Mayo the Stars Guide You 🚀🇮🇪

So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back in action on this lovely Friday, bringing you news, views, and rare ol’ Irish stuff. If you like the cut of our jib, send this link to friends and family and then blackmail them into signing up for The Craic.

News from Home

Celtic Tiger 2.0? Economic figures are pretty dull reading – and seem pretty abstract for most of us – yet Ireland experienced a massive surge in GDP growth – 9.7% – in Q1 2025. As with all economic reporting these days, there were several warnings and caveats. “T” words – Trump, Tariffs – were constantly mentioned throughout the literature, and never positively.

Grand Re-Opening. The Little Museum of Dublin has had a two-year makeover. They’ve polished it up and placed it back in its ancestral home just off St Stephen’s Green. The guided tours last 29 minutes (not a typo), taking you through everything from how Vikings to Joyce to Bono and the boys shaped the nation’s capital. One of the most intimate museum tours you’ll ever experience and well worth the price of a ticket if you’re wandering the streets of Dublin anytime soon.

United Celts. Celtic heritage extends across the British Islands, so we’d like to bring your attention to a unique awards ceremony that celebrates that culture beyond the Irish brand of Celticness, the Celtic Media Festival. This year’s event was held in Cornwall, England, where Kneecap was a big winner, taking home the Spirit of the Festival award. Yet, there’s a treasure trove of Celtic-inspired film, music, arts, and comedy to explore among this year’s winners’ list. It is really worth checking out if you want to slack off at work for an hour or two on a Friday afternoon.

Pride of Armagh. GAA sports are no different from any others worldwide in that too few male athletes feel comfortable coming out. So, as we celebrate Pride Month, it was encouraging to hear Armagh hero Mark Shields talk about his experiences yesterday. Shields, an All-Ireland champion last year, spoke positively about the experience yet explained how daunting it is for players to be frank about their sexuality. Shields is the first inter-county player to openly talk about being gay. Hopefully, his statement will inspire others.

The Irish Influence

Bit of a personal one this week. Shift Co-Founder Paul Murphy got to meet our Irish Influence in person this week at an event that was part of the Washington Ireland Program (WIP). Norah Patten is Ireland’s first astronaut, or at least she will be when we blast her off into space on Virgin Galactic in the coming months. Dr Patten actually hails from the same Mayo town, Ballina, as our dear Paul, as do former President Mary Robinson and the delicious Garron Noone. An incredible talent pool for a wee town of 10,000 souls. Anyway, we wish Norah all the best for her trip if we don’t run into her between now and lift-off.

Cúpla Focal

Spásaire {spaw-suh-reh} – astronaut. Spásaire literally translates as space (spás) agent or worker (aire). It’s a compound word, following similar patterns to iascaire, someone who fishes (iasc + aire), or dochtúir, someone who docts 😉🧑🏻‍⚕️.

Blast from the Past

For Irish soccer fans, the 2002 World Cup delivered a rollercoaster of emotions like nothing else. First, there was the Saipan incident, a row that led to our captain and best player, Roy Keane, walking out on the team before the tournament got underway. Saipan tore the country in two (again), becoming so infamous that it got turned into a stage play “I, Keano,” and a movie “Saipan,” which will be released this summer. Anyway, the team – and the nation – had to pull together, and the Boys in Green did their part, delivering plenty of magical moments punctuated by a dollop of typically Irish glorious failure at the end. One of the best moments was delivered by Robbie Keane (no relation to the fiery Roy), scoring a late equalizer against the mighty Germans. It made us all believe for just for a little second.

And One Last Thing….

Education is on everyone’s minds at the moment. First of all, you have Irish teenagers taking their Leaving Cert (the equivalent of SATs) this week. Secondly, you have a new study that says Ireland has the highest level of educational attainment in the world. But we also wanted to shine a light on the Washington Ireland Program, which brings university students from Ireland (north and south) to DC for summer internships and leadership training. Paul has been popping up at WIP events now and again recently, probably leaving business cards for Shift in unsuspecting pockets of ambassadors and astronauts alike. But seriously, these programs that foster links between the US and Ireland are dear to our hearts. Shift, our partners at 3Advance, and Irish-founded businesses from Washington to Wichita to Waco simply would not be in existence if there wasn’t a constant flow of talent coming back and forth between the two nations.

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