The Judge, The Diva, the Anthropologist and Her Lover

The “oireachtas” is an Irish language art festival which turned 100 years old in 1997. It is a dying event that caters to a small group of purist Irish language speakers and singers. In 1997 it travelled to the Europe Hotel (The most bombed hotel in Europe!) in Northern Ireland for the first time. The climax of the event is the competition “corn ut riada” –a cup more coveted than the Oscars for those competing and attending. Taking on two minority audience issues – an arts event and the Irish language (spoken fluently by only 5% of the Irish population), the film is an original, fresh and accessible treatment of a tired and ageing event. It attempts to give the fringe event a contemporary cultural context, a political context in Northern Ireland and a personal context by using four very different people whose paths cross but once a year. They have nothing in common societally, economically or intellectually, but they do share a common passion for Ireland´s oldest form of song “seanós”, and the language the programe uses, satirical rhymne (one of the skills in competition in the festival), the comment and connect on the difference disparate elements in the event and program. A very Irish challenge – can TV breathe new life into a dying body?