ACROSS the water in London, the first Irish Film Festival opened the previous night. Fresh from the Sundance festival, Liam McGrath - watch this space next century - opened the week-long event with his tenderly evoked docu-feature South- paw, a slice of the life of boxer Francis Barrett. A tribute to the Olympic contestant, his trainer and McGrath's directorial talent, London's fighting Irish lapped it up.
Among those at the gathering in Kilburn were actors Adrian Dunbar and Fiona Shaw, and novelist Edna O'Brien.