RTÉ Supporting Interculturalism
RTÉ will mark Intercultural and Anti-racism Week 2008 (April 7th-14th)* on Television, Radio and RTÉ.ie, with a wide range of engaging, insightful and entertaining programming across some of our most popular radio and television shows. The week is part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID).
Announcing the week, RTÉ Director-General, Cathal Goan, said:
“RTÉ is proud to support Intercultural and Anti-racism Week to highlight and promote interculturalism within Irish society. The demographic make-up of Irish society has changed hugely in the past ten years, with immigrants now constituting more than ten per cent of Ireland’s population. A core part of RTÉ’s stated mission is to ‘nurture and reflect the cultural and regional diversity of all the people of Ireland’ and the programming being broadcast this week is a celebration of the positive interaction between the various ethnicities that make up Irish society today.”
Programming highlights across RTÉ’s services for the week include:
Three television documentaries on RTÉ One; West of Mecca, Here to Stay, Welcome to Europe, which will each look at different aspects of migration and cultural diversity. And a series of one-minute short films, Richness of Change, will be broadcast throughout the week featuring individual immigrants’ perspectives on their lives in Ireland.
Each afternoon the Seioge and O’Shea Show and will look at the lives of different communities living in Ireland through a series of interviews with Nigerian, Brazilian, Polish, Pakistani and Chinese people living and working in different parts of the country. The Afternoon Show will feature two newcomers to Ireland as well as sampling Eastern European cuisine in studio.
To mark intercultural week, The Den on RTÉ Two will gather together, theme and broadcast daily a selection of Kids Speak from children who are new nationals. Some perform in their own language, sing, play instruments or talk about events specific to their cultures. The children range in age from two to sixteen years with each piece lasting from between 15 to 60 seconds.
On Radio 1, the Today with Pat Kenny show will feature a series of reports on the Polish in Ireland and The Tubridy Show will broadcast a special programme from Clonakilty Community College in West Cork, an area which has been attracting various nationalities since the 1970s.
On the 13th of April, The Sunday Playhouse will broadcast a comical play about multicultural Ireland by Gavin Corbett, and the Radio 1 Music Collection: Rhythms of Life programme on Thursday 10th will feature music and conversation from and with the Brazilian community in Gort, Co. Galway.
Similar to the short films on television, throughout the week Radio 1 will broadcast short feature interviews, entitled ‘Insights on Ireland’, documenting the diversity of origin, voice and experience of Ireland’s immigrant population.
In addition and previewing and streaming the week’s intercultural programming from radio and television, RTÉ.ie, will host a newly designed website at www.rte.ie/diversity with web-exclusive features such as; a ‘Welcome to Ireland’ guide: tips for new arrivals on everything from setting up a bank account to getting a PPS number, a calendar of upcoming intercultural events around Ireland, and ‘Diversity Stories’: Stories from some of Ireland’s most successful immigrants.
The www.rte.ie/diversity site will be live from Wednesday 2nd April 2008.
Please find full programme details for the week below.
* Intercultural and Anti-racism Week 2008 (April 7th-14th) is part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID), see ( http://www.interculturaldialogue2008.eu/ ) and is being organised by the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI), see ( http://www.nccri.ie/index.html ).
For more information please contact:
Cathriona Edwards, RTÉ Television
Tel: 01 208 3160/ 087 647 1120
Email: cathriona.edwards@rte.ie
And see www.rte.ie/presspack/tv for more television programme details.
Sarah Martin, RTÉ Radio
Tel: 01 208 2312 / 087 750 1850
Email: sarah.martin@rte.ie
Rory Coveney, RTÉ Corporate
Tel: 01 208 3436/ 086 8320979
Email: rory.coveney@rte.ie
Intercultural and Anti-racism Week 2008 (April 7th-14th)
RTÉ TELEVISION
Diverse programming across daytime and prime time televison, will include:
- Would You Believe, explores the story of Oslo-born Kari Rosvall who was rendered stateless in the wake of World War II and has since found a home and identity in Ireland (RTÉ One, Sunday 6 April, 22.25);
- West of Mecca, an RTÉ/EBU co-produced series profiling Muslims living in five European countries (RTÉ One, Mon 14 April, 23.30-2400);
- Here to Stay, a documentary about Filipino nurse, migrant activist and gay performer, Fidel Taguinod, who now lives in Laytown (RTÉ One, Mon 7 April, 23.30-24.30);
- Welcome to Europe, a film shot over three and a half years chronicling Polish farmers’ adaptation to the challenges and opportunities inherent in Poland’s accession to the EU (RTÉ One, Wed 9 April, 23.50-01.20);
- Richness of Change, twelve one-minute films documenting the diversity of origin, voice and perspective amongst Ireland’s immigrant population (RTÉ One, throughout the week);
- Seoige & O’Shea, will spend ’24 hours in the life’ of five immigrants of different nationalities across the week (RTÉ One, Monday-Friday, 4.30pm);
- The Afternoon Show, will feature two newcomers to Ireland: an entrepreneur and a Brazillian Firefighter, as well as sampling Eastern European cuisine in studio (RTÉ One, Monday-Friday, 3pm);
- Kidspeak on RTÉ The Den To mark intercultural week, The Den will gather together, theme and broadcast daily a selection of Kids Speak from children who are new nationals. Some perform in their own language, sing, play instruments or talk about events specific to their cultures. The children range in age from two to sixteen years with each piece lasting from between 15 to 60 seconds. (RTÉ The Den – across the week).
RTÉ RADIO
Diverse programming across RTÉ Radio’s daytime and evening schedule will include:
RTÉ Radio 1
- The Tubridy Show broadcasts a special programme from Clonakilty Community College in West Cork, an area which has been attracting various nationalities since the 1970s. Ryan talks to English mum of six, Fern Atkinson, Christian Gambos from Hungary and local shop owner Gildas Laplaud from France (Radio 1, Wed 9 April, 9.00);
- Today with Pat Kenny reports on the Polish community in Ireland, talks to builders and developers about construction workers here and in Poland, and debates on Islam and the West (Radio 1, throughout the week, 10.00);
- The Radio 1 Music Collection broadcasts folk music from around Europe, music and conversation from ‘Little Brazil’, also known as Gort, and multicultural music from Galway city (Radio 1, Mon/Tues 8/9 April, 21.00);
- Sunday Playhouse broadcasts a new comedy drama, Between Storeys, by young author Gavin Corbett. The drama centres around Nigerian pastor Victor and his attempts to set up a residents association in Brookdale, an impersonal apartment complex on the outskirts of Dublin. The drama was devised in workshop with the author, director Veronia Coburn and actors of different nationalities. ‘Between Storeys’ features Nigerian, Congolese, Polish and Irish actors (Radio 1, Sun 13 April, 20.00);
- Insights on Ireland: RTÉ Radio 1 broadcasts a special one off series of 90 second stand-alone interviews with people living in Ireland from a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds (Radio 1, throughout the week).
RTÉ Lyric fm
- The Blue of the Night presenter Carl Corcoran is joined by Rachel Blech for the week. Rachel interviews immigrants from Brazil, Lebanon, Poland and Kurdistan and hears about the music that “brings them back home.” (Lyric fm, Sun/Thurs 6/10 April, 22.30).
Raidió na Gaeltachta
- RonanBeo@3 broadcast live from Belfast where Ronan will interview people from Poland and the Basque Country 'as Gaeilge' on their new lives in Northern Ireland (RnaG, Wed 9 April, 15.00).
- Thar Tír Isteach broadcasts a selection of music specifically for new communities in Ireland. (RnaG, Fri 11 April, 20.00).
RTÉ.ie
A specially designed website at www.rte.ie/diversity will support Television and Radio output with:
- Previews and highlights of the special TV and radio programmes and Live simulcasts of the TV programmes at www.rte.ie/live which will be accessible around the world.
In addition the site will include special web-exclusive features such as:
- A ‘Welcome to Ireland’ guide: tips for new arrivals on everything from setting up a bank account to getting a PPS number;
- Calendar of upcoming intercultural events around Ireland;
- ‘Diversity Stories’: Stories from some of Ireland’s most successful immigrants.
The www.rte.ie/diversity site will be live from Wednesday 2nd April 2008.
