News
Mark O'Brien
Journalist
Ireland
News Reporter for Dublin Gazette
Features Writer for Travel Ireland Magazine
Contact me: mark_obrien[at]hotmail[dot]com
Ireland
News Reporter for Dublin Gazette
Features Writer for Travel Ireland Magazine
Contact me: mark_obrien[at]hotmail[dot]com
News
Lucan residents are uniting to create a "Blanket of Love" for a young boy who is suffering from a rare degenerative condition. Eoin McStravick Sloan (6) from Finnstown was diagnosed with Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD) in October last year. The disease, which has no cure, affects motor functions and can lead to a loss of hearing and sight.
ESKER Amateur Boxing Club have begun the launch of an initiative that would allow clubs and organisations to visibly demonstrate that they are welcoming to young LGBT people. The club - which is run by Ed Griffin, Mick Kelly, Paschal Joyce and Eileen Toohey - are working on a logo that they have dubbed "OutStraight" ...
A new report into drug use in Dublin 15 has identified 63 secluded sites that are used for alcohol and drug consumption across the area. The sites were identified as part of the Drugs and Alcohol Trends Monitoring System, which identified heroin, alcohol and cannabis as the three most common problem drugs.
A Blanchardstown mother whose son suffers from behavioural difficulties says that he is being denied the right to an education. Doreen Devine's nine-year-old son Sean has recently been diagnosed with Teenage Conduct Disorder. The disorder is a serious behavioural and emotional disorder that can occur in children and teenagers.
A WOMEN'S REFUGE in Tallaght is to close next month after it failed to secure government funding to keep it open next year. Staff at Cuan Álainn Women and Children's Refuge were officially told on Tuesday that they would be made redundant and the centre will be closed just before Christmas.
Bernie Brannick wants you to borrow more from your neighbours. That's why she co-founded WeShare Dublin. "It's about connecting people again, because money just isolates people," said Brannick, over the phone. "When somebody wants something they just go and buy it, they hand over money and that's the end of that relationship."
Features
Mark O'Brien : Photo: Matthew Willis (circled far right) in January 2008, the last photo he took as an Uhuru Movement member. (C) Matthew Willis A lot of people become more politically engaged in college as they meet new people and are opened up to new ideas and new ways of thinking.
By Mark O'Brien @markjsobrien 2014 was a great year for We Cut Corners. The band's second album, Think Nothing, cropped up on many album of the year lists having been released to wide acclaim last May. They've toured all over Ireland and around Europe but the likeable pair's first gig of 2015 is going to be something really special.
In July of this year, an e-mail Leonard Cohen wrote to his ex-partner and great love Marianne Ihlen, who was days away from death, went viral. In it, Cohen wrote: "Well Marianne, it's come to this time when we are really so old and our bodies are falling apart and I think I will follow you very soon.
Following a six month renovation project, the Jameson Distillery, Bow Street is set to reopen its doors in March with a new and improved tour. Mark O'Brien sat down with General Manager Ray Dempsey to find out what prompted the revamp and what visitors can expect from the new tour.
As you wander through St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, you will notice something quite unique when you reach the top floor. Stretching the length of one of the corridors is one of the most unique art galleries you will ever see - the Green Gallery.
Ever since reading The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard as a child, artist Isobel Egan has been fascinated by the idea of architecture, space, and the interrelationships between us and the buildings we inhabit. These ideas are explored in her exciting new exhibition Inside Outside, which opens on 6 October in Gallery Zozimus on Francis Street in Dublin and runs until 24 October.
Reviews
Amanda Palmer selected an interesting passage for Neil Gaiman to read from her book The Art of Asking when he took to the Academy stage. The passage details a conversation she had with her husband where they share their biggest fears. Palmer's fears all seem to revolve around what people think of her.
Ivor Novello Awards, Mercury Prize nominations, Choice Music Prize wins. The last few years have been kind to Conor O'Brien, the diminutive, humble and thoroughly likable mastermind behind Villagers and their three stunning albums. International success is all well and good, but as O'Brien mentions to the crowd early on in his Olympia set, 'it's good to be home'.
There are some gigs that just have an intangible, magical quality from the moment the band strikes the first note. This gig from Eels was one of those shows, with Mark Oliver Everett, better known by the shortened moniker E, in cracking form from the moment he kicked things off with a plaintive version of When You Wish Upon A Star.