Ireland's So Hot Right Now
“Shout out to my people! Shout out to Derry, shout out to Cork! Shout out to Killarney, shout out to Dublin!” - Ayo Edebiri (honorary Irish princess)
Ireland is having a bit of a moment right now. Our actors seem to be everywhere, our popstars are stealing the show on red carpets and our designers are doing the same on the catwalks of the world. Irish youth, particularly those in creative fields, have a lot to be inspired by at the minute. With St. Patrick’s Day on the horizon, this week 52INSIGHTS is a deep dive into what’s so hot about Ireland right now.
A Cultural Renaissance
Ireland has always punched above its weight in the cultural realm, with Nobel prize winners aplenty, but it's fair to say we’ve rarely had such a presence in the cultural zeitgeist than we do currently.
Film:
‘Should I sing a rebel song?’ Cillian Murphy asked a crowd of reporters after winning a BAFTA recently. On Sunday, we’ll find out if this ‘proud Irish man’ wins the Oscar for best actor. Elsewhere, Dublin-based production house Element Pictures picked up 11 nominations in various categories for Poor Things, including best cinematography for Dubliner Robbie Ryan. Aside from awards, our actors and screen industry are receiving a huge amount of critical praise, penetrating the cultural conversations of the hour. It seems like there’s never been more praise or positive attention lauded upon Irish film stars. Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal received critical acclaim for All of Us Strangers and Barry Keoghan is EVERYWHERE from Hot Ones to the cover of GQ off the back of an excellent performance in Saltburn.
Thankfully it’s not just traditionally handsome white males in the limelight on International Women’s Day, established and rising stars Ruth Negga, Eve Hewson, Sharon Horgan, Saoirse Ronan, India Mullen and Toni O’Rourke are among the many women representing Ireland across stage and screen.
Art, design and fashion:
Irish designers are also having their time in the sun following London Fashion Week. Robyn Lynch recently collaborated with C.P. Company on a standout show in London Fashion Week following her gallery exhibition in London’s NOW Gallery, showcasing Ireland in all its glory in her unique style. And Alexander McQueen’s new creative director Seán McGirr had his debut show at the helm of the iconic fashion house. Irish designers are also in the limelight on social, Rachel Maguire’s (aka @rashhiiid) designs have a plethora of celebrity fans from Doja Cat and Megan Fox to Rosalia while artist Aaron Fahy’s (@aaronfdesign) stylised crayon album covers steamrolled in popularity becoming the official album art for Lil Nas X’s new single.
Music:
Music has always been Ireland’s bread and butter and Irish musicians currently in the limelight on the world stage include CMAT fresh off having a lol and courting some intentional controversy at the BRIT awards for having all the ‘craic’. Kneecap won the hearts of film critics at the Sundance Film with the first Irish-language film to screen there while winning the audience award, introducing the Belfast trio to a global audience. Neo-trad and folk bands Lankum and The Mary Wallopers are also growing in popularity overseas bringing uniquely Irish sounds to the world.
Weeks Where Decades Happen...
What’s driving this Irish Cultural Renaissance? Endurance, investment and cultural pride.
Professor Michael Patrick Gillespie from Florida International University says, “There’s a tremendous creative vitality in Ireland, and that fosters a wide range of artistic projects. It also builds up a callus and a stamina because there’s just not a lot of money. There’s never money in the film industry. There’s not a lot to support Irish films. And so to make it, to be successful, you really have to endure.”
Elsewhere, Alan Moloney, producer of “Small Things Like These,” believes Ireland’s success in the cultural realm, while seemingly overnight, has been a long time coming: “It’s a bit like the overnight success that takes 30 years to come. I think what you’re seeing is the result of 25 to 30 years of investment in the industry.”
Long-term investment over years seems to be the major driver of Ireland’s presence on the world film stage today. This funding, while a massive driver, is limited, and those in pursuit of careers in the film industry have to show extreme grit and determination to see their creative aspirations unfold, meaning that those that persevere are grizzled veterans by the time their projects come to light. Screen Ireland, formerly the Irish Film Board, counts 40 streams of funding for a total fund value of 42 million USD, the highest it’s ever been. Pilot programmes like the new Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme also aim to support the arts and creative practice by giving a payment of €325 a week to artists and creative arts Workers.
Meanwhile, other drivers include a resurgence in cultural pride, but for the right reasons. Ian Lynch of Lankum describes this sense of pride as: “Not a jingoistic, blinkered sense of pride. Not like some right-wing, ‘oh, we’re the best,’ but actually a sense of pride for good reasons.”
Of course, things aren’t always a straight line despite these growing sources of inspiration there are some cultural barriers to entry that can run deep in Irish society.
“I think what can be quite harmful for young creative Irish people is the idea of 'having notions'. What is generally used as a term to slag a local head turns into a self-imposed internal policing that stops people from doing things that might be considered weird or different.” Luke, designer and artist based in Dublin, Aged 24 (The Love Network)
Riding the Wave
With Irish people being involved and celebrated at the highest levels of culture on the world stage, what does this mean for youth today? For those with aspirations in creative fields, they can see that big dreams aren’t unattainable. There’s a fresh momentum now inspiring the next generation of actors, directors, musicians, artists and designers. The celebration of Ireland’s current global representatives in the cultural sector provides young people with the inspiration and the receipts to have confidence in their artistic pursuits. If some young person in Ireland today sees CMAT front and centre of the BRIT awards or Cillian Murphy winning a BAFTA, all while staying fully grounded in their own, albeit vastly different personalities, it shows the would-be pop star or actor that being born in Ireland is, in fact, a positive force behind their aspirations.
There’s a lot more we could write about ‘Ireland being so hot right now’ beyond what we’ve covered here: from sport (the NY Times covered Bohemians Football Club last week) to business, and tech.
Brand Takeouts
Ireland's having a moment, be part of it: In the recent past it was often considered twee and diddly-eye to lean into Ireland and Irishness in any comms but, right now, it’s never been cooler, not a bad state of affairs leading into St. Patrick’s Day. Last week, THINKHOUSE, with our partners Barry’s Tea, took advantage of an iconic Andrew Scott red carpet moment with a playful throwback to his early career.
Support Irish Talent: You don’t have to go overseas to get a superstar ambassador or Oscar-winning talent; there’s talent aplenty on our shores with international credentials from young up-and-comers to grizzled vets. Avail of some of this talent directly through The Love Network, our proprietary network of young people, influencers and creators from the micro to the macro.
