REELING IN THE YEARS – 2012
TX Sunday 24 April, 8.30pm RTÉ One
FULL BILLING
REELING IN THE YEARS features the hits and headlines of 2012, when Wicklow’s Katie Taylor won boxing gold for Ireland at the London Olympics and singer Nathan Carter had a breakthrough hit with ‘Wagon Wheel’. In America, Barack Obama won a second term as US President. It was also the year when the ‘Costa Concordia’ cruise ship ran aground on the coast of Italy. Skydiver Felix Baumgartner completed a world record freefall parachute jump from a height of 38.9km above the Earth, and NASA scientists celebrated the success of the ‘Curiosity Rover’ mission to Mars. In Ireland, the death of Savita Halappanavar in University Hospital Galway became an immediate focus for demands to change the country’s strict abortion laws, written into the Constitution since 1983. There were several high-profile industrial disputes and sit-ins, including the protests at Vita Cortex in Cork and Lagan Brick in Cavan. Television in Ireland went fully digital this year as the old ‘analogue’ system was switched off: 2012 also saw the launch of the streaming service ‘Netflix’ in Ireland. Brendan O’Carroll’s comedy ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys’ celebrated huge ratings and TV awards, as the show’s second series aired this year. Giovanni Trappatoni led the Irish men’s soccer team to the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine, but the finals ended in disappointment as Ireland lost all three group games. Spain beat Italy 4-0 to become European champions. Donegal’s gaelic footballers celebrated the county’s second-ever men’s All-Ireland title with a 2-11 to 0-13 victory over Mayo. 2012 also saw the first drawn All-Ireland hurling final for more than fifty years: in the replay, Kilkenny beat Galway by 3-22 to 2-11.
REELING IN THE YEARS – 2012 features music from Nicki Minaj, Lisa Hannigan, Carly Jepsen, Little Green Cars, The Script and Will.I.Am, Bat For Lashes, Nathan Carter, Gotye, Taylor Swift and Adele.