45 Years of Listening: The Story of Dublin Lesbian Line

A father and his 14-year-old daughter set out on a journey across Japan to discover why Irish traditional and Celtic music have become fused into Japanese culture. In recent years, Nihonjin (Japanese people) have picked up fiddles, whistles, bazoukis and uilleann pipes, and begun playing Irish traditional music. Now Japanese musicians are bringing their take on trad back to us in Ireland. Pavel and his daughter Edie attend the annual Féile Tokyo, which draws musicians and dancers from across Japan. They meet performers in Kyoto and explore the historical, cultural and artistic connections between Ireland and Japan. Shōgun Seisiún is edited, presented and produced by Pavel Barter and Edie Carey-Barter. Funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee. Featuring musical performances by: Lisako Fukuda O’Jizo (Kozo Toyota, Koji Nagao, Hirofumi Nakamura) Ryo Kaneko Suzaki Kazuhiko Anona (tribute to Anúna) Peter Cole Irish pub session night in Tokyo The Field pub session night in Kyoto Sharleen McCaffrey Brendan Doyle Galway City Chamber Choir

Eirsat-1: Ireland’s First Satellite is the remarkable story of a group of young Irish scientists and engineers who are determined to make Ireland a space-faring nation – by designing, building and sending Ireland’s first satellite into space. Eirsat-1 is Ireland’s very first spacecraft, a research satellite that passes over our heads six times a day as it orbits the earth. Produced and presented by John Higgins, this moving documentary tells its story - and the incredible challenges faced and overcome by the determined group of students and staff in University College Dublin who launched it into space. Eirsat-1: Ireland’s first satellite is produced, presented and edited by John Higgins of As the Crow Flies Productions, with sound mixing by Neil Kavanagh of Coach House Media. With special thanks to the European Space Agency and the staff and students of UCD. Supported by Coimisiún na Meán.

Vision: The Story of Sister Margaret Coyne tells the remarkable story of  Irish nun Sister Margaret Coyne, who ran an eye clinic near the Ethiopian-Eritrean border for decades, saving the sight of countless thousands - often in the midst of war, conflict and famine. Produced and presented by her nephew John Higgins, her story is told in her own words and through the eyes of the Ethiopian and Irish people who know and worked with her -  from her sister Sabina Higgins, to the Spanish doctors who stumbled across her clinic and started an international NGO to support her work, to Ethiopian people living in Ireland and those who live there now - as the Tigray region where she lived once again finds itself embroiled in a brutal civil war. Vision: The Story of Sister Margaret Coyne is edited, presented and produced by John Higgins of As the Crow Flies Productions, with sound mixing by Neil Kavanagh of Coach House Media. With special thanks to Proyecto Vision and The Daughters of Charity. Funded by Coimisiún na Mean with the television licence fee. Photo credit: John Higgins/Ivo Rovira

In 2020, a few weeks after Ireland entered one of the longest COVID lockdowns in the world, Patrick Dexter began uploading videos online of him playing the cello outside his cottage in County Mayo. In a matter of weeks, his life had changed forever. Producer Hugh Hick and Documentary on Newstalk bring you an intimately-told story of music and landscapes – and the part both play in our lives, sometimes without us realising it. Born and raised in Dublin, Patrick Dexter spent most of his twenties abroad, living for long stretches in Vietnam and the Netherlands. It was only after all this that Patrick and his partner Jan decided to try for a different type of existence. One as far away from the crowded city life they had always known as you could imagine. And so they moved to a tiny cottage outside Westport in Co. Mayo, determined to live an isolated and monkish lifestyle. Then, in 2020, that all changed. With COVID-19 spreading uncertainty into our lives and lockdowns confining us, Patrick began sharing videos of his own way of passing the days – sat outside in his garden, playing cello, the stunning landscape of the locality his background. What started as something to send to his friends quickly caught fire through Twitter and Instagram and within months was being viewed regularly by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. This documentary tells Patrick’s story through his own words as well as those of his family and friends, including producer Hugh Hick, who has known Patrick since they were teenagers. But it’s not just Patrick’s story – it’s the story of a unique place in Ireland that continues to capture the hearts and minds of so many. And it’s the story of all of us, and why, at that most uniquely dark and incomprehensible of moments, something about a man playing cello to us through our screens compelled us and gave us something to latch onto. ‘Strings’ was made with the support of Comisúin na Meán with the television licence fee.