I could write a book on the Presidential Election, and no doubt some will. When it comes to news and the media I think radio wins – social media may be quicker but there are serious reliability issues, and TV can be less nimble. And so it was that when the count started RTÉ One…
A few of last week’s programmes were more food for thought than fuel for anger or frustration. I was happy with that! Sunday Morning Live (BBC One) returned recently, with our own Cara O’Brien subbing as co-host with Sean Fletcher. Last Sunday morning, discussing climate change, I wondered how the balance of views would work…
In recent years immigration has been one of the thorniest topics around, and it drives polarisation big time. Spotlight: Why Are We Not Welcome? (BBC Two NI, Wednesday) explored a recent wave of racist and sectarian violence in North Belfast and Ballymena. Conor Spackman’s report told of how sectarian violence was still an issue, with…
A week is a long time in politics’ says the familiar cliché and wow it was certainly one of those weeks. The week started with the first of the Presidential debates on Virgin Media, on the Tonight Show. It was on a spectrum between dull and lacklustre – all task forces (Gavin), military industrial complexes…
So, the Presidential election is well under way. For an office that is important, with inherent dignity, it has so far been an uninspiring, sometimes silly, even dirty, campaign. The Maria Steen factor was particularly noteworthy. At the early stages she was just one independent among many, sometimes not even mentioned in news reports about…
I’m really sick of the head wrecking aggravation from the USA following the murder of Charlie Kirk, and the related, but trivial by comparison, cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel. I have to say neither was much on my radar up to last week. In this polarised environment both are either being canonised or demonised and neither…
I’ve been catching up on a few TV dramas of interest, an entertaining break from the grim real-life dramas dominating news and current affairs. Many of them of course take their inspiration or background from such real-life events, and I hope they don’t in turn trigger such events. None of them are family entertainment –…
Last weekend saw the canonisations of Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis – distinctive because they were young lay adults, from the 20th and 21st centuries respectively. The former is probably the lesser known of the two, and the film To the Top – Pier Giorgio Frassati (EWTN, Sunday) from 2023 helped to inform us…
It was another very bad week for children – killed by adults in Gaza, Ukraine and Minneapolis. The coverage was dispiriting, and anyone trying to deny the existence of evil in the world must have been sorely challenged. When I first heard of the Minneapolis school shooting, I was shocked enough, though it has become…
In the coming week we’ll be hearing a lot about Blessed Carlo Acutis, the young Catholic due to be canonised on Sunday, September 7, along with Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati – see programmes in Pick of the Week. Songs of Praise (BBC One, Sunday) devoted a programme to miracles, with a timely focus on Blessed…