Birds, of course (though swallows are not common yet) but also a general sense of restlessness. Long winter nights encourage us to sleep and let things slide. This issue of Corncrake is a bit late too, but now we are making up for lost time. (more…)

Are Artists Augurs? asks the exhibition which opened in the Higher Bridges Gallery on the 7th of April and runs to the 29th. Cirque des Oiseux is French for Circus of Birds or rather the circling of birds in flight, something we notice particularly at this time of year as new migrants begin to arrive. (more…)

Not one among the rushes
None in the meadows
None where the farmer dropped to his knees
Lamenting the crumpled nest its requiem (more…)

If you took a chance
And let those plates stop spinning,
Stuck your hands in your pockets
Or your fingers in your ears
And stepped back –
What would happen then?

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HORIZON

I have a daughter with eyes as wide and blue as the sky
what advice can I give as she stands before me, smiling
set to fly? There will be days when clouds come in
when rains pour down hard but don’t worry,
I’ve packed your boots, you can sing and splash
dance the dance you learned here in your own back yard. (more…)

This time of year the days lengthen, the clocks go forwards, and busy people have for once an excuse for being late. Not so in Fermanagh. Here the rhythm never changes; it is constant all year round. Summer or winter, you may wait half an hour for someone to turn up – and if you chance to wonder aloud what is keeping them, then people wag their heads and say, “Ah, Fermanagh Time.” (more…)

We set out that morning
Bright and determined
To make our mark
On this frozen place, (more…)

For those of you not familiar with it, The Spark is a Local History and Arts Review magazine. It is published once a year in April and is distributed in seven counties of the North-West: Donegal, Tyrone, Monaghan, Cavan, Fermanagh, Leitrim and north Sligo.

The next issue (No. 30) has almost 30 articles and features that cover a wide spectrum of interests – local history, interviews, visual art and poetry as well as book reviews and other matters about books and publishing. (more…)

There are so many things in this world that divide us as human beings, that seem to create conflict and strife, but if there is one thing that can be pointed to, as bringing brings people together in a positive way, it is music. (more…)

I could not believe my eyes. Could it be real? Was it a trick of my imagination? A mirage perhaps? What was before me was an Ulsterbus. But why on this road as it was not a bus route? Where was the driver?

Could this be the first chance ever to use my Bus Pass? It was the only concession I had been awarded two years ago after a lifetime of paid taxes and contributions. Free spectacles, free dental treatment, free chiropody and the rest? Forget it! All a futile socialist dream… (more…)

After last year’s very successful launch the Enniskillen ComicFest returns on 5th and 6th May 2017, bigger and better, to celebrate all aspects of storytelling and sequential art. ComicFest 2016 proved that there was a great demand for an event of this type in the Enniskillen area.

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For the second year in a row, the female members of Fermanagh Writers joined other women writers in Northern Ireland on 8th March to celebrate International Women’s Day.

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2016 may have been a tough year for music, but that certainly wasn’t the case for emerging Fermanagh band Anto & the Echoes. After only a few short months of forming and honing their sound, they took on their debut gig in July. Punters were turned away from Charlie’s bar as the crowd reached maximum capacity early in the night. A series of well-received gigs around Northern Ireland followed, and the band returned to Charlie’s to close the year with another sell-out show.

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