There’s something iconic about the Confession box that draws attention, an intensity about the confessing and forgiveness of sins that makes one wonder why more people don’t have recourse to it. The Confessors (RTÉ last week, BBC One on Monday, BBC Two on Tuesday) was an absorbing and insightful programme, uneven at times but with…
Last week I ended my column on the Trump-Biden Presidential debate. I wasn’t happy. I expected more from the Vice Presidential Debate, (RTÉ News Now, Sky News, CNN) on Wednesday night of last week and it was certainly an improvement, more civilised. The candidates, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris were more courteous, even gracious at…
There have been quite a few changes on radio for the autumn season, with presenters moving around in a kind of media musical chairs, but some things stay the same. And so I was glad to see the recent return of The Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio One) to its Friday night slot, with Michael…
Last week I wrote about a programme (Unquiet Graves) that highlighted sectarian murders in the North, perpetrated by loyalist gangs in the 1970s. I wasn’t expecting something similar so soon. Scannal (RTÉ One, Tuesday of last week) told the story of the conflict at Holy Cross School in the Ardoyne, Belfast. Even the most hardened…
What have déjà vu and doublethink got in common? I got a strong sense of both in the media last week. Mostly it was in relation to the assisted suicide debate that kicked off during the week as Gino Kenny TD intends to introduce a Dying with Dignity Bill. On three Drivetime programmes (RTÉ Radio…
There have been lots of interesting changes in the media landscape in recent times, and I’ll get through them in turn. It seemed natural that Joe Duffy would take over from the late Gay Byrne (Duffy was once his protégée) for the new series of The Meaning of Life (RTÉ One, Sunday). I was expecting…
What with the #Golfgate row, the thirst for punishments and polarising conflicts worldwide you’d wonder if Covid-19 wasn’t infecting brains and temperaments. There has been much honest grappling with challenging issues but also much casting of first stones. On Thought for the Day (BBC Radio 4) last Wednesday morning, Anglican Bishop Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani took…
The boundary bet-ween traditional and social media is still pretty clear, but there are some interesting things going on in the blurred border area. Facebook Live, for example, merges TV and social media very effectively. It gathers video content that people have posted on Facebook and lets you watch them in one place. Last week…
With such grim material in the news and current affairs programmes these days, it’s welcome when they are followed by something lighter. I enjoyed Des’s Island Discs (RTÉ Radio One) last Tuesday after Drivetime when Des Cahill’s guest was Archbishop Eamon Martin. I knew the Archbishop was a fine singer, but learned on the show…
The news cycle last week was dominated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Beirut bombing and the death of John Hume, and in a way they were all connected. As if the people of Lebanon hadn’t enough to put up with, what with political turmoil and the pandemic, that massive explosion earlier in the week…
Brendan O’Regan