Excel-Lent 🛐🍫

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back this Friday, bringing news of the Irish at home and abroad to your inbox. The Craic is the weekly newsletter from Shift, the app designed to connect the Irish and Irish-ish across the globe. Not got the Shift yet? You can find it here. Want more people to have The Craic? This way here, please.

News from Home

It’s Time. Taking its lead from Australia and Spain, the Irish Government is expected to eventually announce social media restrictions for kids. It is committed to working within the EU for this, and that means it will take time, but it looks likely the plan will involve banning U16s from the TikToks and Instagrams. We all agree with this, right?

New 2. Bono and the lads have released their first album – well, EP (that’s a mini-album, kids) – since 2017. Days of Ash is getting fairly good reviews, with some saying it’s U2’s best work this century. It is VERY political, though, taking aim at lots of the zeitgeist-y problems of the world.

Caps Off. The row over Dublin Airport’s passenger cap – limiting arrivals to 32 million per annum – looks to be almost at an end. The cap, which has been in place for 20 years and introduced due to fears of congestion on access roads, should be revoked once the accompanying bill passes.

G’wan, Ben. Yay! Ben Lynch has become the first-ever Irish athlete to qualify for a skiing final. Freestyler Ben said, “I skied better than I ever have today. I'm officially an Olympian and officially a finalist which is just mind-blowing.” Go for gold, lad.

The Craic Recommends. This week, the Craic recommends giving up sweets. Well, not really. It’s Lent, you see, and that throws back memories of childhood, where you’d be forced to give up chocolate and candies for 40-long days until you gorge on eggs at Easter – Paddy’s Day was always a cheat day, btw. Anyway, while the Church’s hold on the country has weakened, meaning fewer kids (and adults) are giving up stuff, many still do. And you know what, it can be rewarding, even if you aren’t religious. So maybe try it over the next 38 days – sweets, alcohol, social media; any vice, really. It’s like a second shot at that New Year’s Resolution that you’ve already broken.

The Irish Influence

Is there a better Irish writer alive today than Sally Rooney? The 35-year-old – it’s her birthday today 🎂 – is one of the voices of global millennial literature. We’ve seen her described as “preternaturally talented,” which is a fair description of a woman who was publishing award-winning novels at an age when the rest of us were still learning our left from our right. While Normal People and Intermezzo have many fans, her debut, Conversations with Friends, is Rooney’s contemporary masterpiece. Yes, you may have seen the TV series, which is great, too, but the novel, we suspect, will be remembered 100 years from now. Happy Birthday, Sally Rooney.

Cúpla Focal

An Carghas – {un kor-ees} – Lent. As mentioned, we are two days into the aul Lent period, beginning with Céadaoin an Luaithrigh (Ash Wednesday) and ending in a feast of chocolate/mass on Domhnach Cásca (Easter Sunday). Good luck to the abstainers! 

Blast from the Past

Say you’re out for a boozy night in Dublin and you’re looking the (literal) shift. Well, there’s only one place that can save you. Copper Face Jacks – just plain aul Coppers to the locals – opened its doors 30 years ago this week and quickly became a Dublin institution. Such is its standing in local legend, it even spawned a show – Copper Face Jacks the Musical. Ostensibly, it’s a nightclub, though it’s more of a complex with different bars and a few dancefloors. Famed for its late serving hours – sometimes skirting the law to deliver to the masses – it is the last port of call. We’d give anything to know how many marriages, babies, and, yeah, breakups came as a direct result of a night in Coppers. So, happy birthday to the club that sucks in late-night revelers like a Death-Star-like tractor beam. Dubs love to hate you, but you’re part of the fabric of the city.

And One Last Thing….

A few Shift updates and mentions to finish the week. We’ve got two upcoming partner events in the coming weeks that you should know about. First, a reminder that Solas Nua’s Capital Irish Film Festival gets underway next Thursday. We’re particularly excited about Saipan, Irish language film Báite, and the late night films, Celtic Utopia (Saturday), Girls & Boys (Friday), and the documentary about the legendary BP Fallon (Thursday). Find all the info and all the trailers on the Shift app, and make sure to check off all the films you’re into. Hopefully we’ll see you there!

Next Friday, the 27th is the annual Blind Date Show at the New York Irish Center, brought to you by the brilliant O’Donnell Rossa Ladies’ GAA Club. If you’re anywhere near Long Island, make sure to check it out. Look out for Patrick and Vivienne there too. There’ll be Shift giveaways aplenty and if you don’t get the Shift on the night, there’ll be plenty of opportunity to get together on the app later.