Closed for Lunch Premiere
A huge thanks to everyone who turned out to walk the red carpet at the premiere of Offaly-made documentary Closed For Lunch at Esker Arts on 4th March 2026. It was great to see so many different members of the community out to support the film.
This short film tells the personal stories behind Offaly’s peat industry through the lens of lunchtime- be it the craic and camaraderie of the canteen, or the simple pleasures of tea and sandwiches on the bog. It’s a tribute to a local industry, but also the now-dwindling lunch break in today’s era of supermarket sandwiches and pressured working days.
It was produced by Offaly’s Mixed Bag Media as part of FilmOffaly’s Documentary Mentorship Scheme. The scheme saw a group of five local filmmakers receive training in documentary skills from IFTA-nominated filmmaker Garret Daly. After the workshops with Garret, the filmmakers worked together to produce Closed For Lunch themselves, taking on all the production roles and earning their first professional production credit while doing so.
The film is a highly personal piece of Offaly history and there is a huge amount of quality and talent on display from the local filmmakers involved.
Well done to everyone involved with making the night a great success!