The controversy over restrictions on religious services gained extra traction last week with an online petition, Bishops meeting Government and Christian pastors calling for change. It was a pity this didn’t happen at level 3 – it mightn’t have been an open door, but there would have been more hope. On Lunchtime Live (Newstalk, Wednesday),…
Hardly a week goes by without some sort of a religious controversy blowing up. And the pattern is often the same – exaggerated headlines, soundbites and one-liners, with pre-reflective rushes to the ramparts. And so it was last week when Pope Francis was reported to have said, in a new documentary, that he supported civil…
There’s something iconic about the Confession box that draws attention, an intensity about the confessing and forgiveness of sins that makes one wonder why more people don’t have recourse to it. The Confessors (RTÉ last week, BBC One on Monday, BBC Two on Tuesday) was an absorbing and insightful programme, uneven at times but with…
Last week I ended my column on the Trump-Biden Presidential debate. I wasn’t happy. I expected more from the Vice Presidential Debate, (RTÉ News Now, Sky News, CNN) on Wednesday night of last week and it was certainly an improvement, more civilised. The candidates, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris were more courteous, even gracious at…
There have been quite a few changes on radio for the autumn season, with presenters moving around in a kind of media musical chairs, but some things stay the same. And so I was glad to see the recent return of The Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio One) to its Friday night slot, with Michael…
Last week I wrote about a programme (Unquiet Graves) that highlighted sectarian murders in the North, perpetrated by loyalist gangs in the 1970s. I wasn’t expecting something similar so soon. Scannal (RTÉ One, Tuesday of last week) told the story of the conflict at Holy Cross School in the Ardoyne, Belfast. Even the most hardened…
Sometimes I shy away from worthy programmes because I’m not in the mood or I think they’ll be too sad or grim. Fortunately I resisted that temptation on Wednesday of last week. Unquiet Graves (RTÉ One) was indeed sad and grim, but it was also inspiring story about the thirst for justice. It told the…
What have déjà vu and doublethink got in common? I got a strong sense of both in the media last week. Mostly it was in relation to the assisted suicide debate that kicked off during the week as Gino Kenny TD intends to introduce a Dying with Dignity Bill. On three Drivetime programmes (RTÉ Radio…
There have been lots of interesting changes in the media landscape in recent times, and I’ll get through them in turn. It seemed natural that Joe Duffy would take over from the late Gay Byrne (Duffy was once his protégée) for the new series of The Meaning of Life (RTÉ One, Sunday). I was expecting…
What with the #Golfgate row, the thirst for punishments and polarising conflicts worldwide you’d wonder if Covid-19 wasn’t infecting brains and temperaments. There has been much honest grappling with challenging issues but also much casting of first stones. On Thought for the Day (BBC Radio 4) last Wednesday morning, Anglican Bishop Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani took…