admin

Review of Fiachra Sheridan‘s debut novel The Runners from yesterday’s Sunday Business Post: Dublin’s north inner city has never had it easy, but the 1980s were particularly deleterious.Unchecked urban decay, vertiginous unemployment figures and a deadly influx of cheap heroin … Continue reading →

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David Simon: Journalism’s Loss, Television’s Gain

Posted on August 6, 2009 by admin

Interview with the multi-talented Wire writer from this month’s issue of the Scottish mag The Skinny. America does not have, and never has had, a fair system – or so says David Simon, daylight illuminating his swanky hotel room: “So … Continue reading →

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Review: Ghosts and Lightening

Posted on August 6, 2009 by admin

Review of Trevor Bryne’s debut from The Sunday Business Post: Ghosts and Lightning, the debut novel by Dublin-born writer Trevor Byrne, is set in a Clondalkin housing estate, to which Denny Cullen – an out of work 20-something with a … Continue reading →

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Orangefest aims to bridge the gap

Posted on August 6, 2009 by admin

Feature on the Orange Order’s attempts to turn 12th of July weekend into an Orangefest appeared in The Sunday Business Post. More than 100,000 people will gather in downtown Belfast tomorrow to watch the annual Twelfth of July celebrations. The … Continue reading →

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