EVENT: CULTURE NIGHT 2025
RTÉ celebrates Culture Night with a busy schedule across its television, radio and online services. rte.ie/culture will be guest edited for the day by acclaimed novelist and playwright Belinda McKeon, while RTÉ Culture Night Live will broadcast live at 8.00pm on RTÉ One and RTE Player. Coming to you from the heart of Galway City, the programme hosted by Carl Mullan and Doireann Ní Ghlacáin will feature a vibrant mix of musical performances live from the historic St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, alongside events taking place nationwide. RTÉ lyric fm will celebrate Culture Night with Paul Herriott, who will bring listeners live music bursting with colour and spirit from three continents from the National Concert Hall in Dublin. Paul will chat to Feodora Prize 2025 winner Michael Gallen, whose new work Bád ón Alltar will be premiered by the National Symphony Orchestra Ireland under the baton of David Brophy. While you're at it, get out and experience some culture at a venue near you - all events are free (September 19th, venues nationwide)
MUSIC: THE BOOMTOWN RATS
The greatest rock'n’roll band in the world… from Dún Laoghaire! - as Bob Geldof indisputably proclaims at the top of every live Rats gig - celebrate a half century in the game with The First 50 Years: Songs Of Boomtown Glory. This new anthology features tracks selected by an online fan poll and the band themselves, from their first single Lookin' After No 1 to their recent eponymous anthem The Boomtown Rats, via any number of iconic tracks, from Rat Trap, She's So Modern and Like Clockwork to I Don't Like Mondays and Banana Republic. Their place in the pantheon of the great Irish music acts is firmly secure - and they're still one hell of a live act (Universal, now streaming, also available on 2LP and 2CD sets)
BOOK: PEACEMAKER
Subtitled U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World, this fascinating history of the turbulent 1960s is told through the life of Burmese diplomat U Thant, the first non-western UN secretary-general of color, whose decisions shaped global war and peace during a turbulent era that included the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Congo crisis, and wars in Yemen, Nigeria, and between India and Pakistan. Written by his grandson Thant Myint-U, the book draws on newly declassified documents to examine his role in Cold War diplomacy, environmental issues, and the development of the UN’s global agenda - he opposed U.S. involvement in Vietnam and advocated for decolonization and international cooperation - during an era when a peaceful world was an imaginable goal. The contemprary resonances are striking (Atlantic Books, out now)
DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL
The DTF presents its first edition under new Artistic Director and CEO Róise Goan, presenting 29 productions from Ireland and 10 other countries, opening with Peru's Teatro La Plaza performing their version of Hamlet with a cast of actors with Down syndrome. Other productions include Deaf Republic, The Making of Pinocchio, and My Right Foot, which address Deaf, neurodivergent, and disabled experiences, while Whitewashing, Pieces of a Woman, and I Fall Down: A Restoration Comedy focus on women's stories. New Irish work includes The Boy and BÁN at the Abbey Theatre, Druid's Macbeth, and the Gate Theatre's adaptation of Katrina O'Sulivan's memoir Poor. A new version of Three Sisters features Derry Girl Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Young Offender Alex Murphy, and the Family Season includes Branar's Leaves and a new adaptation of The Little Prince (Various venues, Dublin, 25 September to 12 October)
ART: THE AIR WE SHARE
This group exhibition at Galway Arts Centre, developed through a 10-month artist residency programme focused on air quality, climate change, and environmental health, features work by Christopher Steenson, Leon Butler, and artist collective a place of their own (Sam Vardy and Paula McCloskey). It was created in collaboration with scientists, local residents, and community groups in Westside, Galway, featuring artworks incorporating real-time air quality data and community experiences related to air pollution. The project aims to increase public engagement with air quality and environmental issues through artistic interpretation as part of Galway City Council's climate action plan, which includes a target to reduce carbon emissions by over 50% in five years (Galway Arts Centre, until 21 September)
Hear The Culture 5 every Friday on Aedín in the Afternoon on RTÉ lyric fm, from 1pm - listen back here
