Monday 17th December, 7.00pm, RTÉ One.
On this evening’s Nationwide, the team meet some talented craftspeople and get some novel gift ideas in the run up to Christmas.
Reporter Valerie Waters meets a young woman who has experienced tragedy and loss in life but now has moved on to a new happy chapter in her story. Valerie visits the home and workplace of the artist who has settled in Dublin and has set up a business leading to a new network of very talented friends.
Reporter Niall Martin meets the knitters from Purl Jam, a collective of students and staff from UCD who knit together twice a week at lunchtimes. The group also makes knitted octopuses for premature babies in incubators at the Rotunda Hospital.
Last month legendary Dublin showband star Sonny Knowles passed away. The singer rose to fame during Ireland’s cabaret and showband era in the 1960’s and died at the age of 86 after six decades in the music industry. Nationwide look back on a visit presenter Mary Kennedy paid to Sonny Knowles in 2009.
Wednesday 19th December, 7.00pm, RTÉ One.
Tonight’s Nationwide features stories from London and from County Clare with a look at the work of a Polish Priest in Ennis and also the great work being done by The London Chaplaincy supporting marginalized Irish people in London.
The Irish Chaplaincy was founded in London in 1957 in response to the thousands of young Irish men and women who were arriving from Ireland in search of work at that time. The Catholic Church in Ireland recognised that moving to another country was no easy task and sent over nine priests to set up the Chaplaincy to help in any way they could. Nationwide visits the Irish Chaplaincy which is located at Camden Square in London and chats to the CEO of the charity to find out why it was set up and how they’ve helped thousands of Irish people re-adjust to their new lives in London down through the years.
Around 125,000 Polish people have made their homes here in Ireland. Like the Irish in London, the Catholic Church in Poland has responded to the needs of their fellow countrymen and women and have sent priests to work here and to support the Polish communities around the country. Reporter Marian Malone visits Ennis in County Clare to meet one such Polish Priest.
Friday 21st December, 7.00pm, RTÉ One.
On the last Nationwide programme for 2018, the team find out how other religions and cultures in Ireland are going to be spending the Christmas holiday. Nationwide’s reporters talk to two families from the Jewish Orthodox faith. A Sikh, Gurmeet Singh, gives a guided tour of his temple and the team share some wonderful food with a Hindu family. The programme shows how Roman Catholics of different nationalities spend Christmas here in Ireland and visits a Brazilian family to find out what different traditions they bring to the family table at Christmas.