Culture Night 2026: We Only Want the Earth - The Life and Ideas of James Connolly + Panel Discussion
FREE Entry
English | Ireland | 88 mins | 2025 | Cert: CLUB | Dir: Alan Gilsenan
An iconic presence on the landscape of Irish socialism and republicanism, the name of James Connolly looms large in the trade union movement and wherever radical left-wing politics are espoused. We Only Want the Earth tries to place Connolly’s radical ideas and many political achievements against the landscape of the contemporary world as well as documenting his more prominent role in the 1916 Easter Rising.
As well as many distinguished commentators, union activists and historians, the film also features many songs and poems - spoken and sung by contemporary artists such as Christy Moore, Stephen Rea, piper David Power, singers Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and Esosa Ighodaro as well as Connolly’s great great grand-daughter Tamsin Iona Connolly Heron.
The film aims to reclaim Connolly's story as well as invoke his important social vision, with a clear eye on how it resonates in our contemporary time - an era when even democracy itself appears under threat.
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with director Alan Gilsenan and Kay Kearns from Meath Council of Trade Unions (MCTU), chaired by Secretary to MCTU Moira Leydon.
Culture Night 2026 at Solstice is supported by Meath County Council Arts Office, Culture Night, and the Arts Council.
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