|
Irish rockers to wow summer festival-goers A group of
second-generation Irish rockers have put their necks-on-the-line to produce
a musical mix of Irish trad and punk for British festival-goers.
Psycho-ceilidh rockers Neck are back in Britain with a number of festivals
and gigs lined-up for the summer.
Known as the heavy artillery of Irish music, the London-Irish band mix
an authentic traditional Irish sound with the rip-roaring, electric energy
of a full-on punk band.
Their rowdy, uplifting live shows have established them as international
festival favourites and this year they’ll be making an appearance
at Glastonbury for the fifth year running.
They’re also releasing their previous two albums Here’s Mud
In Yer Eye and Sod ‘Em & Begorrah along with a brand new album
entitled Plastic And Proud, in Britain and in Ireland.
Second-generation Irishman and band member Leeson O’Keefe said:
“It would appear we’ve gained the reputation as the heavy
artillery of Irish music it’s a noisy job but someone’s got
to do it. And despite what the begrudgers say, there’s room in Irish
music for everybody.”
The band has already played two successful festivals this year one at the
Punk ‘n’ Disorderly in Berlin and the other was Strummercamp
in Manchester last month.
A British tour is lined up for September with a European one planned for
later in the year.
A full line-up of up coming gigs is available on the group’s website
and full listings will be printed in ri-ra next week.
Also see www.neck.ie for further details.
Health risks for travellers
A new report has shown that many Irish people do not have travel insurance
when they go abroad on holiday.
The latest research findings by health insurance company Vhi Healthcare
has shown that only 57 per cent of Irish people travelling abroad for
leisure purposes in the past 12 months took out travel insurance.
The research was conducted in April and more than 1,000 adults were quizzed
about their travel habits and plans.
And while the figures show a slight improvement on last year, where 54
per cent of the population had travel insurance, the Irish insurance company
claims that many people are “gambling with their healthcare”.
The report also showed that close to 3,000 people needed emergency treatment
while they were abroad last year.
In total 2,338 people incurred costs of ?8,712,239, with the total amount
of transporting Vhi Healthcare members back to Ireland following emergency
medical treatment coming to ?1.5million in 2006.
Vhi Healthcare director of marketing and business development Declan Moran
said: “Many products on the market do not cover for such eventualities
and our research demonstrated that 68 per cent of those surveyed felt
that cover for illnesses arising from a pre-existing medical condition
was an important element to have covered by their travel insurance policy.
“Our research also demonstrated that only 44 per cent of travel
insurance holders were aware that their policy covered them for pre-existing
conditions therefore this is clearly an area which needs to be highlighted.”
A total of two-in-10 had travelled to Britain and just one in 10 had travelled
to North America. |
