Two items last week captured a telling moment, a sign of the times as we head towards Christmas. Both items were on Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio One, Tuesday). A report from the Mid-West Simon Community food bank service in Limerick, showed a strong demand. One woman had asked for porridge, with tears in her eyes…

The World Cup has been dominating the media for the last week or so, and even though a sporting event that might lift all spirits it has been dogged by controversies. Most media coverage I came across was critical of the governing body FIFA for not allowing LGBT supportive armbands being worn by players on…

In the middle of head-wrecking controversies it’s welcome to come across a programme that front-loads positivity. The Leap of Faith (RTE, Friday) was well timed as the COP27 Climate Change Conference was drawing to a close. It was good to hear positivity and optimism in a new book The Parish as Oasis: An Introduction to…

It was another week of disturbing religious controversy, but I’ll start with something different. Philip Nolan was a familiar figure right through Covid times as he was a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). Now Director General of Science Foundation Ireland he was promoting Science Week on The Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk,…

I’m conflicted about the Kerry priest controversy. Certainly much of the media coverage was ill-informed and unnecessarily confrontational. The basics of what Fr Seán Sheehy said at those Masses in Listowell was orthodox Catholic teaching, which is by far the main thing, but the message could have been delivered in a more appealing, compassionate, sensitive…

As many programmes were gearing up for the Halloween horrors, it was great to watch a relaxing programme that celebrated the joys of autumn and the beauty of creation in general. It was the last episode of the current series of Gardeners’ World (BBC Two, Friday) and I was a good one. Regular presenter Carol…

The media’s obsession with the ‘far right’ tends to give the far left a free pass, which just might be the whole purpose. I’m three episodes into The Walk-In (UTV, Mondays), a gripping true-life drama about efforts to expose the far right group National Action in the UK. Stephen Graham plays campaigning journalist Matthew Collins,…

It’s awful when it happens but last week’s news and current affairs programming was dominated by funerals. For the media it was a week of fallout from the Creeslough explosions, for the families it will be a lifetime. Local priest Fr John Joe Duffy has had “a week like no other”, as Mary Wilson described…

The weight of tragedy was particularly heavy last week. Nine News (RTÉ One, Friday) led with the explosion at the filling station in Creeslough, Co. Donegal, and such a cloud hung over this small community. At that stage the enormity of the disaster was just filtering through, and though there were no casualty figures the…

I love a drama series that’s unpredictable, steers clear of stereotypes and has a sharp script, a touch or more of humour and fluid acting. Inside Man on BBC One, Mondays and Tuesdays, fits the bill with delights to spare. Its black humour reminds me of Coen Brothers material, especially the Fargo film and series.…