
A Sea of Sound
27 March 2022 - 46 minsExploring the harmful effect of man-made noise pollution on the whales and dolphins inhabiting Irish waters in a new radio documentary by producer John Higgins: A Sea of Sound
Over 90% of Ireland’s territory is under the sea and this vast underwater environment is home to 25 different species of whale, dolphin and porpoise, from deep diving beaked whales hunting squid in the spectacular mountains and valleys of the ocean floor off our west coast, and humpback whales feeding and foraging here on their long migratory routes from Africa to Iceland, to resident species such as the bottlenose dolphins living all year round in the Shannon estuary.
With each passing decade however, man-made noise...

35 Years of GCN - Gay Community News
A new radio documentary, 35 Years of GCN, produced by Shaun & Maurice for Documentary and Drama on Newstalk, explores the story of Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community through the pages of Ireland's longest-running free LGBTQ+ publication and press. The story of GCN (Gay Community News) is also the story of LGBTQ+ rights, history, and culture in Ireland. Since 1988, the magazine has reflected and documented the lives and lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people. The first issue of GCN was published from a small office at the top of the Hirschfield Centre in Dublin’s Temple Bar, and since then it has been at the heart of the LGBTQ+ community. 35 Years of GCN explores some of the LGBTQ+ stories captured by the magazine. The programme features an interview with Tonie Walsh who co-founded GCN with Catherine Glendon during the height of the AIDS epidemic. It features an interview with Senator David Norris about the foundation of GCN in the same year that he won his case against the Irish government at the European Court of Human Rights (which ruled the existence of laws in Ireland criminalising consensual gay sex to be illegal). The documentary also features interviews with former GCN editors Brian Finnegan and Lisa Connell, about the struggles and celebrations that have been documented by the nation’s LGBTQ+ paper of record—including the introduction of civil partnership, the passing of both the marriage and abortion referendums, and the introduction of the gender recognition act. The programme was produced with funding from the Coimisiún na Meán Sound and Vision scheme.
46 mins
12 November Finished

The White Line
Documentary on Newstalk presents ‘The White Line’, a new documentary that reveals the shocking truth about how Irish Traveller children were treated in Irish schools and the unacknowledged apartheid that existed in the Irish education system for over 5 decades. Through personal testimony we hear how Traveller children were: kept separate from the settled children at all times; put in Traveller-only classrooms where they received little or no teaching; and were physically and mentally punished regularly simply because of who they were. All the voices, including that of the narrator, in this documentary belong to members of the Irish Traveller Community. The interviewees come from many parts of the country, from Tipperary, to Galway to Meath and Dublin and for most, this is the first time they have told their story publicly. ‘The White Line’ was produced by Independent radio Producer Susan Dennehy. The Narrator was Christine Collins. The Final Mix was by Moynihan Russell Studios. The programme was funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television License Fee.
46 mins
5 November Finished

Cloud City
Documentary On Newstalk presents a new documentary by producer Pavel Barter. Telling the forgotten story of how Irish immigrants built a Wild West mining town two miles high in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in Cloud City. This portrait of Irish diaspora, in one of America’s most ruthless settlements, explores the lives of two characters whose names live on in Leadville lore: Mart Duggan from Limerick, one of the most fearsome yet respected lawmakers in the American West; and Michael Mooney, a union leader from Dublin who fought for worker rights. This month (September, 2023) sees the opening of a memorial to the Leadville Irish, who until now had been forgotten in unmarked graves at the town’s Evergreen Cemetery. Credits:Pavel Barter: presenter and producer. Michael Mellamphy (Red Dead Redemption 2) plays Mart Duggan and Michael Mooney. With thanks to David Wright (research) and Wil Masisak (VO recording). Funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television License Fee.
46 mins
17 September Finished

The First Hundred Years: Albert Dryer and the Irish National Association
In “The First Hundred Years: Albert Dryer and the Irish National Association” producer J.J. O'Shea explores the aims and achievements of an important Irish Cultural organisation founded in 1915 in Sydney, Australia, and the life of the man who was the driving force behind the association. The story of the Irish in Australia remains a relatively unexamined aspect of the Irish emigration story and this programme shines a light on some surprising aspects of that story. "The First Hundred Years" was Produced by J.J. O'Shea. Excerpts from the INA Centenary Oral History Project were used with the kind permission of the National Library of Australia. This programme was supported by a grant from Coimisiún na Meán as part of the Sound and Vision Scheme.
46 mins
12 September Finished

Know It All
Producer Michael Cullen introduces us to some of Ireland's most successful quizzers. "Know It All" looks at the quizzing scene in Ireland, and talks to some of its most successful participants, including two winners of Mastermind, and a winner of the million on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
46 mins
27 August Finished

Dead White Men
Producer Patricia Baker of Curious Broadcast takes a walk past the many famous and infamous statues and monuments in Dublin, in the radio documentary Dead White Men, and considers who and how we commemorate. By talking with academics and arts practitioners she asks questions about the monuments that we have chosen to destroy, those we have kept and those perhaps we should not. This is a walk through the monuments controversy past and present. Dead White Men is a Curious Broadcast Production, Funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee.
44 mins
20 August Finished