Girls Love the Way he Spins

Published on Student News Website Studenty.me 30 January 2012

LAST Saturday, Galway’s Roisin Dubh was host to one of hip-hop’s founding members, the legendary DJ Grandmaster Flash. Playing a string of old-skool, crowd pleasers, the 54 year old New Yorker’s set did not disappoint.


Having performed at various festivals and venues throughout the country over the years, it was inevitable that the mix-Master Joseph Saddler would make his way west and grace the stage of one of the city’s best music locations. The excitement was building as soon as the curtain was opened to let the eager crowd in. Minutes later, intro act Abandoman burst out on to the floor with what can only be described as one of the most dynamic musical comedy acts around.

The duo is made up of James Hancox and Rob Broderick. Broderick is a hysterical freestyle comedy-rapper and Hancox a talented multi-instrumentalist. The pair creates hilarious comedy sketches at lightning speed with loads of audience interaction which they use as the inspiration for their sharp lyrics.

The sheer skill and on-the-spot lyricism is gobsmackingly good and likely to appeal to even the most disparaging audience members. After about 30 minutes of nonstop hip-hop and laughs the pair had more than fulfilled their duties. The crowd was on a massive high and finally it was time for the main event.

Dressed in a heavy leather jacket and black New York Yankees hat, the master of hip-hop took his rightful place centre stage. Asserting himself behind a mixing deck and laptop marked with a black G, the heaving assembly was putty in his hands before he opened his mouth. If he had played Crystal Swing’s rendition of He Drinks Tequila mixed with God Save the Queen I’m pretty sure we would have whooped. Thankfully he did not.

After getting the audience truly pumped, he kicked off the night with come classics including The Message, a Grandmaster hit and a piece of hip-hop history. From that point on it was non-stop vintage gems from the likes of DMX, Dianna Ross, Snoop Dogg and Snap. The atmosphere was electric in the packed back-room of the Roisin which was made up of old ravers, new hipsters and music lovers in general.


Some hardcore fans may have been disappointed with the low number of Grandmaster originals in the set and the level of actual mixing he didn’t undertake. However, the brilliance of the Grandmaster Flash gig was perhaps that it was not your usual gig, nor was it a simple DJ set. It was a true master of his art playing, mixing and melding the music he loved to a crowd he knew so well. 


So although we may not have seen anything new or ground-breaking over the two plus hours that he graced the stage, we did witness one of hip-hop’s most iconic figures do what he does best; read the crowd like a well thumbed book and keep a stream of classics coming out of the speakers. At 54 years of ages, with over 30 years experience under his belt, he has certainly paid his dues to the genre.

After the final beat faded, the satisfied congregation left the Roisin Dubh feeling it was €16 well spent. It seems the Grandmaster himself enjoyed the Galway gig also, as he tweeted the following day “Super shouts To Galway Ireland--It was incredible”.

Ian Bailey- Murderer or Just Misunderstood?

Features Assignment for College

Ian Bailey after the Supreme Court overturned the High Court decision to extradite him to France 

FIFTEEN years after the brutal murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier outside her holiday home in Toormore, county Cork, the case remains unsolved, the community still shaken and the prime suspect continues to live just minutes from the scene of the crime. Journalist Ian Bailey was the first reporter to arrive at the house after the murder was discovered and soon became a target for Gardai. Despite a distinct lack of evidence surrounding Bailey’s involvement, his name remains a central focus in the tragic story. But who is Ian Bailey? What kind of man would lead the authorities to presume his guilt, regardless of proof?

In 1991, like many before him, British journalist Ian Bailey fell in love with the magic of the West Cork countryside during a holiday. Deciding to stay in Ireland, he got a job working in a fish factory on the pier in Schull where he he met Jules Thomas, a regular customer at the plant. Over the years, West Cork has become the second home for a number of artists, poets and literary types. Many would agree that Bailey himself had certain literary pretensions, and visions of grandeur and fame that far exceeded reality.

The journalist immediately threw himself in to the local cultural scene, flirting with poetry and music and even taking up the bodhrán for a time, it was the perfect place to foster his notions. He often used the Irish version of his name, Eoin O Baille, almost as a statement of how well he fit in with rural Irish life, however his neighbours were irritated by him and saw his adoption of Irish ways a kind of masquerade. One time employer of Bailey, poet John Montague, believed him him to be a victim of the English class system. A man who came from humble beginnings, attended the Crypt Grammar School in Gloucester “where he learned to read Latin but lost his social moorings,” and was desperate for the acceptance of the bohemian society in which he had settled, despite his modest talents.

However modest is not a word one would use to describe Bailey. One journalist who worked closely with him at Gloucester and County News Service during his early days in journalism recalled how 'he talked big and was always bursting with ideas for making his fame and fortune.' He is self assured and has a high opinion of his own work. “The tall Eoin Bailey, he chipped in his bit/with his poems on life he proved a big hit,” reads a line from one of his poems.. According to Montague, he was unable to accept constructive criticism and wanted instant fame. During his trial in 2003 he waxed lyrical about the prestige his work had gained, noting, “My poetry has been broadcast on local RTE, on County Sound [a Cork station] and I have given poetry readings, and received payment occasionally for it. I had a crowd at one point of 500 people on Cape Clear who all applauded.”

Although a certain air of eccentricity was almost a prerequisite for living in the area, the butcher’s son still stood out as a strange character. Neighbours noted his late night strolls as peculiar and an anecdote in the region goes that he has been spotted howling at the moon on occasion. Along with his alleged ‘hobby’ of destroying religious artefacts, he didn’t do himself many favours in terms of making friends. Tall and expansive, with a mop of black hair, it is clear why he may have been regarded as intimidating, especially if he had a drink taken, something which he admits to being fond of.

His lover Jules Thomas felt the brunt of his habit on a number of occasions. Intimate diaries of the journalist, which were retrieved by the DPP during the investigation, revealed detailed descriptions of the attacks and his feelings at the time. “I attacked and severely beat Jules to such an extent she sought hospital treatment….I actually tried to kill her. Two nights on she is badly hurt and walking wounded, with bruises on her face, lips and body,” he wrote. he had beat his lover so badly on this occasion that her lip was severed from her gum and required a number of stitches. This kind of ferocious violence was not a new development for Bailey. His first marriage to journalist Sarah Limbrick in 1980, ended just five years later. While Bailey claims the split was acrimonious, others have noted that it ended bitterly after years of violence. However those claims have since been disregarded.

His diary detailed a number of events, fantasies and thoughts over the course of a few years which revealed a much darker side to the journalist. “One act of whiskey induced madness, coupled and cracked, and in an act of such awful  violence, I severely damaged you and made you feel that death was near,” was another extract taken from his personal journal. Whether drink or drug induced, Ian Bailey harbours an undeniable streak of violence and malevolence that even a judge could see. During his libel trial in 2004 Judge Moran announced that he was a man capable of exceptional acts of violence and that he himself had no hesitation in describing him as a violent man.

From his arrival in the area, he had been outspoken and flamboyant, failing to display the tact of a newcomer and still that behaviour continued long after the murder. Some found Bailey to be enjoying the experience, excited by the drama and open about the suspicions surrounding his involvement. In his poem ‘The Prisoner’ which he wrote following the events, he compares his trials to those of Jesus: 'a man who slept peacefully/while his disciples panicked'. Only a few incidents flawed his case where he seemingly made confessions. Once to a fourteen year old boy as he gave him a lift home from school he said “……I went up there with a rock and bashed her fucking brains out,” though in court maintained that he had been mimicking what others had though about him. John Montague recalled the succinct summing up bailey had made of the case at one point; 'No witnesses, no murder weapon, no forensic evidence, no motive. It will take a long time.'

Fifteen years have passed since the murder and the imposing presence and confidence of Ian Bailey seem to have waned slightly. Although he gained a level of notoriety that he couldn’t have imagined, his life and career have suffered as a result. He is said to have given up drinking and his once commanding physique seems to have caved in on itself. "He looks so hounded, so harassed," says one local woman. "His hair's thinning, he stoops more now. He used to stand tall and straight, whereas now he keeps his head down, he makes himself small." Perhaps the fame he had always wanted came to fast for the wannabe poet, as a journalist he should have known that not all press is good press.

Occupy Galway

Features Assignment for College

“IT’S LIKE A PREGNANCY, it starts off as something tiny but it gets bigger and stronger every day, and in the end you’re left with something really amazing. I reckon we’re still in the first trimester.”

It is difficult to believe that this life affirming comment has come from someone who has endured the elements of Ireland’s wettest city, in an effort to kick-start enormous social change. All the while living in a tent and a haphazard lean-to at the edge of Eyre Square. Despite the tirade of scepticism they faced in the earlier stages, the people of Occupy Galway are pillars of positivity and hope. Instead of complaining about the bailouts and the Troika like the rest of the population, they are standing up for the beliefs of those very people, in a peaceful attack on the bastions of social injustice. But are they really making progress or are their aspirations just that?

As a dull grey mist settles over Galway’s epicentre, business people, school children and tourists scurry to the nearest shelter and alone stands the ancient square’s newest, yet most primitive feature- the Occupy Galway encampment. The ram-shackled structure is surrounded by a patch-work fence and nine tents that house the active members of the group. Disapproving glances and mutters of ‘eye-sore’ and ‘nuisance’ are long gone, and in their place, a sense of acceptance has descended. Every now and then people cagily peek through the door, some stopping to chat, others just to take a look at this strange living arrangement. However, those brave enough to venture in to the alien environment may be surprised by the warm, unquestioning welcome they receive- an offer of a cup of tea and a seat comes before a formal introduction has been extended.

Five occupants have congregated comfortably in what appears to be the general living area-come information centre; adequate seating and basic kitchen facilities along with what appears to be a laundry area at the back, make up the simple room. Although they do not conform to the stereotypical pot-smoking, dread-locked, hippy-activist profile, they are not too far off either. Liam a Mayo-man, came to Galway after a stint of protesting in Rossport. He introduces himself immediately and happily chatters away, answering any questions however obvious or awkward, without even a hint of condescension or resentment. Paul, a northerner, chips in every now and again as the rest of the group potter about and read the paper, happy to let the others do the talking this time.

The Galway group is one of seven in the country and has over fifty active members that ‘man the camp’ on a rotation basis. Living in a tent in the main square of a city can’t be easy but this bunch are worryingly upbeat about it. “It has been pretty easy though, really. Hasn’t it?”, Liam says, as he looks to his camp-mate Paul for support, who nods and smiles. They have experienced very little negative behaviour towards the movement since settling last October. Other than some drunken hecklers, and dubiousness in the earlier stages, they have found that most people are genuinely interested and mainly supportive of what they are doing and trying to achieve. One incident however, does stand out. A local business man came over the camp, shouting at the group and threatening to throw a chair. “I think he had a few drinks on him, but I heard he was up to his eyes in debt so he was probably just annoyed that we were drawing attention to a situation that he wanted to forget about,” Liam quips with an air of indifference. These hiccoughs don’t seem to deter the resilient protesters. If anything it spurs them on to do even more to induce the much needed social change that they are striving for.

“At the beginning people were like ‘it will never work, go home’. But now they’re asking for advice so that’s a clear litmus test that things are changing. And we’re a lot more confident in what we want. I don’t think I’ve ever left anyone at the fence that actually hasn’t come around to at least appreciating that there is some value in what we’re doing,” the mayo-man continues. In its most basic form, the aim of the movement is to highlight the stark inequalities in society across the globe and to hopefully encourage change.

The inequalities they refer to are not as simple as financial discrepancies. They encompass social, economic and political inequalities. They discuss issues ranging from abortion laws to bank bailouts and hope that their influence and political supporters can help influence the social reforms that are necessary to make a real difference in the lives of the people who gained nothing through the Celtic Tiger years and lost more than those who caused the fallout. However, the goal is not to coerce people to join the movement, but to let them come to their own conclusions on the current state of global affairs through educating them on the realities of what the world is facing.

They are under no illusions that this kind of process will be a long one and, but they are willing to offer their time to the cause.“The minute the cascade effect actually occurs it probably won’t be because of us, it’ll be a be an external thing or a mixture of both. A lot of it is just about the will to keep trying. And I’m sure something good will come of it because good things come of everything like, you have to be a bit philosophical you know?” Liam seems to be acting as front-man this particular morning.

Although some progress may have been made, real social change seems like a distant dream. Yet their perseverance and passion has to be admired. Perhaps if more people offered their time and expertise to the process that this would come about faster, but for most of us that is just not feasible. While it is hard to say whether any major changes to society or politics will come as a result of the movement, one can hope, for their sake and ours, that they do.