As part of the fund-raising efforts for the Ballina Arts Centre Redevelopment campaign, there will be a Meet the Author Brunch in the Downhill Hotel, tomorrow (Saturday ) at 12 noon.
The event will be hosted by locally based authors Morag Prunty (who sometimes writes as Kate Kerrigan ) and Helen Falconer, and will feature best-selling writers Claudia Carroll and Anita Notaro.
Claudia Carroll was born in Dublin and is a graduate of UCD, the College of Music, and of the Gaiety School of Acting. Since then she has worked extensively as an actress on the Irish stage, but is probably best known for her role as TV’s Nicola Prendergast in the long running Dublin soap opera, Fair City. Her first novel, He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me, was published last year, and has since been widely translated. She has since followed it up with The Last of the Great Romantics, I Never Fancied Him Anyway, and Do You Want to Know a Secret?
Anita Notaro is an author, journalist, and television producer/director. She worked for RTE for 16 years until 2002 and was involved in all of the major tam rating programmes. She has also worked for the BBC and Channel 4 in the UK. Now a best-selling author, she is published in the UK, Europe, and Australia and her books include Take a Look at Me Now, Back after the Break, Behind the Scenes, and The WWW Club.
The event will also include a book sale featuring a wide variety of books, many of which will be signed by the authors, including books by Paul Durcan and Brian Friel.
Last year the Department of Arts, Sport, and Tourism approved a grant of €1.2m towards the development of an extension of the current building, under the ACCESS II funding scheme. This extension will include a 240-seat auditorium, a state-of-the-art dance studio, a studio rehearsal space, larger exhibition area, coffee shop, and increased office and storage space. Since the ACCESS II announcement, Mayo County Council and Ballina Town Council have committed €3m to the project, a wonderful acknowledgement of the value of the project.
Ballina Arts Centre is now required to raise €500,000 to complete the total cost of the development. This is an exciting development for north Mayo and we are very close to realising the long-held ambition of a full-scale, state-of-the-art dedicated multi-disciplinary arts centre in the town. This will provide opportunities for artists and also for the general public to engage with art and the arts in a meaningful way. Tickets are on sale now, priced €50 (which includes lunch ). For more information contact Ballina Arts Centre 9096 73593, [email protected] ).
