The onset of Lent usually prompts some extra interest in religion in the media, however short lived. Ivan Yates had a fairly positive coverage of Ash Wednesday, on his show The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk). He said he had seen lots of people with ashes on their foreheads in Dublin during the day, though roving reporter…

It amazes me sometimes how people who can’t possibly know the truth of an event get very dogmatic about it and take definitive positions. They fuel polarisation and aggravation, setting themselves up for a fall if things don’t turn out as they assumed, and that’s if we ever find out the truth. Last week Australian…

The most prominent religious affairs story in the media last week was the child abuse summit in Rome. Commentary varied from optimistic to cynical and all shades between. Some Catholics called for a review of Catholic teaching on sexuality, but I felt they needed to be more specific. That position could mean anything from scrapping…

It was a week of noteworthy interviews in the media. Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan had spoken at a meeting of the liberal group We Are Church and predictably this led to some radio interviews. On Drivetime (RTÉ Radio 1), Tuesday of last week, she stressed she was speaking as an ‘ordinary’ Catholic, but I’d…

As a nation we’ve improved road fatality statistics over the years, an improvement that’s all the more noteworthy considering the increase in traffic volumes. So I’m presuming it’s down to NCT testing, better roads, improved driver training, penalty points and hard hitting road safety campaigns. I know it has an impact when I see that…

There’s usually a positive response when people whose background becomes an obstacle to education manage to access it despite the challenges, and sometimes later in life. Last Friday night’s Nationwide (RTE 1) was quite uplifting, focusing as it did on the Trinity Access Programme (TAP). We heard from several people, young and older, who had…

People say we have a toxic relationship with all sorts of things, but gambling has to be up there as one of the most serious scourges. TV drama Cleaning Up (UTV, Wednesdays and Virgin Media 1, Mondays) makes for uncomfortable viewing as Sam (Sheridan Smith) unravels due to her addiction to all sorts of gambling.…

I have mixed feelings about boxing as a sport – it can teach self-discipline, focus the energies of the young, enhance physical fitness, but there can be a brutality about it that is unnerving. Katie (RTÉ1, Tuesday) was an impressive documentary from Ross Whitaker that followed the career of Irish boxer Katie Taylor. It was full…

Sometimes a programme arrives with mighty hype and fails to live up to the high expectations, then sometimes you just about stumble upon a modest show that exceeds the low expectations. RTÉ’s War of Independence drama Resistance (RTÉ1, Sunday nights) was preceded by much hype. Now two episodes in, it is better than I expected.…

The New Year often sees the launch of new shows or at least new series of old ones. And so, I came across a couple of notables last week. The Big Questions returned for a new series last Sunday morning on BBC1, hosted as usual by Nicky Campbell. There’s been a redesign, which is fine,…