Episodes
Published 11/07/20
The journalists Peter Taylor and Fergal Keane have each been indelibly shaped by their experience of reporting on the Northern Ireland Troubles. Both witnessed the horror and pain of the conflict close up. Both would see the mixed fortunes brought by peace and reconciliation. Peter Taylor first arrived in Northern Ireland on the night of Bloody Sunday in 1972. A Yorkshire man with no family or personal connections to Ireland, he would go on to become one of the most distinguished journalists...
Published 11/07/20
The journalists Peter Taylor and Fergal Keane have each been indelibly shaped by their experience of reporting on the Northern Ireland Troubles. Both witnessed the horror and pain of the conflict close up. Both would see the mixed fortunes brought by peace and reconciliation. Peter Taylor first arrived in Northern Ireland on the night of Bloody Sunday in 1972. A Yorkshire man with no family or personal connections to Ireland, he would go on to become one of the most distinguished journalists...
Published 10/31/20
Enda McClafferty meets the sole survivor of the 1958 fishing trawler tragedy that killed his great uncle and four others.
Published 09/26/20
Conor Garrett knows he's one of the lucky ones. None of his family or friends have contracted Coronavirus so far and he hasn't had to spend the time in quarantine alone. But working from home while trying to home-school two young sons hasn't been without its challenges. Conor's dad is also seriously ill and his niece Imogen - a recent medicine graduate - is facing one of the biggest dilemmas of her life: whether to join the NHS frontline helping to tackle Covid-19. As Conor loses track of the...
Published 05/25/20
From having your wedding cancelled, to closing the doors of your business, and being hospitalized to making a recovery - people across Ireland share how their lives have been impacted due to COVID-19, from 16th March to the present day. Featuring Patricia McGinnis, Richard McBride, Maura Sloan, Angie Tandon, Ed Canning, Niamh Ni Chonchuir, Órfhlaith Ní Chearnaigh, Ryan Gaston, Lenny White, Jessica Anderson, Michelle Gallen and Luke McCann.
Published 05/16/20
People from Ireland share their experiences of being at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. We hear from those living and working in Wuhan and other cities, as well as getting the perspective from the NI Chinese community, as people talk of face masks, fear and hi-tech surveillance - but also of hope. The programme traces the emergence of COVID-19 in January, through China’s near total lock down and onto the first signs that the virus was receding. Did the Chinese government’s...
Published 04/22/20
NI & Irish people living across the world, tell us what life is like for them, since the invisible enemy of COVID-19 brought life as we know it to a halt. This is a snapshot of lives in lockdown across the globe from Mid-March to April 2020. Featuring Catherine Clancy, Paul Nelson, Morgan Fagg, Siobhan Ni Chiobhain, Jenny Goggin, Sinead McCambridge, Sean Burke and Alison Crozier.
Published 04/04/20
Local people across NI share the life experiences that have made them who they are today. To dig deep – to find the strength they might not have realised they had - to keep calm and carry on. With presenter Tessa Fleming, in association with BBC Radio 4’s Listening Project. For details of organisations which offer advice and support with any of the issues that have been raised in this programme - go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline. Produced by Cathy Moorehead.
Published 03/28/20
Instagram personality That Belfast Girl explains the perks of sharing your personal life online & meets the local influencers who are going viral on social media. From battling cancer on Instagram, to raising awareness of diabetes in laugh-out-loud TikTok videos, and the growing movement of body positivity, we meet the women brave enough to bare all online. With influencers: Instagram - @all.things.mia @felicityhayward @thatbelfastgirl YouTube - @Caitlyn Lendrum TikTok - @diabeticduo
Published 03/14/20
How the violence of the Northern Ireland Troubles began
Published 02/29/20
How the violence of the Northern Ireland Troubles began
Published 02/22/20
Brian from Derry in Northern Ireland finally found the courage to live openly as a transvestite in California, and found happiness with his wife Debbie from Kentucky.
Published 02/08/20
From overcoming homelessness, to tackling suicide, having a crisis of faith to being 'queer on stage'. Local people share their life experiences, struggles and triumphs around topics often considered taboo, with presenter Mairead Campbell. Produced by Cathy Moorehead.
Published 02/01/20
Comedian Ciaran Bartlett uncovers three strange but true tales of executions and escapes from Crumlin Road Gaol from 1854 to 1960. Dr Lynsey Black examines the first public execution at Crumlin Road Gaol, of soldier Robert O’Neill in 1854 which ‘entertained’ over 15,000 members of the public. Crime writer Steve Fielding shares the case of travelling circus member - Eddie Cullens in 1932 and the murdered corpse found naked with nothing but a bathing cap on. And Donal Donnelly - the only...
Published 01/25/20
Conor Garrett finds out if family friend David can break the hoarding habit of a lifetime
Published 01/18/20
Though they share a home, Marie Louise Muir often feels excluded from her autistic daughter’s world. Can the arts help her to enter and understand?
Published 01/11/20
Raised in the Fermanagh village of Bellanaleck amid story-tellers, yarns and football, Brian D’Arcy never dreamed he would become a priest until a meeting with a Passionist at The Graan Monastery set him on the road to priesthood against his parent’s wishes. Now, as he celebrates 50 years as a priest, Father Brian reflects on a long career of faith, fame and controversy. As he revisits the village of his childhood, the monastery that would become home for most of his vocation and the shores...
Published 12/28/19
Part 2 of 2. In the leafy suburbs of South Belfast, journalist Ita Dungan discovered thousands of receipts in the attic of her Victorian terraced house. They reveal the middle class life enjoyed by Robert Smith, his wife Jeannie and their four children - Robert Cecil, Florence Eileen, Edward Ivan McCullagh and Donald Edgeworth. With the help of historian Dr Alice Johnson and newspaper reports, Ita discovers the controversial source of Robert’s wealth, a diamond ring heirloom and the forgotten...
Published 11/30/19
Part 1 of 2. In the leafy suburbs of South Belfast, journalist Ita Dungan discovered thousands of receipts in the attic of her Victorian terraced house. They reveal the lavish middle class life of a man, woman, their family and servant from the 1860s all the way up until 1916. Receipts for velvet jackets and feather boas, their grand furniture and holidays away give clues to the life they once enjoyed - in the very same house which Ita lives in today. With the help of historian Dr Alice...
Published 11/23/19
Before I Was An Orphan tells the true story of local journalist Alex Kane. Despite not speaking a word until he was adopted from an orphanage at six years old, he now ironically makes his living as a political pundit and commentator. Alex has no memory of life prior to moving in with his adoptive mum Adelaide and her husband Sam, but suffers night terrors to this day about opening a door back into his childhood. His earliest memory is of a teddy bear given to him as a present by Adelaide and...
Published 10/13/19
Garrett Carr on the radical commune which broke the silence of rural Donegal in the 1970s
Published 05/19/19
Joe Nawaz recalls growing up in Belfast with an Irish mother and a Pakistani father. His story sweeps from the partition of India in 1947 through to the Ulster Workers Strike of '74 and beyond. Teenage angst and struggles with identity caused Joe to shy away from his Muslim heritage and to rebel against his strict father. With humour and candour he remembers how he used to long to be Catholic and carefree - even changing his name to Joe Donnelly on a fake ID card. But maturity, fatherhood...
Published 04/27/19
The moving, challenging and groundbreaking story of Ellen Murray, leading light in Northern Ireland's transgender community. Immersed in her daily life, this programme records Ellen in her public and private worlds as she campaigns for her community and reflects on her own extraordinary life.
Published 04/08/18
It happens behind front doors in every village, town and city in Northern Ireland. Police respond to a domestic incident every 18 minutes and yet critics say the justice system doesn't take it seriously. It means pain, upheaval, and often lasting fear for the victims. In this revealing documentary, the BBC hears directly from women struggling to find safety and gets access to women's refuges to find out what life is like after violence at the hands of a partner.
Published 03/25/18