Latest news with #WolfeTone
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Wolfe Tones make major Oasis Croke Park announcement
Wolfe Tones singer Brian Warfield wants to give Oasis a bottle of their whiskey – but poured ice on rumours he'll be a special guest at the band's Irish gigs next month. Liam and Noel Gallagher play Dublin's Croke Park on August 16 and 17. There had been whispers the Manchester rockers, who have strong Irish heritage, had invited The Wolfe Tones to join them on stage. But Brian, 79, told us: 'I heard nothing about it. I did say to MCD if there were any spare tickets going around, I'd like to go and meet the guys.' However, the Celtic Symphony hitmaker – who recently retired – said he plans to send the brothers a bottle of Wolfe Tones whiskey to celebrate their return back to Ireland. Liam Gallagher (L), lead singer and Noel Gallagher (R), singer and guitarist of British rock band Oasis. (Image: AFP via Getty Images) He added: 'I was going to bring them some Wolfe Tone whiskey as a little gift.' Brian recalled how Gallaghers were spotted in the crowds of a Wolfe Tone concert back when they were much younger. He said: 'I saw them when they were at our concerts. They were only kids back then. 'The thing is, we were working very hard over the years. We never got a chance to go to other concerts. 'We would've liked to have gone here and there.' Oasis will be supported by ex-Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft and Cast in Croke Park. He is a long-time friend of the brothers, while Cast opened for Liam on his Definitely Maybe 30th-anniversary tour. Oasis last played in Ireland in 2009 when they headlined Slane Castle. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
The Irish Sun
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Presidency bid, new Eurovision plans with twist and why I won't leave RTE… Dustin the Turkey spills all
FROM becoming Ireland's next President to taking over Joe Duffy's Liveline job, Dustin the Turkey is no chicken as he has revealed his ambitious plans for total domination. The beloved Irish puppet has been a TV legend for over three decades - and believes he deserves the top jobs "after all I've given Ireland". 5 Dustin the Turkey has revealed his plans to become President of Ireland Credit: Free for editorial use 5 The TV legend recently joined Chadwicks celebrations with Irish boxer Jack Marley Credit: PR handout 5 And he shared that he could take over Liveline and join Eurovision again while in Áras an Uachtaráin Despite being a puppet, Dustin has achieved a status only few in Irish entertainment can claim - becoming an iconic media personality known by generations. His career began in 1989 on the popular show The Den, and he went on to become, in his own words, the longest-serving turkey on RTE. The plucky personality told the Irish Sun: 'It's one of them where it's a pleasure to have entertained two generations, three generations growing up in Ireland - teaching them all of the building tricks that I have. 'It's all about giving a bit of humour and a bit of confidence, along with those two British lads who sold us out in Ireland - Zig and Zag but we won't mention them. 'They went off to Channel 4 and took the queen's shilling, leaving me on my own. 'But I stick to the people, I have more Wolfe Tone CDs than the Wolfe Tones - when they mention people like James Connolly and Padraig Pierce they'll mention Dustin Gertrude Hoffman Beethoven the third.' Being one of Ireland's most controversial satirical voices, Dustin has never been shy about taking the mick out of public figures like Bertie Ahern, And he said he makes sure to treat everyone fair in his remarks, as someone has to do it. Dustin, who is voiced by John Morrison, quipped: 'Now I won't mention Cat Deeley and I won't mention Patrick Kielty - but you have to be fair, I love all people. 'When you come on to The Den or if you come on to the radio with Dustin it's all just friendly fun. 'There's a couple of things we say like Ryan Tubridy who we call Mr Bean, or Alan Partridge or Pat Kenny who is like a plank of wood - but they're all true things.' 'POULTRY PARTY' And Dustin revealed there is still life in the old bird yet. The TV legend admitted that he might throw his wing into the ring again for the Irish During the 2010 Irish general election, he famously campaigned under the banner of the Poultry Party, advocating for policies like Bringing the Olympics to Termonfeckin. But this time, he said his presidential campaign promises would include learning the Irish language, bringing comedy to Áras an Uachtaráin and representing not just Ireland but also turkeys on a national level. Dustin said: 'I think it's a given; I know 'He does his Irish poems and I'm going to learn Irish for when I'm in Áras an Uachtaráin. "So when people come over from Azerbaijan and Columbia I'll be able to greet them as Gaelige. 'Áras an Uachtaráin is something I would certainly have my eyes on; I think I deserve it at this stage, after all I've given Ireland.' He also revealed ambitions to return to Eurovision, confident that he still has what it takes to entertain 'BEAUTIFUL VOICE' Dustin famously represented Ireland in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Irelande Douze Pointe, an entry that remains both memorable and controversial. And he said it's only a matter of time before RTE ask him to compete for Ireland again. The top turkey said: 'Now Dana went for president and she did the Eurovision, but the difference is she can't sing and she's not the president. 'Now I've got a beautiful voice, I think I could be the president and a Eurovision star at the same time. 'But I wouldn't represent Ireland next time; I would represent Turkey. 'You don't have to win it, I don't think anyone in Ireland will be winning in for a long long time - unless we can dig up Johnny Logan and let him go again, I don't think we have a good chance at winning it.' 'VERY SIMPLE JOB' What's more, Dustin said he may even take over And although he said Joe did it well, Dustin thinks he could do it even better. He added: 'It would just be brilliant, it's only a matter of time again. It's a very simple job; I'd love it, 'Go ahead caller, go ahead caller'. 'I'd be president, represent Eurovision and Liveline - considering Joe ruled himself out for presidency it has left the door open for me. 'I've survived a lot of Christmases at this stage, there's a lot of turkeys at RTE that have survived them too - so I'll be sticking around and won't be going anywhere.' Dustin spoke his mind as he joined celebrations at the newly refurbished Chadwicks store in Sallynoggin, And he said with his past as a builder on RTE's The Den, there was no better man for this role too. Speaking to the Irish Sun, Dustin said: 'I'm a builder, I just want to get in and get out - but I'm telling you it's the dog's b***ocks. 'It's just absolutely amazing, I've had three cups of coffee so I'm buzzing - and for a turkey let me tell you that is very dangerous. 'I've also had two pasties that were absolutely delicious - I went in and bought a hammer, a saw and a gazebo and I don't even need to use any of them. 'Sallynoggin is a place that's in my heart; I love it more than even the Long Mile Road.' First opened in 1974, the Chadwick's branch now features a sleek doors & floors showroom, a revamped bathroom showroom, and a Paint Centre, along with a new smart home centre packed with the latest automation and security tech. Other new features include VELUX and Keylite rooflight displays, a full Brick and External Wall Insulation showcase and a Brick & Brew Co. coffee outlet. 5 Dustin revealed that he has his eyes on Áras an Uachtaráin next Credit: Alamy 5 And he wants Joe Duffy's job - there's no turkey bones about it Credit: Andres Poveda LTD
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Disunited Irishmen - Frank McNally on the year Shankill Road protestants paid tribute in Bodenstown and were attacked by the IRA
Two years after his failed libel action , Peadar O'Donnell enjoyed arguably the finest hour of his political life when inspiring a contingent of Belfast Protestants to attend the 1934 commemoration of Wolfe Tone at Bodenstown. A busload from the Shankill Road among them, they were there under the umbrella of O'Donnell's short-lived Republican Congress, formed when he and others of socialist leaning were expelled from the IRA. On the way to Kildare, according to the next day's Irish Press, 'three dozen Protestant workers' stopped off at Arbour Hill, Dublin, to lay a wreathe in honour of James Connolly. Presented by a 'Mr G McVicar', it read: 'To the memory of Connolly and his heroic comrades of Easter Week, 1916. On to the Workers' Republic.' READ MORE En route to the Workers' Republic, they then drove to Bodenstown, where the Belfast banners included one, in echo of the 1790s, proclaiming 'United Irishmen 1934'. Alas for unity, the first item on the agenda in Bodenstown was a split, or at least an expression of the split that had already forced O'Donnell and his associates out of the IRA. The Irish Press played down the subsequent drama in a three-part headline that dwelt mainly on the event's overall success. '17,000 in Pilgrimage to Grave of Tone', read the top line. 'Biggest Tribute Yet Paid,' read the second. Then came 'Many Protestants in Six-County Group', followed by a colon, and after the colon, ominously: 'A Scene.' The 'scene' arose from the insistence of the main IRA organisers that there should be no 'unauthorised banners'. That turned out to refer to the Belfast ones, including – in a bitter irony – the 'United Irishmen', as well as those of the Congress generally. First there were angry words. Then, reported the Press, 'fifty or sixty members of the Tipperary Battalion of the IRA were called upon to aid the stewards and blows were exchanged with members of the Congress Groups. 'In the course of the struggle, which lasted for several minutes, the identity scroll of the Congress and the two flags of the Belfast clubs were torn.' Recalling the event decades later, veteran communist Michael O'Riordan, who had been there, noted that job of attacking the Northerners 'was given to the Tipperary people because they were the most conservative. The Dublin IRA did not join in at all'. O'Donnell reached a similar conclusion on the day itself. As paraphrased by the Press, he said: 'The IRA leadership was afraid of the Congress, and they had used as their tools that day poor, deluded workers from the Midlands. They would not ask the Dublin workers to attack the Congress flags because [the Dubliners] were finding out their leadership.' O'Donnell went on to suggest that along with the Belfast flags, a 'mask had been torn from hypocrisy' at Bodenstown. He blamed himself and fellow Congress leader George Gilmore that it had not happened earlier: that for years, by their presence in the IRA, they had 'kept this treachery from exposing itself'. But he was optimistic now. The attack would bring 'thousands more to [the Congress] banner,' he predicted. Furthermore: 'The presence of their Belfast comrades that day was a momentous happening, and the laying of the foundation of unity in the future.' Such optimism proved to be unfounded. At its first conference, held at Rathmines in September 1934, the Congress itself split over tactics, with O'Donnell and Gilmore on one side and Roddy Connolly, son of James, on the other. Thereafter it went into steep decline, apart from a last stand fighting for the republican side in the Spanish Civil War, where both Gilmore and O'Donnell took part. Some Belfast Protestants fought in that too. But there were no more massed outings from the Shankill to Bodenstown. Gilmore's life was a remarkable journey in its own right. Born in Howth, Co Dublin, in 1898, he was descended from Portadown unionists. But despite a home education, he and his brothers all became republicans. George joined Fianna Éireann as a teenager, fought in the War of Independence, took the anti-Treaty side in the Civil War and, after escaping from prison, worked as secretary for a future Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Seán Lemass. He and Lemass helped organise a mass jailbreak from Mountjoy in 1925 and Gilmore remained close with some of the leadership of Fianna Fáil even while supporting O'Donnell's hard-left Saor Éire (1931) and then helping lead the Republican Congress. O'Donnell was known to complain that Éamon de Valera 'took the best republicans with him into Fianna Fáil and left us with the clinkers'. But after the Congress's dissolution, he and Gilmore combined in organising tenant leagues, which influenced Fianna Fáil's slum clearance and State housing programme of the 1930s. Gilmore later stood as a socialist republican in a South Dublin byelection in 1938 and lost by only 200 votes. Thereafter, he was less prominent in Irish politics. Both men survived to visit Bodenstown again on the 50th anniversary of the 1934 commemoration. O'Donnell was 91 by then and lived another two years. Gilmore was 86 and died 11 months later, 40 years ago this June.
