Weekend of film and music at Ballina Arts Centre

Following the successful launch of its new Cine Club last week, Ballina Arts Centre has a busy programme of film and music planned for the coming weekend.

Activities kick off on Thursday, February 26, with We Only Want the Earth, a powerful and engaging feature-documentary exploring of the life and ideas of James Connolly.

As well as insights from distinguished commentators, activists, and historians, the documentary includes songs and poems from Christy Moore, Stephen Rea, piper David Power, and singers Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Esosa Ighodaro, as well as an appearance by Connolly’s great, great, grand-daughter Tamsin Iona Connolly Heron.

We Only Want the Earth was written and directed by Alan Gilsenan, with the aim of enlightening a contemporary audience about James Connolly’s iconic presence on the landscape of Irish socialism and republicanism. Synonymous with the trade union movement in Ireland, and the 1916 Rising, the film tries to place Connolly’s radical ideas and many political achievements against the landscape of the contemporary. It relates his story while invoking his important social vision, with a clear eye on how it resonates in our time - an era when even democracy itself appears under threat. 

We Only Want the Earth is a Yellow Asylum Films Production for the James Connolly Foundation for Educational Equality Ireland. The film will be shown at 8pm sharp, and tickets are €10 plus booking fee.

A Celebration of Music on Friday, February 28, will bring together multiple musicians from a variety of different platforms across the region.

The evening opens with The Ox Mountain Quartet, featuring renowned artists Stephen Doherty, David Doocey, Patrick Doocey and Siobhan O’Donnell, who will perform a mix of traditional and contemporary music. Also on the bill are the Mayo Trad Ensemble, who’s forty-plus, award-winning young musicians appear hot on the heels of their recent television performance on TG4’s Geantrai. 

Finally, the acclaimed St Joseph's Gospel Choir from Castlebar, under the direction of Aoife Durkin, will bring their outstanding vocal arrangements to complete an evening. This night will be an outstanding display of talent from across the region. Some tickets priced €16/18 plus booking fee are still available.

There is more music Saturday, February 28, when Pilgrim St bring their blend of Bluegrass, Old Time Country, Folk, and Traditional Irish influences. Formed in 2014, the band features seven talented multi-instrumentalists, known for their warm, high-energy performances. They deliver infectious sets of covers and originals, inspired by the likes of Hank Williams, Woody Guthrie, and The Pogues. The group released their first album, Ash Into Gold Dust, in 2021, and have been a hit at festivals and venues such Electric Picnic and Vicar Street. Tickets, priced €25, are available online or from the box office at 096-73593.

On March 6th, film buffs can be part of the first ever screening of Irish made short film Cairn. When a ritualistic murder occurs in the rural West of Ireland, two detectives are sent to investigate. Lou Dean (Pat Egan), a grizzled and world-weary detective, is just as efficient as the meticulous but troubled young mother, Maria de la Cruz (Aline Almedia). Tickets are only €5 and include the 14-minute film, a pre-event wine reception and brief introduction, and a Q&A session after the film. The reception will take place on the mezzanine at 7pm, with the film beginning at 8pm.