The Hawk Against the Dove is a deeply moving collaboration between Antoinette Foley and James Mahon. This powerful performative talk offers an unflinching portrait of addiction, resilience, and redemption in rural Ireland.

Once associated primarily with urban centres, drug addiction has increasingly taken root in small towns and rural communities. The Hawk Against the Dove traces this shift through the lived experience of Antoinette Foley, whose personal journey lays bare the often-invisible cost of substance abuse in towns like Athy. Born into a Traveller family, Antoinette’s life spirals following teenage love, heartbreak, and the trauma of family separation. Her descent into addiction is chronicled with raw honesty, from the streets of Athy to the banks of the River Barrow. Yet, at the heart of this story is not only pain, but a fragile, persistent hope – the memory of the girl she once was and the future she still dares to imagine.

 The Hawk Against the Dove is both a personal and political statement. It confronts the weight of judgment placed on women, Travellers, and addicts, while affirming the power of storytelling as a path to healing and change. The discussion will offer insight into the project’s development, its central themes, and the impact of socially engaged art on community awareness and wellbeing.