Hello and welcome to this week’s Student Hub email digest. We were in Nenagh on Friday for a very poignant send-off for one of Ireland’s favourite sons, Shane MacGowan. Shane’s funeral made headlines around the world as some the world’s finest musicians came together to celebrate the life of a true poet. Una Mullally visits some new pubs in Dublin that might suggest that Dublin’s famous pub scene is alive and kicking. Brianna Parkins on how we lose our collective sanity every Christmas, David McWilliams asks why our public services are not anywhere near a level commensurate with our wealth. Ceannaigh bronntanas don Nollag ó dhreamanna a dhíolann táirgí le Gaeilge and Emer McLysaght asks if the fear of saying unfamiliar words out loud is a particularly Irish thing.
Shane MacGowan funeral: Nick Cave and Johnny Depp played a role in Friday’s star-studded service in Nenagh Funeral featuring some of The Pogues’ greatest hits concludes with The Parting Glass as thousands line streets for singer who died aged 65.
It was a rainy day in Nenagh and the wind was whispering threats as well as charms. But the people of Shane MacGowan’s hometown more than compensated for the dampness, presenting a warm front to welcome him back one last time and turning the funeral into a rousing celebration of his life.
New Dublin pubs with heart, ambition and a drive to be different: To tell the story of the emerging new wave of neighbourhood bars with heart and ambition, we’re highlighting an award-winning cocktail bar, a village pub with a passion for culture, a creative collaboration birthing a new bar in an old space, and a beer-drinker’s dream spot.
Brianna Parkins: Bin the pre-Christmas meet-up – and these other festive atrocities: Every year in December we lose our collective sanity. It starts when Micheal Bublé and Mariah Carey emerge from their hibernation to awaken Christmas via supermarket radio playlists. Everything becomes cinnamon-and pine tree-scented.
Ireland is a rich country that feels poor: Last week, the column spoke about the possibility of a 2nd Irish Republic. The idea is that this Republic has run its course and, like the French did in 1958, it’s time to rethink the way we run the country, starting with the Constitution.
‘Conor McGregor for President’ makes a strong argument against emigrant voting rights: A grim, unsettling year was juddering towards the finish line when it delivered what may be one of its most surreal moments so far: Conor McGregor giving Elon Musk a lecture on the workings of the Local Government (Nomination of Presidential Candidates) Act 1937.
Is the fear of saying unfamiliar words out loud a particularly Irish thing? Nigella Lawson did the world a great service when she gave us a trick for remembering how to pronounce nduja, that delicious, trendy, spicy, spreadable sausage. Indeed, she sounded almost Irish when she put it in a sentence for us: “Nduja want to eat now?” which sounds a lot like “An’ do yeh want to eat now?”. En-doo-ya. That’s how you say it. En. Doo. Ya.
Féiríní na Nollag: Agus an Nollaig ag teannadh linn, shocraigh Tuarascáil liosta gnólachtaí a fheidhmíonn trí Ghaeilge agus liosta earraí a chur i dtoll a chéile.
The 50 best films of 2023 – in reverse order: 10 to 1 Donald Clarke and Tara Brady list their top 10 favourite movies released in Ireland this year.
Respectful talks on new Ireland needed, says DUP founder member: Northern Ireland in new constitutional position because of sea border for trade between Northern Ireland and Britain following Brexit, says Wallace Thompson.
