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So, What’s the Craic?

The Craic is back on this fine Friday the 13th. Lucky for you, we are sending some Irish news and views to your inbox. The Craic is the weekly newsletter from Shift, our app for connecting the Irish and lovers of Irish culture globally. You can download Shift here if you haven’t got it yet. We have loads of ye reading The Craic every week. If you know someone who’d like to receive this merry newsletter, be a doll and pop their email address in here.

News from Home

Ups and Downs. Good news for Guinness: Sales of Guinness 0.0 rose by 41% in Ireland last year, according to new figures, showing an increased appetite/thirst for the alcohol-free pint. Bad news for Guinness: UK sales of the full-fat-alcohol-tasty version have plummeted. Could it be that the influencer-led fad of splitting the G has reached its peak?

Cheaper Than a Taxi. Alright, we know that we shouldn’t glorify crime, but we couldn’t help laughing when we came across a court report for Athlone man Conor Sheehan. Sheehan, sozzled after a night out, we gather, was hauled up for jumping into the back of a marked police car, telling the sergeant garda to “give me a lift home, you bollix.” Sheehan, charged with public intoxication and threatening behavior, was spared a criminal conviction by the judge, who seemed to see the funny side.

Sequel. We’ve read this story several times and still can’t get our heads around it. U2’s Dave “The Edge” Evans wrote a sequel script for Elf, even going as far as reaching out to the movie’s producers to discuss making the project. Yes, that’s the Will Ferrell movie, Elf 🤷🏻. Andy Richter, who wrote a book on the making of the movie, says that The Edge’s script is somewhere out there, and, well, wow, we’d give an arm and a leg to see it.

Rain on our Parade? A little bit of a row is coming out of South Florida, where city officials from Delray Beach have claimed that the 2027 St. Patrick’s Day Parade at the popular tourist resort is canceled, blaming new state laws that ban government funding for DEI projects. That’s caused some back-and-forth with local Mayor Tom Carney, who says the city is working “feverishly” to make sure the parade goes ahead. Surely, you can sort this out over the next five months, lads? 

Music Roundup. Few bits and bobs here. First, there are a few Irish acts confirmed for Coachella next year, including Jazzy and Florence Road. The much-anticipated Shane McGowan tribute album has dropped, and Christmas-in-November fans can celebrate as it contains a cover of Fairytale of New York by Jessie Buckley and Hoozier. Check out the full album here. The reviews are in for U2’s new album, and the consensus from critics is that it’s a return to form (we agree on first listen). It’s just out today, which also led to the banger headline below from our favorite satirical website, Waterford Whispers News.

The Craic Recommends…going to jail. No, not Monopoly strategy advice, but Wicklow Gaol, for a visit. This 19th-century prison has been a museum since 1998, one that charts a lot of Irish history, including the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. It is due to reopen to the public later this month with new exhibits and special events. Wicklow Town is about a 45-minute drive from Dublin through one of the loveliest counties of the 32, so it’d be a lovely way to spend a day should you wish to escape the hustle and bustle of the capital. 

The Irish Influence

This week’s Irish Influence is the next generation. The Irish Times has released its Ireland’s Young Power List for 2026. What’s that, you say? Well, it’s a list of the up-and-coming names across Irish cinema, art, music, comedy, sport and business. There were loads of interesting (and some familiar) names on the list, from Troy Parrott to Elijah “Bono’s son” Hewson. We know life can throw curveballs at the most talented with as much gusto as it does us untalented folk, but we can’t help but think the person with the highest ceiling on this list is Alisha Weir. The 17-year-old actress has future superstar written all over her, and she’s also appeared on Forbes 30 Under 30 list, so, you know, we aren’t totally biased. She had her breakout performance as Matilda Wormwood in Matilda the Musical in 2022, and we’d also recommend watching Alisha in Abigail. She plays the title role in the critically acclaimed horror movie.

Cúpla Focal

Coileach {Kwill-ohk} – Cockerel. Wednesday was St Martin’s Day, sometimes known as Martinmas. It is/was an obscure enough aul festival around Europe, with loads of weird traditions associated with it. In Ireland, one tradition was to sacrifice a cockerel, placing its blood in the four corners of the home. Thankfully, nobody does that anymore, though we wouldn’t be too sure what they get up to under cover of night in Carlow and Roscommon. 

Blast from the Past

There was a time when censorship was all the rage in Ireland, and that time wasn’t as long ago as you might think. Anyway, the state banned thousands of books across much of the 20th century. Some were aul smutty (by early 20th-century standards) numbers, maybe showing a bit too much of ladies’ ankles or discussing a skirt worn above the knee, whereas others, like Brendan Behan’s Borstal Boy (banned from 1958-1970), critiqued Irish social values, which, at the time, was analogous to criticizing the Catholic Church’s values. A new collection, showcasing thousands of banned books from the 1930s to 1996 (!!), is going on display at the National Archives. While seeing some of the rarer books in person will be interesting, the real eye-opener might just be the state papers also going on display that will explain WHY each book was banned. 

And One Last Thing….

Lots to update you on this week: We are super excited that the Maryland Irish Festival, happening this weekend, is now on Shift. That’s a hop, skip and a jump from Paul & Patrick, so glad to be supporting the local-ish Irish community. The annual festival will have loads of musical acts, two ceili nights 🙌, a special Irish breakfast event on Sunday morning, whiskey tasting, and there’s even going to a good-ol’ Mass on Sunday, too. See the full schedule, maps and more on. the Shift app. A final wee bit of news is that the Dublin GAA football team is in NYC for a special event at J Kennedys pub. That’s this evening at 6 pm local time, but as far as we can see there are still tickets available here.