She is currently performing her one-woman show, ‘Mother of All the Behans,’ which originally took place in the Olympia Theatre last August. She has now taken the show to Cork.
The production follows the story of Kathleen Behan, the mother of the late Brendan Behan, and has been described as “a fascinating record of a remarkable life”.
“Inspired by the songs and stories handed down through generations, this retelling is an entertaining journey through the social history of Dublin and the Behan family history,” says the promotion for the play.
The play is based on the book by Brian Behan and adapted and directed for the stage by Peter Sheridan.
Speaking to Oliver Callan on his RTÉ Radio 1 show, Imelda, a proud woman born and raised in Dublin’s Liberties, said that she thinks “the city has its problems, of course”.
The Dubliner was addressing a question about the state of unrest in Dublin city following the Dublin riots and Coolock protests.
“It needs to be looked at why there’s unrest, why people are upset because it normally comes from a place of fear, poverty, or people needing jobs,” she said.
“They need to be looking at and listening to the people. I think the blame is all going into the wrong places.
“The news loves telling you bad news.”
She countered this by saying that while there are problems, there is also “so much good” happening in Dublin city.
“I was walking around Dublin for the whole day recently, and I was listening to people’s conversations as I went, just a snapshot of it,” she said.
“I found so much joy and saw people having a good time, loads of people helping each other, and as I dropped something, someone helped me.
“The majority of people you meet are lovely and are nice to each other.”
She concluded by saying that “scaremongering” by the media needs to be “switched off”.
