Brian Gallagher

midfielder

My radio play MIDFIELDER will be air on Newstalk 106-108fm on Monday April 17th at 11 00 a.m. and can also be listened to as a podcast after the broadcast.

Midfielder is the story of a former soccer player, Billy Murray.  With wry humour Billy recalls the social and work adjustments he had to make on going to Seventies England, to follow his dream of being a professional footballer.

Starring Mark O’Regan, Stephen Jones and Marion O’Dwyer, the programme was funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television License Fee.

http://www.newstalk.com/Soccer-Drama-on-Newstalk

 

phoenix park radio programme

My radio documentary Park People was broadcast on Newstalk 106-108 fm on Saturday, November 19th, and can be listened to as a podcast at: ww.newstalk.ie/documentaryonnewstalk

Park People looks at the diverse and colorful range of people that live, work and play in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. From polo players and nuns at Mount Sackville, guides at Aran an Auchatarain, and kids visiting the zoo, to with map makers, bicycle renters and Gardai in the Depot – the Phoenix Park has room for them all.

From a private tour of his residence with the US Ambassador, to a look behind the scenes with the Director of Dublin Zoo, the programme takes the listener on a fascinating journey around the national treasure that is the Phoenix Park.image-for-park-people

 

 

children’s book festival

clonmel-libraryOctober was a very busy month, with the Children’s Book Festival running in schools. libraries and bookshops all over Ireland.

It was a hectic time for me, starting with fifteen talks in five days spread across libraries in county Tipperary. It was great to meet so many enthusiastic young readers, and the hospitality from the librarians was wonderful – I certainly piled on the calories from all the cakes and buns I was offered!

The rest of the month was taken up with meeting readers in counties Clare, Galway, Kildare and Dublin, many of whom had been reading Friend or Foe as part of their schools’ 1916 centenary commemorations.

By the end of the month I had done thirty-nine talks and had an array of different throat tablets! It was tiring but also great fun. And now that I’ve had time to catch my breath again, all I can say is roll on next year…

Meeting the US Ambassador to Ireland

Brian Gallagher and Ambassador O'Malley

I had a private tour of the US Ambassador’s residence, in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, as part of my forthcoming documentary Park People, due to be broadcast on Newstalk FM.

Ambassador Kevin O’Malley was a fascinating and gracious host who showed me around Deerfield, the residence that once housed the Chief Secretary for Ireland, and which has been home to successive American ambassadors since 1927.

We toured the beautifully landscaped walled gardens and as well as the interior of the house, which has had many famous visitors, including John F Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama.

Canadian launch of Arrivals

Just back from Canada where Arrivals was launched in the grounds of Lakefield College School, by Mary Smith, the Mayor of Lakefield. Also present in the photo are John Boyko, former Dean of History at the college, and Phyllis Williams, Chief of the Ojibwe at the Curve Lake Reserve.

It was exciting to have the launch in the very location where so much of Arrivals plays out, and an honour to have such important dignitaries present. The event was covered by the Lakefield Herald and What’s on in Peterborough, with television coverage on Chex TV’s popular evening show, Newswatch.

The launch was followed by a reading, a lively questions and answers session, and drinks on the deck of the boathouse. Even the weather was perfect, with a golden sun dipping below the horizon just as the event finished!