Thursday’s Top Stories: Cillian Murphy leads sky-high Irish hopes for the Oscars; Ireland’s female sommeliers are ready to pour

Oscars 2024: Cillian Murphy leads sky-high Irish hopes as nominees fly out

Not since 1990 has an Irish-born actor won the best Oscar, though Daniel Day-Lewis, now an Irish resident and citizen, has won two since then.

Day-Lewis promised famously there would be “one hell of a party in Dublin” after he and Brenda Fricker picked up the Oscars in 1990 for their performances in My Left Foot.

Almost 35 years on, Cillian Murphy is the favourite to win best actor for his towering performance as J Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, in the film Oppenheimer, which is also favourite to win best picture.

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Food Highlights

Women with a nose for wine: Ireland’s female sommeliers are ready to pour: In case you haven’t noticed, women are killing it on the wine scene. There was a time when the industry was dominated by the old boys club, but now a female sommelier will barely raise an eyebrow. Or at least, you would hope not.