Hobbies

David Gray

David Gray is my favourite singer at the moment as any of my friends will testify.He has just released a new album entitled "White Ladder".He also featured on the soundtrack of "This Years Love".I was lucky to see him play in Limerick in December of last year.A night to remember.

Leonard Cohen

Influenced to a large degree by my father on this one.Cohen has one of the saddest voices I've ever heard guaranteed, not to cheer you up.He has numerous albums and along with Tom Waits and Cat Stevens ranks in my top 5 "old" singers.Bedsit music is how my father describes him and he sounds as good today as ever.

Massive Attack

They hail from England and have released three albums "Blue Lines", "Protection" "Mezzanine". Their latest one demonstrates the coming of age of this group who have moved and changed with the times but still retain their individual sound.Along the same sound waves are Portishead whom I saw play last year in Cork.

The Cardigans

From Sweden and enjoying increased success with every year. I will be going to see them on May third in Dublin Castle with Catatonia playing alongside them. Fronted by the beautiful Nina Persson they have a unique sound that cannot be copied. Their last album "Gran Turismo" is excellent and definitely worth buying.

The Piano

Having studied the piano for 10 years I am a fan of classical music and regularly attend performances of the Irish Chamber Orchestra when they play in the University Concert Hall.My favourite classical composers are Bethoven, Mozart and Michael Nyman who composed the music for the film "The Piano".

"A Heart so White" written by Javier Marias won the Irish Literary Prize in Dublin.Brilliantly constructed, "A Heart so White" was widely read in Spain, selling over 70,000 copies and going on to win the Spanish Critics Award and be shortlisted for the prestigious Aristeion European Literature Prize in 1993.Mostly recently this novel won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the world's largest prize for a single work of fiction ($160,000).The book is a compelling read and the clear,detailed observation of peoples' behaviour and relationships is unlike anything I have ever read previously.

"The Crossing" is the second book in the Border Trilology by Cormac McCarthy.All three novels are set in the border territory between the US and Mexico. McCarthy's National Book Award-winning "All the Pretty Horses" (1992) told of young John Grady Cole, a Texas rancher's son who loses his father and his inheritance and strikes out almost aimlessly into Mexico. This sequel is a parallel story concerning Billy Parham, 16, and his kid brother, Boyd, growing up about 10 years previously on a high desert ranch in southern New Mexico. A well written book but in my opinion not as accomplished as the first book.

Although not a sports fanatic, I enjoy watching rugby and support Shannon Rugby club. I go to their matches in Thomond Park whenever I get the chance. I also follow my local hurling team in Cappamore. I swim twice a week ijn the University pool and play tennis in the summer.

"Little Voice"	"Life is Beautiful"	"Shakespeare in Love"	"Elizabeth"

Jane Horrocks is brilliant as LV the girl with a mesmerizing ability to impersonate the great singers of the 1950s and 60s.Ewan McGregor, Brenda Blethyem and Michael Caine also star.	Roberto Begnini's light-hearted film dealing with the Holocaust may not be to everyone's liking, but at it's core it is a story of one man's quest to protect his son from the worst reality imaginable-life in a concentration camp.	Gwyenth Paltrow and the dashing Joseph Fiennes star in this fictionalised tale of the life of William Shakespeare who having lost his gift is inspired by his love for Paltrow to write again.	"Elizabeth" deals with the earlier part of Queen Elizabeth's life.Cate Blanchett stars as the Virgin Queen who denounces love in order to dedicate herself to her kingdom and people.