Magazine Minute: Brendan Gleeson, Harry Potter, Sorca McGrath, picture perfect kitchens

COVER STORY: BRENDAN GLEESON

“We’re at such an impasse now, in Ireland and Britain. You have to have the hope that change will come.” So says Brendan Gleeson in a wide-ranging interview in this Sunday’s Magazine, spanning politics, philosophy and traditional music. The actor also reflects on the lessons to be learned from his latest role in Joel Hopkins’ Hampstead, which sees him play a homeless Irishman befriended by Diane Keaton’s lonely expat widow. The character is loosely based on Harry Hallowes, a Sligoman whose fight to secure property rights made headlines around the globe a decade ago, but Gleeson says he was careful not to romanticise the issue of homelessness. “Sure, there are elements of a fairytale in the film, but there can be some thorny truths hidden in fairytales. What I love about the finished film is that all of [his] difficulties aren’t resolved, they’re embraced.” Find the full interview by John Maguire in The Magazine.

CELEBRATING HARRY POTTER

Next week, two decades on from its publication, the anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone will be marked by muggles across the globe. On the advent of that occasion, Aileen Hickie pays tribute to the spellbinding series that has sold more than 500 million copies worldwide. The young Potter fans who stood queuing for hours in the cold to get their hands on the latest release may now be too old for Hogwarts or even have their own children, but JK Rowling’s books are as relevant now as they were then, argues Hickie, whose youngest child has just begun the first instalment. Read her full appraisal on Sunday.

THE ART OF NOISE

Sorca McGrath of electronica band Ships loves music, but there are things that rankle in the business. In this week’s Magazine, she speaks candidly to Nadine O’Regan about her experience as a musician and DJ, and the discrimination she and other women face in the industry. “Aren’t you a nice, dutiful girlfriend?” someone once remarked as she arrived for a soundcheck. “Helping to carry the gear.” In a new initiative and documentary called Move the Needle, McGrath joins fellow female DJs in tackling such prejudice, hoping that - by sharing their experience - they might encourage others to pursue music. “There’s definitely a sense of community building up,” she tells O’Regan. “It’s in its infancy, but it’s growing.”

PICTURE PERFECT KITCHENS

Ros Drinkwater was a student when she first came across art in a kitchen. The late Peter Cook had hired her to cater a London dinner party, during which guests were brought through to view his own kitchen collection, and she duly spent her earnings the following day on Balloon Man, a surreal oil by Andrzej Kuhn that still hangs by her table. This weekend, Drinkwater considers the most suitable art to display in your kitchen, and surveys a series of impressive case studies. “You spend such a huge amount of time there, it makes sense to put life on the walls,” as one collector tells her. For more advice, read The Magazine on Sunday.