Kieran Beville

Taxi for Elvis Kieran Beville Taxi for Elvis  was first published in the L imerick Leader , 11 th August, 2018 and subsequently in Ireland’s Own , Christmas edition, 2018.  After my daughter’s graduation ceremony a few years ago in University College Cork I was invited to have refreshments in the Aula Maxima . That ‘Great Hall’ is a capacious and impressive room with gilt-framed portraits of past presidents of the college adorning its wood-panelled, high walls. It was the first time I had been in that chamber since I sat exams many years before. I remembered those stern faces peering out of the past and the equally austere countenances of those supervising the tests. I was glad to be beyond that phase of my life. Proud parents and joyful graduates were gathered in huddles around tables where steaming teas and coffees were being served. It was the last day of November. There were plates of biscuits strategically located throughout the room. I reached fo...

    What’s The Story? Oasis is Back Kieran Beville Love them or loathe them Oasis is back! Last year speculation that a reunion of the Gallagher brothers was imminent had reached fever pitch before it was confirmed that the band will play at Croke Park (as part of their England and Ireland tour) for two consecutive nights – 16 th and 17 th August, 2025, with tickets priced from €86.50. Yeah we all know what happened with dynamic pricing! Rumours of the rival siblings returning to the stage together began when they uncharacteristically started to pay each other compliments. The hostility between the duo is no secret. Some years ago when Noel emerged with his project, ‘High Flying Birds’ Liam disparagingly referred to it as ‘High Flying Turds’. That is just one example of the kind of cut and thrust they traded in the media over the years. In recent days and weeks it has been very different, Liam has been dedicating songs to Noel and Noel in a recent interview said that w...

  Nakba Narratives   The Memories of Displaced Palestinians   Kieran Beville     T he recent conflict in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of approximately 47,000 Palestinians (mostly non-combatants – many of them women and children) as well as life-changing injuries to thousands of men, women and children and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. The turmoil did not begin on October 7 th 2023 with the brutality of the Hamas murders and abductions. It all began in 1948 with the Palestinian exodus (Nakba – literally ‘catastrophe’) when more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs — about half of pre-war Palestine’s Arab population — fled or were expelled from their homes. Nakba Day is generally commemorated on 15 May, the day after Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha’atzmaut). The day was inaugurated by Yasser Arafat in 1998. When Israelis are celebrating Palestinians are mourning. It is something like the 12 th of Jul...