The RTÉ Player team share their top picks to watch on RTÉ Player this week.
What’s Trending?
Fresh from his dealings with Simmo, Home and Away hunk, Ash, played by George Mason, stopped by the most romantic restaurant in town to be a ‘fly on the wall’ to an unsuspecting Kayleigh and Ian’s first date on the hit RTÉ2 programme First Dates Ireland. Bemused by the gratuitous use of the word ‘arse’, watch his witty commentary on RTÉ Player. With a simple ‘hello’, George literally has us swooning, never-mind his rendition of ‘Love is in the Air’. See the tables turn as he becomes preoccupied with firecracker Kayleigh and concludes that, charming as Ian is, he wouldn’t let him date his sister! Go to RTÉ Player now for some sound dating advice from Home and Away’s George Mason. Over the coming weeks First Dates Ireland Extras on RTÉ Player will feature reactions from more famous faces including Roz & Rachel Purcell, 2FM’s Eoghan McDermott and Chris and Ciara, which will be available on RTÉ Player straight after each episode airs. It will also feature the most popular date of each episode. First Dates Ireland airs Thursdays, 9:30pm on RTÉ2 and is available to watch live and on-demand on RTÉ Player.
What’s new?
After his colourful trip to the Basque Country last Autumn, chef Neven Maguire is back, and this time he is travelling through Ireland. His home for this brand new seven part series is the Shannon Princess, a hotel barge located in Lough Ree, the ideal base from which to explore the country. During the seven episodes of Neven’s Irish Food Trails, Neven visits counties Longford, Limerick, Dublin, Cork, Wicklow, Kerry, Wexford, Tipperary and Kilkenny. Along the way he meets a fascinating and diverse collection of chefs, craftsmen and food producers. Back on board the Shannon Princess, Neven demonstrates his own recipes. In the first episode, Neven sails from Lough Ree to Athlone and on to Clonmacnoise and while on board, Neven shows us his recipe for Pork Rogan Josh with Rice and Cucumber Rahita. He then heads to Clonmel, Co. Tipperary where he meets young butchers learning their craft at the James Whelan Butcher Academy and chats to the Academy’s owner and artisan butcher Pat Whelan. Finally, Neven heads to County Limerick and the 1826 Adare restaurant where chef Wade Murphy shares a mouth-watering recipe for Rump of Lamb with Sheep Cheese Polenta Chips, Cavalo Nero and Salsa Verde. Watch now on RTÉ Player.
What not to miss?
Actor and activist John Connors knows exactly what it’s like to be part of a minority community and what it feels like to face discrimination in his own country. That’s why he’s fascinated by what’s been happening recently in the US as regards race relations. Filmed entirely on location in the US, John Connors’ America is a two-part series exploring the reality of discrimination, poverty and violence in African American and Native American communities in the US. In Episode One, John asks why young black men are nine times more likely to be killed by the police than young men from other backgrounds. Episode Two explores the reality of discrimination, poverty and addiction in Native American communities as John spends time on a Native American reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and sees how younger Native Americans are expressing their feelings of discrimination and isolation through Hip Hop and rap. As America’s first black president, Barack Obama is replaced by President Donald Trump – a man who made race such a central part of his election campaign – this is a timely look at race relations in the world’s great racial melting pot. Watch now on RTÉ Player.
What’s coming up?
With the January blues almost behind us, it’s time to start thinking about checking out of the rat race for a breather and what better way to research trips away than with Joe Lindsay and new presenter Mairead Ronan in RTÉ One’s Getaways! This week, Joe and Mairead visit the Tyrol region of Austria to find out what’s on offer from a ski resort during the summer months. Joe takes to the skies as he paraglides above St. Johann and he tries out the latest summer craze of mountain carting. Mairead takes a scenic drive around the mountains and they both take a daytrip around the historic sights of Innsbruck, Tyrol’s capital. And in this week’s short Getaway Joe heads to the village of Cong, Co. Mayo, made famous by the legendary film, ‘The Quiet Man’. Watch now on RTÉ Player!