Carl Mullan & Donncha O’Callaghan go head to head in crafting challenge

Bored in the house and you’re in the house bored? Well, get ready to be inspired because it’s Arts and Crafts Week on RTÉ Player, and with that comes a brand new series of videos from ‘Craft Queen’ Mary Fitzgerald.

Many will remember Mary from How do you do?a children’s series that had kids across Ireland making everything from space ships to dolls’ houses using empty toilet rolls and egg cartons.

To celebrate the show landing on RTÉ Player, Mary will be challenging some grown-ups to compete in ‘Get Crafty’ challenges. Today, Carl Mullan will be up against his rival, sporting legend, Donncha O’Callaghan as the two attempt to make kites over Zoom.

Want to play along at home? Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A black sack
  • Some plastic shopping bags
  • 2 sticks of equal length (garden sticks or bamboo sticks – approximately 2 feet long)
  • Twine
  • Glue/Sellotape
  • Scissors

Here’s what to do:

  1. Begin by cutting the end off the closed side of the bin bag.
  2. Open up the bag and fold it in half (lengthways).
  3. Fold one corner across so that it meets the other side of the bag and cut off the triangle that this fold creates.
  4. Cut another triangle, this time from the bottom and working your way up to  where you first started cutting the first triangle.
  5. Open the bag up and you should be left with the rough shape of your kite. There’ll be 2 separate pieces that are exactly the same. You can take away one of them and use it to make a second kite later.
  6. Glue or sellotape your sticks to the back of the kite, leaving a wing at either side.
  7. Sellotape a piece of string to the back of each wing and tie them in the middle.
  8. Decorate the front as you please (use lightweight items like shopping bags or paper).
  9. Sellotape another piece of string approximately 2 feet long to the bottom of the kite to create your tail. Decorate with light plastic bows made from offcuts of your plastic bags.
  10. To attach the string to fly your kite, tie the loose end of a long ball of string/twine to the string attached to your wings.

How Do You Do? Returns to TV screens

Ahead of the return to TV this week of the iconic TV programme How Do You Do? with Mary FitzGerald, Mary joins Donnacha O’Callaghan the former rugby player and TV pundit & Carl Mullan for some make & do fun.

3 classic episodes are now on the RTE Player for the first time. Enjoy!

https://www.rte.ie/player/series/how-do-you-do/SI0000006975?epguid=PL000004005

There 3 episodes are as follows

Snake Draught stopper made from old socks 

Mary FitzGerald demonstrates how to transform odd socks into a colourful snake draft stopper using bits and pieces from around the house.

https://www.rte.ie/player/series/how-do-you-do/SI0000006975?epguid=PL000004005

Felt Puppets

Mary FitzGerald demonstrates how to make simple and colourful puppets with the help of her special puppet friends Francis and Schillaci, using felt, ping pong balls, egg cartons, cardboard and other bits and pieces from around the house. 

https://www.rte.ie/player/series/how-do-you-do/SI0000006975?epguid=PL000004008

Papier-mâché fruit and veg 

Mary FitzGerald demonstrates how to make papier-mâché fruit and vegetables using old newspapers, coloured paper, wall paper paste, paints and balloons.

https://www.rte.ie/player/series/how-do-you-do/SI0000006975?epguid=PL000004009

‘Make and Do’ – How to make and use a face covering

From Monday, Ireland will slowly begin to waken from its slumber, and things will start to look a little different.

The Government has advised that from 18 May people should wear cloth face coverings, in certain places, like in shops and on public transport.

Mary FitzGerald explains how to make your own face mask for RTÉ News.

“The materials you need are two plain pieces of cotton, you can use a t-shirt or a pillow case. You need two pieces of elastic to go around your ears around 15 centimetres long, a needle and thread and a scissors,” says TV ‘Make and Do’ legend Mary Fitzgerald.

Mary will be a familiar face to many, from RTÉ’s ‘How Do You Do?’ in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Mary Fitzgerald pictured hosting How Do You Do? (Pic: RTÉ Stills Library)

Following the guidelines from Government, Ms Fitzgerald talked us through how to make your own face coverings at home, in “six simple steps”.

“It takes about half an hour when you’re doing it from start to finish at home, but the stages are very simple,” she says. 

“The first thing you do is keep your two pieces of cotton together. Fold them over about 6mm on the long sides.”

“Then you get your needle and thread, and very carefully do a hemming stitch all along that line.”

Once you’ve done that, she says the next step is to fold in the shorter sides by about 2cm.  

The next stage is to get your elastic and thread it through the short sides. 

“A tip is to get your elastic and thread it through with a safety pin. The last stage is to scrunch it all up together and tie a knot”.

This can then be tidied up by pushing the knot back inside the material, to hide the elastic. 

“It’s a very simple face covering to make for yourself at home. I would advise people to make a couple of them. If you have an old pillow case you could make at least six of them,” she says. 

Ms Fitzgerald says that when people are watching television or having a quiet moment, they could take some time to make these homemade face coverings.

Return of Mary FitzGerald’s iconic art and craft TV programmes to RTE Player

Mary FitzGerald’s iconic art and craft TV programmes, “How do you do?” originally broadcast to children in the 80’s and 90’s are to return to the RTE Player on Monday 25th May 2020 to entertain both parents and children in these unprecedented times”.

As parents and their children are now at home daily, Mary will introduce a new generation of children to the joys of art and craft to keep them busy and entertained in these coronavirus times. See www.rte.ie for further details. http://rte.ie/player

A DVD of 12 of the best “How do you do?” art and craft programmes is also available to purchase in the shop for €10.

“By Imagination We Live”

Irish Humanities Alliance (IHA) Strategic Plan for the Humanities 2020-2030

The Irish Humanities Alliance (IHA), launched their Strategic Plan 2020-2030, “By Imagination We Live,” a significant, all-island vision for the humanities, on Wednesday, 6th November 2019 in the Royal Irish Academy, 19 Dawson Street, Dublin.
Dame Marina Warner, a renowned English Novelist, Short Story Writer, Historian, Mythographer and Professor of English and Creative Writing, Birkbeck, University of London, did the official launch.

The document is the outcome of extensive and in-depth consultation with IHA member institutions, the 10 universities in Ireland and Northern Ireland and the Royal Irish Academy.

Launching this visionary Plan, Dame Marina Warner said; “I am delighted to have been asked to launch the IHA Strategic Plan for the humanities “By Imagination We Live”. As someone who values the contribution of the humanities to cultural life, universities and society at large, I congratulate all those involved in putting together this clear, all-Ireland vision for the humanities. We all need to use our imagination, especially now in this technological age. The IHA Strategic Plan places great value on the contribution that humanities disciplines can make in addressing
the most pressing social, political, cultural, technological, and environmental issues of the 21st century”

Dr. Mel Farrell, Director, IHA, said “Since its creation in 2013, the IHA has worked to promote the value of humanities research and scholarship in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Humanities disciplines ranging from geography, literature, modern languages and history in understanding the human experience through history, culture and
language. By imagination we live demonstrates and articulates the value and diversity of the established and emerging humanities disciplines, and the critical role they play in understanding the human experience through history, culture and language”.
With the development of this new, IHA Strategic Plan 2020-2030, there is now a clear path forward for all Higher Education Institutions in Ireland and Northern Ireland to put the humanities centre stage in the education of its people. See full details of “By Imagination We Live” on www.irishhumanities.com

Further information contact:
Mary FitzGerald
PR Consultant-Irish Humanities Alliance
Mary FitzGerald Public Relations
T: 01-6787916. M: 086-2520181
E: info@maryfitzgeraldpr.ie

And

Dr. Mel Farrell
Director
Irish Humanities Alliance
www.irishhumanities.com