Enda Walsh is securing his reputation as the most provocative Irish playwright of his generation. In his new play “The New Electric Ballroom”, now playing at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, he has written his best work yet.

Think you know everything about the Emerald Isle? Think again! Here are 10 facts that just might throw you for a loop.

Former Irish Taoiseach Garrett Fitzgerald has claimed that the IRA scuppered a deal which would have ended the Maze Hunger Strikes in 1981. Fitzgerald said he was convinced that the IRA refused a deal which would have prevented the last six of 10 deaths.

Not only was Michael Fassebender’s portrayal of Bobby Sands mesmerizing in last year’s Camera D’or winning film “Hunger,” his physical transformation for the role was equally impressive. However, as he recently revealed, the weight wasn’t the only thing he lost.

Irish actor Michael Fassbender had to brush up on his German for his role as a British film critic turned spy in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.”

Irish American actor Sean Penn has filed for a separation from his wife, actress Robin Wright Penn. The pair appeared at the Oscars where Penn won Best Actor for his role in ‘Milk,” but he did not thank his wife in his acceptance speech.

Maze prison will become peace-building symbol, Martin McGuinness says

Pol Brennan, who escaped from the infamous Maze Prison in Northern Ireland in 1983, looks set to have lost his battle against deportation from the U.S.

When our resident film critic picked her Top 10 Irish movies of all time, she provoked a storm of protest from many of our readers. So here, we let our readers have their pick.

The letter has been widely distributed in the Irish community in America. I got mine today. It came from the National Alliance, a notorious Nazi hate group with an address in

“Hunger," the harrowing new film about IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, opened in New York on Friday, March

10 surprising facts about Ireland - guarantee you've never heard 'em before!

Irish newcomer Michael Fassbender lost 35 pounds during the filming of "Hunger," a new film about the events surrounding the 1981 IRA Hunger Strike, to make his portrayal of iconic Republican prisoner Bobby Sands all the more shockingly realistic.

"Hunger" is a movie about the last six weeks of Bobby Sands' life. It is directed by Englishman Steve McQueen and stars Michael Fassbender in the lead role. Widely acclaimed, the film has won several awards, the most notable being the 2008 Camera D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The schedule of films for this year's Craic Festival of Irish music and movies is set, and it looks like another great opportunity to see a wide range of much-discussed Irish films. The festival will be held March 11 - 14 in Manhattan, and features new, established and experimental Irish films as well as music. Included in this year's Craic lineup is the Cannes Film Festival winner "Hunger" directed by Steve McQueen and starring Liam Cunningham and Michael Fassbender.

It's been 25 years since Bobby Sands and his fellow Irish nationalists launched their hunger strikes in 1981, which resulted in Sands's death after 66 days. That may seem like a long time ago, but as author Denis O'Hearn makes clear in his powerful new biography "Nothing But an Unfinished Song," the hunger strikes are still with us today in the fragile peace process still unfolding in Northern Ireland. O'Hearn's book, which is subtitled "Bobby Sands, The Irish Hunger Striker Who Ignited a Generation," follows Sands from when he was first arrested in the early 1970s.

MARCH is the biggest month of the year for our bloodline. Everything Irish is hot for the party that starts now and ends sometime later this month. For one band, this month will be about telling stories from the front lines of the war.

THE Cannes Film Festival which gets underway this week has been quite good to Irish entrants in the past - in 2006 The Wind That Shakes the Barley starring Cillian Murphy won the Palme d'Or for best film - and this year the Irish contingent at the famed French fest will be bigger than ever.

There will be over 200 Irish film industry types at Cannes, and they'll hang their hats at the special Irish Pavilion at the fest, which is sponsored by the Irish Film Board and the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission. Irish Films set for a Cannes screening include The Daisy Chain, which stars Samantha Morton of In America fame, and The Escapist, which was picked as a Sundance Festival selection.

Tributes have been paid to former IRA hunger striker Sean McKenna, who died last weekend.

In October 1980 McKenna was one of seven Republican prisoners who began a hunger strike in the H Blocks in a campaign to demand political status.

After 53 days on hunger strike the 26-year-old had fallen into a coma and was hours away from death when IRA leader Brendan "Dark" Hughes called an end to the protest after assurances that the British government had agreed a compromise.

HOW does one go from studying history in Queens City University to becoming one Irish America's most successful and genuine lawyers and still have time for pro-bono work and his family? The Irish Voice went along to visit one of New York's finest lawyers last week to see what really goes on behind the scenes and hear about the journey.Sean Downes, 48, sits in his office in Wall Street, on the 21st floor, just steps away from the New York Stock Exchange. Although there certainly isn't as much commotion in Downes' offices as there is on the trade floor down the street, there certainly is a great welcoming vibe from Downes, his staff and colleagues.

CONGRESSMAN James Walsh, who has served in Congress for 20 years, announced last Thursday that he would not seek re-election in November.Walsh, 60, spoke to the Irish Voice on Tuesday about his decision, his involvement in the Irish peace process and his future plans. "I have loads of time on my hands now to talk," he laughed during a phone call.

THOUSANDS of former Republican prisoners this week took part in the funeral procession of one of the founders of the Provisional IRA who died last weekend.Brendan Hughes, 59, died in hospital on Saturday after a lengthy illness. Hughes, nicknamed the "Dark," had become a Republican legend while leading the Provisional IRA in Belfast in the 1970s.

HE lives on his own behind bulletproof windows with CCTV cameras watching his home to prevent being killed.But after 10 years of fighting to expose his son's killers as Special Branch agents, Raymond McCord insists that his journey for justice is not over.The story of one man's campaign to bring his son's killers to justice has been published in a new book.

Protestants living along the border have still not come to terms with the election of Bobby Sands as an MP for the area, nearly three decades later.

A Church of Ireland report entitled "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing" interviewed Protestants living along the border in Fermanagh and Tyrone. The report concluded that in many cases Protestant families felt that the IRA had attempted to ethnically cleanse them from the border counties, and that their futures remain uncertain even today.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein this week clashed over controversial plans to build a national sports stadium on the site of the former Maze/Long Kesh prison.

In 2006 it was announced that Unionists and Nationalists had agreed a package of proposals for the former prison site where Bobby Sands and nine other Republicans died on Hunger Strike in 1981. The ambitious proposals included a conflict transformation center and a national sports stadium to include GAA sports, soccer and rugby.

The Irish Film and Television Awards were given out last weekend in Dublin, and among the presenters were actor Aidan Quinn, who spends a lot of time in the country working on various projects. Other star names, though, were kind of lacking. An actor from "Ugly Betty" availed of an undoubted free ticket and hotel provided by the organizers, and Saoirse Ronan showed up to collect her award.

Irish Eye on Hollywood

By Tom Deignan

Amidst the popcorn blockbusters of the summer, keep an eye out for veterans as well as up-and-coming Irish talent in Hollywood.

First up, Pierce Brosnan stars alongside Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, based on the musical, which itself was based on the songs of Swedish supergroup Abba. Mamma Mia!, scheduled for a July 18 release, is about a bride-to-be who is searching for her father.

Irish Eye on Hollywood

Liam Cunningham is an Irish actor to look out for as fall approaches. He has built up an impressive resume of Irish and British movies, including Ken Loach's provocative Irish Civil War Epic The Wind that Shakes the Barley as well as Breakfast on Pluto, in which Cunningham co-starred with fellow Irish actor Cillian Murphy. Cunningham's most recent appearance was in the summer horror movie The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor starring Brendan Fraser.

Quinn Mighty Irish

NEW York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is an interesting candidate for mayor two years hence. She has been polishing her Irish credentials carefully in the past few months, leaving few in doubt about her ambitions.

She attended the Irish Arts Center star-studded awards dinner on Friday night where she was presented with an award amidst shots of her with Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan, Michael Flatley and others.

Where else in New York can you catch an Irish movie premiere, a rock star gig, hang out with celebrities, load up on fine whiskey and attend an exclusive VIP dance party all for $15? The answer is at the Craic Fest, and with that tempting price, obviously the annual event is completely recession