Live Watch: RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival Gala Awards 2025
The plays included in this year's RTÉ AIDF Final – listed below – include several adaptations for stage, a premiere of an Irish adaptation of a play, two amateur premieres, a farce and a black comedy.
With awards for achievements both on and off stage, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Stage Design, the stakes are high to see who will win the coveted Perpetual Trophy and The Abbey Theatre Award.
The Finalist Plays
Ballycogley Players, directed by Pat Whelan, Lend Me A Tenor by Ken Ludwig.
Brideview Drama Group, directed by Jack Aherne, The Weir by Conor McPherson.
Bradán Players, directed by Réidín Dunne, Little Gem by Elaine Murphy.
Corofin Dramatic Society, directed by John Clancy The Weir by Conor McPherson.
Ballyduff Drama Group, directed by Ger Canning, The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibín.
Wexford Drama Group directed by Paul Walsh, Skylight written by David Hare.
Balally Players, directed by Declan Rudden, Ulster American, written by David Ireland.
Bridge Drama, directed by Susan Somers, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, adapted for the stage by Simon Stephens.
Newpoint Players, directed by Sean Treanor, Joshua Sobol's 1984 play Ghetto.
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Irish Examiner
39 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
A cheap Irish home is still cheap (€285k) despite a stellar makeover
ANDREW Ryan did such a top job of transforming a cheap Irish home into a more valuable, yet still very affordable property, that he ended up showcasing his work on Cheap Irish Homes. 'I thought I was going to be in a movie, the crew was here so long,' he laughs, recalling how the team behind the hit TV series spent an entire day filming at No 25 Roches Row, in the port town of Cobh. An engineer by profession, he had sent the show's producers 'before' and 'after' photos, after a call-out for people to tell their own bargain-home story in Series 3. "Before" "After" at 25 Roches Row, Cobh 'To me, saving old homes is very important, and No 25 Roches Row is more than 200 years old,' he says. 'I hate seeing houses fall into wrack and ruin. All it takes is someone who cares to make it a home. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be a home for you.' Andrew bought the house in 2019 from auctioneer Johanna Murphy, who is now selling it on his behalf. 'I paid €145,000 for it at the time. It had been a long-term rental and I knew it needed work, but I hadn't anticipated the level of fixing-up required. It was a crock.' Not looking good when Andrew bought it Andrew had a couple of things in his favour: His 'engineer's head', a handy dad and previous experience restoring an old building. Himself and his brother own The Sardinian, a seven-bedroom period guesthouse on Cobh's Harbour Hill, and he had done renovation work on it — 'so I knew what I was getting into', he says. One of his first tasks was to replace the back wall, which was little more than a flimsy partition. He replaced it with a block wall. A rear roof was replaced. A stone cliff behind the house that was seeping water had to be chemically treated. All the drains had to be replaced. A cliff wall to the rear had to be chemically treated 'I had the skillset, but we would have got advice too. It's worth getting advice if you want to do it right, although I still made plenty of mistakes along the way,' Andrew says. He spent a year getting the house to a level he considered habitable. He did it for €25,000. 'I would have put more into it over the past few years, but that's what it took to make it habitable. €25,000. That's peanuts, in the grand scheme of [property] things,' he says. He ended up doing things that didn't need re-doing 'but I was sort of down a rabbit hole at that point, so I ended up re-doing the electrics, even though they didn't need re-doing'. His dad, Damian, a fitter/turner by trade, was a big help. 'He did the cast iron railings (on the front windows). I gave him my sketches and he did the rest.' Damian also painted the sunflower yellow staircase, which works a treat with the dapple grey hall and stair panelling. Is he about to spawn a new interiors trend? New colour pairing could be a winning trend? 'I was on a work weekend in Germany and Dad rang me and said: 'The paint for the staircase is yellow. Very yellow.' 'I said 'yes, it will work'.' For sure, the yellow-grey pairing is a winning combination, a flamboyant twist in a house packed to the rafters with playful touches, from a series of shoemaker's lasts converted into a quirky coat stand, to the buttermilk, ceramic circular sink in the bathroom ('I had a sink for two years and no cabinet stand to put it on,' Andrew says) to an extensive collection of musical instruments. Buttermilk sink Strings to his bow A classically trained violinist with a good grounding also in Irish traditional music, Andrew has, literally, many strings to his bows. 'I play the violin and the mandolin. I give the banjo a go. I have an accordion that belongs to my grandmother and I have a piano, which I think every home should have,' he says. A flea market enthusiast (Mother Jones, on York St, off MacCurtain St in Cork city, is a favoured haunt) and self-professed collector of bric-a-brac and vintage bits, Andrew says he has a vision in his head of what he wants and he's prepared to wait to find it. Star Wars Collector's items Some of the vintage bric a brac at No 25 His patience is a virtue that's paid off, as is his willingness to put in the hard yards. 'Laying the herring bone floor in the living room was a steep learning curve. I'd fitted floors for years with my dad, but the herring bone was a whole different experience. It took us two-and-a-half weeks, and the volume of work was enormous,' he says. The orange chair was salvaged from CJM Furniture on Centre Park Road The floor is oak, which set Andrew on a committed oak trajectory: the wall panelling is capped with oak, light switches are made of oak, doors are oak. The house, 'a labour of love', eschews clean lines and embraces quirkiness and individuality. When the plasterer pointed to a dip in one of the walls and offered to straighten it out, Andrew said no. All of the wall panelling had to be cut by hand to make it fit. 'I was working to a budget, so I had to be clever,' he says. His kitchen, with its dijon yellow subway tiles, came ex-display from the Aga store at a knockdown price of €400, via CJM Furniture, on Centre Park Road. €400 kitchen 'There were times when I ran out of money or when I got things wrong. But if you make mistakes, it's not the end of the world. 'You pick the wrong paint colour – so what, it's only paint. It's about not being afraid to try things,' he says. Getting the house to habitable stage was a year-long slog. 'Working on it was one thing, living in it is a whole different ballgame,' he says. It took a while to get a handle on the best use of space in the 90 sq m home. One of three bedrooms was adapted to a home office. Home office Another became a dressing room for his partner, Becky. Dressing room Furniture and colour schemes changed. Decor evolved. Half a dozen years in, Andrew's life has moved forward (he was single when he bought the house) and he's ready to leave his starter home behind. 'It was really good to me and it's hard for me to sell it, but I am moving on to a new project, to a bigger house in Norwood. It's an old house too, but there's more space. 'When I bought the house on Roches Row, it was always my intention to scale up, so that is what I am doing now.' The absence of a garden at Roches Row was not something that bothered him when he bought it. As the terrace faces south, people pull deckchairs out in the summer months, and there's plenty back-and-forth between the neighbours. 'It's a real community,' Andrew says. His up-for-sale cheap Irish home comes to market looking more fetching now than at any time in its 200-year history, at the affordable first-time-buyer price of €285,000. Johanna Murphy of Johanna Murphy & Sons says first-time-buyers are loving it. Investors are likely to cast an eye too, given the low maintenance, turnkey quality of the property, which will attract holiday makers for the same reasons. 'It would be nice to see a young couple getting it,' Ms Murphy says, adding that it's a home 'full of character and nooks and crannies'. Location-wise, it's high up above the harbour near Cathedral Place, embedded in the zig-zag of terraces that run along Cobh's steep hills. Views of the harbour are from upstairs. For those commuting for work to Cork city, the train station is less than a 15 minute walk away. VERDICT: Terrific starter home. Shows what can be achieved with hard work and creativity.
Extra.ie
an hour ago
- Extra.ie
In Pics: Stars step out for the opening night of The Weir
The 3Olympia Theatre was buzzing with excitement for the opening night of The Weir. A glittering guest list stepped out for Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of Conor McPherson's The Weir. Among the familiar faces stepping out for the occasion were Domhnall Gleeson with his mother Mary Weldon, Robert Sheehan, Claire Byrne, Kathryn Thomas, Camille O'Sullivan, Elaine Crowley, Ian Dempsey and Laurence Kinlan. Domhnall Gleeson with his mother Mary Weldon at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Mark Huberman, Fionnuala Flanagan, Sinéad Cusack, Cathy Belton and Glen Power were also spotted. The Weir tells the story of four local men who gather in an isolated pub in rural Ireland on a stormy night. The men's usual banter and everyday lives are disrupted by the arrival of a woman called Valerie. Claire Byrne and her husband Gerry Scollan at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy The stories they weave to impress her are gripping, haunting and deeply unsettling. Little do they know that she has a profoundly personal story of her own, the sharing of which will leave them all shaken. Kathryn Thomas and Padraig McLoughlin at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy The Weir is written and directed by Conor McPherson. Brendan Gleeson stars as Jack in the production. The cast also features Owen McDonnell, Sean McGinley, Kate Phillips and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. Ian Dempsey and his wife Ger at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy The production will run in Dublin until September 6 before making the leap across the Irish Sea to London's West End. It will play at the Harold Pinter Theatre from September 12 until December 6. Kathy McGilfillan and Paul McGuinness at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Camille O'Sullivan at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Claire Byrne at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Elaine Crowley at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Sinead Cusack and Paul Cusack at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Glen Power, Kate Horton and Cas Donald at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Robert Sheehan at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Cathy Belton at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Aoife Ruane and Mark O'Rowe at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Freya Gillespie at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Kathryn Thomas at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Laurence Kinlan at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy Simone Collins and Mark Huberman at the opening night of the Landmark Productions and Kate Horton Productions presentation of The Weir in association with 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Pic: Brian McEvoy
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Irish Independent
First shots of Croke Park stage emerge as anticipation brims for landmark Oasis shows
After almost exactly a year of waiting, the time is almost upon us when the iconic rock band take to the stage in the 82,000-seater national stadium's famed cauldron of noise for their first concert in Ireland in 16 years. The group have so far performed 15 nights around England, Wales and Scotland and are currently in Ireland enjoying a four-day gap between their last show of a three-night stopover in Edinburgh and Saturday's Croke Park gig. Little is known by way of official Oasis social media of what exactly brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher are up to in Ireland ahead of the gigs, though they are joined here by members Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Joey Waronker for the reunion tour. But with 160,000 diehard fans expected to make their way through the turnstiles over Saturday and Sunday, many have been hoping to catch a glimpse of how the event is going to go down. This evening, images of pre-concert preparations at Croke Park have been published which show substantial progress on construction of the stage. Situated in front of Hill 16, high-viz workers can be seen high up on a cherry picker connecting vertical chains to the metallic stage structure above while an industrial-sized truck sits outside the entrance between the Hill and the Hogan Stand. Stewards can also be seen standing by temporary gates outside the entrance to the stadium. Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs, guitarist and co-founder of Oasis, posted a series of photos to his Instagram yesterday and today which tickled the group's Irish fan base pink. Captioning the first one 'Bring on the noise' accompanied by four tricolour flag emojis, Mr Arthurs' photo showcases a misty-eyed view of Dublin Bay including some of Howth, Sutton and the entire Bull Island, the view seen by all plane passengers landing at Dublin Airport. He posted further pictures to his page today – one of him standing alongside fellow guitarist Andy Bell on stony beach as well as the pair in the water together with the caption 'When in Rome and all that'. The Gallagher brothers have strong connections to Ireland given that their parents, Peggy and Thomas, hailed from Charlestown, Co Mayo and Duleek, Co Meath respectively before emigrating to England and meeting in their youth in Manchester. Noel is the only one of the pair that has already performed at Croke Park as a GAA player representing the club Oisín's from Manchester for whom both brothers played in their younger years. Extra rail services to Dublin are planned for the upcoming weekend as crowds are set to descend on Croke Park for the gigs. Croke Park can be reached by taking the following routes on Dublin Bus: 1, 6, 7(a), 11, 13, 15, 16, 27(a/b), 33, 40(b/d/e), 41(b/c/d), 42, 43, 44, 53a, 122, 123, 130, H1, H2, H3.
