Latest news with #RonanCollins
Irish Independent
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
August Bank Holiday in Clare: Five fun activities for the long weekend
Kilrush Traditional Music & Set Dancing Festival The Kilrush Traditional Music & Set Dancing Festival 2025 will take place from July 31 to August 5. This year's festival will feature all sorts of activities - from interactive music and dance workshops to open air céilís and more. The lineup for the 2025 iteration of the festival includes: a seisiún at Teach Ceoil, and performances from DalgCais Céilí band, Johnny Reidy Céilí Band, Donie Nolan Céilí Band, and more. Scariff Harbour Festival The Scariff Harbour Festival takes place from Thursday, July 31, to Sunday, August 3, this year, aiming to showcase 'the many attractions and amenities accessible from Scariff, including Lough Derg, the inland waterways and the East Clare countryside'. The festival was launched for the first time in 2003, and this year the line-up includes music from Ronan Collins and his showband, Mack Fleetwood, The Fureys, Sin a Deir Sí, and local groups the Grogan Brothers and the Tulla Céilí Band, activities, walks, arts and crafts, workshops, and more. Other highlights of this year's festival include a screening of the acclaimed Blue Road – The Edna O'Brien story in the Edna O'Brien library and genealogy sessions with Jane Halloran-Ryan. Kathal Fest Kathal Fest is an 'intimate music festival of carefully curated folk musicians from Ireland and Berlin's thriving underground music scenes'. Taking place from August 1 to August 3 in Killimer, County Clare, the festival is a non-profit, aiming to bring musicians and the community closer. The festival is held in memorial of a dearly parted friend and music-lover Kathal Larkin. Chocolate Tour & Tasting with Hazel Mountain Chocolate While not unique to the August Bank Holiday weekend, there are slots available with Hazel Mountain Chocolate for a fun tour and tasting event. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more 'Meet our chocolate experts, who will show you the wonders of bean to bar chocolate,' the tour descriptions states. 'Discover how a tropical fruit is being changed into one of Europe's finest chocolates. 'Your 45-minute tour will take you through all the stages of our chocolate making - roasting, cracking, winnowing, stone grinding and tempering and it will include sampling of chocolate at its various stages and finishing with tasting of some of the best single origin chocolates. 'Our tour experience is much like touring a microbrewery/winery. Participants taste their way through chocolate from cacao be to the finished product. 'Visitors will come away with a great appreciation for the growing craft chocolate movement of bean to bar.' While children are very welcome on these tours, they are slightly more suited to over 12s, Hazel Mountain Chocolate has said. Tours are only bookable online, and visitors are asked not to turn up without a booking. Kilmihil Festival of Fun Finally, if fun is what you're looking for, you're bound to get it at the Kilmihil Festival of Fun. Running from Friday, August 1, to Monday, August 4, this year's iteration of the Kilmihil festival is jam packed with events, music, and more. From a family treasure hunt to a street parade, face painting, a dog show, real life knights, and more, there really is something for all the family.
Extra.ie
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Liveline: The one where Louis Walsh and Ronan Collins had a proper on-air rager
In 2002 Liveline erupted as two titans of the Irish music scene Louis Walsh and Ronan Collins had a full-on heated debate with Joe Duffy acting as a moderator, of sorts. The spat began when RTE DJ Ronan Collins announced he was retiring and as is the way in Montrose, Collins was invited onto Liveline to regale the nation with tales from the 'RTE crypt.' A massive fan of Show Bands music, Ronan proceeded to launch into a diatribe of everything he loathed about the music business and top of his list was his distaste for manufactured music. Ronan Collins. Pic: RTÉ This was certainly not music to the ears of one Mr Louis Walsh, who at the time, was riding the crest of the manufactured pop music wave. In fact, Louis had just launched his latest put-together pop act an all-girl group called SIX. Led by Louis Walsh, the band Six were expected to take the country by storm after being formed on a talent show. Their debut single There's a Whole Lot of Loving Going On would prove to be a smash hit. However, Collins was far too disparaging about Six for Louis Walsh's liking. Liam McKenna, Sarah Keating, Sinead Sheppard, Andy Orr, Emma O'Driscoll and Kyle Anderson from the band SIX. Pic: VIP Ireland Speaking on Liveline in 2002, Collins labelled manufactured music the likes of which Six were belting out as 'dross' and said it was a poor reflection on music in Ireland. 'It's just absolutely awful what they have produced, just dross. It's terrible, terrible stuff. It is lacking in credibility, lacking in imagination. It's lacking in any kind of musicianship and the singing is awful… 'If they are (the best in Ireland), there is a very, very dim future for singers and dancers in this country if we are to judge by their recording of a mediocre pop song 25 years ago that has been made even worse,' said Ronan. Louis Walsh. Pic: Fran Veale 'These kids are being led up an alleyway and the only ones who will get any fame and probably ultimately anything out of this are Louis Walsh, Bill Hughes and Linda Martin.' Listening through the wireless from his home in Dublin, Louis Walsh wasn't one bit happy. So Louis himself called in to talk to Ro and the pair proceeded to tap out a right old ding-dong. Ronan Collins. Pic: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland Despite being friends with Ronan Collins for many many years, Louis took aim at Collins' own career in country music decades earlier saying: 'That's a bit rich coming from a failed showband star. Ronan, get a life,' raged Louis. 'You are not going to make it on our backs. Cop on. You are a failed showband star'. 'This is going to be the biggest Irish record this year. I believe in this product. They are amazing singers. I think they are better than Hear'say or Bucks Fizz and better than any of the manufactured bands in the UK.' And with that another golden moment of Irish radio was born.
Irish Daily Mirror
20-06-2025
- Irish Daily Mirror
History of the Lotto in Ireland after €250m claimed in historic EuroMillions win
From the days of the sweepstakes up to the EuroMillions and online tickets, the lottery has had a firm hold on Irish society. As a lucky player in Cork scooped a massive €250 million in the EuroMillions on Tuesday, we take a look back at the history of the Lotto in Ireland. While the saying "the luck of the Irish" rings true for thousands of winners, the lottery hasn't been all fun and games in this country. There were scandals, a gameshow, a winning accountant that forced the rules to be changed, and the hilarious movie about the Irish Lotto - Waking Ned. In the 1930s, following the Civil War, Ireland was in a great depression, and funding was badly needed for hospitals. So the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes lottery (known as 'the sweeps') was established as it promised to raise much needed money for hospitals. Despite such lotteries being illegal in most jurisdictions, tickets were taking in millions and millions of pounds. While it promised to do good, the sweeps turned into one of the country's greatest scandals. In 1973, it emerged that only 10 per cent of the money raised was given to hospitals, as the founders of the lottery became rich. People were fooled into thinking it was an honest operation as it was associated with the Government and gardaí were in charge of tickets. However, it was far from that. On top of hospitals only receiving a small portion of profits, the sweeps involved worldwide ticket-smuggling, tickets sold abroad that never made it back to Ireland, and tickets that never even made it into the drum. Over a decade after the scandal broke, The National Lottery, which we know today, began in 1987 and the first draw took place on Saturday April 16, 1988. Two years later a draw was also added on a Wednesday. When the lottery first launched, players chose six numbers from a choice of 36. However, this didn't last long as Dubliner, Polish-Irish accountant Stefan Klincewicz, figured out how to hack the game. For a draw in May 1992, the accountant - as part of a 28-person syndicate - bought enough tickets covering all the different combinations. They matched the winning numbers and ended up winning £1.16 million. The National Lottery caught on to their game and changed the format to 6/39 in August 1992. It also added the bonus ball to create more prizes. Its very first draw was broadcast on RTÉ One, and it was presented by Ronan Collins and an independent observer. But just two years later it was decided that a show with more glitz and glam was needed, so Winning Streak was born. It first aired with Mike Murphy as the presenter, and it would go on to become one of the longest-running game shows in Europe. Marty Whelan then took over in 2009 and presented the show right up until 2020. It came off air when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and hasn't come back since. However, broadcaster Marty says he would love to present the show again as it brought so much joy to households across Ireland. In 2004, the EuroMillions launched in Ireland as lotto players rejoiced that even more money could be won. A year later, Dolores McNamara became the country's first big winner when she scooped €115.4m, and has arguably remained Ireland's most well-known lotto winner. She was also the biggest EuroMillions winner at the time. The mother-of-six from Limerick discovered her historic win while in her local pub, the Track Bar. After her friend checked her ticket, a barmaid said the pub erupted in cheers and the "drink started flowing and the champagne was poured". Media attention followed her as she arrived at Lotto HQ on August 4, 2005, to collect her massive cheque. However, the millionaire became nervous with the fanfare and released a statement through her solicitor as she wanted to "return to normality as soon as possible". Since Dolores' win, there have been 18 EuroMillions wins in Ireland, however, no one other than Dolores went public with their win. One of the biggest wins was by The Naul Family Syndicate in February 2019, when they won €175.4 million. While they didn't officially go public, one of the nine winners spoke out after the €250m win on Tuesday night. Matt Rogers, who pocketed almost €20m, gave Ireland's newest millionaire some advice: "Don't let it change you". The Lotto has had such a hold on Irish society that in 1998 a fictionalised story about a man who won it was released. Waking Ned, which starred the late David Kelly, told the story of Ned Devine- a man who had a heart attack and died after the shock of winning the big bucks. The movie then follows the hilarious extremes the village goes to to try and claim his prize, as they decide it should be done in his honour.
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
KCPS bond issue being voted on; previewing St. Patrick's Day Parade
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City voters in the Kansas City Public School District will weigh in for the first time since 1967 on a capitol improvements bond issue. The $474 million package being voted on in April will upgrade buildings, build up to three new schools, and provide classroom tools the district says are much need to help students learn, and it would help the district overcome the challenges of being in an urban setting. Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Collier joins us to discuss the need for a YES vote, and whether she is concerned the bond issue shares the ballot with a Kansas City, MO public safety sales tax extension. Then, we're previewing the St. Patrick's Day Parade on Monday, March 17. See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri Grand Marshal Ronan Collins and FOX4's Kathy Quinn join to talk about the city's Irish heritage, and the history of the parade itself. Plus, a preview of what to expect on Monday. Kathy, Erin Gabert and John Holt will co-host FOX4's live coverage of the 51st parade from Noon-2 p.m. with and . Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
