The Spark: summer’s biggest banger comes from a decades-old initiative helping refugee and working-class kids in Cork

By J. Griffith Rollefson, Professor of Music, University College Cork

This year’s early contender for banger of the summer started in an unlikely place, the idyllic rural community of Lisdoonvarna on the edge of the Burren, West Ireland. The viral hit, The Spark was a collaboration between a crew of pre-teens in Lisdoonvarna and Kabin Studio in Cork City — aka “the real capital of Ireland” — two hours south.

While this collaboration has been widely reported as the track goes viral, what many people…

Read complete article

~	Alcohol consumption among teenagers: Parents need to set rules and not just talk about it

~	The treatment of environmental activists at Olympic Games contradicts IOC’s Olympism ideals

~	Computer love: AI-powered chatbots are changing how we understand romantic and sexual well-being

~	Ottawa should prioritize the health of all athletes, especially children

~	Nato at 75: a muted celebration for an alliance facing uncertain times

~	Sudan is now confronting its most severe food security crisis on record

~	Namibia’s sodomy laws have been overturned – what that means for LGBTIQ+ rights in the country

~	All ‘commit’ and no ‘disagree’: the real reason why Labor’s solidarity pledge is not working

~	UK diamond company that won water and climate awards has been linked to water pollution in Lesotho

~	Keir Starmer appoints historic cabinet with record number of women – now comes the hard part: governing