Category: Event

It’s time for Banter’s annual trip to the seaside. With a bucket in one hand and a spade in the other, we take the Beatyard bus to Dun Laoghaire on August 5 and 6 for a weekend of pow-wows, conversations and encounters. Here’s what to expect at Banteryard 2017

SATURDAY

1pm – meet the family – an encounter with Rusangano Family

The Rusangano Family story keeps getting better and better. After a year in which they released their “Let the Dead Bury the Dead” album and scooped the Choice Music Prize for it, Godknows, Murli and Mynameisjohn join us at Banteryard to talk about the current lie of the Rusangano land, how things have changed since their first appearance at Beatyard in 2015 and what comes next

6pm – meet the legend – an interview with Larry Heard

We talk house music and more with a man who was there when it was all coming together. Larry Heard is the producer behind such seminal house tracks as “Can You Feel It” and “Mystery Of Love”, a musician who has spent his lifetime creating sweet, warm, soulful tracks. A pleasure to welcome Larry to Banter and hear his take on life, music and everything else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeiH9Mm0E5Y

SUNDAY

1pm – UCD Psychology of Media Entertainment Lab

One of the big hits at Banteryard 2016, our friends from the UCD Psychology of Media Entertainment Lab return with more examples of and experiments in how we engage, interact and behave in our everyday lives with technology, media, art and fiction

2pm – The Banter guide to starting a rocking food business

Just what do you need to know about opening your own food business? We’re joined by Colin Harmon (3FE), Conor Duggan (Box Burger) and Sandy Wyer (Forest Avenue) to hear how they went about the job in hand.

4pm – Oh My God What A Complete Aisling!

The most notions Banter ever as we welcome Aisling to Banteryard.  Ahead of the publication of their debut novel about the life and times of a girl from down the country in the big smoke, Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen talk to us about all things Aisling and especially what she would make of Beatyard.

What are the rules for being a man?

Don’t Cry; Love Sport; Play Rough; Drink Beer; Don’t Talk About Feelings

But Robert Webb has been wondering for some time now: are those rules actually any use? To anyone?

Looking back over his life, from schoolboy crushes (on girls and boys) to discovering the power of making people laugh (in the Cambridge Footlights with David Mitchell), and from losing his beloved mother to becoming a husband and father, Robert Webb considers the absurd expectations boys and men have thrust upon them at every stage of life.

Aimed at preserving and promoting Ireland’s natural, built and cultural heritage, National Heritage Week runs across the country from August 19 to 27 and Banter is delighted to be part of this year’s event.

We’ll be hosting a discussion which looks at how nature influences our life, work and the world around us. Poet Mark Roper, Birdwatch Ireland’s Niall Hatch, educator Grace Garde, Dublin city councillor Claire Byrne and author (In Sight Of Yellow Mountain: A Year In the Irish Countryside) and actor Philip Judge will talk about the value of nature, wildlife and heritage to how they live and work.

Banter on nature takes place at the National Print Museum (Beggars Bush Barracks, Haddington Road, Dublin 4) on Thursday August 24. Doors open at 6pm and the discussion begins at 6.30pm. Tickets are available here and all proceeds from the event go to the Irish Peatland Conservation Council.

Many thanks to Niamh Donnellan and Niamh Reynolds at the Heritage Council and Gretta Halpin at the National Print Museum for their assistance with this event.

What will your job look like in 2027? More to the point, will you and your workmates have been replaced by robots?

On our next visit to the Bullitt Hotel in Belfast, we talk about the future of work. The groundbreaking developments in technology and artificial intelligence will inevitable mean many changes, not least for Belfast workplaces in the years and decades to come. Are any our jobs safe from the robots? Indeed, will Banter in 2027 just feature a bunch of robots having a chat about pesky humans?

The details: Banter talks robots at the Bullitt Hotel in Belfast with Adrienne Hanna from Right Revenue; Kevin Curran, Professor of Cyber Security at the University Of Ulster and Philip Brady from Citibank. It takes place on Wednesday July 5 from 6.30pm and admission is a fiver.

Banter returns to Bullitt on Wednesday August 2 during Belfast Pride Festival to talk about LGBT life in Northern Ireland in 2017.

How could we say no to this one? The Stoneybatter Festival takes place across Dublin 7 from Friday June 23 to 25 and they’ve kindly invited Banter to come along to be part of the proceedings.

We’ll be joined by Dublin 7 residents Annie Atkins (graphic designer and prop maker extraordinaire for The Grand Budapest Hotel, Bridge Of Spies and many more), Colin Murphy (journalist and playwright The Guarantee, Inside The GPO etc) and Radie Peat (musician and singer with Lankum and Rue). They’ll talk to us about their work, creativity, inspiration and how both historic Dublin and the contemporary city inform what they do.

The Banter pow-wow will be followed by the JuJu Club Strikes Back, with Stoneybatter’s own Claire Moloney return to the DJ booth with some tunes alongside Jim Carroll (fresh from the DJ retirement home) and Luke McManus.

StoneyBanter takes place at the historic Clarke’s City Arms (Prussia Street, Dublin 7) on Friday June 23 from 8.30pm and admission is a fiver on the door. Big, big, big thanks to Luke for all his help with this event.

We’re very happy to be returing to Bloom, the biggest festival in Ireland, which rakes place in Dublin’s Phoenix Park next weekend. Bloom kicks off on Thursday and Banter will be in situ in our tent in the Food Village on Saturday, Sunday and Monday with a clatter of colourful and fascinating characters for you to meet. Here’s the line-up.

SATURDAY JUNE 03

11am – Nutrionist in the house

Daniel Davey is a performance nutrionist with the Dublin senior footballers and Leinster rugby players, a presenter of TV3’s Doctor In the House and co-founder of online nutrition site FoodFlicker. At Banter, Daniel talks about the role of nutrition on health and well-being and lessons to be learned from the fields of play.

Noon – How do you become the tidiest town in Ireland?

In 2016, Skerries won the award for tidiest town in the country. Maeve McGann and Anne Doyle from the Skerries Tidy Towns Committee tell us about the work, challenges and triumphs which go into running a successful tidy towns’ campaign.

1.30pm – Questions and answers with the Bloom gardeners

Do you have a query for the Bloom show gardeners? Here’s your chance to ask them as Maeve O’Neill and Alan Rudden join us to answer your questions.

2.30pm – And now the weather…

The ins and outs of the weather business and its impact on the national mood with Head of Forecasting at Met Eireann Gerald Fleming and presenter Karina Buckley.

3.30pm – The humans of Bloom

There are thousands and thousands of people at Bloom and is one of them. We get the lowdown on life and everything else from Irish Country Living editor Mairead Lavery

4.30pm – Meet the boss

Bloom would not exist with Bord Bia. The new head of the state agency promoting Irish food, drink and horticulture is Tara McCarthy and she joins us to talk about her job.

SUNDAY JUNE 04

11am – Food on the edge

Besides running such great Galway restaurants as Aniar and Cava, JP McMahon is also behind the annual boutique food gathering Food On the Edge. He’ll be at Banter to discuss his life, career, restuarants and the growth of Food On the Edge.

Noon – The Irish astronaut

Niamh Shaw is an Irish scientist, engineer, performer and artist who also plans to get into space in the next few years. She joins us at Bloom to talk about work around creating interest in science, the need for more youngsters to take up STEM subjects and her very own space program.

1.30pm – Questions and answers with the Bloom gardeners

Do you have a query for the Bloom show gardeners? Here’s your chance to ask them as Brian Burke joins us to answer your questions.

2.30pm – Draw With Don

Don Conroy is the man who taught the children of Ireland how to draw owls when he was the resident artist on The Den. We hear about his life before and after the Den – and there may be even a drawing lesson

3.30pm – My Lovely Horse Rescue

Cathy Davey may be best known as the singer-songwriter behind a string of hits and albums, but she’s here to talk about My Lovely Horse Rescue. Since 2012, Cathy’s charity has helped to recue, retrain and rehome unwanted, abandoned or surrendered horses, donkeys and ponies in Ireland.

4.30pm – Cats vs dogs

Why do people love their cats and dogs so much? We’re joined by Roz Evans from Phibsboro Cat Rescue and Catriona Birt from Dogs Trust to talk about their four legged friends

MONDAY JUNE 5

11am – Gardening for good

More than 50,000 people in Ireland are living with dementia and Elaine Keane, Director of Clinical Services at TLC Nursing Homes, and Sinead Grennan, CEO of Sonas apc, talk about how creating a garden which would be a peaceful space for them and their families resulted in the Bloom Dementia Friendly Garden.

Noon – Anyone for spuds?

Ireland has had a long and illustrious history with the humble potato. Restaurant critic and food writer Catherine Cleary talks us through our relationship with the tuber.

1.30pm – Questions and answers with the Bloom gardeners

Do you have a query for the Bloom show gardeners? Here’s your chance to ask them as Niall Maxwell and Tünde Szentesi join us to answer your questions.

2.30pm – Cavanman of the Year: Neven Maguire

We are very happy to welcome back one of the most popular visitors ever to the Banter stage at Bloom. Neven Maguire joins us with more warm tales and sage advice from Blacklion and beyond.

3.30pm – What are you eating?

Aoife Hearne is the dietician on Operation Transformation. She joins with her advice on eating well without resorting to fad diets – and some insights into why the TV show still pulls in a huge audience.

4.30pm – A guide to gins

We bring together some of the premium gin makers showing their wares at Bloom 2017 to tell us just why the drink is enjoying such a buzz at present. Our ginfluencers: Peter Mulryan (Blackwater Distillery), James McKenna (Listoke Gin) and Keith Malone (Mor Gin).

Tickets for Bloom are available here.

We are delighted to bring Banter to Belfast in June for the start of a monthly residency at the Baltic bar at the impressive Bullit hotel in the heart of the city.

For Banter’s first outing at Bullitt, we’re looking at the sound of the city and asking just what is the current state of Belfast’s musical nation. Many people may still associate the city with past glories like Van Morrison, Good Vibrations and SugarSweet, but the city’s musical machinations move to a much different beat in 2017 as seen by the excellent AVA festival which takes place in early June.

Banter host and producer Jim Carroll will be joined by Sarah McBriar (director and creative producer of the AVA Festival), Jonny Carberry (resident DJ and music creator at Bullit) and Stuart Bailie (music journalist and co-presenter of Across the Line) to discuss what the future sound of Belfast will be, should be and could be.

The first Banter at Baltic at Bullitt Belfast takes places on Wednesday June 7 at 6.30pm. Admission is £5 and tickets can be booked by emailing [email protected]

As part of their Full Stream initiative, Virgin Media will be screening three top class cult films from their catalogue at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin on Saturday May 13.

It’s a chance for folks to experience Back to the Future, The Big Lebowski and Pulp Fiction in luxe surroundings with bold cinematic sound and a custom-built screen and lighting rig

Before each screening, we’ll be hosting a Banter Short coversation about various entertainment related topics

(1) We’re all cults now (before Back to the Future, 1pm)

Believe it or not, there’s now an audience out there for the strangest of shows thanks to out always-on consumption culture. We talk to Valerie Loftus from The Daily Edge about how the weirdest and most off the walls shows now build and develop their fanbases

(2) TV is the new film (before The Big Lebowski, 4.15pm)

The creator of hit show Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope, Stefanie Preissner, and director of programming at TV3, Bill Malone, talk about how the new crop of writers, directors and makers want to work in TV rather than hawk their work to Hollywood

(3) A new world of entertainment awaits (before Pulp Fiction, 7.30pm)

What is coming down the tracks and into your gaff in the next few years? A conversation with TV3 Head of AFP Patrick Kinsella about how new technology, from VR headsets to new ways of packaging entertainment, is going to change your viewing experience

Admission is free but tickets must be booked in advance and are available here

The International Literature Festival Dublin takes place from May 20 to 29 with readings, discussions, debates, workshops, performance and screenings in venues across the city. We’re delighed to be part of this year’s festival with a discussion on a topic which you can’t get away from at the moment.

Banter on media in the age of fake news is a look at how media operates in an age when fake news seems to be at large everywhere you look. Have facts been replaced by fictions? Has journalism been tajen over by wild and wilful flights of imagination? What is newsworthy and what is fake – and more importantly, how do we tell them apart?

We’ll be joined by Kevin Donnellan (UK editor, Storyful), Lois Kapila (co-founder and managing editor, Dublin Inquirer), Jane Suiter (School of Communications DCU and Director of the Institute for Future Media and Journalism) and Cathal McMahon (Irish Independent) to discuss misinformation on social platforms, fact-checking practices, the journalistic compromises made in the name of clickbait and the problems which occur when readers want the believe the fake news that
they see.

This Banter event takes place at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin on Saturday May 27 at 2pm. Tickets can be booked here.

There are as many reasons why someone decides to become a public representative as there are men and women in Leinster House. Before 2011, Stephen Donnelly
worked as a project manager and consultant for companies like Transport for London and McKinsey and Company.

That year, he decided to stand for election to Dail Eireann and was elected as an independent first-time TD for Wicklow. Five years later, he was re-elected, this time
as a founding member of the Social Democracts, the party he subsequently left. A year on from that election, Donnelly has joined Fianna Fáil and is now the party’s
spokesperson on Brexit.

Deputy Donnelly joins us at Banter to talk about why he got involved in politics in the first place, the lessons he learned during that first spell in Dáil Eireann, his time with the Social Democrats, the move to Fianna Fáil and what comes next for a man who is most definitely no longer an accidental politician.

Banter’s conversation with Stephen Donnelly TD takes place at Wigwam (Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1), on Thursday April 27. Doors open at 6pm and the interview, followed by an audience Q&A, starts at 6.30pm. Tickets can be booked here.

Cruinniú na Cásca is a large-scale free festival of creativity which will be held in Dublin and across the country on Easter Monday (April 17). Organised by RTE in association with Creative Ireland, it aims to “celebrate culture and creativity in contemporary Irish society through a rich variety of live music and dance, coding, theatre, art and music workshops, talks and tastings, readings and screenings, special events and more”.

As part of the event, Banter will be hosting four sessions in The Printworks in Dublin Castle about the great GAA novel, the role of critics, the demon drink and an one-on-one interview with someone we’ve been trying to do an one-on-one interview with for some time. Here are the details of the individual discussions – admission is free, but tickets should be booked in advance using the links below.

Where is the great GAA novel? (11am-noon)

We’ve had reams of factual books on the sports but, apart from the odd reference to togging out for a match or heading to a training session or using the parish pitch as backdrop, Gaelic games rarely turn up in fiction. It’s a rum one, especially given the place which the games have in our national culture. Our senior hurling panel scratch their heads to consider why this is so and dream up just what the great GAA novel might look like. With Michael Moynihan (sportswriter, The Irish Examiner), Rachael English (novelist and presenter of RTE Radio One’s Morning Ireland), Eimear Ryan(writer and co-editor Banshee literary journal) and Kieran Cunningham (chief sportswriter, Irish Daily Star). Tickets can be booked here.

Everyone’s a critic (1-2pm)

The days of a thumbs up or down from a critic to decide the fate of a new work or project are coming to a close. Between publications cutting back on the number of professional reviewers and the ability of everyone to be a critic online and on social media, the critic is quickly becoming a relic of the past. Yet is there still a need for someone to excercise those critical facilities and provide more than just a listicle or a tweeted review? Where do we find these critics in 2017 and how do they get paid? And will arts and culture organisations miss the critic when he or she leaves their free seat for the last time? With Cristín Leach (art critic, Sunday Times Ireland), Ian Maleney (writer and critic for The Wire, The Quietus, The Irish Times and Fallow Media), Graham McLaren (director of the Abbey Theatre) and Nadine O’Regan (arts editor, Sunday Business Post). Tickets can be booked here.

The demon drink (3-4pm)

A discussion on the part which drink plays in Irish culture and what the depiction of alcohol tell is about ourselves. And does the relationship between drink and the arts inform and influence a dependency culture when it comes to sponsorship and funding? With Tara Flynn (actress, comedian and writer), Dave Lordan (writer, poet and dramatist) and Derek O’Connor (RTE.ie Culture editor). Tickets can be booked here.

Fachtna O’Ceallaigh: a life in music (5-6pm)

Fachtna O’Ceallaigh began his career writing about music for The Evening Press, but soon found his way to the other side of the fence. Over his career, the Dubliner has managed Clannad, the Boomtown Rats, Bananarama, the Bothy Band, Donal Lunny, Morrissey (for seven eventful weeks), Eamon, Ricky Gervais (when he was in Seona Dancing), Dread Broadcasting Corporation and, currently, Hare Squead. He’s also been a DJ on the national airwaves and looked after U2’s Mother Records for a spell. A Banter conversation at Criunniú with one of the few no-nonsense, straight shooting managers in the game who stil has loads to say and do. Tickets can be booked here.

Now on its fifth outing and a much more action-packed event since it moved from Dublin to Sligo last year,  Shore Shots bills itself as “a weekend of ideas and adventures on the Wild Atlantic Way”. That means a surf festival out west with movies, music, art, surfing (of course), talks, ideas, parties and much more besides in Sligo on April 22 and 23.

Banter probably ticks the “talks” and “much more besides” boxes and we’ll be taking over a room in The Model for a series of conversations with some fascinating people talking about what they do and especially the discoveries they’ve made in the line of their work or activism which may have contributed to a change in their outlook or creative methods. Our cast for Banter at Shore Shots is as follows

Dorothy Cross: one of Ireland’s leading artists (and a woman who has been on our list of ideal guests for ages) whose dramatic sculptures and installations often touch on on the sea.

Aoibheann O’Brien: co-founder and CEO of FoodCloud, the not-for-profit social enterprise that helps businesses redistribute surplus food to charities. It has secured numerous investments and in 2015 agreed a deal that ensured Tesco’s 146 stores would redistribute surplus food to charities across Ireland.

Alan Simms: back in 1995, Alan booked the Queen’s University Students Union in Belfast for a club night called Shine. Over 20 years on, the club is still going and Shine now includes a number of venues in the city and Dubliun as well as the Belsonic festival.

Finn Ní Fhaoláin: the blogger, surfer, chef and author talks about her new book Finn’s World

Kevin Cavey: the grandfather of Irish surfing on the sport in Ireland in the days before wetsuits or forecasts.

Olan O’Brien: Olan’s All City record label and shop has been quietly but fiercely pushing the boundaries of hip-hop since 2003

Justin “JC” Coghlan: the co-founder of Movember, the global organisation campaigning to raise awareness of men’s health issues.

Lucia Griggi: award-winning photographer with her roots in surfing, skateboarding and outdoor adventure scenes

Matt Smith: founder of Backwash Magazine and the Moy Hill Community Garden in Lahinch, Co Clare

More information on what else is happening over the weekend and tickets for all events on the Shore Shots website.

Online interactions and community exchanges were always been robust and full-bodied, but that’s taken a very distinct downturn in recent times. Negative comments, offensive remarks and downright nasty and abusive reactions to what people have to say has become the norm in our social media timelines and online interactions. If you express an opinion online, chances are there is someone who will disagree with your opinion – and have a go at you, your family, your job, your looks, your pet cat and anyone and anything else that comes to mind while they’re at it.

What are the causes behind this malignant behaviour? Are those hiding behind pseudonyms and alter-egos simply childish trolls doing it for the lolz or are they emboldened by how they can comment so freely en masse and are now moving into real life activity and attacks? For those who have to interact with this behaviour day in and day out, what are the solutions they think should be tried out? And is there any
chance it can get better before it gets worse?

Aoife Barry (The Journal), Ellen Tannam (writer and podcaster HeadStuff, RTE etc), Conor Behan (DJ and writer) and Mark Smyth (senior clinical psychologist) join us at Banter this month to see how the heck we got to this point and where it goes from here.

The details: Banter on online behaviour will take place at Wigwam (Middle Abbey St., Dublin 1) on Thursday March 30. Doors open at 6pm and the discussion, followed by an audience Q&A, begins at 6.30pm. Tickets can be booked here.

Since 2015, Imagine has been gathering a fine crew of thinkers and talkers in Belfast for various events aimed at promoting debate and discussion on the big issues of our time. Director Peter O’Neill very kindly extended an invitation to Banter to join this year’s festival and we were happy to take him up on his offer.

Our contribition to the theme of “prepare for a new tomorrow” is The New Majority, a conversation with the next generation of Northern Ireland voters about what they want from their politics and especially politicians. We’ll be joined by a selection of those who will decide the make-up of elected assemblies in the future about the issues in Belfast and the world which move them in terms of both activism and voting intentions. Are the old reasons for sticking an X on the ballot paper going out with the tide for younger voters or do they still exert an influence?

Banter at Imagine will take place at The Factory at The MAC (Exchange Street) on Saturday March 25 at 2pm with Katie Richardson (Goldie Fawn), Fergal McFerran (president, NUS-USI), Tara Connolly (chairperson, NI Youth Forum) and Callum Curry (entrepreneur and founder of SUSSD). Admission is free, but advance registration is necessary and can be done here.

You can check out the full programme of events for Imagine – including film screenings, workshops, discussions, lectures, talks and an explanation of why you see Elvis in your toast – here.

What’s your best gig you’ve ever seen? That’s a question which stops most music fans in their tracks and sets off some great memories, fierce discussions and occasionally some rowdy disagreements.

It was also the starting point for a new book from Dublin’s punk rock and DIY scene activists Hope Collective. Editors Niall McGuirk and Michael Murphy asked a bunch of people to write about their favourite live shows and the returns were collated into a just published book entitled In Concert: Favourite Gigs of Ireland’s Music Community.

On Tuesday February 21, Niall, Michael and a number of those who’ve contributed to the book (see below) – plus some special guests – will join us at Banter to talk about the book, the notion of favourite gigs and read their selections as well. Audience contributions welcome too.

The full list of guests is as follows:

Ellie & Louise McNamara (Heathers) on The Mountain Goats, Bloomington 2011
Frances Roe (Jam Jar Jail) on Rocket from the Crypt, Dublin 2001,
Edwina Forkin (Zanzibar Films and ex-TCD Ents Officer) on Sonic Youth/Nirvana and early Therapy?, 1991
Suzanne Rhatigan (singer and promoter) on Grace Jones at Electic Picnic, 2015
Peter Jones (Paranoid Visions) on the Poison Girls at Sean McDermott Street, Dublin, 1983
Peter Devlin (musician, producer and broadcaster) on The Specials/The Beat, Stardust, Dublin, 1981

Banter on In Concert will take place at Wigam (Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1) on Tuesday February 21. Doors open at 6pm and the event will kick off at 6.30pm. Tickets can be booked here and, like the book, all proceeds will go to the Irish Red Cross’ Syria Appeal. More information on the book here and copies will be on sale on the night.

Every single day, our social media timelines are full of stuff. It could be people talking about what happened last night, it could be someone sharing some silly joke, it could be Donald Trump saying stuff that you never thought you’d hear the incoming president of the United States saying. And it’s also full of people selling goods and services for brands because they happen to have a big social media presence.

Social media influencers are the ones whose tweets, Facebook posts, Snapchat snaps, Instagram posts, digital articles and videos attract big audiences and are therefore hugel attractive to brands, agencies and companies who want to reach that mass of people. A new school of marketing and PR, social media influencers have become a big part of the promotional landscape in Ireland and worldwide over the last year to 18 months.

But it’s a trend with a lot of questions around it, apart from the one about how many Twitter or Instagram followers you need to have to qualify for the title. Are punters who are looking at these posts and photos aware that money has changed hand? Are the rules around declarations of interest stong enough? Just how much money are we talking about anyway? Are social media influencers here to stay and should we get used to them? Does it actually work and is it better than taking out an old-fashioned online ad? How do brands gauge the success of otherwise of what they’re doing with influencers? Who are the winners and losers? And what comes next?

We’ll be joined by Rosemary Mac Cabe (blogger and journalist), Tara O’Farrell (make-up artist, blogger and model), James Kavanagh (Snapchat superstar and Currabinny food company) and Holly Shortall (New/Slang) to discuss these and many more issues at Banter’s encounter with the social media influencers.

The details: Banter on social media influencers will take place at Wigwam (Middle Abbey St., Dublin 1) on Thursday January 19. Doors open at 6pm and the discussion will get underway at 6.30pm. Tickets can be booked here (this event is now sold out).

For the last couple of years, Banter has teamed up with the First Fortnight mental health arts festival to host a sports-releated event of some stripe. We’re very happy to join them again in January and we’re especially happy to welcome Paul Kimmage to the Banter stage.

One of the most influential and widely read sportswriters in the country, Paul was a professional cyclist and wrote the award-winning book, Rough Ride, about his time on the circuit before he turned to the writing trade full-time. He will join us to talk about his life as a professional cyclist, his career as a sportswriter, the mental stresses and strains that occur in sport and how sportspeople deal with these.

A Banter conversation with Paul Kimmage takes place at The Workman’s Club, Dublin on Tuesday January 10. Doors open at 6.30pm, the event starts at 7pm and tickets are available here (this event is now sold out).

It’s time for our now annual trip to the Kingdom. On Saturday and Sunday December 3 and 4, Banter joins Other Voices and takes up residence by the fire in the back of Foxy John’s in downtown Dingle where we’ll be joined by a fine cast of talkers, makers, do-ers and players for some conversations and music. We’ll be open for business both days from 2pm to 6pm and admission is free. Please note that capacity is limited so get there when doors open at 1.30pm if you want a chair or standing room.

Here’s who will be joining us on the edge of Europe over the weekend – big thanks to Banter Other Voices co-conspirator Molly King for all her programming work on this one

Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan: tales from the frontline of psychosmatic illness with the Dublin-born neurologist and author of It’s All In Your Head, the winner of the Wellcome Book Prize 2016 

Catherine Murphy TD: the Kildare North TD and Social Democrats’ co-founder on her political activism, life as a public representative, the Irish parliamentary system, new politics, the Social Democrats and making the headlines

Paul Howard: the man behind the trials, tribulations and triumphs of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly about his new book I Read the News Today, Oh Boy about the life and times of Tara Browne, the inspiration behind The Beatles’ “A Day In the Life”

Aoife Kelleher: the documentary maker behind the award winning One Million Dubliners, Strange Occurrences In A Small Irish Village and Growing Up Gay on the art of storytelling on screen

Aideen Barry: a profile of the Cork visual artist whose Brittlefield retrospective at the RHA was one of the year’s cultural highlights

Eithne Shortall: The Sunday Times’ chief arts writer joins us for Banter’s Review of the Arts to talk about the books, films, music, theatre, art and other cultural highlights and lowlights of the past year

Aoibheann McNamara: an odyssey into slow food and slow fashion with the Donegal-born firebrand behind Galway restaurant Ard Bia and The Tweed Project.

Bringing It All Back Home: we talk to the folks behind Bean In Dingle, Airt and WK Fitness 

There will be also be music at Banter over the weekend from some fantastic acts turning up namely Jealous of the Birds, Jack O’Rourke, Ailbhe Reddyand, as become the tradition at Banter in Dingle, some trad maestros in the shape of Cormac Begley and Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh. We will also have some very special suprise guests so don’t say you weren’t warned.