MONDAY 12TH JANUARY
PRESENTER ANNE CASSIN
PROGRAMME FOCUSING ON COSTUME MAKING
This evening’s Nationwide programme features stories of people with a passion for fashion and design. In Dublin, the team meets a designer whose futuristic pieces have been worn by Hollywood A listers on the red carpet. Plus, in Wexford, Nationwide hears the story of a woman who changed career to focus on her lifelong love of dressmaking.
Irish designer Claire Garvey has been creating extraordinary, sustainable pieces that have put Ireland on the style map. Reporter Zainab Boladale went behind the scenes at Claire’s home and her shop in Templebar to hear about her love of fashion.
Also on the programme is Barbara Guthrie, who has loved sewing since childhood. A busy career as a nurse, combined with raising a family, meant she spent many years away from her sewing machine. More recently, ill health left her with unexpected time on her hands, and so she dusted off the sewing machine, reigniting her passion for costume making, many of which are on display at Enniscorthy Castle and which were worn by cast members in a recent locally made film.
WEDNESDAY 14TH JANUARY
PRESENTER RICHARD DOWNES
COASTAL STORIES FROM THE WEST COAST OF IRELAND
This evening, Nationwide takes a trip down memory lane with stories of two women who both cherish childhood memories of summers spent in rural parts of Ireland’s west coast. One on an island off County Sligo, and the other at a Gaelscoil on the Loop Head Peninsula in County Clare.
The programme begins with a woman who runs a summer bar on Coney Island, which becomes an island only when the tide is in. Reporter Colm Flynn paid her a visit.
Next, reporter Tomás O’Mainnín hears the story of rare old songs from County Clare that might have been lost forever, were it not for an Irish-American woman who rescued them from flood damage at her family home in the United States. She also shares her childhood memories of attending a Gaelcholáiste in County Clare where her father was the headmaster, who during the 1950’s collected the old songs from the area.
FRIDAY 16TH JANUARY
PRESENTER ANNE CASSIN
NEW YEAR MOTIVATION STORIES
This evening’s Nationwide has positive stories of people who are turning over a new leaf or trying new things for 2026.
Presenter Anne Cassin is in Limerick to meet running sensation John Kinsella, who motivates people to achieve their goals and transform their lives through fitness, health and running.
The next story is all about getting a little help from friends or from the community around us. Reporter Niall Martin travels to Dublin to meet some people who have been part of a gardening social self-help group at Lis na Carrig House.
