What made Tom tick?

Stage and television actor Tom Hickey, who died at the weekend, talks about what happens when he is acting, what acting means to him and what is theatre.

Actor Sebastian Stephenson writes:

With the death of Tom announced, I remembered an audio interview I did as part part of my college course over 10 years ago. I interviewed Tom about what he understood acting to be. I was studying in the Focus Theatre at the time and was trying to figure out what acting was myself. I uploaded the raw recording (above) for anyone interested.

Funeral of the late, great Tom Hickey to take place tomorrow (Leinster Leader)

Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews

This afternoon.

Singer and model Nick Kamen.

Denim-washing dreamboat who, in one 30-second, boxer short-clad commercial, helped revive sales of Levis 501 jeans while killing off the y-front for a generation.

RIP.

Any excuse.

Young environmentalists, above from left: Roisín Shallow, Katherine Orobcenko and Jamie-Lee Donohoe from Crumlin YouthReach  who won the ECO-Health and Well-Being Award last year

This morning.

Unidentified location, Dublin.

The launch of the Unesco-backed  2021 Young Environmentalist Awards taking place on May 26 where 66 environmental ideas by youth groups across the country will be ajudged by panel of experts to be the greenest.

We’re calling them ‘The Gretas’.

Yes.

How dare us.

Photocall ireland

Behold: dusky shots of the Viritech Apricale – a hydrogen fuel cell powered hypercar currently in development by the manly-sounding UK-based start-up.

Performance and construction details are sketchy so far but the company hints at an ‘innovative graphene-reinforced pressure vessel in which hydrogen storage tanks actually make up part of the chassis’.

The ultra lightweight Apricale – of which 25 will be built, selling for around £1.4 million each – will make 1,100bhp and the first deliveries are expected in late 2023.

hiconsumption

April/May, 1981.

H-Block rallies on O’Connell Street, Dublin.

Today marks the 40th anniversary since the death of Bobby Sands.

Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews

Meanwhile…

Tiny prison notes by Bobby Sands and Gerry Adams emerge in Co Kerry (Irish Times)

Lord Mayor of Dublin and Green Party chairperson Hazel Chu has confirmed she will seek the nomination for the Green Party seat in the forthcoming Dublin Bay South by-election

This morning.

“As someone who achieved 33 per cent of the vote in my constituency in the 2019 local elections and as current Lord Mayor of Dublin, I believe I can run a competitive campaign for the Dublin Bay South seat and for the party.

“I look forward to the selection convention and to the decision by my local group.”

“I have worked hard to support the local community and local businesses while working to fight the key issues we are facing as a country, homelessness and housing, discrimination and inequalities, climate change and ensuring a sustainable future.”

Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu earlier.

Hazel Chu enters the race for Dublin Bay South (Irish Times)

RollingNews

Update:

Irish Pharmacy Union Secretary General Darragh O’Loughlin (left) with Tanaiste Leo Varadkar

This morning.

A total of 38 vaccination centres – possibly operating 24 hours – will be opened to vax the entire country…

…however…Via RTE:

Pharmacists have been sidelined from the national vaccination programme, with 2,000 fully-trained vaccinators “ready to go”, according to the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, he said the notion of running vaccination centres for 24 hours a day on the basis that people are so desperate they would turn up for one at 4am, instead of opening up pharmacies to vaccination, is difficult to understand.

Mr O’Loughlin said 1,200 pharmacists have expressed an interest in providing the service and 2,000 are fully-trained vaccinators that are “ready to go”, but have been sidelined by the Health Service Executive.

He said nobody has asked for all-night centres for vaccination, but people were asking pharmacists every day to vaccinate them.

Anyone?

Pharmacists ‘sidelined’ from Covid vaccine programme – IPU (RTE)

RollingNews


French Ambassador to Ireland Vincent Guérend (above) has criticised Ireland’s Mandatory Hotel Quarantine scheme, which has seen members of the Defence Forces escort arrivals at Dublin Airport. Ireland is the only EU member state to detain travellers from other EU countries

This morning.

Via Irish Times:

France’s ambassador to Ireland Vincent Guérend said the French embassy had received “large numbers of desperate calls” in recent weeks from Ireland’s French community, many of whom need to travel to France for medical reasons including cancer and cardiac care.

The ambassador told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that mandatory hotel quarantine was preventing those who need to commute between Ireland and France from travelling. There are between 25,000-30,000 French nationals living in Ireland, he said.

“We’re not speaking for normal travel, it’s not business as usual, people go for really compelling reasons, for severe medical treatment, for cancer, for heart disease and we believe the mandatory hotel quarantine prevents almost all travelling and that the exception mechanism is really insufficient.”

Ireland’s quarantine system unnecessarily harsh, says French ambassador (Irish Times)

RollingNews/French Embassy

This morning.

Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

Newly-appointed, well renumerated, secretary general at Department of Health Robert Watt enters Kildare House to report to the Oireachtas Health Committee.

The Committee will question him about the RTÉ Prime Time Investigates programme which alleged that the Department of Health was secretly compiling dossiers on children with autism.

Sam Boal/RollingNews

Broadsheet.ie