( TRAILBLAZE ) WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT IRELAND
MARCH 17TH | 2014 THE ROUND ROOM AT THE MANSION HOUSE DUBLIN | IRELAND
ABOUT THE TRAILBLAZERY trail·blaze 1. to blaze a trail through (a forest, wilderness, or the like) for others 2. to be a pioneer in (a particular subject, technique, etc.)
The Trailblazery is an Irish collective who create social experiences that disrupt and evolve our current narratives. Founded in 2011 we have been described as “TED Talks with Soul”. We produce spoken word, music and performance experiences in unusual locations that highlight the stories and spirit of trailblazers who are challenging these narratives, on an individual, national and global level. We believe that it is time to rock the boat, turn the tide, step up and participate in creating the type of society we want to live in. Sometimes it is hard to define The Trailblazery – we tend to shapeshift and flock in moving patterns. Maybe we exist as sticky social glue, investigating new frontiers and joining dots between a constellation of people who are blazing trails in their own spectacular or intimate way. Since this wild adventure began we have hosted hundreds of DIY activists, mavericks, visionaries, critical thinkers, artists, musicians, social entre preneurs, provocateurs, luminaries and pioneers. We have taken The Trailblazery on tour around Ireland, inhabiting abandoned buildings, historic landmark venues, courthouses, churches, fields and forgotten spaces. We have made magical collaborations with festivals such as Galway Arts Festival, Body & Soul, Cork Midsummer Festival and Dublin Fringe Festival. We are now delighted to sail this ship into new seas tonight and welcome aboard our event partners RTÉ, Fáilte Ireland, Dublin City Council, The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and The Washington Post. Let’s blaze some trails.
Getting started, keeping going, getting started again - in art and in life, it seems to me this is the essential rhythm not only of achievement but of survival, the ground of convinced action, the basis of self-esteem and the guarantee of credibility in your lives, credibility to yourselves as well as to others‌ make the world before you a better one by going into it with all boldness. You are up to it and you are fit for it; you deserve it and if you make your own best contribution, the world before you will become a bit more deserving of you. — SEAMUS HEANEY
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Join the global conversation
Getting started, keeping going, getting started again - in art and in life, it seems to me this is the essential rhythm not only of achievement but of survival, the ground of convinced action, the basis of self-esteem and the guarantee of credibility in your lives, credibility to yourselves as well as to others… make the world before you a better one by going into it with all boldness. You are up to it and you are fit for it; you deserve it and if you make your own best
* Sliabh Luachra; the place and the music: A few years ago, when,
for various reasons, the music of Sliabh Luachra began before to reach you will contribution, the world a wider audience, the question was frequently asked, ”Where become more exactly is Sliabh Luachra?” Itais bit a question thatdeserving has never been of you. answered “exactly”, and maybe that’s the way it should remain. — SEAMUS HEANEY When Alexander Nimmo was making his maps for the bog survey in 1811, he referred to the upland area surrounding the valley of the upper Maine as “Ciarrai Luachar”. In more recent times, the legendary Castleisland journalist, Con Houlihan, referred to it simply (or maybe not so simply) as “a state of mind”.
WELCOME We need to talk about Ireland. No, really we do. And not only talk about it, but to sing and dance about it too. ‘An unsung land is a dead land’, wrote Bruce Chatwin. We Need to Talk about Ireland, in a sense, is our ode or song to Ireland. Our song is both a celebration and an inquiry. The celebration comes by way of honouring the land of Ireland herself - raw, rich and wild with natural beauty, flora and fauna. The celebration takes its form through paying homage to the people who have inhabited this island for centuries, shaping it with their hands, lives, sacrifices, achievements and talents. The celebration comes by giving voice to the poetry, music and art which, age upon age, has embraced us and translated our particular take on beauty across the globe. And it comes by saluting the essence of Ireland in 2014 through the voices and contributions of people who are stepping up to shape this country into a form that they are proud to call home. ‘We were lighthouse keepers once, we shone’, said Manchán Magan at our Trailblaze Rites of Passage event during the 2013 Dublin Fringe Festival. Indeed we shone, and we believe we still can. So, this is our inquiry - perhaps it is time for Ireland to sing a new song, one which is about shedding light on our inherent potential and one which gives us space to explore our innate capacity. Perhaps it is time to reshape ourselves in accordance with what Seamus Heaney called our ‘essential rhythm’. Maybe it is time for us to be lighthouse keepers again, to shine. Tonight we are asking some big questions. We will be diving deep into the soul of this nation, unearthing its own essential rhythms and tapping into the mysterious Sliabh Luchra* state of mind. Heaney, in the same speech, offered us an invitation also: to go into the world with boldness, making our best contribution. Right now this is our contribution. We believe we need to talk about Ireland. You are most welcome to sing and dance about it too. Lá Fhéile Pádraig Kathy Scott, Clare Mulvany, Ciara Cavanagh The Trailblazery
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT IRELAND
We Need To Talk About Ireland is a creative celebration of what it means to be Irish in 2014. From our ancient past to our potential future, the evening will navigate significant cultural thresholds, helping to shine a light on who we really are as a people, how our past informs us and where we might be headed on this island and beyond. We’re turning a diamond, so to speak, so the light can catch its many faces. We hope that it will be an opportunity for us to reflect and re-imagine the kind of Ireland we want to fully participate in, evoking a new cultural storyline about our social, political, cultural and spiritual evolution.
An unsung land is a dead land — BRUCE CHATWIN
We Need To Talk About Ireland involves an inspiring cast of torchbearers, some of Ireland’s brightest innovators, thinkers, artists and creative entrepreneurs, who we believe have unique insights to offer. This contemporary meditation on Ireland is a symphony of sorts, weaving a journey of spoken word, music, song, poetry, film and performance. We are delighted to be hosting the night in the historic Round Room of The Mansion House, Dublin, where in 1919 the first independent Irish parliament was convened and where the Anglo-Irish Treaty was ratified. This site occupies a strong cultural resonance in the Irish psyche, and also has many synergies with the reach and scale of We Need To Talk About Ireland. We would also like to welcome new audiences from all over the world into the room, who will be tuning in online via the RTÉ player and The Washington Post. We hope you have a wonderful evening and a provocative St. Patrick’s Day.
Gheabhaidh mé sos Ar feadh tamaill bhig I measc mo dhaoine féin Ar oileán san fharraige, Ag siúl cois trá Maidin is tráthnóna Gach lá I mo bhaile féin san iarthar I’ll find relief For a little while Among my own people On an island in the sea, Walking the shore Morning and night Every day, In my own home in the west — MÁIRTÍN Ó DIREÁIN
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT IRELAND
What are the key milestones in our past that have left an indelible imprint on our collective psyche today? What are the exhilarating moments that have punctuated this journey and carried us kicking and screaming into 2014? Where are we headed? As the world unfolds with infinite possibilities, what might it mean to be Irish?
A real conversation always contains an invitation. You are inviting another person to reveal herself or himself to you, to tell you who they are or what they want. — DAVID WHYTE
Martin Hayes
Performer Fiddler Martin Hayes is regarded as one of the most extraordinary talents to emerge in the world of Irish traditional music. Born in East County Clare, Martin grew up playing traditional music with his father, P.J. Hayes, leader of the famed Tulla Céilí Band. He is the recipient of major national and international awards including: six All-Ireland fiddle championships – before the age of nineteen; the prestigious Gradam Ceoil; Musician of the Year from the Irish language television station TG4; Man of the Year from the American Irish Historical Society; Folk Instrumentalist of the Year from BBC Radio; a National Entertainment Award (the Irish ‘Grammy’). He has recorded two solo albums, Martin Hayes (1993) and Under the Moon (1995). In 2012 the film Natural Grace – Irish Music and Martin Hayes was premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh and won Best Irish documentary. His current musical projects include his continued work in recording Peadar O’Riada’s new compositions and performing new works by composer David Flynn and the Clare Memory Orchestra. He is also currently a member of the contemporary Irish music band, The Gloaming, whose debut album released earlier this year quickly reached number one in the Irish world music charts to international critical acclaim. www.martinhayes.com
Patrick McCormack
Participant Storyteller. Poet. Local Historian Patrick McCormack brings the Clare landscape to life and encourages us all to engage with the natural landscape. As a rural philosopher he entertains people with his stories of the past in order to enrich the future. He is also an experienced guide of his own 225 acre organic farm, Glenquin, which is where the television series, Fr. Ted, was filmed. www.farmheritagetours.com/ burren-farm-walks/glenquinfarm-walk
Manchán Magan
Participant Writer. Documentary-Maker. Global Nomad Manchán has written books on his travels in Africa, India and South America (Truck Fever, Angels & Rabies) and two novels (one in Irish). He writes occasionally for The Irish Times and has presented and produced dozens of documentaries focusing on issues of world culture for TG4, RTÉ and the Travel Channel. He has written award-winning plays and articles for LA Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian. He lives in his oak forest in a self-made hovel in the bogs of Ireland. www.manchan.com
Iarla Ó’Lionáird
Performer Vocalist Iarla Ó’Lionáird has carved a long and unique career in music in Ireland. From his iconic early recording of the vision song Aisling Gheal as a young boy to his ground breaking recordings with Dublin’s Crash Ensemble, he has shown a breadth of artistic ambition that sets him apart in the Irish Music fraternity. He has worked with a stellar cast of composers internationally including Nico Muhly, Gavin Bryars and David Lang and has performed and recorded with such luminaries as Peter Gabriel, Robert Plant and Sinéad O’Connor. His unique singing style has carried him to stages and concert halls all over the world, from New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House and beyond. His voice has graced the silver screen also, with film credits extending from The Gangs of New York to Hotel Rwanda and most recently as featured vocalist in the film Calvary starring Brendan Gleeson. He is the vocalist with the critically acclaimed Irish / American band The Gloaming. www.iarla.com
Crash Ensemble
Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill
Participant Poet Poet. Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill was born in England to Irishspeaking parents in 1952. At age 5 she was sent back to Ireland to her aunt in the Gaeltacht or Irish-speaking area of Corca Dhuibhne, the Dingle Peninsula. She was educated an University College, Cork and taught English for five years at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, before returning to the Kerry Gaeltacht, to dedicate herself to poetry. She has been Writer-inResidence in most Irish academic and writing institutions and has taught, as visiting professor, at five different American universities, most recently Notre Dame. She was Ireland Professor of Poetry (2002—2005). Her main collections of poetry are: (in Irish only) An Dealg Droighin (1981), Féar Suaithinseach (1984), Feis (1991) , Cead Aighnis (1998). Dual language collections, with English translation are: Rogha Dánta (1984) Pharoah’s Daughter (1990), The Astrakhan Cloak (1992), The Waterhorse (2000), The FiftyMinute Mermaid (2008).
Performers Crash Ensemble is one of Ireland’s leading contemporary music ensembles; a group of world-class musicians who play adventurous, groundbreaking new music. Founded in 1997 by composer and artistic director Donnacha Dennehy, the Ensemble has released recordings by labels such as NMC, Cantaloupe and most recently Nonesuch, with the release of Grá agus Bás by Donnacha Dennehy which received international praise. The Ensemble has worked with many well-known artists from diverse musical backgrounds, such as Steve Reich, Gavin Friday, Dawn Upshaw, Terry Riley, David Lang, Julie Feeney, Gerald Barry, Gavin Bryars, Michael Gordon, Louis Andriessen and Iarla Ó’Lionáird. The Ensemble is committed to broadening the music on offer to audiences by commissioning, producing and performing new or recent works by internationally acclaimed composers, up-andcoming composing talents and collaborating with culturally relevant artists. www.crashensemble.com
Justine McCarthy
Participant Journalist. Author. Broadcaster Justine is the current National Newspapers of Ireland Columnist of the Year. A senior writer with The Sunday Times, she has won various national journalism awards for features writing, news reporting and campaigning journalism. She has written two books: Mary McAleese: The Outsider (1999) and Deep Deception: Ireland’s Swimming Scandals (2009). She is an adjunct professor of Journalism at the University of Limerick. www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/ news/ireland
The search for meaning is really the search for the lost chord. When the lost chord is discovered by humankind, the discord in the world will be healed and the symphony of the universe will come into complete harmony with itself. — JOHN O’DONOHUE
Ruairí McKiernan
Film Curated by
Pat Collins
Documentary Filmaker Pat Collins has directed over 25 films. His first film Michael Hartnett, Necklace of Wrens won the Jury Award at the Celtic Film Festival in 2000. Since then he has directed Talking to the Dead which centered on the Irish funeral tradition. This was followed by Oileán Thoraí, which won the Best Irish Documentary Award in 2003. He has since directed documentaries on the Irish writer Frank O’Connor, the poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill and the Connemara based writer and cartographer Tim Robinson. His film John McGahern: A Private World won an IFTA for ‘Best Irish Documentary’. The feature documentary Gabriel Byrne: Stories from Home was completed in 2009 and the film essay What We Leave in Our Wake in 2011. He directed his first feature film Silence in 2012 which was released in the UK by New Wave Films. In 2013 he completed a short film What Remains co-directed with Tadhg O’Sullivan and Fathom codirected with Sharon Whooley. He has just completed a feature documentary Living in a Coded Land which won Best Irish Documentary at Dublin Film Festival 2014. www.harvestfilms.ie
Eleanor Tiernan
Participant Original. Honest. Comedian Eleanor Tiernan is fast becoming a favourite with Irish audiences. She has performed at all of the Irish comedy festivals, the Montreal Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Eleanor has numerous TV credits to her name. She was part of a group of Irish comedians called Headwreckers that were selected to be part of Channel 4‘s Comedy Lab series. She was featured in Maeve Higgins’ Fancy Vittles and she both wrote and performed in RTE’s The Savage Eye, which received an IFTA nomination. Eleanor has appeared on The Panel, Republic of Telly and was the first act to feature on RTE’s flagship Stand and Deliver. She wrote and performed on the political satirical show The Eleventh Hour and also the critically-acclaimed Irish Pictorial Weekly was cowritten and co-performed by Eleanor. She recently was a featured comedian on Stewart Lee’s Alternative Comedy Experience on Comedy Central. www.lisarichards.ie/comedians/ eleanor-tiernan-comedian
Participant Dreamer. Schemer. Social Justice Campaigner Ruairí McKiernan is an award winning social innovator and community activist from Cavan. He is the founder of the pioneering SpunOut.ie youth organisation and is currently co-founding Uplift which will act as a new platform for people powered change. In 2012 he was appointed to the Council of State by President Michael D Higgins. Ruairí contributes regularly to the national and international media and in 2013 he completed a ‘hitching for hope’ listening tour of Ireland. www.community.ie
Grace Dyas
Participant Writer. Director. Sometime Producer Grace is part of THEATREclub where she’s interested in making work about the city, equality and togetherness. She chooses to make theatre because it offers the opportunity for live discussion between artist and audience. Grace is motivated by the idea that theatre can start conversations that start ripples toward social change. She is currently working on ADDICTION - a public conversation event with Depaul Ireland, and THE TRILOGY - A story about Ireland in three parts, THE FAMILY (1), HEROIN (2) and HISTORY (3). www.theatreclub.ie
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COLONISATION
FAMINE
IMMIGRATION
FOUNDING OF THE REPUBLIC
EMIGRATION
CIVIL RIGHTS DÁIL ÉIREANN 1916 RISING CELTIC SPIRITUALITY
SAINTS, SCHOLARS & SNAKES
SACRED ACTIVISM
AN GHAEILGE
CODING THE LAND
WISDOM OF ANCESTORS
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LOVE IMAGINEERS WALKABOUT
COMPASSION
CULTURAL SHADOW
HUMAN BEINGNESS RITES OF PASSAGE
EVOLVING NARRATIVES WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT IRELAND DIY ACTIVISM
IT’S NOT OUR FAULT INSTITUTIONS: FEAR, SHAME, GUILT
SYSTEMIC CHANGE EQUALITY HITCHING FOR HOPE
GLOBAL CONSCIOUSNESS
EVOKING IRELAND
UNSUNG VOICES
Dylan Haskins
Participant Broadcaster. DIY Activist. Filmmaker Dylan has been involved with ‘DIY’ initiatives since he was a young teenager running a record label and all-ages gigs with his friends. From there he became a proactive organiser and voice in Irish culture and arts. Dylan has worked with Project Arts Centre since 2004, most notably directing the Roll Up Your Sleeves documentary about do-it-yourself counterculture in 2008 and in 2009 founding the collectively run arts centre Exchange Dublin. He was also co-opted to the Project board of directors that year. In 2011, while still an undergraduate at Trinity College Dublin, Dylan stood as an independent candidate in the Irish General Election. He is currently a member of the Science Gallery Leonardo group and in 2012 he was curator of talks and critical events at the Dublin Theatre Festival. He has presented and reported on television and radio for the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ and currently presents the weekly culture podcast Soundings and online coverage of the Other Voices series for Guardian.co.uk. www.dylanhaskins.ie
Abbot Mark Patrick Hederman
Daithí
Performer Fiddle-Player. House Music-Maker. Loopstation Tweaker Hair-flicking bundle of energy, Daithí has had brushes with TV talent shows (TG4’s The All-Ireland Talent Show) and has appeared on stages the length and breadth of Ireland to crammed festival tents. He has supported the likes of DJ Shadow, Santigold, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, De La Soul and ToddTerje. Daithí frequently has studio excursions with various members of the country’s closeknit underground community. www.daithi.ie
Participant Abbot. Author Mark Patrick Hederman is abbot of Glenstal Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Limerick, where he has been a monk for over forty years. Formerly headmaster of the school, he has lectured in philosophy and literature in many countries, as well as in Ireland. He is a founding editor of the cultural journal The Crane Bag, and author of several books, including Kissing in the Dark, Underground Cathedrals and Dancing with Dinosaurs. His most recent book is The Boy in the Bubble: Education as Personal Relationship, published in 2012.
We have been through a war, been hungry, and heroes: And here we are now, calm, fed, and reminiscent. The hills are old, silent: our pipe-smoke rises up. We have come a long way. — MICHAEL HARTNETT
The future enters into us, in order to transform itself in us, long before it happens. — RAINER MARIA RILKE
Bryan Delaney
Noeline Kavanagh
Participant Artist. Director. Writer Noeline Kavanagh is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. She has worked with companies such as Welfare State international UK, Els Comediants, Spain and Teatre du Soliel, France. A native of Galway Noeline works as an artist, writer and director. In 2009 she took up the role of Artistic Director of Macnas, a theatre spectacle and processional performance company based in the West of Ireland. Under her directorship the company has won awards for design and performance, been featured widely on national and international media and toured to Beijing, Australia, Russia, the UK and across Ireland. Noeline works with visual artists, composers, performers, designers, engineers, pyrotechnicians and puppeteers and places the collaborative artistic process at the centre of all her work. www.macnas.com
Participant Playwright. Screenwriter Bryan Delaney has recently been selected to develop new TV drama/comedy for the BBC in London through BBC Writersroom. Plays include The Seedbed (nominated for L. Arnold Weissberger Award; finalist Verity Bargate Award; public reading Manhattan Theatre Club, 2014), The Cobbler (Irish Classical Theatre: Katherine Cornell Award; joint winner 16th International Playwriting Competition), The Onion Game (public readings by Rough Magic, The Vineyard and New York Stage and Film), Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer (translation, Rough Magic), The Bohemians (Carnegie Hall, New York), Stretching Larry (Theatre Upstairs, Dublin), Liv (feature film co-written with Catherine Eaton; shortlisted for Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2013; scheduled for production 2014). Awards include two playwright’s bursaries from The Peggy Ramsay Foundation and an artist’s bursary from The Arts Council of Ireland. From 2010 – 2013 Bryan ran the New Playwrights Programme at The Abbey Theatre. He is represented by Creative Artists Agency www.caa.com
Colm O’Gorman
Participant Campaigner. Author. Provocateur Colm is executive director of Amnesty International Ireland and founder of One in Four. Author of Beyond Belief, Colm recounts his personal experience of shame, outrage and hope. He is a regular media commentator and contributor and has written extensively on social justice and human rights. Colm has made a number of documentary films including the BAFTA awardwinning A Family Affair (2000), Suing the Pope (2002) and Sex Crimes and the Vatican (2006). www.colmogorman.com
Nina Hynes
Performer SingerSongwriter. Sonic Enchantress Nina has been writing songs since she was eight years old. At an early age she toured with experimental composers Hector Zazou and Brian Eno collaborator Harold Budd. Nina continued touring across America and Europe supporting Roxy Music, Terry Callier, Smog, Stereolab, Cat Power, Julee Cruise, David Gray, Glen Hansard and Damien Rice. Jane Birkin covered one of Nina’s songs on one of Hector Zazou’s last albums, Strong Currents. With a diploma in sound engineering and music technology, Nina has released four albums: Creation (1999), Staros (2002), Really Really Do (2007) and Dancing Suns Goldmine (2012), along with various EPs. She lives in Berlin with a fellow Dancing Sun and their daughter. Nina loves Christmas songs and cooking. I have learned that I need to share my music. I need to feel that others can relate and dream to it like I do. http://ninahynes.bandcamp.com
St. Brigid’s Cabinteely GNS Choir
Performance Winner of RTÉ Lyric FM Primary School Christmas Choir, 2013 See inside back flap for credits and singers’ names.
Discovery Gospel Choir
Performance Director: Aisling McCormick Formed in 2004, Discovery Gospel Choir is Ireland’s top intercultural choral group. This exceptional group of 30 singers and musicians from 16 countries has performed for notable public figures such as President Michael D. Higgins, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Rev Dr. Jesse Jackson and the Dalai Lama. In 2012, the choir performed for the Irish launch of Walt Disney’s The Lion King Broadway Show, with members of the West End cast. They have recorded and released their own album Discovery: Live at the Pavilion, Dublin. The choir lives out its message of ‘Discover beauty in everyone’ by performing in diverse locations such as Mountjoy Prison, the Stormont Parliament in Belfast and Mosney Accommodation Centre for asylum seekers, campaigning for issues around reconciliation, integration and justice. They also run a successful community project, which sees Discovery inspiring schools and community groups in the values of inter-culturalism. www.discoverygospelchoir.com
THE TRAILBLAZERY MUSIC PROJECT
MUSIC PROGRAMME
At The Trailblazery we are passionate about hosting both emerging and established musicians. Over the past year we have embarked on an adventure of collaboration with local choirs for each event that we produce. Our inaugural large-scale music project took place as part of Rites of Passage at Dublin Fringe Festival in September 2013, receiving widespread acclaim. Rites of Passage was a 12.5 hour cycle of spoken word, music and performance involving over 50 participants from Ireland, Iceland, Greece, Canada, The US, Britain, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Martin Hayes Traditional material
Our musical vision continues for We Need to Talk About Ireland as we welcome Nina Hynes, Crash Ensemble, The Discovery Gospel Choir and St. Brigid’s GNS Cabinteely (winner of RTÉ Lyric FM Primary School Christmas Choir, 2013) to perform an arrangement of The World by Dancing Suns specially commissioned by The Trailblazery. We have previously worked with the choir of St Brigid’s National School in Killester and the Lismorahaun Singers, Co. Clare and hope to continue weaving this lyrical thread into Trailblaze experiences in the future.
The future has an ancient heart — CARLO LEVI
Iarla O’Lionaird and Crash Ensemble Táim Sínte ar do Thuama Arranged by Donnacha Dennehy Daithí Aréir Nina Hynes, Crash Ensemble, The Discovery Gospel Choir, St. Brigid’s Girls National School Choir The World by Dancing Suns Arranged for Trailblaze by Garrett Sholdice The Crash Ensemble are as follows: Musicians Violin: Emily Thyne Viola: Lisa Dowdall Cello: Kate Ellis Double Bass: Malachy Robinson Flute: Susan Doyle Clarinet: Deirdre O’Leary Trombone: Karl Ronan Percussion: Alex Petcu Keyboard: Conor Linehan Electric Guitar: John Godfrey Management & Production Artistic Directors: Kate Ellis and Donnacha Dennehy CEO: Neva Elliott Administrator/Concerts Manager: Jonathan Pearson Producer and Technical Director: Adrian Hart Front of House Sound: Jimmy Eadie Stage and Monitors Manager: Valerie Francis
Another world is not only possible. She’s on her way. On a quiet day I can hear her breathing. — ARUNDHATI ROY
GRATITUDE & CREDITS This project was made possible by many generous and supportive hands and hearts. In particular we would like to thank: The amazing team below, and our friends, family and supporters in particular: Ursula Brown, Brendan Canty, John Concannon, Fi Connors, Ali Curran, Tony Deegan, Colman Farrell, Cilian Fennell, Aoife Flynn, Olenka Hand, Mari Kennedy, Ruth Meehan, Denise Rushe, Sarah Ryder, Nathan Sherman and Ray Yeates The Trailblazery are Kathy Scott, Clare Mulvany & Ciara Cavanagh. Creative Team: We Need to Talk About Ireland Creative Producer/ Artistic Director: Kathy Scott Executive Producer RTÉ: Sarah Ryder Executive Producer: Ali Curran Producer: Tony Deegan Creative and Design Consultant: Clare Mulvany Music Producer: Ciara Cavanagh Script Consultant: Bryan Delaney For RTÉ Director: Bob Corkey Production Designer: Marcella Power Sound Technician: Adrian Hart Assistant Producer: Allen Doyle Lighting: Lumiere Productions Ltd FOH Sound: Paul Ashe Brown Sound Technician: Adrian Hart AV/ Audio: CAVS OB Services: Observe Floor Managers: Eddie Finlay and Ciaran McDonough Stage Manager: Karen O’Brien Photographer: Dave Ryan For The Trailblazery Digital Manager: Denise Rushe Video Editor: Frank Delaney Cover Image & Visuals: Brendan Canty, Feel Good Lost Brochure Design: Orlagh O’Brien Graphics: Orlagh O’Brien & Eimear McNally
RTÉ SUPPORTING THE ARTS We Need To Talk About Ireland is one of the most exciting cultural events that RTÉ has had the pleasure to support in a long time. For the past two years The Trailblazery team of Kathy Scott, Clare Mulvany and Ciara Cavanagh have been hosting a series of thought-provoking speech and performance events around Ireland which explore, deconstruct, and make sense of key issues in our society at this time of incredible flux and change. While this island struggled in the aftermath of the 2008 crash and thousands left its shores, Kathy, Clare and Ciara made the journey home. Their mission: to make sense of what was happening to us as a people and figure out where we might be going. Over two years, The Trailblazery events have brought together voices known and unknown, and from this island and beyond, to piece together the story of an emerging nation. Bit by bit the project has gained momentum and Trailblaze has become a catalyst for a vibrant new conversation about Ireland. The collaboration with RTÉ gives The Trailblazery project a bigger stage. Tonight, St. Patrick’s night 2014, we broadcast to the world – on RTÉ Player and on the Washington Post’s WorldView platform – the story of an Ireland in flux, an Ireland that we cannot yet define, an Ireland that is emerging from the trauma and loss of our recent past. But we also celebrate what is perennial, and what will always define us as a people: our innate creativity, our gift for storytelling, our spirituality, our ability to laugh at ourselves and our deep connection to this wind-blown little piece of land we call Home. Many individuals and organisations have worked together to enable tonight’s event to take place. I’d like to thank each and every one of them for their unwavering support for this ambitious project. All of us in RTÉ hope that this will be the start of many collaborations with creative collectives like The Trailblazery whose visions and voices we so desperately need to make space for at this time. And we hope you leave tonight, as I did after my first Trailblazery event, with your heads bursting and your hearts lifted. Beannactaí na féile daoibh uilig go léir. Sarah Ryder Executive Producer Arts, RTÉ Television
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DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO THE GIRLS OF ST. BRIGID’S GNS CABINTEELY AND THEIR SUPPORTIVE STAFF – YOU’RE BRILLIANT.
Choir Director: Orla Gillan Principal: Aideen Sweeney Teachers: Lucy O’Malley, Caitríona Ní Chuireáin, Denise Coleman, Jenny Geoghegan The choir are: Annabel Buckley McMahon Shauna Carroll Sarah Colgan Amy Corcoran Aislinn Kelly Salvija Krupyte Ulyana Kuzmenko Maria Maatouk Arina Marcurta Ellie Rose Mason Ella McCambridge Jessica McKinney-Perry Emma Nolan Kate O’Callaghan Lauren O’ Callaghan Madison O’Connell Aoibhe O’Connell Elli O’Hara Megan O’Kelly Jade O’Shaughnessy Lauren O’Sullivan Rosalie Piare
Charley Reynolds Alannah Ryan Angel Keight Danielle Solidum Alice Walshe Lana Whelan Anais Chambers Aoife Coffey Lara Creighton Emer Cullen Ruby Cullinan Amie Cullinane Ellen Daly Emma Eakins Sophie Edmonds Hannah Farrelly-Spain Melanie Fitzpatrick Emma Flatman Chiedza Furukiya Emma Glynn Amber Griffin Amy Haskins
Lauren Haverty Brook Holden-Halpin Alexandar Kelly Emily Kelly Helen Kerney Jessie Li Hannah Luedicke Lukrecija Sestokaite Paloma Suarez Davila Almundena Ucles Trrina Yu Christina Byrne Anna Falkner Emma Falvey Sarah Farrell Anna Fitzgerald Siobhan Fitzgerald Keeley Flynn Emma Foley Lucy Gill Emma Keogh Lucy Kiersey Hanna Kissane Annmarie Lynch Ellie Magennis Sarah Mc Carthy
Ailbhe McCaul Sorcha McFadden Michelle McKeever Katelinn McKell Lucia McNally Caoimhe Morton Roccio Ucles Katrina Sadzewicz Heather Byrne Andrea Cahill Rua Rhoslyn Kirwan Esraa Maatouk Evelyn Mackey Martha McKinney-Perry Alice McNabb Eve Moloney Ava Moran Phoebe Morgan Isabel O’Byrne Niamh O’Connell Mia O’Dea Cara O’Donnell Sandra O’Donovan Chloe O’Hanlon Aisling O’Kelly Sarah O’Leary
Ksenia Philippova Anna Rae Carrie-Rose Reynolds Sinead Tyrrell Nicole Bolger Klara Borkowaska Oliwia Borkowska Juliana Carroll Jodie Carter Ava Clarke Alex Connaughton Eve Cotter Anna Coyne Emily Cryan Ciara Cullen Beighinn Curry Sisa Davies Mary-pat Dillon Lisa Doody Jessica Duberry-Mahon Jodi Egan Fatima Lakhlef Ciara Miles Weronika Niemierzcka
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