O O N A G H

Last night, after our post-show conversation for @goodchancetheatre ’s A GRAIN OF SAND, an audience member introduced herself to me. She was a softly spoken Palestinian woman who said she was visiting Ireland for a reprieve from the experience of living in Germany where she cannot freely wear her keffiyah, let alone name what is happening in Gaza as a genocide. The performance created by @mattar_elias and @sarahaghaonline does many remarkable things - among them is to create a space where story and liveness can bring us together to bear witness to what has been lost, the grief that has been suppressed and dismissed, and to create connection between those outside of Gaza who refuse to stop naming what is happening. The piece is also a beautiful tribute to Palestinian fable and storytelling and humour. It leaves your heart heavy and light at the same time. So proud we have been able to present it but only three performances left to see it @smockalleytheatre

What is there to say about this girl on her birthday? Everyone who meets her falls in love with her. “She’s so kind… fun… clever… and where is that accent from?” Words fail for me but what I can say is the universe really did me a solid when it looped this girl back to her ancestral land, even if it does mean I am now having to endure Duolingo levels of Kneecap while she learns her ancestral tongue. Mo chuisle mo chroí 💕

18 months ago, 10 young people responded to a call-out from myself and @emmetkirwan to come and make a short film with us about the experience of being in care. FUTURE STORIES began as a dream I had - about how art might quietly adjust power, not just claim to. About what could happen if you invested time and trust and stayed with the messy reality of true co-creation. I have learnt so much from this group of young artists. How to honour the pace of real trust. How to allow dissent and confusion to exist inside a process. I’ve learnt how much change is actually possible when you commit to relationships, rather than outcomes. I couldn’t have asked for a better collaborator than @tender.stemme , who brings creativity and conscious leadership together in the most singular way. And then to be joined by @a_stone_circle , @alex_e_gill , and the talent and care of their trusted @crackinglightproductions collaborators - it still feels like enormous luck to have made this work together. Tonight, FUTURE STORIES screens as part of @firstfortnight at @smockalleytheatre . It is courageous, vulnerable and clear-minded storytelling. Too often, care-experienced young people are spoken about, researched, or represented but rarely given long-term space to shape how their stories are told or to change the conditions under which they are made. So huge love to everyone who brought this dream to life - a reminder, when most needed, of the quiet power of art to change things. *A small number of tickets still available smockalley.com* 📸 BTS by the brilliant @jillymacjillymac

✨ So happy to see the recognition for OCTOPUS CHILDREN with six award nominations ✨ From early chats with @felispeaks , envisioning the magic we might create, I knew this room was going to be special. I’ve been doing my shtick about the emancipatory potential of art for years, too often falling on deaf ears. But this work LIBERATED ME: to lead differently, collaborate more radically and to prove that embodying equity throughout the process makes the work BETTER. It’s a been a soul journey and I’m grateful to the generosity of Felicia in taking me on it. The Irish stage had its first all-Black Irish cast - the canon is quaking. So proud of and grateful to all. 💫 @esosa__ighodaro @tishe.fatunbi @thereeltierrap_ @tobiomoteso @officialpak_ @kinggrooves @_ffiyah @anna.mullarkey @rkitt4eva @_carlarogers @oluwatobi__bello @thisispopbaby

10 YEARS. ALL CHANGED. 1. #Home2Vote on Channel 4 news, masterminded by @joeykavanagh and @dylanhas 2. Canvassing with Mum, Mick and @shayshea in Wicklow 3. Our London pals taking the boat in solidarity. 4. Tears at Dublin Castle with @roisinmcgann 5. Joy with @bairbremurphy 6. The moment when they played “Dog Days are Over” at @motherdublin (I will never forget that euphoria)

The main thing I was craving in moving home this year was ✨community✨: connecting to place and people. I started Future Stories to build that, and have been working with this gorgeous group of young artists, who all have come through the care system. I’ve learnt so much from them over the past 5 months, and I’m buzzing to share what we’ve been making in 2025. (Big thanks to @breathingspacedublin8 for hosting our Christmas party this evening 💙)

‘ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE’ — Speaking at the Southbank Centre last night, introducing Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas to give her brilliant lecture on how arts and culture should be leading the response to the climate emergency.

These three were home to me through a year of change. So much laughter, so many good plot lines. I will be forever grateful to them.

A real pleasure to be reunited with old friend @barrymcstay for a week’s workshop with a company of beautiful actors, developing Barry’s brilliant new play about the fight for decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland. Activism. Art. Music. Dancing. A heady mix of all my favourite things.

F R E E P A L E S T I N E

Summer in Dublin. Between the rain showers.

2023: director’s cut. with thanks to all who got me through it.