Magazine Minute: Dolores O’Riordan, summer festivals, Limerick uncovered and Tara Flynn

COVER STORY: DOLORES O’RIORDAN

“Having Dolores O’Riordan stare at you while saying barely a word for the guts of 40 minutes in intimidating.” So begins Nadine O’Regan as she recounts a rare and fascinating interview with the elusive Cranberries frontwoman. The band has a new album and upcoming world tour, but how does O’Riordan feel about their return? “You just have to be strong, and keep soldiering on,” the Limerick-born singer says of her comeback in this Sunday’s Magazine. “You just can’t lay down and die. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

LET’S GO DISCO

So you’re a veteran of the festival circuit, but gone are the days of wanting to share a two-person tent with six mates or haul slabs of beer across rocky pathways. Sound familiar? For great music, with comfort and culture attached, look to Tony Clayton-Lea’s summer festivals guide: a curated selection of the best and most esoteric events being staged further afield. From Portugal to Iceland, expect cool lineups, intriguing in-festival sidebars and some of the best cities in Europe to explore.

LIMERICK LET LOOSE

The recent unveiling of the eagerly-awaited 2030 regeneration plan for Limerick was just the latest step in a process that has seen Limerick get back on its feet in style. This Sunday, local Nessa McGann presents 21 reasons to celebrate the Treaty City, from first-class educational institutes, sports teams and athletes, to the panoply of people producing extraordinary works of art and entrepreneurship. Luke Culhane, 14, recently won Pick up this Sunday’s Magazine for the definitive list of Limerick must-sees and must-dos.

INTERVIEW: TARA FLYNN

When Tara Flynn made the decision to speak out publicly about her experience of abortion, her fearlessness made her a target for countless social media trolls. What was missing from the picture, the Cork-raised actor tells us, was a sense of her own humanity: her own complex truth. Now she’s fighting back by turning her story into a humorous one-woman theatrical show, Not A Funny Word, which opens next week at Dublin’s Peacock Theatre. “I wanted to personalise and humanise my story again, and I knew that would involve comedy,” as she puts it.