Ireland Calling

Ireland is to receive a state visit by The Queen – the first by a reigning British monarch since her grandfather George V ventured across the Irish Sea in 1911.

George’s visit was very successful but it was followed a few years later by the Easter Rising and the war for Irish independence – not exactly what he had in mind when he waved to the cheering masses who lined the streets of Dublin.

The visit by Queen Elizabeth, at the invitation of the Irish president Mary McAleese, is likely to be less eventful but notable all the same.

Congratulations to Ireland for beating at cricket.

Now I don’t pretend to know anything about cricket but I do know the Irish victory is of the biggest shocks the game has seen for many years.

This report from the Guardian newspaper captures the sense of disbelief in the cricketing world.

“This is utterly astonishing, one of the most amazing victories in any sport for years.

New York City Opera is staging what it calls a monodrama featuring words by the Irish writer Samuel Beckett set to music.

The piece is a one-act opera called Neither. The music was written by Morton Feldman.

Beckett is one Ireland’s greatest ever writers and is perhaps best known for his play, Waiting for Godot.

Leading Irish singer Christy Moore is more at home in the concert hall than the debating chamber but he’s obviously a democrat at heart.

He’s alerted his fans to a website giving Irish people living abroad a chance to have a say in the coming General Election.

Road bowling is an old Irish sport that has been going on for hundreds of years.
It involves throwing a metal ball as far as you can down a country road, but it’s not as straightforward as first appears – you have to negotiate bends in winding country lanes and make sure you don’t lose the ball.