Our new series Home News sees presenter Brian O’Connell find out how Irish newspapers outside the Republic of Ireland are trying to keep Irish communities connected.
From Shoreditch to Sydney and New York to Newry, Home News is a new five part series in which journalist and broadcaster Brian O’Connell travels the world looking at how Irish newspapers outside the Republic are trying to keep Irish communities connected.
Along the way he meets new and past emigrants, Pulitzer prize-winning journalists, men on the run, elderly choirs and Pakistani newsagents, and also looks at how communities of the future might stay in touch with home.
We hear from the editors and journalists of newspapers such as the Irish Voice and the Irish Post, both of which have been a voice for their communities for decades. We go inside the newsrooms of these and other newspapers and hear about some of their best stories and campaigns, and also ask how they can remain relevant in an age when emigrants are now more connected with home digitally than ever. We also hear from a new generation of Irish emigrants who are redefining their sense of Irishness and experience abroad.
Programme 2: The Irish Post, London
TX Saturday 01 Dec, 7.30pm
In Episode 2, Brian O’Connell spends time with The Irish Post in London, a newspaper that has had a dramatic two years. The paper, which calls itself the “voice of the Irish in Britain”, went into liquidation in 2011. A large effort was undertaken by leading members of the Irish community in the UK to get it back in print, before Cork-born businessman Elgin Loane stepped in to rescue the title. Under then editor Murray Morse, it quickly found itself in controversy when the paper accused President Michael D Higgins of snubbing the Irish community in London by reneging on a promise to give the paper a one-on-one interview on his visit to the UK in 2012.
Many of those who had campaigned for the paper to return were calling on it to apologise and the issue raised some interesting questions – was the paper still relevant at a time when newer Irish arrivals in the UK didn’t feel as strong a need to assert their Irishness as past generations did? We hear from the then editor and staff about why the newspaper still feels it was right to publicly attack President Higgins. We also hear from leading members of the Irish community in the UK who found the newspaper’s actions inexcusable. We also trace the development of the paper and ex London Mayor Ken Livingstone gives his views on the important role it played in the 1970s.
In this programme, we will hear from new Irish emigrants in London and assess how they differ from past generations, and we also drop in on singer songwriter Damien Dempsey as he records his new album in the London studios of renowned producer John Reynolds. Damien records an exclusive cover version of Dominic Behan’s song Building Up And Tearing London Down for the programme.
About Brian O’Connell
Brian O’Connell is an award-winning journalist, author and broadcaster. He is a weekly reporter on Today With Pat Kenny on RTE Radio 1, and has made a number of documentaries for the RTE Radio 1 Documentary on One strand. His documentary ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’ was shortlisted for a Celtic Media Award. Brian is also a regular on Irish television has appeared on The Daily Show, Tonight with Craig Doyle, The Late Late Show and also co-presented The Reel Deal. He is a weekly contributor to RTE’s new afternoon show, RTE Today. Brian writes for the Irish Times, and his book, Wasted: A Sober Journey Through Drunken Ireland, published in 2009, examined Ireland’s alcohol culture. Much to his wife’s annoyance, Brian likes to tweet. @oconnellbrian
This programme was made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
Presented and produced by Brian O’Connell
Executive Producer Garret Daly
Research Roisin O’Dea
Title Music Raymond Scannell