Ronan Noone
To find yourself preparing for the world premiere of a play you’ve written is a major undertaking. To find yourself preparing simultaneously for the world premiere of two plays you’ve written is pretty much unheard of.
Yet that’s where Ronan Noone is at the moment. His new play, “The Second Girl,” has its world premiere at the Huntington Theatre from Jan. 16 to Feb. 21. Four months later, his “Scenes from an Adultery” will have its world premiere from June 6 to June 21 at New Repertory Theater in Watertown. When the significance of this achievement is brought to Noone’s attention, he says modestly, “I’m very lucky.”
The Irish music community in Boston, and well beyond, joined in grieving the death late last year of Sean Gannon, a member of one of the area’s most well-loved musical families.
Northern Ireland Talks Plod Onward – The talks to prop up the seriously troubled Northern Ireland political situation have seen the departure of Richard Haass and soon after followed British Prime Minister David Cameron. Enter Gary Hart, who may or may not be in the North of Ireland as this is going to press. There is serious business in progress and there is real concern in the North that the peace process, absent some top level corrective measures, could be in danger of collapsing. This is what has caught the attention of both the Irish and British governments.
A recent stop at The Last Hurrah whiskey bar at the Parker House (now Omni Parker House) got me thinking about the classic novel it is named after, a personal favorite and one synonymous with the battling “boyos and Brahmins” of yesteryear. Even now, it the visage of “Himself” – James Michael Curley – that stands out at the bar among the images of famed congressman, senators, and other politicians then and now. It was that very face that inspired a struggling novelist named Edwin O’Connor as 1955 dawned 60 years ago.
This will be an exciting year in Ireland. Signs of an exploding economy started to show up early in 2014 and all indications are that 2015 will offer a continuation of the good news.
According to The Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (Ibec) as quoted in The Irish Times on Dec. 21, “The Irish economy will significantly outperform the rest of Europe and grow by a spectacular 5.7 percent in 2014.” They are also predicting continuing strong growth in 2015 with the Gross Domestic Product – GDP – rising by 4.8%, unemployment falling, and investment rising.
The Irish online publication “the journal.ie” each week posts a selection of “statistics and numerical nuggets to help you digest the week that has just passed.” In late December, it reported what was termed “a bumper selection of figures looking back on the year that was.” Following is a selection of those facts and figures:
$359 million (£231 million): The number of Irish punts the Central Bank says are still hanging around under mattresses or in old piggy banks, almost thirteen years after Ireland switched to the euro.
State officials and community leaders came together this fall to celebrate the renovation of Michael Joyce Memorial Playground in South Boston. The park commemorates the life of Galway native Michael Joyce, a champion boxer in the Irish Army who emigrated to Boston in 1949, settled in Dorchester, and became a volunteer who helped scores of immigrants from Ireland find work and a place to live. He died of cancer in 1989 at age 66.
Members of the organization OUTVETS marched in the Veterans Day Parade in Boston last November. The group won approval to march in this year’s South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade at a meeting last month. Chris Lovett photo
A breakthrough in the decades-long impasse over the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade organizers’ exclusion of gay and lesbian marchers was reached last month after a petition by the LGBT veterans organization OUTVETS to march in next year’s parade was approved by a committee of South Boston veterans by a 5-4 vote.
Mayor Martin Walsh’s office and others hailed the decision as a clear-cut victory against an exclusionary policy. “We’re very pleased that OUTVETS will be marching in this year’s parade,” said Kate Norton, a spokesperson for Walsh. “Mayor Walsh has been advocating for an inclusive parade for quite some time. We’re thrilled to hear that the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council have decided to make the 2015 parade an inclusive event.”
By Lauren Dezenski and Bill Forry December 16, 2014
Lauren Dezenski and Bill Forry
One committee member in dissent seeks to challenge the decision
A breakthrough in a decades-long impasse over the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the exclusion of gay and lesbian marchers appears to have been reached last night after a petition by the LGBT veterans organization OUTVETS to march in next year’s parade was approved by a committee of South Boston veterans by a 5-4 vote.