It may not have been the most pleasant journey there under Garda escort, but recuperating independent Galway county councillor Michael "Stroke" Fahy couldn't have picked a better time than this week to begin his one-year jail term in Castlerea. The Co Roscommon prison was selected as a venue for one of the many readings during this year's Cúirt International Festival of Literature, which opened in Galway on Tuesday.
Journalist and author Nell McCafferty was in sparkling form as she did the opening honours at the new Galway City Museum, before that evening's sell-out reading in the Town Hall Theatre with MJ Hyland and Ian McEwan. McEwan was among several of the programme's 60 contributing artists at the reception; and if he was the least bit concerned about the quality of the ice in his drink or about teeth-brushing in "boil-water borough", he could always check directly with first citizen Mayor Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party).
German-born artist Joe Boske, who has designed many memorable posters for both Cúirt and the Galway Arts Festival, was at the opening with sculptor John Behan. Boske has two exhibitions running concurrently with the week-long event, including a joint affair in the Town Hall Theatre with cartoonist Tom Mathews.
One change to the packed programme of readings, poetry slams, workshops and suchlike was confirmed the following morning, when it emerged that the Pakistani novelist and broadcaster, Tariq Ali, booked for the Anne Kennedy Memorial Lecture, was ill. However, his lecture, Latin America and the Arab World: Resistance and Occupation, has been rescheduled for tomorrow night at 8.30pm in the Town Hall Theatre and original tickets may be transferred.
For further details, contact the Town Hall Theatre box office (tel: 091-569777)