TV & Streaming

Convincing telling of Kerry Babies saga

FOR those with Apple+ TV, can I recommend Out Of Innocence (2019), written and directed by Briton Danny Hiller, writes Paul Hopkins. It is based directly on e Kerry Babies a air, and subsequent Tribunal. It is so well told, written and directed, with consummate acting from a stellar cast. Fiona Shaw gives the performance of a lifetime as Catherine Flynn (Joanne Hayes’s mother), dramatic in its understatement, while newcomer Fionuala Flaherty delivers a convincing portrayal as Sarah Flynn (Joanne Hayes).

It’s a compelling piece of work, not only for it cinematic prowess but because it is a chilling reminder of the way we were back in the early Eighties, not that long ago in the scheme of things. e past was another country. Socially regressed, sexually naive and ashamed, and paternalistic in many pockets of this land. Misogynistic and church-ridden, restrictive of women and ignorant of any sense of their fundamental human rights. A country and a people largely without any sense of common decency. e patriarchal nature of the judiciary was matched only by the politicians upholding of an outmoded Constitution. In fairness, not all otherwise there would have been no tribunal.

Most of all, the story is told (certain creative license allowing) as close to the truth as I recall the case. Again, underplayed if anything. And it correctly spotlights the disgraceful ineptitude and total lack of forensic application of the Gardai investigating the death of two new-born infants which saw them put Joanne Hayes and her family through a rough and ready ring of unsafe Garda practices, sloppy police work, and gut-wrenching emotional bullying.

Joannes Hayes’s and her family’s only crime was to be simple farm folk, not imbued with very much education nor emotional intelligence, and to be scared and, perhaps, a little thoughtless, if not clumsy.

But back then, such elements as these were still seen too often by Church and State as crimes of a sort. e wee blessed donkey ... but we’ve come a good ways since... though there is more to be done....

Reset Lord of Ring for Amazon

IT’S been 18 long years since Peter Jackson wrapped his beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy (and seven relief- lled years since he put his other trilogy to sleep). Now, after a prolonged period of Hobbitlessness, fans will nally return to Middleearth courtesy of Amazon Prime, whose own Dark Lord has emerged with a benevolent gift for us mortals in the form of a LOTR series based on JRR Tolkien’s extended mythology. e show remains shrouded in mystery, with media reports generally focused on the Smaug-sized price tag ($250 million for the rights, $465+ million for production). But with lming wrapped and a release date set for 2022.

For those who don’t know their Silmarillions from their Sarumans, Amazon’s series will take place about thousands of years prior to Frodo and the Fellowship’s quest to destroy the One Ring — and thus the reign of warmongering Sauron — in the Lord of the Rings series. e era is referred to as the Second Age of Middle-earth. e series, which began development in 2017, will reportedly draw heavily from e Silmarillion, Tolkien’s posthumously published Middle-earth Bible that spans the entire history of the land he created, as well as Un nished Tales of Númenor and Middleearth.

According to an o cial plot synopsis rst carried by eOneRing.Net and later con rmed by Amazon, the series ‘will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin.’ It teases an appearance by ‘the greatest villain that ever owed from Tolkien’s pen,’ plus characters both ‘familiar and new.’

Additionally, the synopsis mentions locations such as the Elven capital of Lindo, the island kingdom of Númenor and the Misty Mountains of Led Zeppelin’s discography.

Whether the series plans to Tree of Life its way through the history of Middle-earth before focusing on the Second Age remains to be seen, though rumour has it that director J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) will be introducing the Second Age as a whole in the rst two episodes.

5

shock horror on Netflix

Oh, you thought you liked Mark Duplass? Because he was the love interest in all those indie romcoms, played that doctor in e Mindy Project, and is easily the best character in e Morning Show? ink again! In Creep, a found-footage lm that foregoes pageantry for a stark sense of panic, Duplass plays a strange loner named Josef that freelance documentary maker Aaron, played by writer-director Patrick Brice, can’t quite pin down. Duplex’ performance is intoxicating, and Brice imagines a universe so compelling.

Directed by creature connoisseur Guillermo del Toro, Crimson Peak is a dark gothic fantasy you’ll want to fall into head rst. Mia Wasikowska leads as a 19th-century American heiress, whisked away to England by her handsome new husband, played by Tom Hiddleston. Once the young bride arrives at her groom’s family mansion, however, visions of ghosts begin to plague her. at her sister-in-law, played by Jessica Chastain, treats her with mysterious disdain isn’t helping. An epic mystery with more exquisite scenes than you can count, this spectacular ghost story gives longtime del Toro fans the horror ick they’ve always wanted from the iconic director.

Writer-director Remi Weekes’ His House is easily my favourite scary Net ix release of 2020. Wunmi Mosaku and Sope Dirisu star as refugees from South Sudan seeking asylum in Britain who are assigned to live in an eerie neighbourhood where they aren’t welcome. Spectacularly frightening and ruthlessly critical of its subject matter, His House delivers everything it must — and then some.

Remarkably bad for a movie directed by Martin Scorsese but pretty good otherwise, Shutter Island follows US Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) on his investigation into an institution for the criminally insane. A twist ending and tons of jump scares make this is a one-of-akind experience you’ll feel very strongly about.

From cellos and foreplay to hallucinations and hiking, e Perfection does absolutely whatever it wants. Featuring Allison Williams in her best role since Get Out and Dear White People’s Logan Browning in her best part ever, this vibrant genre blend will get a reaction out of you. Not necessarily a good reaction, but a reaction nonetheless. It’s body horror meets psychological thriller meets occult drama meets classical music. With bugs. And vomit. I, for one, loved it!

L R Fr Dan Carroll, Jane Dineen, Fr Brian Gri in, Fr Lorcan Moran

Committee members. Back Row LR Bridget Dooley, Miriam Gri in and Brigid Gleeson Joan Gleeson making a presentation on behalf of the Eastern Environs to Fr Brian Gri in

Parting is such sweet sorrow

THE Eastern Environs Community group gathered in St John’s Parish Centre to bid a fond farewell to Fr Brian Gri n after his six -year sojourn in the Parish.

Fr Brian’s transfer to cover the two Laois parishes of Castletown and Camross was the surprise inclusion in the Bishop’s recent Diocesan clerical changes.

In bidding farewell to Fr Brian, Joan Gleeson of Eastern Environs, felt con dent that his calm understanding persona would see him blossom in his new surroundings.

Fr Dan Carroll, St John’s, thanked Fr Brian for his commitment to the parish and its people and said his kindness, humility and good humour had left an indelible mark on all those he met.

Last chance to win the ‘You’re a Star’ Quilt!

WITH the weather set to be warm and sunny this week, we will get to enjoy a last burst of summer and hopefully some nice sunshine. But once the children are back to school and the days get shorter it will be time to start thinking about cosying up for the winter again. And what better addition to your home than the beautiful handmade ‘You’re a Star’ quilt! Made by the members of the South Midlands Branch of the Irish Patchwork Society, the quilt features 72 star blocks and was sandwiched by an award-winning quilter and textile artist from Cork, Mary Palmer. e members kindly donated the quilt to Teac Tom to be ra ed to raise funds for this vital service. Teac Tom is a suicide intervention and support charity based in Kilkenny city. It was established by Angela Hayes and her family after she su ered the tragic loss of her son omas in 2012 to suicide, on the anniversary of his dad’s death. Teac Tom provides support to those who are in crisis and those a ected or bereaved by suicide. e charity is providing up to 100 hours of free counselling every week to those in need in our community. ere is immediate, community-based support available from a team of both trained volunteers as well as professional counsellors.

Angela Hayes, CEO of Teac Tom, says that the last 18 months have been extremely challenging as the pandemic has restricted the charity’s fundraising capabilities. At the same time, there has been an increased demand for services and that is likely to increase further over the coming years.

After a successful exhibition during Kilkenny Arts Festival, the quilt has been packed up and is ready for its new home! e response to the quilt ra e has been overwhelming so far and tickets have been bought from all corners of Ireland, as well as Europe, Canada and the US. ere are just a few weeks left to buy tickets as the ra e will take place in the second week of September

Tickets for the ra e are available online or at Teac Tom, 15 Ormonde Rd, Kilkenny.

Tickets are just €5 each or 5 for €20. ank you for your support! www.idonate.ie/ra e/irishpatchworksociety www.thethomashayestrust. com / 056 7796592

With the collapse of Kabul and decades of con ict and it is like a game of snakes and ladders as the US and coalition forces reached 99 only to slide back down to Number 1, yes back to where it all began. e Twilight community are holding a Migration to Integration project in host city (Bihac) Bosnia & Herzegovina. e Charity organisation based in your city Kilkenny are sending 6 delegates. Mr Stephen Mungovan, Twilight’ s Inclusion & Diversity O cer is the project leader. He will be joined by Natalia Caul eld, Events Co Ordinator, Karen Hughes, Pam Leonard, and Dermot Eardley. Having in mind that after high peak of refugee and migrant crisis in 2015, EU today is still main hub for in ux of migrants and refugees from all over the world especially war a ected areas in Africa and Middle East. Due to a fact that migration is a natural thing, and it will happen constantly and as we are witnessing high rise of anti-migrant behaviour in many European countries, we believe action is needed to x this issue in our community and raise awareness. We identi ed Erasmus+ and its goals as one of the solutions we can do to change this situation in participating countries and their local communities. Training Course will help youth workers to develop new tools and skills which they can carry home with them and to understand reality how it is not just by what is served to them via media channels. 1. Increase knowledge and understanding about migrant and refugee population, their problems, and needs. 2. Empower young people & youth workers to be advocates for activism & human rights. 3. increase awareness among young people about the need to help migrants and refugees in local communities through social inclusion 5. Inspiring participants to create new methods and tools that will facilitate future networking 6. Sharing experiences and good practices in relation to migrant and refugee population in the countries of partners 7. Promote Erasmus+ programme and non-formal education. TWILIGHT COMMUNITY GROUP (Ireland) is the lead applicant organization with Mano Europa (Lithuania) - coordinating organisation. Both will be joined by delegates from Association of youth Movement Bihac (Bosnia and Herzegovina) - UDRUZENJE GRADANA CALAMUS (Serbia) - Reencontro, associação social, educativa e cultural (I.P.S.S.) (Portugal) Active Youth (Malta) -MULTECILER (Turkey) -Beyond Borders (Italy) Twilight Community Group with such a broad and diverse gathering of young adults we will get a comprehensive and pan European view on the topic of Migration to integrate Chairperson for Twilight Murty Brennan believes these projects are invaluable to the development of Policy and Practices “By listening to our Young Adults from all the di erent regions of Europe we can get a pan European View of the situations we are researching. ese programmes take place on a regular basis. We have another trip for 5 delegates to go to Lithuania as Mano of Europe lead Our Skills, European future project raise awareness and importance of soft skills and how to use these skills with proper validation can contribute to job opportunities.” Travelling dates for this 2-part project are 18th -19th September and the 16th – 24th October 2021 If you wish to available of these and many more opportunities join the Twilight Inclusion Group by calling to the International Cultural house 15 A Hebron business Park or 0567813105 , tyi @ twilight.ie And please take our Google doc Migration to Integration survey available on Twilight Community Group face book page

Ann Coonan, Fr Brian Gri in and Brigid Gleeson

Twilight in Bihac