The long road to a green light for ‘Amber’A four-part miniseries about a teenager’s disappearance, made in 2011, is finally being aired on RTÉ from Sunday. Its creators, Rob Cawley and Paul Duane, are glad we won’t be missing itFri Jan 17 2014 - 01:00
Christmas gift. Unwanted. Yours for a few euroFrom Gibson Les Paul electric guitars and Playboy robes to Orla Kiely bags, online ads at this time of year are a litany of our most abject festive flopsSat Jan 11 2014 - 01:00
The 2,154-word house-share adMinda, a radical vegan activist, says his demands for a new housemate, which include fines for ignoring the spiritual side of life, are about harmony, not controlSat Dec 21 2013 - 01:00
Wright night: ‘The dance floor for the local Tesco’The recession made us realise that staying at home was no bad thing. And we got a taste for paying supermarket prices for our drinks. So Ireland’s biggest nightclub has been working out how to keep drawing the crowdsSat Dec 07 2013 - 01:00
A trove of playthings at Dublin Toy Fair – but where’s the one toy to rule them all?The event’s organisers hope to sell a lot of Furbys and One Direction figures – and to welcome Barbie for a ‘personal appearance’Sat Nov 30 2013 - 01:00
Competitive eating: ‘Randy squeezes his chips into paste, then gulps it down’The American ‘sport’ of competitive eating came to Newbridge, Co Kildare, recently. It wasn’t a meal, it was a bloodbathTue Nov 26 2013 - 01:00
My first opera: a lot of fuss over a straw hatIt’s opening night at Wexford Festival Opera, and there is much for a novice to learn: don’t touch the intermission drinks, tiny binoculars are not the done thing, and don’t mess with an Italian’s headwearMon Oct 28 2013 - 01:00
Dad’s grave decked in Mayo colours for the All-IrelandDad mightn’t have lived to see it, but Uncle George says this is definitely Mayo’s year . . . maybeFri Sept 20 2013 - 01:00
Galway joins global high stakes circuit as poker players vie for €1m in prize moneyPoker is not about hi-jinks and having fun. Poker is serious businessSat Aug 10 2013 - 01:00
Cancer: the toughest journeyFor cancer patients in the North West, treatment involves a very long road trip. Some will travel 600km in a week to get to the nearest cancer care centre and back. Eoin Butler boards a charity cancer bus in Letterkenny and talks to patients bound for treatment in GalwaySun Mar 10 2013 - 16:18
Q & ATOM CANTON talks about the challenge of bringing Oscar Wilde’s ‘Dorian Gray’ to the stageSat Sept 08 2012 - 01:00
The sad reality of lifestyle televisionA note to programme-makers: could you please feature people, situations and ideas that are more interesting and inspiring than…Sat Aug 25 2012 - 01:00
Straw men and women for all seasonsTHERE ARE synchronised swimmers in the Erkina river. At the courthouse, a convict is fleeing across the roofTue Jul 31 2012 - 01:00
Surf, sounds and Michael D by the seaThe wind picked up as the President fulfilled a campaign promise and returned to join revellers at Bundoran’s Sea Sessions festival…Mon Jul 02 2012 - 01:00
The race goes on: a tight community rallies roundThe deaths of two spectators in Cavan last month shook the Irish rallying communityFri Jun 15 2012 - 01:00
Torres scores the winner? You're having a laughI FELT I HAD A MINOR personal stake in Champions League: Barcelona v Chelsea (TV3 and Sky Sports 2) on Tuesday nightSat Apr 28 2012 - 01:00
Beware road users: there's a Butler on the looseEARLIER THIS week, I chronicled my own multiple failed attempts to pass the driving testFri Mar 02 2012 - 00:00
MIA and the digital saluteSMALL PRINT: When MIA “gave the finger” to America during the US Superbowl on Sunday night, the rapper and provocateur joined…Tue Feb 07 2012 - 00:00
The Ticket Gig of the WeekWith one bound, Friendly Fires' frontman Ed Macfarlane was free of the stage - swinging his hips down among the great unwashed…Fri Dec 09 2011 - 00:00
Q&ATERRY PRONE discusses her new book, the presidential race and how Facebook may come back to haunt youSat Nov 12 2011 - 00:00
Stand Up and Be AnalysedINTERVIEW: ‘IF YOU DON’T make me look nice,” purrs Pamela Stephenson, as she breezes into her suite in the Shelbourne hotel. “…Sat Jun 25 2011 - 01:00
Q&AMICHÉAL Ó MUIRCHEARTAIGH: The broadcasting luminary offers his predictions for this year’s All-Ireland football and hurling …Sat Jun 11 2011 - 01:00
Q&AWelsh composer Karl Jenkins talks about musical snobbery, imitating Marvin Gaye, and why the 1960s weren’t as rock’n’roll as …Sat Apr 02 2011 - 01:00
Hillen daleBorn in 1961 in a Catholic, working-class neighbourhood of Newry, photomontage artist Seán Hillen grew up an eyewitness to the…Sat Feb 05 2011 - 00:00
'It'll put a smile on your face and you might just spot one or two characters you recognise in your own life'Q&A: DAVID PEARSE, star of RTÉ's new comedy drama 'Trivia'Sat Jan 29 2011 - 00:00
'Having 50 odd people behind you, it's the best backing band in the world'Q&A: DUKE SPECIAL on honouring the life of forgotten Belfast pop star Ruby MurraySat Jan 15 2011 - 00:00
‘I had to be persuaded to go professional. These auld negative thoughts would be going through your mind. Thoughts about where you’re from, about being a member of the Travelling community’Q&A: WILLIE CASEY, newly crowned European Super Bantamweight Boxing ChampionSat Nov 20 2010 - 00:00
‘I see these people in the world with us who are barely viewed as human beings. And I think it’s weird that we’re okay with that’Q&A: GRACE DYAS Writer of ‘Heroin’ for TheatreClub companySat Nov 13 2010 - 00:00
'I was able to write half my book in Korea, attend a wedding in the Bahamas, and finish the book in Mexico'Q&A: CHRIS HAUGHTON Illustrator, fair trade activist and award-winning children's authorSat Oct 16 2010 - 01:00
'There are often special nights when the boundary comes down between an audience and a band. It becomes about people in a room creating a feeling together'Q&A: STUART A STAPLES , Tindersticks frontman and Beatle-basherSat Aug 14 2010 - 01:00
'The sight of two Gaelic footballers French kissing, on an enormous billboard in Kerry. That memory still gives me pleasure to this day'Q&A: JOHN RYAN, publisher of new satirical website Broadsheet.ie, talks to EOIN BUTLERSat Aug 07 2010 - 01:00
'People constantly underestimate the intelligence in social networks'Q&A: EOIN BUTLER talks to Will McInnes, social media guruSat Jul 24 2010 - 01:00
'A German audience will stare at you stony-faced for the entire gig and then buy every T-shirt you have'Q&A THE MIGHTY STEF Ireland's last true rock‘n’roll hero: he sings, he plays, he makes bedsSat Jul 17 2010 - 01:00
'That dark, Irish drunk Jimbo killed my friend Jim Morrison. I hate that Jimbo'Ray Manzarek the former Doors keyboardist talks to EOIN BUTLER recalls jamming with Jim - and Van - MorrisonSat Jul 10 2010 - 01:00
'Call yourself an artist, you can be whatever you want to be'EOIN BUTLER talks to Shrine, Californian artist and trash sculptorSat Jun 19 2010 - 01:00
Talk timePAUL GALVIN: The bad boy of Gaelic football reveals his interest in women's clothingSat May 15 2010 - 01:00
"I didn't know if I should address him as 'Prince' or 'The Artist Formerly Known As..."EOIN BUTLER'S Q&A: Singer-songwriter Simon Fagan...Sat Apr 24 2010 - 01:00
Songs of AfricaThe Kenyan Boys Choir was founded in Nairobi in 1998, but only came to worldwide attention last year when it took part in events…Sat Apr 17 2010 - 01:00
'You do your little songs behind the half door in Mayo and they find their way out'Q&A: EOIN BUTLER talks to Brendan Graham, songwriter, novelist and adopted MayomanSat Apr 17 2010 - 01:00
Calling all eggheadsEASTER QUIZ: Win two nights’ accommodation at Carton House in Maynooth, Co Kildare (including dinner for two) by answering these…Sat Apr 03 2010 - 01:00
'I'm a storyteller, that's what I'm going to sell'Q&A: Plan B, London rapper turned soulmanSat Apr 03 2010 - 01:00
'If people can't find decent books instore, it drives them online'TALK TIME: Ivan O'Brien, Managing director of the O'Brien PressSat Mar 20 2010 - 00:00
Right now I'm thinking, 'Ah, sure it's only Barack. It'll be grand!'TALKING IRISH LAURA IZIBORWed Mar 17 2010 - 00:00
'Henry should play out his days in the League of Ireland'TALKING IRISH: Ardal O’Hanlon on the fairest punishment for a certain French footballer, and the joy of a Carrickmacross Paddy…Tue Mar 16 2010 - 00:00
'Henry should play out his days in the League of Ireland'TALKING IRISH: Ardal O’Hanlon on the fairest punishment for a certain French footballer, and the joy of a Carrickmacross Paddy…Mon Mar 15 2010 - 00:00
'MC Muppet is a rapper from Connemara whose lyrics are very sexual in content. The Irish language is a very poetic language'TALK TIME : Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí, RnaG presenter and founder of An Cabaret CraiceáilteSat Mar 13 2010 - 00:00
'I've to turn up, smile and do what I'm told'TALKING IRISH: Packie Bonner on being the grand marshal of Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day parade, and Irishness in generalFri Mar 12 2010 - 00:00
