A new psychological drama movie is set to be filmed in Donegal.

The film, titled ‘God’s Creatures’ will be a gothic drama set in the West of Ireland.

The BBC Films project has gained the backing of Ireland’s WRAP fund (Ireland’s Western Region Audiovisual Producer’s Fund), which expects new projects to generate in excess of €16.8m across the West of Ireland.

God’s Creatures will be produced by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, whose credits include Lady Macbeth and Cannes 2020 label title Ammonite, starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.

The film was developed with the backing of Screen Ireland. The script comes from debut screenwriter and NFTS graduate Shane Crowley. New York-based duo Anna Rose Holmer and Saela Davis have been attached as co-directors of the project.

While no plot details or production dates have been revealed, the film is set to be an exciting project and an investment boost for Donegal.

The Western Region Audiovisual Producer’s Fund or WRAP Fund has marked a significant year of growth with a number of high-profile productions. The WRAP is now seeing a substantial €12 multiplier on every €1 invested.

Sarah Dillon, Development Manager of the WRAP Fund, commented “The last twelve months have been a very busy time for the WRAP Fund with extensive high-quality production and development activity in every county in the Region.

“The recent releases of feature film Calm With Horses and international television drama Normal People showcase what the West has to offer productions in terms of locations, expertise and support. We have many more exciting productions in the pipeline.

“The impact of Covid 19 has been hard felt in the Region and we are relying on the Irish government to look favourably on the request of the Western AV Forum to extend the Regional Film Development Uplift. This would be a very positive measure to jumpstart production and send out the message that the West is open for business again once it is safe.”

Donegal singer songwriter, Jason Flynn, will perform live on Instagram next Monday, 22 June, as part of the Young & Emerging Series in the Hot Press Lockdown Sessions.

The sessions are supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The performance can be viewed live at 7.30pm on the Hot Press Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/hotpressmagazine/.

The Hot Press Lockdown Young and Emerging Series will see forty young and emerging acts join Hot Press on Instagram for a special live performance to be broadcast to Ireland and the world from the safety of their own homes in these challenging times.

The Series aims to support this remarkable new music generation by delivering 40 paid gigs to 40 acts over 40 days.

Minister Madigan said:”My Department has been focussed on showcasing our cultural offering and showing the capacity of Irish culture to sustain personal and collective wellbeing to audiences at home and abroad. In this context, we are delighted to support this programme of work by up and coming creative workers, artist and performers through the Hot Press Lockdown Y&E Sessions.”

Hot Press Editor, Niall Stokes said: “Ireland is a hotbed of great music at the moment, with artists of real calibre and substance emerging across all genres. But their momentum, individually and collectively, has been stifled by the complete stop that had been put to live music due to the Coronavirus. The Lockdown Sessions, which we kicked off at the very start of the crisis have been a great success.

“Now ‘The Y&E Series’ is set to deliver a fantastic programme, with vital support from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, that will showcase artists of real talent and potential, and provide them with a platform, a voice and an opportunity to reach new audiences, all over the world, in these treacherous times.”

PERMISSION has been granted for a four-day music festival in Donegal.

The Buncrana Music Festival is set to take place under restricted conditions.

The event is to run from Thursday, July 30-Sunday, August 2 and will be held at the Shore Road, Buncrana.

The festival was initially due to take place in June, but those plans were shelved due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

An application to stage the event, organised by Barry Doherty of Notorious Events Limited, on the new dates was made at Buncrana District Court this week.

Solicitor Mr Rory O’Brien, representing the applicant, told Judge Paul Kelly that the festival would be ‘much scaled down’.

“It would be limited to 500 people and the Shore Road can hold a few thousand,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Up to 5,000 attended last year, but there would be limitations here.”

A fire certificate was submitted by the fire officer and a copy of the insurance, an events policy, was put forward.

Mr O’Brien said that the applicant had ‘put a number of things in place’ and asked Judge Kelly to grant him ‘momentum’.

The festival began in 2017 and had grown significantly by grew significantly last year.

In 2019, top Irish acts including Hudson Taylor, Delorentos, the Hothouse Flowers, the Blizzards, Natty Wailer, Key West, Lavengro, Dont Fear The Natives and String Empire featured.

Garda Sergeant Jim Collins said a licence could be granted, subject to the country entering phase 4 of the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions, due at present to happen on July 20.

“If phase 4 is not in place, that is the end of it,” Mr O’Brien said.

Judge Kelly granted the application subject to phase four of the Covid-19 regulations being implemented prior to July 30.

JUST DAYS after being given a green light in court, a popular Donegal music festival has had to be cancelled due to the extension of the Government restrictions on mass gatherings.

Organisers have confirmed that the 2020 Buncrana Music Festival has been cancelled.

The news is in light of the decision on Wednesday to extend the restrictions on attendances – 50 indoor and 200 outdoor – until at least August 10.

Just last week, the popular festival was granted a licence to proceed from July 30-August 2 with strict conditions attached.

Judge Paul Kelly granted the application subject to phase four of the Covid-19 regulations being implemented prior to July 30.

This week’s announcement has put paid to those plans.

“As a result of yesterday’s Government announcement in regard to the extension of phase 4 of the reopening roadmap now being pushed out to August 10th, we have had no option but to postpone Buncrana Music Festival until 2021,” a statement read.

“It had been widely expected that larger outdoor gatherings of up to 500 people would be permitted under the state’s reopening roadmap by the 20th of July.

“Unfortunately, due to a national rise in the ‘R’ number, this has been delayed by government and while we are disappointed, we understand fully why these steps have had to be taken.

“At present, we are working with Gavin James and his management, who has committed to performing at Buncrana Music Festival 2021, to establish a date upon which this can happen.

“All tickets for Gavin James and other dates remain valid for next year’s festival, however should you wish to receive a full refund on your tickets purchase you may do so from 9am tomorrow morning from point of purchase.

“If you have purchased you ticket from www.buncranamusicfestival.com , we would ask that you contact us using the contact form on our website, with your order number for a refund, or if you purchased your ticket via Eventbrite, please choose the option in the confirmation email you received when you purchased your ticket.

“The safety of our patrons, staff and artists is of paramount importance to us, and while we regret that the festival will not take place this year, we will back with an even bigger and better festival next year. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the rest of the summer, stay safe, and we look forward to welcoming you to Buncrana in the near future.”

Proud Donegal man Michael Harte has triumphed at the Bafta Awards for his stunning Netflix show.

Letterkenny man Michael, son of Jimmy and Mary Harte, was hailed for his editing work on Don’t F–k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.

Michael was delighted with his award and immediately thanked his family back home in Donegal and also his girlfriend Claire who is about to have their first child.

Michael is rapidly rising in the industry having worked previously on the likes of Identical Strangers and On The President’s Orders.

Don’t F–k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is a three-part series, produced by Raw TV for Netflix, following a group of internet sleuths who launched a manhunt for Luka Magnotta, after he gained international notoriety in 2010 for sharing a graphic video online of himself killing two kittens.

Magnotta was later convicted for murdering Chinese international student Jun Lin in grisly circumstances.

Harte’s work is nominated in the Editing: Factual and the Series: Factual categories.

He began his career on RTE’s The Savage Eye and has gone on to edit on television projects such as The Undateables’

He has also been the man behind well-known documentaries on UK and Irish television, including One Killer Punch, Educating Cardiff, No Place to Call Home and more.

The of the 2020 British Academy Television Craft Awards will be revealed on Friday 17 July and the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards on Friday 31 July.

Normal People star Paul Mescal has been revealed in the cast of a much-anticipated new drama, called The Deceived.

The show has been created by Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee and her actor-writer husband Tobias Beer.

Airing later this year, the series will be set in both Cambridge in England and in Donegal.

Following the success of Normal People on RTE/BBC, fans of actor Paul Mescal will be eager to see him back on their screens soon as he plays a local builder.

Some secrets won’t die. A brand new 4-part drama, #TheDeceived, is coming soon to @Channel5_tv. pic.twitter.com/CUdnNzGZe2

— Channel 5 (@channel5_tv) July 13, 2020

The dark drama follows an English student Ophelia (played by Emily Reid), who falls in love with her married lecturer (Emmett J Scanlan). She follows him to Donegal, where Callaghan’s wife, Roisin (Catherine Walker), dies in tragic (and deeply suspicious, obviously) circumstances. Aided by her confidante, McKeough (Paul Mescal), Ophelia attempts to unravel the mystery but finds herself trapped in a world where she can no longer trust her own mind.

Filming took place in Belfast and Cambridge. The programme is set to air on Channel 5 in the UK and Virgin Media Television in Ireland.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, Lisa McGee said she felt lucky to have Mescal cast in The Deceived.

McGee said: “We were his second TV job, and we were just incredibly lucky to get him, because although Normal People hadn’t come out at that stage there was already a definite buzz about Paul.

“It was obvious how talented he was. We were incredibly lucky to get him for the show and it’s really exciting now – I’m a huge, huge fan of Normal People. It’s amazing.”

Donegal trio The Henry Girls are set to perform at an exciting staging of Philadelphia Folk Festival this August – all without getting on a plane.

The Philadelphia Folk Festival has, for the first time ever, dedicated a full day of its programme to performances by Irish musicians this year.

Scheduled to run online for 12 hours on Saturday 15 August, a stage of the 59th Philadelphia Folk Festival will host 18 of Ireland’s finest music acts with the support of Culture Ireland.

The Henry Girls from Malin will be flying the flag for Donegal, performing alongside many acts who would normally be headlining US summer festivals in the summertime.

The Henry Girls

Sisters Karen, Lorna and Joleen McLaughlin formed The Henry Girls in 2001 and have recorded 6 studio albums, a couple of EPs and a live album of music by The Boswell Sisters of New Orleans (released February 2020).

Infused with the rich cultural heritage of their native Donegal but with a transatlantic flavour their music has been described as “full bodied and powerfully dynamic ʼ.

The Henry Girls have played at many festivals all over Europe and beyond and they regularly tour in countries like Germany, Holland, Austria, UK, Ireland and USA. 

Lisa Schwartz, Festival and Programming Director said: “I believe that music is what connects us and we could all use a positive reminder right now that we are all in this storm together. So, creating an event that can be enjoyed from anywhere in the world where there is internet, I hope will go a long way to bringing our community closer, especially at a time when we are forced to be apart. With so many musicians having to cancel long planned tours and gigs and having their ability to earn a living completely gutted, it occurred to me that perhaps there was a way that I could help artists from Ireland to increase their visibility and grow their fanbase in North America and elsewhere without having to travel. The music and culture of Ireland is so rich and so vibrant, it is meant to be shared.”

Tickets for the festival are available from folkfest.org starting at $25 for one day and may be acquired without any geographic restrictions.

Some of Donegal’s most exciting new music acts will take to the stage for Ireland’s first virtual Fleadh. 

TG4 in partnership with Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, has announced details on Fleadh2020, a 4-night celebration of Fleadh Ceoil around the world from 6^th– 9^th of August.

Each evening show will journey through a different province in Ireland and also include music from musicians around the world – from Scotland, New York, Tokyo and Brisbane and plenty of chat and fleadh stories along the way too.

Saturday night will delve into Ulster and feature music and dancing from three acts from Donegal.

It will be the first broadcast of Donegal’s 13-strong female fiddle group, Sí fiddlers, featuring Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh, Liz Doherty, Bríd Harper, Tara Connaghan, Clare Friel, Roisin McGrory (Harrigan), Aisling Drost-Byrne, Theresa Kavanagh, Denise Boyle, Claire Gallagher, Melanie Houton, Clodagh Warnock and Eimear McColgan. The group came together in 2018, and includes some of the finest fiddlers from Glencolmcille to Inishowen and everywhere inbetween to represent a huge tradition in Donegal.

Sí Fiddlers- Fleadh 2020

Mairead Ní Mhaonaigh (Gweedore) with the Sí Fiddlers- Fleadh 2020

Also in the show will be Donegal Town sisters Ailbhe Liu and Seoda Wang, who will be performing a live version of their viral collaboration with World Champion Dancer David Geaney from Dingle.

Odhran Woods from Buncrana will be performing with his teacher Brian Flannagan from Armagh. At the tender age of 10, the Fleadh show will be a major step for Odhran.

Brian Finnegan, Odhran Woods (Buncrana Donegal)- Fleadh 2020

Fleadh2020 is set to be a gathering (socially distanced and virtual) of Irish traditional musicians from around the world who, under normal circumstances, would be coming together to celebrate the All-Ireland Fleadh – ‘The Homecoming’ – in Mullingar in August.

Over the 4 nights 6-9 August, Fleadh2020, will capture the essence of this annual event – the music, song and dance and the stories – and present a unique insight into the fleadh community, across Ireland and around the world.

Fleadh2020 airs every evening from 6^th -9^th August at 9.30pm on TG4.

A LETTERKENNY DJ and music producer will feature tonight on the prestigious Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1.

The long-running show, which features an uninterrupted two-hour mix from a different artist each week, will this week highlight popular Letterkenny artist Reuben Keeney.

Operating under the alias ‘Rebūke’ since 2018, Reuben has become a popular feature and his December 2018 track ‘Along Came Polly’ spent two months at number 1 in the Irish dance charts.

Now on Friday night-Saturday morning from 1-3am, the sound of Rebūke will air to the Essential Mix’s legions of followers around the world.

“I’ve wanted to get on there more than anything and it’s a massive achievement, a massive milestone,” Reuben told Donegal Daily this week.

“The Essential Mix has been going for so long. Every DJ wants to check it off their list. It signifies progress. For me, personally, I’ve been listening to it from I was 12 or 13. It’s quite exclusive.

“Within the dance industry, it’s one of those things that has never gone away and has been there every weekend. In the 1990s, it was really prominent in the era before internet radio and Spotify. The Essential Mix was the way to discover new music and it’s still very prominent today. It’s massive to get on it.”

The Essential Mix has been running since an October 1993 show featuring Pete Tong.

The young Reuben was captured by the likes of Paul Van Dyk and Sasha playing in Letterkenny.  He started mixing tunes as young as 13.

Before the Covid-19 lockdown, Rebūke toured Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile and Columba for the first time.

He said: “I’ve been doing a lot of touring and visiting new territories. I’ve just been trying to build a fan base and service a fan base in new countries and also releasing more new music.”

Lockdown brought the challenges of dealing with the wipeout of a loaded diary and the cancellation of 120 gigs, but opportunity knocked too.

He said: “I got a lot of time to sit down and work on ideas that I’ve been looking to finish.

“I’ve missed a lot of gigs, but I’ve looked at the positives.  You just have to roll with the punches and get on with it.

“It was a good time to get back into the studio. I was doing a lot of live streams from the studio and trying to go live in cool areas around the town; we found a massive, unused warehouse where we did a live stream from. It was massive. It’s been good to reconnect with people.

In a 2018 interview, Reuben described himself as ‘just a sham from Letterkenny with an ear for a decent tune that kept at it for years and it seems to be starting to pay off’.

He said: “I try not to take things too seriously. I’m spoiled because I get to fly all over the world and discover new places. I’m still very much the same guy who was running around Letterkenny playing music.”

Of the evolution of his sounds since he first started spinning records, he said: “The principal is the same, but it has changed a lot in terms of how I compose music and put it out there. That took ten or 12 years of trying this, dipping into that. It’s been different things and that has led to the sound that I have today.

“The people who influence me the most are the people I work on through record labels. I don’t have my own record label – yet – so I usually release on other DJs who are idols in the field like Adam Beyer and Jamie Jones, people I release music with.

“I look up to them. It’s funny because now that I’m in the circuit a little bit, I rub shoulders with these guys, where five years ago I would be looking at them thinking: ‘I’d love to be there some day’.

“To this day, I still get star struck at bigger festivals, playing with these guys.”

In the last couple of years, he has supported Deadmau5, Alan Fitzpatrick and The Chemical Brothers.

Rebūke was born in 2018, a project that originated at Outhouse, based out of the Fifth Avenue venue at The Orchard in Letterkenny.

He said: “Outhouse came to an end when I was touring so much. Trying to run a club night while being on the other side of the world wasn’t going to happen.

“Outhouse, I’ll always be grateful for. I met a lot of people who are part of my team through Outhouse, be it booking DJs or playing along with them.

“A lot of those guys, I chat to at festivals and we talk about the time we met in my home town, Letterkenny. That’s where I honed the early Rebūke records.”

The remarkable life of a Donegal nurse is set to get recognition this year thanks to local actress and writer Maggie Hannon.

Catherine Black MBE, born in Ramelton in 1878, was nurse to both kings and beggars.

Nicknamed ‘Blackie’, she was the private nurse to King George V up to his death. She was also a war nurse in WW1 and worked among the poorest communities in London.

Catherine Black, MBE, RCC, SRN (1878–1949)

Her life story has now been written into a play which will be shown in theatres around Donegal this October.

Ramelton resident Maggie Hannon will star in the one-woman production, directed by Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde.

With social distancing restrictions, it is a stroke of luck that ‘Sister Black’ was always destined to be a one-woman play.

Maggie has been writing and developing the play since spring 2019. The account is based on Catherine’s own memoirs, King’s Nurse, Beggar’s Nurse along with other materials and war diaries from her time.

Maggie delved into the many dimensions of Catherine’s life. While she was a ‘strong-minded’ and ‘very proper’ woman, Maggie found that she didn’t give away much about herself in her stories.

Actress and Acting Coach Margaret Hannon

“Catherine Black’s life was so amazing, it was hard to pick things to talk about, you could have a series of plays about her life,” Maggie told Donegal Woman.

“Some parts are shocking, but they are of their time. There are parts that can’t be left out. They show where her heart was.

“The book was amazing, and I hope this play encourages people to read it and find out about this woman.”

Born at Ardeen House in Ramelton, Catherine was the eldest of six children. Her father Moses Black ran a draper’s shop, but the vocation of nursing was there from her childhood. She moved to England as a young woman and applied herself to working in various hospitals before volunteering in the military service. After the war, she was sent to work as the private nurse of King George V from 1928 until his death in 1936.

“She was devoted to her work, her family didn’t want her to be a nurse at all. They wanted her to stay at home and mind the family. At the time, nursing was seen as something that people without much education did, but she had a passion for it,” Maggie said.

Scenes from a Sister Black promotion video, by Charlie Joe Doherty

Maggie’s background is also in healthcare. She worked as a doctor until 2015 while acting was always part of her life. She trained in theatre Prague from 2015-2018 and has led acting classes in Donegal in recent years.

‘Sister Black’ was originally scheduled to premiere during the Earagail Arts Festival, but the cancellation was a fortunate turn of events which gave Maggie more time to work on it in a relaxed manner. She has now booked dates on October 3rd in Ballyshannon Arts Centre as part of the Bluestacks festival; October 9th in Ramelton Town Hall and October 13th in An Grianan, Letterkenny. Booking links will open at a later date.

The theatre industry will be changed for a long time, Maggie said. “It will come back, but it might take years for it to come back to where it was. In Plague times the theatres closed for years but they always started off again. It’s a niche interest, but it’s a powerful one for those involved in it and love it.

“People get so much from theatre even those that do not go into it, it changes lives, you can see people’s eyes light up when they get it.”

‘Sister Black’ is supported with grant aid from the Donegal Arts Office, Donegal County Council

Updated: An earlier version of this article listed Thursday 3rd September as the series premiere date. This has been corrected to Thursday 10th September.

The dramatic twists and turns of Donegal’s wildest attraction will be showcased in a new series starting next Thursday 10th September on RTÉ One.

RTE has released new details on ‘Return of the Wild: The Bearman of Buncrana’ – a four part series following Inishowen man Killian McLaughlin as he set up the Wild Ireland sanctuary.

Cameras followed Killian over two years, filming across multiple countries and continents, to document how he made his lifelong dream a reality.

Wild Ireland in Inishowen is now a world class wildlife sanctuary and home to bears, lynx, wolves, wild boars and many more rescued animals. But the project was wrought with financial and logistic challenges from the get-go.

Killian McLaughlin and the three brown bears at Wild Ireland. Photo: Adam Porter

Killian and Katie McLaughlin at Wild Ireland. Photo: Adam Porter

Killian, who is a solicitor by day and a zoologist at heart, would stop at nothing to make his wildlife park a reality. He always wanted to turn back the hands of time and bring majestic animals of ancient Ireland back to their ancestral home. Never before had a project of this scale been undertaken, and there is no rule book or how-to instruction manual.

By Killian’s side throughout, is his new wife Katie, a city girl and solicitor from Dublin, who traded the rat race for the wilds of Donegal.

This project had the potential to break them financially and emotionally but when they fell in love with some animals in dire need, their commitment to bringing them home became unshakable.  Despite battling with big banks, red tape, paperwork and bureaucracy the couple remained committed to doing it any way they can. Moondance Productions has been at their side at every turn, documenting their dogged determination as they use their legal skills to make it happen.

Killian McLaughlin and Naoise the Lynx at Wild Ireland. Photo: Adam Porter

Viewers will also see an unexpected turn of events when Killian and Katie had to bring wolves, lynx and deer to their newly renovated house while the park was still under construction!

Wild Ireland finally opened at the end of autumn 2019, fifteen months behind schedule and three times over the original budget.  Nevertheless, visitors flocked to welcome back the native predators and learn of Ireland’s lost animals. 

But there were more challenges ahead. A stormy winter and the coronavirus pandemic have threatened to cripple the sanctuary due to closures, mounting costs and forced lay-offs.

The arrival of spring brought hope, with a litter of six wild boar being the first births in Wild Ireland. The happy news spread worldwide at a time of great despair. 

A short while later, there was even greater joy when Katie gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Rígan. The young family have already overcome major hurdles – but the show seeks to ask – are they out of the woods yet?

Killian, Katy and baby Rígan McLaughlin. Photo: Adam Porter

Return of the Wild: The Bearman of Buncrana is set to be a documentary series full of heart, passion, high-stakes emotions, big dreams, big predators and even bigger risks – it’s certainly not to be missed!

Catch the first episode on RTE One, Thursday 10th September at 8.30pm.

Malin Head residents are on the lookout for celebrities today as filming starts on yet another Hollywood blockbuster.

A film crew has been spotted on a local beach where filming for a star-studded Viking film is believed to be taking place.

The movie, called The Northman, features an all-star cast of Hollywood actors including Nicole Kidman, Willem Defoe, Ethan Hawke, Bill and Alexander Skarsgård and Icelandic singer Björk.

Local sources say some of the stars of the film are due to arrive in the coming days for filming.

Film crew arrives at Lagg Beach, Malin Head. Photo: Ali Farren

The Northman is set in Iceland at the turn of the 10th century, but the natural landscape of Ireland’s north coast was chosen as the filming location for the big-budget movie.

As production crews and sets have been spotted in Northern Ireland this month, pictures from Lagg at Malin Head have sparked huge excitement.

Trucks from G&H Film and Television Services, based in Holywood in Belfast, have been photographed in the beach car park and a traditional boat was also spotted on the sand.

A boat is seen at Lagg Beach, Malin Head, 31st August 2020. Photo: Ali Farren

Film Crew arrives at Lagg Beach, Malin Head, 31st August 2020. Photo: Ali Farren

Malin Head local Ali Farren said there is a buzz around the area today.

He told Donegal Daily “There’s a real buzz around the place and a number of locals are already employed with the film company.

“We’re told that they chose the area because it looks like the same landscape as Iceland. However, we’d like to think that the sun shines in Malin a little more than it does in Iceland.”

Mr Farren said the area is very accessible but yet very private for filming so that fim=makers can keep the project secret.

“We have really good infrastructure so the entire area is easy to access and the backdrop for filming is spectacular.

“Once again it’s a great opportunity to put Malin and Donegal on the map and to show the amazing, natural scenery there is here,” he said.

It is hoped that the production could have a further knock-on boost for Donegal as a filming destination, which was firmly established in 2016 when scenes of Star Wars: The Last Jedi were shot here.

“We haven’t spotted any of the stars of this film just yet but we’ll all be keeping an eye out.

“It’s a big film and some of the names understood to be in the film are huge stars so hopefully we’ll catch a glimpse of one or two of them” he added.

Young Donegal DJ Ois Bosh is bursting with confidence over his newest dance track.

Oisin McLaughlin (aka Ois Bosh) is a 19-year-old DJ / Producer from Muff, who is self-described as Ireland’s answer to Calvin Harris.

Ois’s new single Cover It Up, released this week, has become an instant hit. And he’s proudly calling it his best release yet.

Listen here: 

“Cover It Up” is a house dance mix with vibes resonant of Irish Producer Jay Pryor.

Ois explains: “I incorporated some piano vibes on the track as the piano is big in my family, I am excited to hear what people think of it, I think it is my best work to date.”

Last year was incredible for Ois Bosh, who is a regular in local venues in Donegal. He got the opportunity to play some of Ireland’s biggest festivals and venues with the likes of numerous appearances at Electric Picnic and Dublin’s premier venue, the 3Arena last Summer, which were both “an appearance of a lifetime” according to Bosh. He also closed out a festival close to his home in Donegal, that was OTB Festival – held in Buncrana, Co. Donegal.

DJ Ois Bosh

Now he has set his goals a bit higher, “I am in negotiations with some of Ireland’s biggest promoters to bring my set to bigger festivals and bigger audiences once COVID 19 settles down. I am very excited about the future and determined to get my music out there.”

Cover It Up is available to download and to stream on all major music platforms (Spotify, iTunes, YouTube and Soundcloud) now. Follow Ois Bosh on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/djoisbosh/

A highly anticipated drama which is set in Donegal will launch on Irish TV this Monday.

The Deceived launches with two episodes airing back to back on Virgin Media One at 9pm on Monday 7th September.

Filmed in Belfast, the series is set between Cambridge and Donegal. The fictional village of Knockdara in Donegal is the centre of the drama.

Watch the trailer from Virgin Media Ireland here:

The story surrounds college student Ophelia (played by Emily Reid) who falls in love with her married Irish lecturer, Dr Michael Callaghan, played by Emmet J Scanlan of Peaky Blinders.

When their affair is interrupted by a shocking and tragic death, Ophelia finds herself trapped in a world where she can no longer trust her own mind.

Emmy-nominated actor Paul Mescal plays Sean McKeogh, a volunteer fireman and builder from Donegal. The Deceived series was produced before BBC’s Normal People catapulted Mescal to international fame, but a buzz was already building around the young actor.

Paul Mescal as Sean in Virgin Media Television’s new major Irish drama The Deceived. Pic Virgin Media Television

The four-part series, which first aired on Channel 5 last month, was written by Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee and her husband Tobias Beer. Some Derry Girls stars also appear in The Deceived, including Louisa Harland, who played Orla and Ian McElhinney, who was Granda Joe.

If the storyline hooks you in, Virgin TV customers will get to binge watch the entire series exclusively on Virgin TV on Demand from Monday.

Donegal singing star Daniel O’Donnell will back on our TV screens this week with a new series of ‘Opry le Daniel’.

The popular TG4 music show was filmed at the Millennium Forum in 2019. A host of country stars are in the line up for the next two months.

The first episode to air on Tuesday next, 15^thSeptember at 9.30pm, will pay tribute to Glen Campbell in the company of his daughter Ashley Campbell, along with Johnny Brady, Ciarán Rosney and Marc Roberts. Viewers will get an insight into Glen’s life, his worldwide reputation and the influence he had on Irish performers.

Daniel will be welcoming many more artists to sing along with him on stage over the series.

Other artists appearing in this eight part series include famous Irish and American artists such as Crystal Gayle, Tommy Flemming, Mike Denver alongside his mother Róisín Fallon, Chantelle Padden, Gary Fitzpatrick, Simon Peters, David James, Shauna McStravock, The Celtic Brothers, Eleanor Shanley, John McNicholl, Lisa Stanley, Trudi Lalor, Gerry Guthrie, Gloria, Susan McCann, George Hamilton V & VI, Charlie McGettigan, Mick Flavin, Sandy Kelly, Johnny Brady, Marc Roberts, Ciaran Rosney.

Filmed in 2019 before a live audience, Opry le Daniel will be a delight for country music fans, and will be available to view worldwide on TG4.ie

Donegal man Cathal Mac Fhionnghaile is set to feature in an insightful documentary film on Gaeltacht artists on Culture Night 2020.

Cathal will be one of the artists to share their story in Tearmann on TG4 on Friday 18th September at 8pm.

The film explores how the landscape, local customs and indeed the Gaeltacht communities themselves continue to influence a new generation of artists. 

Cathal McGinley is from Inis Bó Finne; he was born whilst his family were still living on the island but was raised in Machaire Rabhartaigh overlooking his family’s home place. 

Cathal obtained his degree in Sligo and later his MAFA in the University of Ulster. 

Throughout this formal education, Cathal maintained a ‘grá’ for his home place and its people, customs, and heritage. This assimilation has happened over millennia, handed down, eventually reaching this artist who digests it and makes it visible through his own interpretation. 

His sensibility is that of an islander and this unique perspective is demonstrated through his art. Cathal is a multidisciplinary artist; he paints, draws, sculpts and more. 

Cathal’s projects include Athghabháil- Athghabháil denotes repossession, re-appropriation, repurposing, reconstruction. The ‘found objects’ from the shores of Inis Bó Finne metaphorically demonstrate a repossession of heritage. They are a comment on society’s destruction of our seas with plastic rubbish. In repossessing them, the artist also celebrates the native skills familiar to the island community such as fishing and the like that have been honed to a modern sensibility. 

Bothóg is another project of McGinley’s – Cathal has positioned the bothóg as a place of refuge. In constructing this work Cathal has repeatedly folded tonnes of wastepaper by modular origami – a meditative, solitary, aeonian act. His dexterity and his chosen method of construction is recognition too of the artist’s skilled craftsmanship, a talent, and an aptitude he has engaged with since childhood.

Other artists who feature in Tearmann include: Áine Ní Chíobháin and Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín from Cork and Johnny Óg Connolly from Indreabhán in Connemara.

Other projects include composing musical settings for the poetry of Máirtín Ó Direáin for a projected song cycle currently performed with Liam Ó Maonlaí.

The documentary has been produced by Aniar Productions, in association with Ealaíon na Gaeltachta.

Donegal DJ Christian McDaid, aka Modeā, is making a lot of noise despite the name of his new EP ‘Silence’, out today.

The 18-year-old from Newtowncunningham is blazing a trail in the techno scene as he drops his first record with UK label We Are The Brave.

Modeā has been hailed as the latest protege of techno heavyweight Alan Fitzpatrick, founder of We Are The Brave. 

The young Irish producer became the new kid with the label earlier this year on their second compilation album. He is stepping up again with his ‘Silence’ EP, which contains four hefty cuts guaranteed to turn some heads in the scene.

Modeā is quickly becoming a household name amongst his Irish peers and has already established himself as ‘one to watch’ in the scene. 

Modeā

Starting his musical journey in his early teenage years, Modeā has developed a sound like no other. He was first inspired by trance DJ Tiesto when he heard his song ‘Adagio for String’ on television, and went on to complete a FETAC production course with a distinction in 2015.

With a string of upcoming releases on techno’s finest records labels, Cristian’s talents haven’t gone unnoticed. 2020 sees him move from strength to strength, solidifying his position as the new kid on Alan Fitzpatrick’s infamous We Are The Brave imprint. 

The full 4 track EP is out this Friday. Pre-Order or Pre-Save the stream of ‘Silence’ EP here.

Get a first listen here:

THE Letterkenny-based Encore Performing Arts Academy was celebrating three top awards at the 2020 Association of Irish Musical Societies (AIMS) awards.

Their production of Hairspray earned three awards, which Rebecca Thompson, the owner and artistic director at Encore Performing Arts Academy, says has ‘blown me away’.

Hairspray was the winner in the Best Visual category.

Andrew Tinney was named as the Best Male Singer and Marie O’Donnell took the gong for the Best Female Singer.

I am buzzing, ecstatic, overjoyed and so proud of everyone involved in our production of Hairspray,” Rebecca said in a Facebook post last night.

“To be nominated in our first year at AIMS was special. But to walk away with three overall awards has blown me away.

“I cannot put into words how in awe I am of your love and passion for performing and for the maturity you have shown, particularly over the last few months. Know that you are talented, kind, smart, inclusive and supportive children and I am so proud to have you at Encore PAA.”

THE annual Letterkenny Busking Festival, which was due to take place on Saturday, has been cancelled due to Covid-19 fears.

The Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce have this morning confirmed that they have, ‘with great regret’, taken the decision to cancel the event.

Last year’s event saw 35 acts take part on Letterkenny Main Street and organisers were hopeful that the sixth annual festival could take place this year, having been put back by a month from its original planned date in August.

There had been a large number of applications for this year.

“We are very sorry to announce that we have to cancel this year’s busking festival, but in light of the Covid-19 situation, it is the right thing to do,” said Jimmy Stafford, President of Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce.

“We had received a huge number of applicants this year and know that everyone was really looking forward to taking part in the event.

“The festival has grown year on year and is a summer favourite among the participants, the organisers and the wider community.

“We encourage everyone who has applied this year to consider applying again in 2021 and to keep an eye out on our social media channels for updates. 2020 would have been the sixth year that the festival has brought a buzz to the Main Street and it will be sorely missed this year.”

The Letterkenny Busking Festival organisers ask that people monitor their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/letterkennybuskingfestival for any further updates.

Fans of the Donegal Bay and Blue Stacks Festival can still enjoy the scheduled programme of online events while the live events are postponed for a later date.

When Donegal entered Level 3 of the country’s Living with Covid 19 Plan on Friday last, the county’s cultural venues were obliged to close their doors to the hosting of public performances and events.

As such, artists, organizers and venues associated with the Donegal Bay and Blue Stacks Festival have been working to formulate alternative dates for those advertised festival live events it has, regrettably, been necessary to postpone. Details of the new dates will be published on the Festival website www.donegalbaybluestacks.com as they become available.

Meanwhile, the Festival’s online programme continues this week with the second instalment of Dark Daughter Productions‘ four part online series, Drumshee Days, the gently humorous portrait of life in a 1950s Donegal dancehall. Written by Maura Logue with music and production by David Ison, you can enjoy the next episode – The Merry Widows – this Friday night, October 2, from 7.00pm. The show will be broadcast on the festival’s Youtube channel, which is accessed via the Festival website.

On Sunday, October 4^th., Mountcharles Opera Festival founding artists and Bluestack Chorale members Deborah Cunningham (Soprano), Paul Martin (Baritone) and Evan McGarrigle ( Piano) present Songs for an Autumn Evening, which was recorded earlier this month in the idyllic surrounds of The Garden Suite at Harvey’s Point Hotel, Lough Eske.

Fans of choral, opera and classical music will be treated to a special evening of popular arias and duets from La Traviata, Candide and Sweeney Todd, as well as a selection of favourite piano works from Mozart and Beethoven (Sonata No. 8). The recital will be broadcast from 8.00pm on the festival’s Youtube channel, accessed via the Festival website.

Meanwhile, Treehouse kicked off their own four part, festival online concert series with a brilliant performance by Derry’s Connor McGowan (aka Ego The Jackal) on Tuesday night last. Next up is on Tuesday night, October 6, is Ballyshannon native Alan Finan, who will showcase his beguiling brand of folk electronica on the Festival Youtube channel from 8.00pm.

Alan Finan

Finally, the Festival’s online literary event – an In Conversation event with writers Elaine Feeney, Helen Cullen and Denise Blake – will take place on an Abbey Arts and Culture Centre hosted zoom platform on Sunday afternoon, October 18. This is a FREE event but registration in advance via email to E: info@abbeycentre.ie is essential.