Ireland Has A Cultural Moment, From Rock And Books To Cinema
Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published November 27, 2024 | 01:50 PM
Dublin, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2024) From Sally Rooney's bestsellers to actor Paul Mescal, Ireland, which holds a general election this week, has been enjoying a cultural and creative renaissance in recent years.
In the past few weeks it's been hard to miss Rooney's fourth novel "Intermezzo", the Grammy nomination of rockers Fontaines DC or Mescal's muscles on posters and trailers for "Gladiator II".
"We're having a cultural moment and there's a lot of energy around Irishness at the moment," said Ruth Barton, professor of film studies at Trinity College Dublin.
The phenomenal global success of the television adaptation of Rooney's "Normal People", which introduced Mescal to the world, has played a key role.
"I definitely think there's a new wave of Irish writers, novelists -- particularly women -- who came up with books on experiences that were not articulated before," said Christopher Morash, the Seamus Heaney professor of Irish writing at Trinity.
Irish writers, musicians and filmmakers have all been praised for their humour and being down-to-earth.
"The profile, internationally in particular, of Irish artists across all arts forms has actually never been higher," said Maureen Kennelly, director of the Arts Council of Ireland.
That has led to cross-cultural cooperation, for example, with Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy starring in the adaptation of Irish author Claire Keegan's bestseller "Small Things Like These" and Fontaines DC providing the soundtrack to Andrea Arnold's film "Bird".
It also starred Dubliner and Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan ("The Banshees of Inisherin").
Barton said the presence of multinational tech giants such as Meta and Apple in Ireland due to low corporate taxes has helped.
"The country has more money than it used to have... we're fundamentally a rich country and we have spent a lot of money on culture," she added.
