Last weekend saw the welcome return of Sunday Morning Live on BBC One. It’s more magazine style than its alter ego The Big Questions but still features some weighty debates on topical religious, social or ethical issues. First up was timely discussion on youth mental health, especially in the context of exam stress and social…
I find it useful to tune in to Catholic news sources from abroad to get a broader view on the Catholic world, and to avoid being confined to the prevailing narrative of the secular media at home. EWTN News Nightly is particularly useful. Last Friday’s episode, for example, covered a wide range of issues. First up…
I was in the need of some good news stories last week, something to lift the spirits and restore some pride in the country. Nationwide (RTÉ1) provided the goods as it often does, in its own low key way, and with unfailing respect for its subjects. On Monday night they had a special show on the…
Some of you will be glad I’m not going to spend a full column on the referendum but I have to say I write this part with a heavy heart, a sense of bereavement at having lost something special, a sense of dread for the little lives that will be lost under our shiny new…
Sometimes it seems to me that the referendum on the Eighth Amendment is about more than just abortion. Of course, primarily it is, but there are other significant strands. This struck me particularly listening to the interview with An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Today With Seán O’Rourke last Friday. When ‘yes’ campaigners are asked some…
With the referendum on the Eighth Amendment fast approaching it’s hard to keep up with all the media coverage, but a few items stand out. Instead of doing a head-to-head debate which might have allowed for claims to be interrogated, News at One (RTÉ Radio 1) had two obstetricians on different days. As journalists just…
With RTÉ’s Leap of Faith gone into sleep mode for the summer, you wouldn’t go far wrong checking out Sunday Sequence (BBC Radio Ulster) for some stimulating religious and ethical discussion with an Irish flavour. Last Sunday morning it felt like something of a time warp with issues like land grabbing, slavery, and whether children…
Many political shows get phased out over the summer, presumably because the Dáil is not sitting but I don’t get the logic of a religious affairs show ending in April. Last Friday’s Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio 1) was unfortunately the last in the current series, but it will be back in the Autumn. The…
It was good to see Unreported World back on Channel 4 last Friday night – these short documentaries highlight various unfamiliar stories from around the world, often focusing on justice issues. The first episode in the new series featured the inspiring and moving story of a free ambulance service and voluntary paramedics serving the vulnerable…
The sense of dread that came over me when Donald Trump was elected President of the USA was heightened considerably last week. There were silly tweets from him about launching missiles “nice, new and smart”, after the reported gas attacks near Damascus. In a sleepless moment last Friday night, on an extended Newsroom programme (BBC…