When I sit down to write my review of the media year, I always start with what comes to mind without having to trawl through this year’s columns – in this way, I find what has made most impact.
I feel we have a much more unstable world, and the media is relentless in pointing it out. The nightly news programmes are often a litany of death and destruction, which can’t be good for our mental and emotional states. It’s not just on a global scale – there have been so many awful murders and terrorist attacks, often with children as the victims and even, sadly, as the perpetrators.
You mightn’t think it, but I like to be positive too. I look back and see many TV dramas that impressed – the gentle humour in Austin and Leonard and Hungry Paul, both from the BBC. The recent season of Blue Lights, also from BBC, about ‘peelers’ in Belfast, was exceptionally good – well plotted, with engaging characters and acting, and a refreshing maturity when dealing with religion. In that season the rosary figured prominently in one episode, there was a most moving requiem mass and a likeably quirky priest character. A minister figured positively in the latest season of crime series Shetland (BBC One) – he was the brother of the lead detective and their interesting discussions about faith matters were untypical of the genre. Adolescence (Netflix) got a huge amount of publicity, and started may discussions about the pressure young boys are under and the toxic influences they have to cope with. Stephen Graham played a blinder as the barely coping father. It was definitely adult viewing as much of the language was explicit. The recent Prisoner 951 (BBC One) about the jailing of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran was riveting TV.
Religious
As for specifically religious programmes, on RTÉ Radio 1 Our Divine Sparks with Dearbhail McDonald did well earlier in the year – it got off to a good start with Archbishop Eamon Martin outlining activities planned for the Jubilee Year and I remember a positive piece about the Poor Clares in March. Its Autumn successor Divine Sparks (talk about losing an ‘our when the clocks go back!) with Áine Lawlor has had the advantage of having its time doubled to one hour and it has used that to good effect – I remember one positive piece about the revival of religious faith among young people and a recent item about relics – including those of St Therese of Lisieux and Carlo Acutis. It’s a pity it doesn’t run for the full year like its BBC counterparts, Heart and Soul (World Service), the always relevant Sunday Sequence (Radio Ulster), which featured Fr Carlos Ferrero, parish priest in in Gaza, describing the casualties suffered when the parish church was struck in a bombing raid in July. Likewise with Sunday (Radio 4) – I remember an episode featuring we heard from the Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool John Sherrington, who stressed the sacredness of life from conception to natural death, expressing concern about the dangers of coercion, treatment of the disabled and the freedom of institutions to offer a zone free of assisted suicide. These are more difficult to access now with the limiting of BBC Sounds to UK listeners. They tend to give more diverse viewpoints on controversial issues, as does Sunday Morning Live (BBC One) which ran for a few series. In a March episode there was talk of peace negotiations re Ukraine, and not a lot seems to have changed since then. EWTN is always useful for Church and faith related news that the secular channels don’t cover, especially programmes like News Nightly, The World Over Live and Vaticano.
Songs of Praise (BBC One) featured many Catholic themed episodes, like one on the canonisation of Carlo Acutis and I was particularly drawn to an episode sub-titled ‘God in the Garden’, when Claire McCollum presented some reflections on how gardens figured in the Bible, both literally and figuratively. There was a new series of The Meaning of Life (RTÉ One) and results were hit and miss – I liked the episode with singer and practising Catholic Ronan Tynan. Many of these programmes were steered by Roger Childs who is unfortunately moving on from his role as Editor of Religious Programmes in RTÉ. One of his great legacies is the introduction of the morning mass on the RTÉ News channel during Covid lockdown and its continuation ever since. I’d say it has brought and still brings consolation to many.
Nationwide (RTÉ One) is a haven of positivity, and among some excellent items there was a special programme in July on St Oliver Plunkett to mark the 400th anniversary of his birth. In August there was an episode telling the story of Daniel O’Connell on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of his birth and in November a special that marked the 200th anniversary of the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin. The regular pilgrimage series returned to BBC Two in April. Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps (BBC Two) featured, as usual, a bunch of celebrity pilgrims of varying religions and none, but I enjoyed what I saw of their travels and interactions at various Catholic shrines.
Radio Maria, Spirit Radio and EWTN continued to serve Catholic viewers well. On Radio Maria I’ve been enjoying Hope in the Media on Wednesday nights – the show is unique in the Irish media landscape and has huge potential. On Spirit Radio Mornings with Wendy/Kieran has the most interesting discussion of news, current affairs and lifestyle. An April episode gave timely coverage to a lady being prosecuted for praying silently outside an abortion clinic.
Documentaries
I caught some worthy documentaries during the year. First Communion (BBC Two NI) was a very genuine and credible programme on the preparations of the sacrament of three youngsters in the North. The Priests: Faith and Fame (RTÉ and BBC) was a fine documentary of the Priests singing group – full of faith and humanity. The Last Missionaries (RTÉ One) was more positive that the title suggests – some impressive missionaries we’ve had and continue to have. The Hills Are Alive – A Year at Kylemore Abbey (RTÉ One) was a marvellously uplifting programme about the nuns and lay staff there. Their enthusiasm for work and prayer was inspirational.
There have been cosmetic changes in the media landscape – Joe Duffy gone from Liveline, Kieran Cuddihy doing well so far in the job; Claire Byrne has been replaced by David McCullagh in an earlier morning slot on RTÉ Radio 1 and that’s fine too, though I’d like to see the show going on until midday. Pat Kenny is soon to leave his morning slot on Newstalk to move to the weekend, while Claire Byrne will replace him. Others are moving around in this media version of Lannigan’s Ball, but it’s the shows that matter and maybe it’s not a great idea to have particular shows overly dominated for too long by one presenter. Keep ‘em moving in 2026 I say!
