Guests at this year’s Cúirt Festival of Literature, which runs from April 8 to 13, will include Booker prize winners Anne Enright and Roddy Doyle,  while Sally Rooney, Donal Ryan, Paul Muldoon, Denise Riley, Eimear McBride, Patricia Forde, Seán Hewitt, and Mary O’Malley will also be among the participants.

Palestinian-British author Ahmed Masoud give the annual Cúirt lecture, which is being reinstated as part of a series of events to mark the festival’s 40th anniversary. He will speak on Palestinian literature.

Cúirt is programmed by Manuela Moser, who was appointed as festival director in 2022. This is her third festival and will kick off with a reading from Sally Rooney and Paul Muldoon, the current Ireland Professor of Poetry, on Tuesday, April 8, at 8pm. And, during the festival, there will be further conversations on the Town Hall Theatre stage with Sally Rooney and Galway’s John Patrick McHugh, and Kevin Barry and Eimear McBride.

There will also be readings from debut novels from Seán Hewitt, Garrett Carr, Roisín O’Donnell, and Scotland’s Stuart Murdoch, while international writers this year include Salim Bachi, Kayo Chinyongi, and Luisa Castro.

On the poetry front, the festival will host Áine Ní Ghlinn, Moya Roddy, Mary O’Malley, Zara Meadows, Alanna Offield, and Michael Dooley, alongside Denise Riley, Gustav Parker Hibbet, and Richard Scott.

There will be reflections on the legacy of Irish literature, with Galway writer Alan McMonagle hosting a seminar on the importance of creative writing. Cúirt’s own place in literary history will also be celebrated with an interactive archival project, Capturing Cúirt, offering people a chance to share memories from past festivals. A selection from the festival’s archive of posters will be selected for reprint and will be for sale.

Festival favourites will include the New Writing Showcase, highlighting the best in new poetry and fiction. The Cúirt New Writing Prize will be judged by author, Wendy Erskine, poet Victoria Kennefick, and poet and author, Liam Carson, who writes in Irish and English.

The Irish Writers Centre Young Writer Delegates programme now in its eighth year, will allow four young writers to immerse themselves in the festival, receive mentoring from Alan McMonagle, and deliver an event at Nuns’ Island Theatre. Cúirt also continues its partnership with Faber Academy, offering workshops from experienced authors and editors.

A selection of children’s events, with local authors Serena Molloy and Gráinne O’Brien, will run over the weekend. And the Cúirt Labs will return to Cúirt, in partnership with Galway City Council, with three writers in residence: Patricia Forde, Clara Kumagai and Shirley-Anne McMillan.

Cúirt readings, launches, workshops and exhibitions will takes place in venues throughout Galway from Tuesday to Sunday, April 8-18 and tickets for all events are now on sale from http://www.cuirt.ie or through the Town Hall Theatre on 091 569 777, www.tht.ie.

Pictured: Seán Hewitt. Photo: Bríd O’Donovan.

Hundreds turned out to bid farewell to adopted Galwegian John Cooney, the super-featherweight boxer who died following a title fight in Belfast, to hear his friends and family talk of their ‘champion’ – and a man full of energy, laughter and love.

Chief mourners at the Church of St John the Apostle in Knocknacarra included John’s parents, Hughie and Tina, his fiancée Emmaleen and his brothers Conor and Aaron.

And chief celebrant Fr Tadhg Quinn told those mourners that the family donated some of Mr Cooney’s organs to five different people – ‘giving them a greater chance of living’.

His fiancée Emmaleen sang the Sarah McLachlan song, In the Arms Of An Angel, for her soulmate – on a Valentine’s Day she could never have imagined.

John Cooney’s uncle, Tom, told mourners that his funeral mass is a celebration of his life.

“It’s not a day of regret, but truly a day of rejoicing. Our John, our kid Cooney, our fully grown man, our champion,” he said.

“He may have just lived for 28 years, but I tell you, John has lived three lives in those 28 years. So, if you put three lives together, that’s almost 90 years of age that John lived. I’m saying that because of what John has accomplished, John has accomplished more than most of us would in 100 years,” he said.

Friends and family carried symbols of John Cooney’s life to the altar, including boxing gloves, running shoes, a family photograph, his watch, his favourite sweets, his barber scissors and a mirror.

After his Requiem Mass, John Cooney was laid to rest in Rahoon Cemetery.

Fine Gael’s Seán Kyne has become the first Galway person to hold the office of Leader of the Seanad after being appointed by the Taoiseach to the role.

The Moycullen man, who has previously served as a Minister of State, described taking up the position as “a huge honour”.

Senator Kyne missed out on a Dáil seat in Galway West at last November’s General Election and announced at the count centre that he intended to retire from politics.

However, after a period of reflection, he opted to keep his hat in the ring and secured a second term in the Upper House of the Oireachtas earlier this month, taking a seat on the Cultural and Educational Panel for a second consecutive term.

“I was done with politics. A lot of people have said since that it was a knee-jerk reaction but it wasn’t. I felt at the time that with the retirement of Éamon Ó Cuív, that was my best chance to secure a Dáil and that didn’t work out.

“On reflection, and having spoken to various people within the party, including Simon Harris and members in Galway West, who asked me to keep going, I changed my mind,” he said.

Senator Kyne was elected to the Dáil in 2011 and served as both Minister of State and Government Chief Whip before losing his seat at the 2020 General Election.

Explaining the role of the Leader of the Seanad, Senator Kyne said it was the duty of Leader to organise the business of the Seanad, “liaising back and forth with the Government parties”.

“The Leader takes the Order of Business every day that the Seanad sits and, similar to Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, will respond to questions that arise.

“I will also be requesting that ministers come to the Seanad to provide a response from the Government on various issues,” said Senator Kyne.

The role will not be entirely new to the Fine Gael senator, who deputised for his party colleague, Regina Doherty, upon her election to the European Parliament last summer.

“The work of the Seanad can make a difference to citizens, communities and our country. As leader, I will be focused on several areas including the use of, and visibility of An Ghaeilge, both in the Seanad and Irish society.

“Tackling the challenges and securing the opportunities that positive ageing presents, strengthening and delivering infrastructure in our communities, and holding State agencies to greater account, are other areas on which I’m keen to make progress,” said Senator Kyne.

He said he looked forward to working with the “significant contingent” of Galway senators who have been elected to the new Seanad.

Eight out of the 60 members of the Upper House hail from Galway. Senators Alice Mary Higgins (Ind) and Rónán Mullen (Ind) were re-elected on the National University of Ireland Panel, while Senators Kyne, Ollie Crowe (FF) and Gerard Craughwell (Ind) were all re-elected on the Vocational Panels.

New Senators PJ Murphy (FG) and Shane Curley (FF) were also elected on the Vocational Panels, and former Minister of State and Galway East TD, Anne Rabbitte (FF), secured a Taoiseach’s nomination.

Pictured: New role…Seán Kyne, after his election to the Seanad.