Whether you call it a 'green wave' or not, the fact is that Irish culture is having quite the moment.
Last week it was all about our Oscars success, with Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy winning for Best Actor, and production company Element scooping four statuettes for the Yorgos Lanthimos tour de force Poor Things.
Rewind to the 2023 Oscars, when publications across the world tried to figure out what was in the water over here. Just how did we do it: a record set for Irish nominations, a landmark nomination for An Cailín Ciúin, a win for short film An Irish Goodbye? Not to mention the sense that Irish actors were ruling the roost, from longtimers like Colin Farrell to relative newcomer Paul Mescal.
Mescal, of course, was also part of the small screen success of Normal People, which alongside Derry Girls and Bad Sisters helped put contemporary Irish TV shows on the global map. Going from being a GAA-playing student to the toast of Hollywood in just a few years, he has epitomised how short the Ireland-to-LA pipeline is these days. (His next big project is a major role in the Gladiator sequel. No biggie.)
But it’s not just on screen that Ireland has been dominating. Four Irish authors - Elaine Feeney, Sebastian Barry, Paul Murray and Paul Lynch - were longlisted for the prestigious 2023 Booker Prize, with Dubliner Paul Lynch winning for his novel Prophet Song.
Meanwhile, Murray and Michael Magee cleaned up in the Nero Book Awards, and Louise Kennedy won multiple awards for the stunning Trespasses. This year, our bookshelves can anticipate new works from writers like Sally Rooney, Sinéad Gleeson, Jan Carson, Marian Keyes, Kevin Barry and Colm Tóibín.
You couldn’t avoid Irish music over the past few years too, with Lankum, Hozier and CMAT tickling eardrums worldwide. Then there’s Belfast band Kneecap, who recently premiered their first movie at the Sundance Film Festival. Plus, we can look forward to imminent new albums from Villagers, Pillow Queens and Niamh Regan.
So could 2024 eclipse 2023 in how high the green wave can really get? The year, after all, kicked off with Mescal and Andrew Scott charming their way through the press tour for the heart-shattering All of Us Strangers.
Next up were the great reviews for the forthcoming Cillian Murphy film Small Things Like These, based on the novella by lauded author Claire Keegan, and the first Irish film to open the Berlin International Film Festival.
Eyes are on Ireland’s cultural output in a fresh way now, and it looks like we have the goods to keep up our success. We can find some of the secrets behind the green wave in Cillian Murphy’s own story: looking both within Ireland and outside it to find an audience, and staying true to your craft.
We can also credit Ireland opening up to the world, and social media helping Ireland see and be seen abroad. Still, it’s impossible to get to these heights without support, so we have to note what Ireland offers creatives - like the support of Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann, the Arts Council and First Music Contact for starters.
It’s not enough to coast on success without investing in the future, which was highlighted by Murphy himself after his Oscar win. "I think in Ireland we’re really great at supporting artists," he said. "And I think we need to continue to support artists and the next generation of artists and directors."
If we don’t want the green wave to break, we’d do well to bear his words in mind.
