Irish author John Banville was the surprise winner of the Man Booker Prize this year for his novel The Sea. The Booker Prize for Fiction was originally set up by Booker plc. in 1969 to raise the public profile of authors, reward writing excellence and increase interest in modern fiction writing. The annual competition is open to all fiction writers from the British Commonwealth … [Read more...] about Irish Author Wins Booker Prize
December January 2006 Issue
The 2005 Solas Awards in Boston
The Irish Immigration Center's (IIC) 11th annual Solas Awards Dinner was held at the Westin Hotel in Boston on October 27. Teresa Heinz, John McGrail, founder of the Mayo Group, and Janice Loux, the first female president of UNITE HERE Local 26, the Boston Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union, were the three recipients of the IIC's Solas Awards in accordance with this year's … [Read more...] about The 2005 Solas Awards in Boston
Camerata Releases First CD
Acclaimed chamber orchestra Camerata Ireland, fresh off its second and highly successful tour of the United States, have released its first CD, featuring Barry Douglas performing Beethoven's Piano Concertos No. 2 and No. 4. The 40-piece ensemble group first performed in April 1999 at the Stormont Parliament Building in Belfast and at Dublin castle in association with … [Read more...] about Camerata Releases First CD
The Leary Firefighters Bash
The Leary Firefighters Foundation held its 5(th) Annual Bash on November 2, at Capitale in Manhattan. The actor Denis Leary founded the organization in 2000 when his first cousin, Jerry Lucey, his friend Lt. Tommy Spencer, and four other firefighters died fighting a fire in Worcester, Massachusetts, Leary's hometown. In 2004 the Foundation donated a Mobile Command Center … [Read more...] about The Leary Firefighters Bash
Thanksgiving’s Irish Twist
By John Cusack
In 1621, the pilgrims, just arrived in the New World, had no idea how wild their new frontier could be. Winter arrived and with it came starvation, death, and the idea that maybe it was time to give up and go back to Europe where the strict confines of politics were easier to deal with than the utter randomness of Mother Nature. The real story of what happened next is all but … [Read more...] about Thanksgiving’s Irish Twist