In place of religious services on Sunday Mornings, RTÉ 1 has been trying out a new format on an occasional basis. I’m a big fan of Life and Soul, and enjoyed the latest episode last Sunday morning. As usual the focus was on personal stories interspersed with prayers, bible readings and musical interludes. And it’s…

Every now and then there’s a high-profile TV programme that takes religion seriously. The occasions are rare enough but worth waiting for. I was certainly impressed by Inside the Vatican on BBC2 last Friday, a fine piece of documentary making from producer-director Silvia Sacco.  It was low key, subtle, nuanced and even moving at times.…

Well, here we go again. When allegedly liberal social change is being advanced some elements in the media oblige by pushing carefully selected personal stories, imbalanced discussions and the full panoply of media bias strategies. It felt like the latest variation of this last week when Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1), with guest presenter Katie Hannon…

The Pope’s visit to Africa received minimal coverage on mainstream media. BBC and RTÉ did cover the Mass attended by a million people in Madagascar last Sunday, while US Catholic channel EWTN filled the gap with a range of programmes during the week and over last weekend. Last Thursday I particularly enjoyed Pope Francis in…

With all the fractious controversies raging over Brexit, I like to listen to all sides of the debate, and there are certainly more than two! For the most part Irish commentary tends to range from mildly anti-Brexit to regarding those who voted to leave as stupid. But there are exceptions and we got relatively balanced…

I like films where conscience is taken seriously and all the more if the film making is of high quality. Hacksaw Ridge (Channel 5 Sunday, RTÉ2 Monday) left me conflicted. It has so much good stuff going for it, but I have serious reservations. Directed by Mel Gibson it tells the true story of US Army…

I had the pleasure of seeing the Blind Boys of Alabama live in Cork Opera House a few years ago and thankfully they’re still going strong. Gospel music is a central part of their repertoire as was clear from their slot on Edinburgh Nights (BBC2) last Friday. Nish Kumar looked in on their rehearsals and…

Films and TV programmes, when dealing with religious themes often go for the cultish, extreme or even twisted versions of Faith, but on good days it’s just the pleasantly offbeat. Last Saturday night’s film on BBC2 was all of the above. Stations of the Cross is a German film, serious, well made, but not easy…

There are some programmes I like and some I dislike, and then there are programmes I find inspiring at times, and irritating at others. Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1) fits into the latter category, and last week I was definitely irritated. It all started on the Tuesday when ‘Diane’ (not her real name) expressed how upset…

One of last week’s biggest news stories was the election of Boris Johnson as leader of the UK Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister. It has made for some fascinating political discussions in the media. Last weekend, Sunday (BBC Radio 4) asked the question ‘Does Boris do God?’  It was an interesting discussion but rather…