Documentary on Newstalk

A father and his 14-year-old daughter set out on a journey across Japan to discover why Irish traditional and Celtic music have become fused into Japanese culture. In recent years, Nihonjin (Japanese people) have picked up fiddles, whistles, bazoukis and uilleann pipes, and begun playing Irish traditional music. Now Japanese musicians are bringing their take on trad back to us in Ireland. Pavel and his daughter Edie attend the annual Féile Tokyo, which draws musicians and dancers from across Japan. They meet performers in Kyoto and explore the historical, cultural and artistic connections between Ireland and Japan.

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: Ireland’s First Satellite is the remarkable story of a group of young Irish scientists and engineers who are determined to make Ireland a space-faring nation – by designing, building and sending Ireland’s first satellite into space.

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.

‘45 Years of Listening’ tells the story of the Dublin Lesbian Line – an essential, landmark community-led resource – through a collection of personal reflections from one of the original founders, and current volunteers.

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

Vision: The Story of Sister Margaret Coyne tells the remarkable story of  Irish nun Sister Margaret Coyne, who ran an eye clinic near the Ethiopian-Eritrean border for decades, saving the sight of countless thousands - often in the midst of war, conflict and famine.

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

In 2020, a few weeks after Ireland entered one of the longest COVID lockdowns in the world, Patrick Dexter began uploading videos online of him playing the cello outside his cottage in County Mayo. In a matter of weeks, his life had changed forever.

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.

Here on Documentary and Drama on Newstalk, Ben Finnegan has travelled to the African country of Malawi to look at the effects of climate change, and how organisations like Trócaire are helping them in 'Low Emissions, High Price: Climate Change in Malawi'.

Citadel is a group of musicians formed at the Kinsale Road Accommodation centre in Cork city in 2018, who refuse to be put down by the system. They are from different countries, such as Burundi, South Africa, DR Congo, Angola and Tanzania.

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.

Documentary and Drama on Newstalk brings you the almost forgotten true tale of Laurence Carroll, a working-class Dubliner turned sailor, who embarked on a journey that traversed continents, identities, and cultures.  

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.

Making Ireland Home, Henry McKean celebrates becoming an Irish citizen after 30 years with new Irish citizens.

Documentary on Newstalk presents a new documentary by producers Alan Meaney and Amanda Gunning go behind the scenes at the Another Love Story music festival in Co. Meath.

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.