Out & About

What a week it has been, with a lot of Irish events that happening throughout the city. We did our best to be at them all, well, because this is the time to promote Ireland and there's no better place to do that than New York.

Let me start off by telling you what I was doing last Monday at the Irish Consulate: we were celebrating the announcement of the 250th New York Saint Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal who was revealed as Mary Higgins Clark, the world-renowned writer and novelist. What a beautiful lady she is too.

This Parade is one of the world's largest and also the oldest. As you can see on March 17th and throughout all of March for that matter, it will be a celebration that will never be seen again.

So be ready for it! John Dunleavy the Parade Committee's Chairman tells us that they're pulling out all the stops to make this the most memorial of all the marches in recent history.

To top it all off they will be having a Gala Ball on March 15th that I know will sell out like hot cakes and, from what I have heard, the cream of Irish talent will be performing... shhhh, I'm not suppose to tell you that yet; sorry Hilary, I have not let the cat out of the bag.

Now it's up to all of us to get behind this spectacular event by supporting the Ball and by marching in the parade, so tell your friends to be there as it is open to all the public to enjoy.

I will have more information next week on tickets and tables for the Ball. Moving on to Tuesday I was invited by the great Michael Gibbons, past President of The Ireland-US Council and former Vice President with Estee Lauder to a lunch in the upstairs restaurant at Eamonn's Bar and Grill (on 45th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenue) with some very notable people like Ed Burns, the father of one of the most outstanding actors Ed Burns who we interviewed two weeks ago for The Irish Examiner newspaper.

Also at the party was none other that Malachy McCourt, the actor/writer who is a great friend. We had a really good time as only Michael can do it!

Tourism Ireland with their partners from Dublin: Dublin Tourism, Dublin Contemporary 2011, Dublin UNESCO, City of Literature, Guinness Stonehouse, Irish Hotels Federation and The Merry Ploughboy Traditional Music Pub gave a lunch on the Wednesday at the New York Athletic Club, which faces onto Central Park.

I almost came away from the lunch with a Dublin accent; now that would be something... Just kidding, but it was again another top of the line promotion as a lot of hard work goes into planning these events since everything needs to go off as planned, especially when you have the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin T.D. there to do the introductions.

The music was performed by The Merry Ploughboys who are based in Dublin Ireland where they host an all year round traditional music and dance show at their own Irish pub, "The Merry Ploughboy."

They played the original Molly Malone song (Cockles & Mussels). It was nice to hear that with a few pints huh?

That evening we headed to the 21 Club in midtown for a reception that was hosted by C.I.E. Tours International who were presenting their 2011 Ireland Vacation Program which gives details on 23 escorted tours and 8 independent vacations.

According to Brian Stack the Managing Director of CIE Tours International, they are aiming to satisfy every client budget and wish-list in order to encourage people and families to travel to Ireland in 2011.

Their new catalog offers more than 30 different vacation choices to the Emerald Isle. For more information call (973) 292-3899 or go to www.cietours.com.

The Ireland-US Council also held an event on Thursday night at the Metropolitan Club which was filled to capacity. Again it was another great evening; well someone has to do it, right?

The Irish Repertory Theatre launches its 23rd season with the world premiere of 'Banished Children of Eve', a play by Kelly Younger, adapted from Peter Quinn's award-winning, epic novel set during the Civil War in New York.

It is directed by Ciarán O'Reilly ('The Emperor Jones') and let me tell you that this is a production that is not to be missed as you can tell by the splendid cast.

'Banished Children of Eve' opened on October 24th and will run through December 5th at The Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street). You can catch shows at 8pm from Wednesday to Saturday, with 3pm matinees on Wednesday, Saturdays and Sundays.

There are no performances on Thanksgiving Day though (Thursday, November 25th) but they add a 3pm matinee on Friday, November 26th to make up for that). Tickets are $65 and $55, and are available by calling (212) 727-2737 or online at www.irishrep.org.

See you all next week.