Cork Views: Just one woman among headliners announced so far for Live at the Marquee gig series

It’s not a good look.

So far, the only female headliner announced in the entire Live at the Marquee summer series of headline acts is Róisín Barrett, bassist with Irish folk band The Mary Wallopers.

She’s scheduled to play on July 18 - but across the 28 confirmed dates, every other headline act is male. Not a single solo female artist is on the bill.

Last year’s line-up included the Sugababes, Lyra, Jenny Greene and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and Susan O’Neill. What’s happened for 2025?

It may not be for lack of trying by Aiken Promotions, but it’s hard to understand how an entire summer of shows can be booked without a single female headliner.

Criticism over the lack of female representation in live music isn’t new. But the industry needs to do more to support emerging female artists - helping them grow, develop, and eventually rise to headline status.

The idea of a ‘pipeline of talent’ applies just as much to the creative industries as it does to tech or sport.

Festivals like Glastonbury and Electric Picnic have faced similar criticism in the past for male-dominated line-ups. Often, the response is that there simply aren’t enough solo female acts to book - but more and more festivals are rejecting that line and committing to gender-balanced programming.

Keychange is an international movement aimed at increasing gender balance across the music industry; it encourages festivals to pledge that at least 50% of their line-ups will feature women or gender minority artists.

Live music should reflect the diversity of the people who listen to it.

If the next generation of female musicians are to believe there’s a place for them on stage, we need to see real action - not just good intentions - from promoters, venues and festivals.

******

Those bloody Finns with their abundant happiness.

How could a people living in one of the northernmost countries in the world come out on top of the World Happiness Report for the eighth year in a row?

Surely the freezing cold dark days of winter snuff out any spark of joy or happiness?

In Ireland, our national humour rises and falls with the weather, and the mere suggestion of sunshine can send us collectively into a good mood.

So, it’s baffling to me that a country wrapped in 18-hour darkness during winter (or more, depending on how far north you go) could outshine the bronzed bliss of those in the freewheeling sunnier climes of the Mediterranean.

But the top five happiest countries (Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Netherlands) are all from higher latitudes - what do I know?

Turns out happiness has little to do with Vitamin D and more to do with decent income security, social trust, and equality.

Finland has nailed the formula. Ireland isn’t doing too badly - sitting respectably at number 15, in the top 20 out of 140 countries. Not bad for a nation whose national pastime is giving out.

When you look closer, Ireland and Finland actually match on a lot of happiness indicators: life expectancy, social support (knowing there’s someone to call in a crisis), and positive emotions.

In fact, Ireland comes out better on benevolence - we donate more, volunteer more, and are more likely to help a stranger. A whopping 70% of Irish people said they’d donated to charity in the past month, compared to just under 40% of Finns.

But there are aspects of life in Ireland that are more of a downer. Our perceptions of corruption are significantly worse. And, when asked whether we’re satisfied with our freedom to choose what we do with our lives, the answers are more mixed.

And it’s understandable for anyone to feel a bit miserable right now. Because how do you talk about happiness when the world seems to be on fire?

When we’re watching an ongoing genocide in Gaza, hearing about the relentless oppression of women in Afghanistan, the deepening housing, health and climate crises at home - and when the EU is considering spending €800 billion on rearmament?

Imagine if that money was poured into public healthcare, education, or solving the climate emergency instead. It would be a much more powerful catalyst for happiness than bombs and weapons.

As Mother’s Day approaches, I keep thinking about the mothers in Palestine and Afghanistan. For them there’s no time to think about happiness when you’re barely existing.

These people aren’t wondering where they rank in the World Happiness Report. They are wondering whether liberation will come in their lifetime. Are hoping their children won’t be killed in their sleep by Israeli bombs. Are dreaming of a life free from the Taliban.

In contrast, here we are - with the luxury of chasing happiness, or debating its causes.

And yes, we should take joy where we can.

I am very grateful for my peaceful life and can find happiness in small things - a perfectly brewed cup of tea, fresh bed sheets, a good meal shared with good company.

But what would really make us happy - deeply, collectively happy - would be the dismantling of the systems that keep billions living in poverty, facing food insecurity, lacking access to healthcare or clean water, or enduring conflict or environmental degradation.

I’m talking about the Big Things that underpin much of how the world works - capitalist imperialism, the patriarchy, the billionaire class, the military-industrial complex.

Action is the antidote to despair - we need more of us to protest, get politically active, organise and build coalitions to fix the big problems we see around us.

We can have a world where happiness isn’t a privilege, but a shared right. That would make us all happy.