Irish Archives

Istanbul #Irish tourist bloody army of Turkish shopkeepers, declared “HERO” on social media, About Time #BoycottTurkishProduct

August 26, 2015 By administrator

“You deceive shopkeepers saying they are policemen and powerful as lions. Here, they ran into a boxer. Couldn’t they find a little Korean?” Turkish singer Atilla Taş asked, referring to the Korean tourists who were attacked by a group of nationalists. The nationalists were protesting the Chinese treatment of Uighurs and confused the Korean tourists for Chinese.

Taş’s remark was also a veiled criticism to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who had bestowed “a volunteer mission” on tradesmen throughout Turkey to act as law enforcement officers and judges if necessary.

Turkey: Oops, wrong guy! Irish tourist, professional boxer, overpowers Turkish mob

August 25, 2015 By administrator

Photo: gazetevatan.com

Angered at an Irish tourist, shopkeepers in İstanbul’s Aksaray district appeared to be messing up with the wrong guy — a professional boxer.
Few days ago, the tourist booked an hotel room in Aksaray as part of his trip in Turkey. Near his hotel, he went to pick up a bottled water, but he opened the door of a merchandized refrigerator so hard that dozens of water bottles dropped to the ground. Seconds after the incident, owner of the shop approached the Irish tourist and hit him with a stick.

In a sign of solidarity, neighboring shopkeepers also started assailing the tourist. But they were unaware that the tourist is a professional boxer.
As soon as he realized that he needs to fight back, the tourist put his sunglasses on his head and positioned himself as if he was on a ring ready to fight against his rival. He started putting down a mob of shopkeepers one by one. One of them could hardly walk after taking a hit on the face.
As shopkeepers understood that it will be difficult to tackle him, they asked for help. The crowd immediately swelled. The tourist and the shopkeepers then retreated to nurse their wounds. The tourist took a shelter inside his hotel. Minutes later, the tourist left the hotel and dived into the crowd. The shopkeepers had started using clubs, hard banners and stools to fight off the tourist. The Irishman again retreated to his hotel lobby several times, replenished his strength and attacked again.
Shocked, the shopkeepers decided to calm down and retreated.

Armenian man: I was shocked and happy to get reply from Irish girl who sent me a gift

May 30, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN. – An accountant from Armenia, 27-year-old Arsen Khachatryan has fulfilled the dream of his childhood: he has found a girl who sent him a shoebox full of gifts as a part of the Operation Christmas Child appeal.

Talking to the Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent, Arsen said 16 years ago he had also received a message by Claire Fahy asking him to send a photo. Eleven year old boy did not send his photo, but 16 years later Arsen, already a father, managed to find Claire on Facebook.

“After receiving and opening a small gray box and reading Claire’s note, I set a goal. One of my dreams was to send her a photo one day. I finally found her and sent the photo of my family,” Arsen said.

It was not that easy to find Claire as there were many accounts from Ireland with the same names. However, Arsen sent the same letter to all of them , expecting to get a reply.

“I have been waiting for the answer for a year. I sent a message last June, and the reply came on Tuesday. She was very happy, and it was really a surprise for her. I was in a state of shock, too. I could not work, I was so happy. I had an interesting feeling that I cannot describe,” he added.

Learning this story, Team Hope organization that organized exchange of gifts 16 years ago, contacted Arsen and Claire. The story has become the focus of the Irish media, too.

“Many Facebook users from Europe write me to say thank you for my move,” Arsen said.

Arsen and Claire may soon meet with the help of Team Hope organization.

Armenian genocide, Irish Gothic infuse international arts fest

May 25, 2015 By administrator

By Robert Hurwitt

Photo: Jeremy Abrahams

Sonorous and plaintive, ancient Armenian chants wrap around the explosively physical performances in Teatr Zar’s “Armine, Sister.” Quirky and richly metaphoric, Áine Ryan’s “Kitty in the Lane” twists its way into another notable entry in the classic Irish rural Gothic genre.

The two shows couldn’t be more different, but they have some things in common besides having been performed Sunday at Fort Mason. Both are American premieres. And both are among the higher profile offerings at this year’s much-expanded San Francisco International Arts Festival.

Ryan, a fresh new Irish voice, is making her U.S. debut with “Kitty,” a critic’s choice at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival and currently on international tour. Produced by her Studio Perform, it’s an exceptionally promising first piece for the 22-year-old actor-playwright. But it has some typical first-time-out flaws, particularly in performance.

Ryan is a magnetic and versatile presence, but her vocal patterns — particularly her use of pauses — are repetitive and her diction can get fuzzy, a problem for American audiences when you’re working in a regional Irish accent. Most of this is nothing that a good director couldn’t fix (none is credited). She has the skill to give her writing the acting it deserves. That’s what’s most memorable about “Kitty.” Ryan, as the young woman running a remote family farm, spins an ever-more-grisly tale with seductively easy grace while waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up. Despite the welcome results of its referendum on same-sex marriage, “Kitty” probes how far the country has to go to achieve full gender equality.

“Armine” is even more directly issue-focused — on the Armenian genocide specifically and, more inclusively, the legacy of such conflicts in the Middle East. But also on how such horrors persist or are buried in our cultural memory. You need some context, however, to know that, provided by the program and, on opening night, by the director’s more informative curtain speech. Zar, Poland’s widely influential Grotowski-based experimental company, works extensively with ancient song patterns, exploring them vocally and adding layers of meaning through devised movement. There’s no text.The hauntingly sung Armenian songs, led by a vibrant Aram Kerovpyan, establish the depth and poignancy of the tone, and the subject matter — especially for those, such as the Armenian woman sitting next to me, who know them by heart. A few gorgeously rendered Persian and Kurdish songs broaden the scope. Other elements may be more open to interpretation than the creators intend. The many columns standing on the long set (with the audience seated on both sides) made me think of classical temples, rather than the Armenian church they’re supposed to evoke.

Bur there’s no mistaking the vivid theatricality of the intensely focused physical explorations of cycles of inhumane degradation, violence, shattered psyches and rueful memories, tempered with genuine attempts to comfort or care for each other. The extraordinary Ditte Berkeley and Simona Sala anchor a riveting ensemble of women and men — many at times stripped to the waist — filling Zar’s desert temple installation with images of crashing bodies, cascading sand, men felling columns, imprisonment, imperiled babies and, yes, pomegranates.

“Armine,” the program tells us, represents Zar’s first attempt to add narrative to its work, unlike the more abstract “Gospels of Childhood” it brought to the festival in 2011. It would be hard to suss out an actual story. But as a tone poem, “Armine” has an unmistakably strong message and a richly expressive dramatic arc.

Robert Hurwitt is The San Francisco Chronicle’s theater critic. E-mail: rhurwitt@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @RobertHurwitt

WILD APPLAUSE Armine, Sister: Experimental drama. Created by Teatr Zar. Directed by Jaroslaw Fret. Through May 30. San Francisco International Arts Festival, Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason, S.F. 90 minutes. $30. (800) 838-3006. www.sfiaf.org.

ALERT VIEWER Kitty in the Lane: Solo drama. Written and performed by Áine Ryan. Through June 6. San Francisco International Arts Festival, Southside Theater, Building D, Fort Mason, S.F. 90 minutes. $20-$25. (800) 838-3006. www.sfiaf.org.

Source: SFGATE