Niwel: A Life in Music explores Niwel Tsumbu's life in Africa, his reasons for emigrating to Ireland, the story of his life here, and some of his musical projects across a wide range of styles. These include Irish Trad, Classical and Jazz, as well as the Congolese styles of Rhumba and Soukous.

Samples of Niwel's music are interwoven with commentary from composer Mel Mercier, percussionist Eamonn Cagney, folklorist Ríonach Uí Ógáin, Niwel himself, and the presenter J.J. O'Shea, concluding with the premiere of an original composition recorded especially for the programme.

In addition the programme looks at the history and culture of the Congo – a country ravaged by ongoing wars and poverty, even though it offers vital material to the modern world in terms of rare minerals which are essential for today's technologies.

Niwel: A Life in Music is produced and presented by J.J. O'Shea and funded by Coimisiún na Meán.

Melting Pot is a story about food, recipes passed down through generations, dishes that remind us of home and family.

From Ukraine and Moldova to Nigeria, Lebanon, the Liberties of Dublin, and Zimbabwe, these are foods that carry memory. They hold the flavours of culture and the histories of the people who cook them.

These are not restaurant recipes. They are family recipes: meals cooked with love, carrying memory, tradition, and identity. They are everyday meals. Comfort food. Stories you can taste.

Featuring contributors from across Ireland’s diverse communities, Melting Pot explores how food preserves culture, creates connection, and helps people feel at home, wherever they are in the world.

Melting Pot is a Curious Broadcast production, funded by Coimisiún na Meán through the Television Licence Fee.

The Melting Pot Cookbook, featuring recipes from the documentary, is available to download free from biazine.com.

Featured Recipes and Contributors:

Ukraine

Borscht
Contributor: Olena Zhuravlyova

Moldova

Zeama (Chicken Soup)
Contributor: Angelina Kuchuk

Georgia

Nigvziani Badrijani (Walnut and Aubergine Rolls)
Contributor: Marina

Dublin, Ireland

Coddle
Contributors: Elizabeth Duffy, Liz Clayton and Angela Rooney

Lebanon

Kibbeh
Contributor: Rita Sakr

Zimbabwe

Pap and Beef Stew
Contributor: Normakhosi Ngwenya

Nigeria

Akara (Bean Fritters)
Contributor: Victory Nwabu-Ekeoma

Additional contributor: Dr Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

The documentary features firsthand accounts of former residents on what life was like in the capital’s most densely populated accommodation from the 1940s to the 1970s, from cooking and cleaning to school and work. They describe the move from dilapidated one-room homes to new council flats and the switch to suburbia.

Many of the recordings were made at one of Ireland’s best known tenement buildings, 14 Henrietta Street, in Dublin’s north inner city. The Georgian house was turned into a museum in 2018 and the documentary includes contributions from tour guide Pat Garry and social historian Donal Fallon.

The former residents featured in the documentary once lived in tenements on Henrietta Street, Mary Street, Jervis Street and Charlotte Street. They include Jane Lynch, Rachel Naylor, Peter Hayes, Michael McAuley and Stephen Norton.

A special thank you to the team at 14 Henrietta Street for their support in making this documentary. Also to Na Píobairí Uilleann, which allowed its headquarters at number 15 Henrietta Street to be used during the documentary.

On 19 July 1984 Mary Manning, a shop worker in Dunnes Stores on Henry Street in Dublin, refused to handle two grapefruit which had been imported from South Africa following an instruction from her union as a protest for the apartheid policies in place in the country. Mary was suspended and thus started what would become one of the longest running strikes in trade union history.

A new radio documentary produced by Kelly Crichton revisits the story, highlighting the tinder box atmosphere in Dunnes which helped lead to the strike, the evolution of the strikers' motivation and understanding as well as the dramatic and dangerous events that took place over the period of the strike.

The documentary follows the journey of the strikers, from the lack of support they received from politicians, the government, the church and other groups to being heralded as heroes. It shares the support they received from key people like their union official Brendan Archbold and Nimrod Sejake, who joined them on the picket line and had been a cellmate and fellow member of the African National Congress(ANC) with Nelson Mandela. Other supporters included Archbishop Desmond Tutu who helped them gain international recognition and the Reverend Jess Jackson.

It’s a story of determination, perseverance, love and triumph through adversity. Dunnes were approached for comment.

The documentary was supported by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee.

A group of young Irish immigrants, many of them in their 20s and undocumented, set out with the lofty goal to reform U.S. immigration law in order to create an amnesty for Irish illegal aliens (and immigrants from other nations who were in the same boat).

But how could these young activists convince politicians in Washington of the merits of their campaign? And how were they going to do it in the two years before Congress ended?

This is the story of the Irish Immigration Reform Movement.

This Land is Your Land is produced and edited by Pavel Barter, narrated by Michael Mellamphy, and funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee.

This two-part documentary series focuses on the seasonal theatrical extravaganzas, from their origins on the streets of Venice in the 1500s, to their first mention in an Irish newspaper in the 1731. From the productions that spread across the country in the 1800s, to the star-studded pantos that we know and love today. From the geamaireacht, the first Irish language pantos at the Abbey Theatre, to 150 years of the tradition at the Gaiety Theatre.

In the local parish halls of today, just as in the grand Victorian theatres of the past, the Irish panto has had people rolling in the aisles for centuries. With contributions from theatre historians, advocates and panto fans and performers, we recount the story of a much-loved artform: a story 500 years in the making.

A History of Irish Panto is presented by Amy O’Dwyer and Donncha O’Dea, the team who brought you the IMRO-nominated documentary Extraordinary Éire.

Episode 1 – Panto of the Past, It’s Behind You!

Episode 2 – Panto is the Future, Oh Yes It Is!

Both episodes will be available as a podcast on GoLoud and all major platforms.

Written, researched and presented by Donncha O’Dea.

Presented, produced and edited by Amy O’Dwyer.

Thanks to our special guests Sinead Burke, Conor Doyle, Choy-Ping Ní Chléirigh-Ng, Annie Ryan and Ian Walsh.

Voice Actors: Aisling Breen and Stephen O’Leary.

A History of Irish Panto is dedicated to the memory of Joe Cleere.

The programme is funded by the Coimisiún na Meán, with the Television Licence Fee.

This two-part documentary series focuses on the seasonal theatrical extravaganzas, from their origins on the streets of Venice in the 1500s, to their first mention in an Irish newspaper in the 1731. From the productions that spread across the country in the 1800s, to the star-studded pantos that we know and love today. From the geamaireacht, the first Irish language pantos at the Abbey Theatre, to 150 years of the tradition at the Gaiety Theatre.

In the local parish halls of today, just as in the grand Victorian theatres of the past, the Irish panto has had people rolling in the aisles for centuries. With contributions from theatre historians, advocates and panto fans and performers, we recount the story of a much-loved artform: a story 500 years in the making.

A History of Irish Panto is presented by Amy O’Dwyer and Donncha O’Dea, the team who brought you the IMRO-nominated documentary Extraordinary Éire.

Episode 1 – Panto of the Past, It’s Behind You!

Episode 2 – Panto is the Future, Oh Yes It Is!

Both episodes will be available as a podcast on GoLoud and all major platforms.

Written, researched and presented by Donncha O’Dea.

Presented, produced and edited by Amy O’Dwyer.

Thanks to our special guests Sinead Burke, Conor Doyle, Choy-Ping Ní Chléirigh-Ng, Annie Ryan and Ian Walsh.

Voice Actors: Aisling Breen and Stephen O’Leary.

A History of Irish Panto is dedicated to the memory of Joe Cleere.

The programme is funded by the Coimisiún na Meán, with the Television Licence Fee.

It’s a common misconception that eating disorders only affect women. The fact is that an eating disorder can affect both men and women, boys and girls.

“Dying to Get Ripped” is a two-episode series by radio producer Orla Riordan for Newstalk that explores this issue. One that is becoming more prevalent amongst Irish men. This is episode one.

The documentary highlights the unique risk factors facing men, who may be suffering with an eating disorder such as over-exercising, over reliance on supplements and the use of steroids in the pursuit of the body beautiful. It will discuss the influence of social media in pushing products and a muscular ideal on young men as well as speaking to organisations who are working to reduce the stigma facing men with eating disorders.

The IRFU, Horseracing Ireland, and the Health Products Regulatory Authority all participate in the discussion surrounding policies in place for anyone suffering from an eating disorder or disordered eating.

We speak to bodybuilders, health professionals, and family members as well as International Rugby Referee Nigel Owens on their own personal experiences with mental health issues, bulimia and anorexia, body dysmorphia and steroid use.

This documentary offers an insight into the growing issue with eating disorders and body dysmorphia among young Irish men as well as highlighting ways to seek help and recover.

Irish men are putting their health, fertility and even their lives at risk in search of the perfect body.

If you have been affected by anything referenced in this documentary, you can contact the Bodywhys helpline on 01 210 7906 or the Samaritans on 116 123.

It’s a common misconception that eating disorders only affect women. The fact is that an eating disorder can affect both men and women, boys and girls.

“Dying to Get Ripped” is a two-episode series by radio producer Orla Riordan for Newstalk that explores this issue. One that is becoming more prevalent amongst Irish men. This is episode one.

The documentary highlights the unique risk factors facing men, who may be suffering with an eating disorder such as over-exercising, over reliance on supplements and the use of steroids in the pursuit of the body beautiful. It will discuss the influence of social media in pushing products and a muscular ideal on young men as well as speaking to organisations who are working to reduce the stigma facing men with eating disorders.

The IRFU, Horseracing Ireland, and the Health Products Regulatory Authority all participate in the discussion surrounding policies in place for anyone suffering from an eating disorder or disordered eating.

We speak to bodybuilders, health professionals, and family members as well as International Rugby Referee Nigel Owens on their own personal experiences with mental health issues, bulimia and anorexia, body dysmorphia and steroid use.

This documentary offers an insight into the growing issue with eating disorders and body dysmorphia among young Irish men as well as highlighting ways to seek help and recover.

Irish men are putting their health, fertility and even their lives at risk in search of the perfect body.

If you have been affected by anything referenced in this documentary, you can contact the Bodywhys helpline on 01 210 7906 or the Samaritans on 116 123.

The Tigray war lasted from November 2020 to November 2022. It’s estimated that one million people have died since the war started and a further million people have been displaced from their homes. Many experts have described the war as the deadliest conflict of the 21st century.

Josh travelled to the area in November/December 2025 to bring us the latest update on how this war has affected communities and the economy, and met humanitarian workers who are trying to rebuild the lives of those impacted by the conflict and programme participants who are trying to survive in the aftermath of war.

We are brought inside IDP camps for displaced people, safe spaces for survivors of gender-based violence, trauma-informed schools, educational and employment facilities.

It’s a common misconception that eating disorders only affect women. The fact is that an eating disorder can affect both men and women, boys and girls.

“Dying to Get Ripped” is a two-episode series by radio producer Orla Riordan for Newstalk that explores this issue. One that is becoming more prevalent amongst Irish men. This is episode one.

The documentary highlights the unique risk factors facing men, who may be suffering with an eating disorder such as over-exercising, over reliance on supplements and the use of steroids in the pursuit of the body beautiful. It will discuss the influence of social media in pushing products and a muscular ideal on young men as well as speaking to organisations who are working to reduce the stigma facing men with eating disorders.

The IRFU, Horseracing Ireland, and the Health Products Regulatory Authority all participate in the discussion surrounding policies in place for anyone suffering from an eating disorder or disordered eating.

We speak to bodybuilders, health professionals, and family members as well as International Rugby Referee Nigel Owens on their own personal experiences with mental health issues, bulimia and anorexia, body dysmorphia and steroid use.

This documentary offers an insight into the growing issue with eating disorders and body dysmorphia among young Irish men as well as highlighting ways to seek help and recover.

Irish men are putting their health, fertility and even their lives at risk in search of the perfect body.

If you have been affected by anything referenced in this documentary, you can contact the Bodywhys helpline on 01 210 7906 or the Samaritans on 116 123.

From her arrival as a refugee child, to losing her mother in a tragic car accident, to putting her name on the ballot paper as a candidate in 2024, this is a heartfelt story.

You will listen to the Mayor of Kerry and the Mayor of Derry & Strabane District, to her family and friends, and you will get to know Mistura herself, the central character.

Cian McGrath and Zahid Khan Ahmadzai are Senior Editor and Assistant Editor, music by Matt Griffin, and the producer, researcher and narrator is Mary Lavery Carrig.

This documentary was funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television License Fee.

Due to a spike in road deaths in recent years, the topic has been high up in the news agenda, and rightly so, but every bank holiday we hear appeals from high-ranking Gardaí, Government Ministers and the RSA. Rarely, do we hear from those who actually deal with these collisions and see the devastation firsthand.

In the documentary, Paramedics Clodagh Murphy and Paul Malone, based in Waterford, tell us about the trends they see in responding to collisions and why they’re always keeping their own family members in the back of their mind. The documentary also goes on patrol with Gardaí Leanne McCarthy and Ken Driscoll of the Roads Policing Unit in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick. Ken bravely opens up about how it feels to break the news of a death to a family, comparing it to handing someone an “explosive device”.

We also speak with Sub-Officer Stephen Connolly from Monasterevin Fire Brigade in Co. Kildare, who speaks of the challenges faced by on-call emergency workers, who service their local community first and foremost. All emergency workers in the documentary have pleaded with people to put down their mobile phones, put on their seatbelts, follow speed limits, and not take drugs or alcohol when using the roads this Bank Holiday Weekend.

Analysis from Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Malie Coyne, contextualises the issue, and further hammers home the importance of looking out for our frontline workers.

But what impact did this genocide have on Ireland?

In the Swastika’s Shadow: Ireland and the Holocaust explores how the Irish State dealt with Hitler, the Jewish community’s fight for survival and the heroism of the Irish people who resisted the Nazis. 

Containing interviews with three Holocaust survivors, film director Lenny Abrahamson and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, In the Swastika’s Shadow casts new light on this harrowing chapter in Irish history.

Music provided by celloist Patrick Dexter and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta orchestra. 

This documentary contains conversations that some listeners may find upsetting. 

All of the artists have managed to find a foothold in the Irish musical community, where they have met like-minded people and managed to combine their own culture with Irish musical forms. The artists all represent different countries including Syria, Italy, France, Cuba and Palestine and the scope of their music takes in many genres from traditional and folk to R n’ B, pop and hip hop.

Mohammad Syfkhan - a Kurdish/Syrian Singer and Bouzouki player has released his debut album ‘I am Kurdish’ on the Leitrim based record label Nyahh records. He has played many gigs around Ireland including a sold-out album launch at the Bello Bar in Dublin. He will be appearing on festival bills throughout the Summer.

Varo are singers and fiddle players Lucie Azconaga and Consuelo Nerea Breschi, who met in Dublin in 2015. They have recorded a soon to be released collaboration album featuring Ian Lynch (Lankum), John Francis Flynn, Anna Mieke, Slow Moving Clouds, Inni-K amongst others.

Having spent her first year exploring a range of styles and genres, Cuban Irish artist Qbanaa returns in 2025 with the sound that may well come to define her. Qbanaa's forthcoming EP Elisa (her nickname in Cuba) containing snippets of found sounds, street recordings and conversations made in Cuba, poetic bilingual lyricism and immersive soundscapes makes for a collection of beautifully understated original music.

Talha AlAli, AKA Talha Wise Wolf, is a Palestinian psychotherapist, activist, hip-hop artist, and human rights defender. Since moving to Ireland in the 2010s, Talha has studied a Masters in Psychology and performed many gigs around the country.

The programme investigates the lives of these musicians before they moved to Ireland, their reasons for moving here, and how they have brought their unique musical cultures to boost the thriving music scene here. It celebrates the diversity of Ireland and its music, while also examining difficult subjects such as the circumstances that have caused some of the artists to migrate here, racism they have experienced and difficulties in integrating to Irish society at first.

For more, see Newstalk.com.

The 28-year-old from Dungarvan in Co Waterford emigrated to Sydney in 2024, after several years of living and working in Dublin as a journalist with RTÉ and as Political Correspondent with the Irish Daily Mail.

At the beginning of her journey, she meets a busker at Byron Bay, born to Irish parents who left for Australia's sunny shores in the 1960s. Fintan, the musician grew up on a hippie commune. 

Aisling then speaks to young people on the Rainbow Walkway on Coogee Beach in Sydney about the draw of Australia and their experience of life in Sydney.

After hearing about how living so far away from home can be hard for many, she speaks to Central Coast GAA Club and visits 'The Doss House' and 'Frank Macs' where Irish gather in search of that feeling of home.

She then makes the trip to Perth to visit her sister Eimear, who has lived there for 13 years and is married with three children.

In the second part of this documentary, Aisling hears about some of the more difficult aspects of Australia, which include the experience of regional work and the difficulty of finding work in general.

She also hears some stories of reinvention, how some people make the move to earn big bucks, and how people deal with bereavement while living so far away from home.

We also get a taste of that lifestyle that people love in Australia, and come along to two of Aisling's favourite activities since arriving in Sydney, swimming and beach yoga.

"Home or Away - Living the Irish Australian Dream with Aisling Moloney" is presented and produced by Aisling Moloney. Editor and Executive Producer is Aoife Kearns.

Three groundbreaking women have made positive changes in academia, engineering, the environment, and social justice. These women are known and highly regarded and loved within their area of expertise, but they are not known by the general public. We listen to their story, to celebrate them, to thank them for making Ireland a better place for us all.

Their lives tell the story of Ireland’s progression and change. One women’s story that brings us on an audio journey through the changes, over the last decades, to the issues she dedicated her life to. In Groundbreaker: Anita Hayes we explore the issues of seed sovereignty and biodiversity, in Groundbreaker: Mary Crilly we examine sexual violence and exploitation in Ireland and in Groundbreaker: Jane Grimson, we look at women in engineering and genderism in the workforce.

Warning: some readers/listeners may find this content upsetting

Mary Crilly is approaching her 40th year at the forefront of the Sexual Violence Centre Cork (SVCC). Her story traces the slowly changing attitude towards sexual violence against men and women in Ireland.

When Mary started the centre, Ireland was a place where a man could legally rape his wife, where domestic violence was often treated as a time-wasting nuisance and where any form of sexual assault or rape, no matter the victim’s age, status, or condition, was usually viewed as the woman’s fault. Marital rape only became a crime here in 1990; until then a husband could not be found guilty of the rape of his wife.

When they opened the centre, they were meet with hostility. Back then, what they were doing in the centre was not really accepted, they were told by many to pack up and stop what they were doing. But they held on and now 40 years on Mary would consider that they have made great progress in bringing sexual violence into the open, though she would reflect there is still a long way to go when it comes to victim blaming and protecting perpetrators. Crilly’s end goal is to work towards a society that does not tolerate sexual violence in any capacity.Mary’s mission is to keep the conversation going, because without this change will not happen.

If you have been affected by this, you can contact the Rape Crisis Centre on freephone 24-Hour National Helpline at 1800 77 8888.

Three groundbreaking women have made positive changes in academia, engineering, the environment, and social justice. These women are known and highly regarded and loved within their area of expertise, but they are not known by the general public. We listen to their story, to celebrate them, to thank them for making Ireland a better place for us all.

Jane was the first female graduate in engineering in Trinity College Dublin (TCD). Being the only woman in the class, she was never expected to last. This was the 1960s, at a time when female engineers were almost unheard of, not just in Ireland but worldwide. Even now Engineering and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) struggle with gender bias. But in the 1960s, as a young woman, Jane sat as the lone female in a class of engineering students. But it never deterred her.

Jane went on to obtain a first-class honours degree and a Masters and PhD degrees in Computer Science in 1971 and 1981 respectively. She then went on to become Dean of Engineering and of Research. Throughout Professor Jane Grimson’s extraordinary career as an engineer she has achieved much and received many accolades. However, perhaps one of Jane’s most lasting legacies will be the hugely important role she has played as an advocate for women in engineering, science, and academia. She has mentored a generation of female engineers and is passionate about promoting the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in STEM. As Provost and President of Trinity College Dublin Linda Doyle said ‘I would not be here without her”.

Their lives tell the story of Ireland’s progression and change. One women’s story that brings us on an audio journey through the changes, over the last decades, to the issues she dedicated her life to. In Groundbreaker: Anita Hayes we explore the issues of seed sovereignty and biodiversity, in Groundbreaker: Mary Crilly we examine sexual violence and exploitation in Ireland and in Groundbreaker: Jane Grimson, we look at women in engineering and genderism in the workforce.

Three groundbreaking women have made positive changes in academia, engineering, the environment, and social justice. These women are known and highly regarded and loved within their area of expertise, but they are not known by the general public. We listen to their story, to celebrate them, to thank them for making Ireland a better place for us all.

Ground Breaker Anita Hayes centres on the life's work of Anita Hayes, who established Irish Seed Savers. She dedicated her life’s work to safeguard our future food crops by preserving the rich genetic diversity of the past, by creating a community of Seed Savers all over Ireland.

Anita founded the Irish Seed Savers in 1991 on a small farm in Co. Carlow. In 1996 the project moved to its present site in Scarriff and in 1997 a FAS community employment scheme secured a site and employment for many staff. It is now home to a seed bank containing more than 600 rare and endangered vegetable varieties, a native broadleaf woodland, and wildlife sanctuary. This provides a home for a thriving colony of heritage Irish black bees. Irish Seed Savers hold the national collection of Irish heritage apple trees in their orchards, numbering over 180+ varieties, as well as an orchard of over 33 self-rooting varieties of apple trees that require no grafting for propagation, the largest collection of this type of apple trees in the world. The genius of Irish Seed Savers is that the living ark of heritage crops is a much better way to preserve our horticultural heritage than in static seed banks, frozen in time and wrapped in cotton wool. The yearly renewed cultivation of these crops exposes them to the realities of climate change, to the evolution of circumstances in pest and diseases, and strengthens them to compete and thrive in the modern world and with them their heritage and stories.

Their lives tell the story of Ireland’s progression and change. One women’s story that brings us on an audio journey through the changes, over the last decades, to the issues she dedicated her life to. In Groundbreaker: Anita Hayes we explore the issues of seed sovereignty and biodiversity, in Groundbreaker: Mary Crilly we examine sexual violence and exploitation in Ireland and in Groundbreaker: Jane Grimson, we look at women in engineering and genderism in the workforce.

Interviewees are Billy Keane, Eamon Barry, Hugh Friel, Denis Brosnan, Tom O’Connor, Pat Golden and Tom O’Sullivan. They all recall, first-hand, those exciting, formative and busy days, 50 years ago.

This program offers fascinating insight into the dairy farming world of North Kerry 50 years ago and the series of events which occurred to bring about the formation of Kerry Co-Op, with seismic implications for the future. This is a story about community, perseverance, self-belief, empowerment, ambition and a drive to succeed, when dairy farmers and businessmen combined to realise a dream.

Mary Lavery Carrig set out to find the human face of Kerry Co-Op 50 years ago and in this documentary, she brings that human face of Kerry Co-op to you, the listener.

CREDITS
Music: Matt Griffin
Editor: Cian McGrath
Studio: Pat Donegan
Producer: Mary Lavery Carrig
Narrator: Mary Lavery Carrig

Thank you to Kerry Dairy Ireland for the use of the Jan 1974 Board of Directors photograph.

'Milk to North Kerry is like Oil to the Arabs', was made possible due to the support received from Coimisiún na Meán, funded through the television licence fee.

Shōgun Seisiún is edited, presented and produced by Pavel Barter and Edie Carey-Barter. Funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee.

Featuring musical performances by:

Lisako Fukuda

O’Jizo (Kozo Toyota, Koji Nagao, Hirofumi Nakamura)

Ryo Kaneko

Suzaki Kazuhiko

Anona (tribute to Anúna)

Peter Cole Irish pub session night in Tokyo

The Field pub session night in Kyoto

Sharleen McCaffrey

Brendan Doyle

Galway City Chamber Choir

Eirsat-1 is Ireland’s very first spacecraft, a research satellite that passes over our heads six times a day as it orbits the earth. Produced and presented by John Higgins, this moving documentary tells its story - and the incredible challenges faced and overcome by the determined group of students and staff in University College Dublin who launched it into space.

Eirsat-1: Ireland’s first satellite is produced, presented and edited by John Higgins of As the Crow Flies Productions, with sound mixing by Neil Kavanagh of Coach House Media. With special thanks to the European Space Agency and the staff and students of UCD. Supported by Coimisiún na Meán.

Dublin Lesbian Line was founded in 1979 – a time in Ireland when homosexuality was invisible, unmentionable, and profoundly isolating – to provide a way for gay/queer/bi/questioning women to connect, meet, make friends, find a community, or even just to talk anonymously on the phone. In 1979, and in the years that followed, it took enormous courage to pick up that phone and dial. Homophobia, patriarchy/gender roles, and heterosexism were so normalized and taken for granted as ‘the way things should be’ that some callers to Dublin Lesbian Line couldn’t even get the words out once they had gotten through to the number. Others, like one-time caller and then volunteer, Marina, found it a lifeline — found not only support, but friends and community.

Ireland has changed, but many LGBTQ+ people still experience discrimination and hostility. Now, in 2024, 45 years later (and despite its legacy name), Dublin Lesbian Line (DLL) serves the entire country – and all genders. As the current volunteers and organisers point out: “We’re not just for Dublin, we’re not just a phone line, and we’re not just for lesbians.” DLL is a registered charity, and aside from offering a listening ear and advice, DLL acts as a reference point for other services (social, health, advisory), and the team at DLL also organises events and courses for the Lesbian community. In the words of volunteer Val, DLL strives to be an “open embrace”.

This programme gives the listener an opportunity to learn about diversity of experience in Ireland and reflect on aspects of Irish society and social history, and explore the work of a grass-roots community-led charity/organisation.

Information and support for the issues raised in this programme can be found at Switchboard, LGBTQIA support and resources, on 01 872 1055 or by visiting theswitchboard.ie. Please note: Anyone can call on any day, but Tuesday is a dedicated women’s night, 6.30-9pm.

’45 Years of Listening’ was produced, recorded, and edited by Shaun O’Boyle and Maurice Kelliher, shaunandmaurice.com, and was supported by Coimisiún na Meán.

Connect with Dublin Lesbian Line on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Dublin-Lesbian-Line/100064358546983

Produced and presented by her nephew John Higgins, her story is told in her own words and through the eyes of the Ethiopian and Irish people who know and worked with her -  from her sister Sabina Higgins, to the Spanish doctors who stumbled across her clinic and started an international NGO to support her work, to Ethiopian people living in Ireland and those who live there now - as the Tigray region where she lived once again finds itself embroiled in a brutal civil war.

Vision: The Story of Sister Margaret Coyne is edited, presented and produced by John Higgins of As the Crow Flies Productions, with sound mixing by Neil Kavanagh of Coach House Media. With special thanks to Proyecto Vision and The Daughters of Charity. Funded by Coimisiún na Mean with the television licence fee.

Photo credit: John Higgins/Ivo Rovira

Producer Hugh Hick and Documentary on Newstalk bring you an intimately-told story of music and landscapes – and the part both play in our lives, sometimes without us realising it.

Born and raised in Dublin, Patrick Dexter spent most of his twenties abroad, living for long stretches in Vietnam and the Netherlands. It was only after all this that Patrick and his partner Jan decided to try for a different type of existence. One as far away from the crowded city life they had always known as you could imagine. And so they moved to a tiny cottage outside Westport in Co. Mayo, determined to live an isolated and monkish lifestyle.

Then, in 2020, that all changed.

With COVID-19 spreading uncertainty into our lives and lockdowns confining us, Patrick began sharing videos of his own way of passing the days – sat outside in his garden, playing cello, the stunning landscape of the locality his background. What started as something to send to his friends quickly caught fire through Twitter and Instagram and within months was being viewed regularly by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

This documentary tells Patrick’s story through his own words as well as those of his family and friends, including producer Hugh Hick, who has known Patrick since they were teenagers.

But it’s not just Patrick’s story – it’s the story of a unique place in Ireland that continues to capture the hearts and minds of so many. And it’s the story of all of us, and why, at that most uniquely dark and incomprehensible of moments, something about a man playing cello to us through our screens compelled us and gave us something to latch onto.

‘Strings’ was made with the support of Comisúin na Meán with the television licence fee.

The musicians perform songs from home, accompanied by rhythms and tunes from around the world. Citadel have played many concerts around Ireland and help to build bridges with the Irish community through their music.

Some of the musicians are refugees, others are newly arrived International Protection Applicants. They all speak different languages, but music is their universal language.

‘Citadel: Building Bridges Through Music’ is a documentary that explores the different stories of band members, how they came to be refugees in Ireland and the difficulties they face here. The founders of the band; Roos and Norbert speak about how they started the band and a not for profit organisation, International Community Dynamics.

In June 2023, International Community Dynamics hosted ‘The Festival of Belonging’ in the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork. With poetry, spoken word, a conversation cafe, an art exhibition by refugee and Traveller artists and a conference on belonging at UCC, it was a busy weekend. The highlight of the weekend was a performance by Citadel.

The documentary follows the band in the buildup to their performance, taking in rehearsals and nerves before they take to the stage on the night.

Citadel raises awareness and spreads joy, peace and understanding by sharing their music with each other and with the Irish community and this is reflected in the programme.

Produced by Alan Meaney.

Funded by Coimisiún na Mean with the television licence fee.

This documentary, titled Laurence Carroll’s Mindful Anarchy: U Dhammaloka, The Irish Buddhist of Rangoon, tells the story of an Irishman, who, after ordaining as a Buddhist monk in the early 1900’s, under his monastic name U Dhammaloka, ascended to celebrity status throughout Burma and Asia, for his denouncing of Colonial Christian Missionaries and campaigning for the rights of Buddhists, while skirting colonial sedition and treason laws.              

Shedding light on the enigmatic life of a man who defied norms, embraced Buddhism, and faced down the British Empire, his remarkable odyssey is chronicled from his humble beginnings in Dublin to his tumultuous years as a sailor and hobo in the United States before his eventual arrival in Rangoon, Burma, circa 1880.  

With 25 years of his life prior to his arrival in Burma shrouded in mystery, Carroll's transformation into U Dhammaloka marked a turning point in the anti-colonial resistance in Burma and the Southeast Asia region. 

At the heart of this true tale lies U Dhammaloka's surely inevitable trial for sedition in 1911. The trial is a pivotal moment in Colonial Burma's history which drew international attention. Resonating with the masses, his defiance of colonialism garnered support from thousands, including multiethnic minorities across Burma and Southeast Asia, while at the trial, he is supported by Gandhi's esteemed associate Dr Pranjivan Metha.  

Through interviews with those at the forefront of resurrecting Carroll's odyssey; dramatic reenactments, and factual storytelling, this programme reasserts U Dhammaloka's rightful place within Irish history and reveals the true reasons why this remarkable tale became almost lost to the sands of time.  

The documentary is produced, edited, and presented by multimedia journalist and documentary maker Noel Sweeney. Funded by Coimisiún na Mean with the television licence fee.

One of Ireland’s premier small festivals, Another Love Story has been running since 2014. Set in the beautiful surrounds of Killyon Manor House Co. Meath over 3 days in August, the festival showcases both Irish and international acts. It is a custom-made festival with a focus on sustainability, smaller crowds, and an emphasis on a kinder, gentler festival setting. 

‘Another Love Story’ documentary delves into the running of ALS festival and the music and attractions available.

Founding members Peter O’ Brien, Emmet Condon, and Sam Bishop discuss some of the aspects of organising and hosting the festival. Live features from ALS 2023 include on-site chats with musicians, crew, and attendees, as well as musical performances showcasing the wide variety of genres and acts on offer to festival-goers. Crew and guests talk about distinctive features of ALS, including child and dog-friendly facilities, and sustainability efforts such as the Flushing Meadows compost toilets. 

The programme features performances and interviews with musicians Villagers’ Conor O’ Brien, Brigid Mae Power, JFDR’s Jófríður Ákadóttir, DJ Hewan Mulugeta, and Negro Impacto’s Chi Chi and StrangeLove.

Other interviews include Psycare Ireland, Siobhan Kane of Young Hearts Run Free, and crew members Ali Morris, Octavian Fitzherbert, and Sarah Howlin. 

Another Love Story was produced by Alan Meaney and Amanda Gunning. Narration by Amanda Gunning.  The programme was funded by the Coimisiún na Meán with the television licence fee.

Edwin Alkin talks us through the various artefacts, photographs and exhibitions at the Irish Jewish Museum in Dublin, and explains some of the history of Jewish people in Ireland. Dr. Melanie Brown tells us what she learnt from her involvement with the Jewish Oral History Project and the Inter-Faith Council - and what it means to her to be Irish and Jewish. 

Rabbi Zalman Lent and Rifky Lent at Deli 613 - the first kosher deli in Dublin in fifty years - share Jewish food and explain why they set up and how they’ve been received by the community. And then we head to Cork to meet klezmer composer Ruti Lachs, of the Cork Jewish Community and we’ll get her take on being one of the ‘new Irish’ Jews who’ve made Ireland their home. 

‘Jews have been here since the time of the Normans. Jews are not strangers here, but they remain to be othered in a lot of ways. And that, to me, is very interesting. Why, after a thousand years,  why is there still this othering?’ - Dr. Melanie Brown. 

Produced by Bairbre Flood and funded by Coimisiun na Mean under the Sound and Vision Scheme. 

Presenter Sean Moncrieff reports from the Horn of Africa in: Somalia: the complicated business of helping people.

The Newstalk host spent a week with aid agency workers and UN officials who describe the often frustratingly slow process of trying to help a country off its knees: not just through the provision of aid, but trying to convince parents of the benefits of education, of changing attitudes towards contraception and female genital mutilation and of establishing a democracy in the face of resistance from the all-powerful clans.

All this, along with the constant threat of suicide bomb attacks from the Islamist group Al-Shabaab. In Somalia, everything is complicated.

The Iveagh Trust was founded in 1890 by Edward Cecil Guinness, head of his family’s famous brewing empire, who at the time was the richest man in the country. His vision was to provide safe, clean and affordable housing to the working poor of Dublin. In the nineteenth century the city was home to some of the worst slums in Europe, with families crammed into overcrowded and unsanitary tenements. Disturbed by the conditions he saw in The Liberties, where his brewery was based, Guinness invested a considerable amount of his fortune into building housing and communities in the area.

Sarah Stacey’s family connection to the Iveagh Trust goes back four generations. With the help of social historians, staff members and residents, including her own relatives, she looks at how one man’s generosity transformed the lives of thousands of Dublin families, and why the Iveagh Trust’s ongoing work is just as important in today’s housing crisis as it was over a century ago.

Contributors include Tracey Bardon, engagement co-ordinator at 14 Henrietta Street (the Tenement Museum), historians Cathy Scuffil and Alan Byrne, Rory Guinness, chairman of the Iveagh Trust and great-great-grandson of Edward Cecil Guinness, former Iveagh Trust community officer Kelley Bermingham, and past and present residents Paul Tester, Pat Stacey and Tina Brennan.

“The Iveagh Trust: How Ireland’s Richest Man Housed Dublin’s Poor” was produced and presented by Sarah Stacey, with additional production by Daniel Cahill and music composed by Emily Worrall. Special thanks to the Iveagh Trust and Dublin City Library and Archive. Funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee.

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.

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. 

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. 

"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.