St. Patrick, New York, and the Right to March

Is St. Patrick's Day a celebration of Irishness or a private religious occasion?

Irish Noir

Last Summer RTE Radio broadcast a BAI funded series on Irish Crime Fiction. I produced 3 reports for the series; one on Raymond Chandler's connections to Waterford,another with author Colin Batemen, and a third that looked at women's attitudes to the genre. Here they are!

Happy World Radio Day!

Although I didn't know it existed until a few months ago, World Radio Day is now one of my new favourite made up holidays. To mark it I spoke to one of the biggest radio fans in one of the smallest radio museums.
 

"Maybe he just didn't like the job...or maybe he fell in love"

On the resignation of Pope Benedict I decided to put together a roundtable discussion on the topic for RTE Radio 1. The only difference is that my panel was made up entirely of Primary School students. The results were hilarious.

Divine Comedy

 My wonderful RTE producer Gerry McArdle was generous (and trusting) enough to hand over the first show of the new year to me. The result is a half hour special on religion and comedy, recorded in 4 countries over 4 months. Enjoy!

The Dalai Lama in Derry

It's now more than 40 years since the sounds of plastic bullets and doors being kicked in marked the beginning of Operation Demetrius, bringing a dark cloud over Northern Ireland. 

Within a week, 24 people had been killed, including 20 civilians. Bloody Sunday followed, as did Direct Rule and Hunger Strikes. By the time of The Good Friday Agreement in 1998, thousands had died and whole communities were shattered. 

And while Northern Ireland has since been held up as shining example that peace is possible, the recent unrest has shown that the past can quickly infect the present.

But it is for this reason that the Derry's 'City of Culture' title for 2013 is all the more significant. Through theatre, music, exhibitions and art, visitors can reshape their view of a city that was for so long stigmatised by unrest and violence.

One of the most noteworthy events this year was the visit of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, when 300 primary school children united with Protestant and Catholic leaders to walk the Peace Bridge. I was fortunate enough to be there for RTÉ Radio and you can hear my report below.

While in Derry, I also took a walking tour of the murals in the Bogside, which will be broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 in the autumn.

Coming soon...

I've spent a lot of the summer working on pieces for RTÉ Radio 1's autumn schedule. I'm really excited about it actually - there's everything from the murals of Derry to the evacuation of the Blaskets to the stories of the 'Forgotten Irish' in London.

One feature that I'm working on is a documentary on the religion and comedy in Ireland, tracing it from the '60's through to the present. In the process I was fortunate enough to interview Frank Kelly, aka Fr Jack of Fr Ted fame. The interview at his home was intelligent, hilarious and deeply personal, and it was one of the most enjoyable interviews I have ever had the pleasure of doing.

The final product should be posted over the coming months so do stay with me....

Frank Kelly at his home in Blackrock, Co. Dublin