Stars line out for festival

A host of Irish and international stars will line out for the opening night of the Jameson International Festival today. Leading the way will be Irish actor Cillian Murphy who will walk the red carpet at tomorrow's festival opener.

Award-winning theatre director Rufus Norris makes his feature debut with Broken, a powerful tale of 11-year-old Skunk, a sweet-natured young girl whose innocence is slowly chipped away over the course of one summer.

Actor Tim Roth, director Rufus Norris, writer Mark O'Rowe and producers Dixie Linder, Tally Gardner, Nick Marston and Hamilton Arroyo will all be in attendance. Doors open at 7pm.

• Irish celebrities will be hoping to make it a special Valentine's Day for tiny dancer Lily-Mae Morrison.

The Wright Venue in Swords will play host to a group of professional and amateur dancers as they compete against each other in a Strictly Come Dancing-style event.

There are 13 professional dancers, each of whom have been paired with a complete amateur. Each competitor will also take part in a group dance routine as part of the opening number.

The aim is to raise as much money as possible to support four-year-old Lilly Mae who is suffering from Stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a rare and extremely aggressive childhood cancer of the nervous system.

• Following on from their successful performance in Dublin haunt Whelan's last Monday, Local Natives have confirmed details of a date in the Olympia Theatre on October 24 next.

It's been a busy few months for the Californian band. Their newest album Hummingbird will see the light of day shortly and some of that material was successfully road-tested at the recent gig in Whelan's and also at Other Voices in Dingle before Christmas.

Tickets will go on sale from 9am tomorrow at €22.90.

• The Progressive Film Club in Dublin's city centre is looking forward to airing its latest screenings.

Four films are available on the club's website, which will be getting their first Irish public screening. They are, Secret City, Spirit Of Shuhada Street, Living As Brothers and After I Pick The Fruit. The club's next screening, The End Of Suburbia: Oil Depletion And The Collapse Of The American Dream, will take place at 2pm on Saturday, February 23.

• The Morrison Hotel will celebrate its re-opening with a special party next week.

The party will take place next Wednesday, February 20, and comes just two weeks after the official opening.

Ireland's first Double Tree hotel, by the Hilton Group, the hotel on Dublin's Ormond Quay, opened its doors to guests on February 1. Its restaurant opened this week.