The short film "My Island Links", which I had the pleasure of making with my friend Susan O'Keeffe about ancestral connections I have with Dernish Island off the coast of county Sligo. was launched in The Cat and the Moon on Thursday, November 10th 2016.  It was a real privilege to have so many friends, neighbours and colleagues in attendance on the night   

Susan O'Keeffe directed and scripted, organised, produced and drove the making of the piece. Cinematography was by the truly gifted Peter Martin, and sound and music recording was by the equally gifted Luke Devaney of The Blue Room Recording Studio in Grange. The song "Salior" was composed by David Lawlor and my husband Malcolm, and is performed by Malcolm and Luke. David and Malcolm also helped us out with boats, logistics and organising for the high seas.

I wanted to say a very special thanks to the O’Connor family - Seamus Ushie and Raymond at Island View Riding Stables- for their endless help and advice on the Island and its past, as well as my own connections with it. A very special thank you also to the McCann family and friends especially Eileen who helped me to piece the story together.

Also to Tom Elisha and Simone of Perfect Day Surf School Strandhill "The Original & The Best Since 1998" in Strandhill for Safety advice and help on the high seas.

Thank you so much and as always to David and Caroline Hamilton and Marion Moffatt, the team of goldsmiths at The Cat and the Moon who turn my design ideas into reality in precious metal. Their dedication and hard work is the backbone of the Martina Hamilton Jewellery brand.

Thank you to my daughters Anna and Ellen for agreeing to sacrifice a whole afternoon off school to come out onto the Island.

For totally upstaging and outshining everything we were trying to do I want to thank Blue our wonderful Irish setter who was born for stardom.

Finally a huge thank you to Eileen Magnier and John McMorrow at RTÉ for their interest in the Island Link Story and returning to the island with us a couple of weeks ago to create a short piece for Nationwide which is due be shown in January 2017.