PIWeek 39September 22 - September 28 2012

George Mitchell: My Journey’s EndGeorge Mitchell returns to Northern Ireland with his son Andrew to assess how life has changed since the Good Friday Agreement

2

Programme Information New this weekGeorge Mitchell: My Journey’s End Page 3George Mitchell returns to Northern Ireland with his son Andrew to assess how life has changed since the Good Friday Agreement

The Ulster Covenant Page 5New documentary marks the centenary of the signing of the Ulster Covenant as William Crawley explores the event which changed the political landscape of Northern Ireland

New BBC NI Arts Series – The Arts Show Page 7

The Nolan Show Page 9Stephen Nolan is back to your TV screens for another five-part series packed full of hard-hitting debate, heated exchanges and probing interviews.

New BBC NI Political Series, The View, Starts Thursday Page 10

The Red Hand Of Ulster BBC Radio Ulster, Sunday, September 23 at 1.30m. Repeated Thursday, September 27 at 7.30pm. bbc.co.uk/radioulster Exactly one hundred years ago, in the wake of the Home Rule crisis, an extraordinary novel dissected the threat of civil war in the north of Ireland with perceptive black humour. A new documentary on BBC Radio Ulster, on Sunday, September 23 at 1.30pm, tells the story of ‘The Red Hand Of Ulster’ - the work of a Protestant nationalist clergyman from Belfast called George A Birmingham, the pen name of the Reverend James Owen Hannay. The book ends with Queen Victoria’s statue in front of City Hall, being destroyed by a shell from a British warship firing on unionist rebels; the strangely prophetic original ending, rejected by the publisher in 1912 as too unrealistic, saw civil war in Ulster only averted by the imminent threat of war with Germany. This documentary, presented by Stephen Walker, revisits the Belfast of 1912 through ‘The Red Hand of Ulster’, telling the story of the time, the novel and the extraordinary career of Hannay, a prolific writer who caused clerical controversy throughout his literary career.

The All Ireland Senior Football Championship Final on BBC NI BBC Northern Ireland have live coverage from Croke Park of the All Ireland Senior Football Final on Sunday, September 23. Live coverage begins at 3.15pm on BBC Two NI. Austin O’Callaghan introduces the action and is joined by Martin McHugh and Jarlath Burns as The Ulster Champions, Donegal take on Mayo in their bid to bring the Sam Maguire back to their county for only the second time in history. Mark Sidebottom and Oisin McConville will be in the commentary box. Over on BBC Radio Ulster MW, Adrian Logan presents live coverage of the final from 3pm and is joined by Brendan Devenney. Owen McConnon and Brian Canavan will be in the commentary box. During the programme, listeners can text their views to 81771.

3

George Mitchell: My Journey’s End

George Mitchell: My Journey’s End, Tuesday, September 25, BBC One NI, 10.35pm

George Mitchell returns to Northern Ireland with his son Andrew to assess how life has changed since the Good Friday Agreement

In this new documentary, George Mitchell brings his son Andrew back to Northern Ireland to see how life here has progressed since the Good Friday Agreement

In this new documentary from

BBC NI former US Senator, George

Mitchell returns to Northern

Ireland with his son Andrew to

assess how life has changed for

people here since the signing of the

Good Friday Agreement, in 1998.

As chair of the Northern Ireland

peace negotiations, Senator George

Mitchell had many difficult decisions to

make. On October 16th 1997, his wife

gave birth to their first child Andrew, in

New York. It was a difficult point in the

talks and for the first time, he felt he

would stay with his new family in Manhat-

tan and never return to Northern Ireland.

However, he discovered there were 61 chil-

dren born in Northern Ireland on the same

day as his son and he chose to return to try

and get a deal for a brighter future for those

children, amongst others. Six months later

the Good Friday Agreement was reached

and Senator Mitchell made a promise to

4

himself that one day he would return to

Northern Ireland, with his son, at a time

of peace and watch a debate at Stormont.

In this documentary on Tuesday,

September 25 on BBC One NI at

10.35pm, he fulfills that promise. Senator

Mitchell and his son travel around the

country to assess how Northern Ireland

has changed in the past 14 years. They

visit the Titanic Centre, the peace walls in

Belfast and watch a debate at the Assembly.

But they also meet with three of those 61

families who have children born on the

same date as Senator Mitchell’s son.

The families, from Derrygonnelly in

Co Fermanagh, the village of Comber

and County Down, explain how life has

changed for them in the past 14 years.

Meanwhile Andrew meets with the

children to compare their lives as teenagers.

Senator Mitchell, who narrates the

documentary, said: “I’m very profoundly

grateful, having had the opportunity to

serve in Northern Ireland. And I’m also

grateful that I now have this opportunity

to come back and remember it and in a

sense relive it in the presence of my son

who now understands what I was doing. I

think it’s important for every one to have

some important cause in their life, larger

than their self interest. Because it adds

depth and fulfillment to any human life.

And so, for me, the opportunity to serve

in Northern Ireland played that role.”

The programme also includes an

interview with former US President, Bill

Clinton, who recalls the moment when

Senator Mitchell discussed leaving his role

as Peace Envoy to be with his new born

son. “He was determined not to short

change being a husband, being a father,

doing it right. So it was a difficult thing

George Mitchell’s son Andrew pictured at Parliament Buildings, Stormont

for him,” said President Clinton. “He

decided to stick it out and it was the right

decision and the right decision for his son

and for the world that his son would live in.”

The programme was produced and directed

by Michael Fanning for Below The Radar TV.

He said: “This was a unique opportunity to

film that moment when Senator Mitchell

fulfils his dream of returning to North-

ern Ireland with his son but it was also an

opportunity for ordinary people, parents

and children, to meet with them, as families.

“The result is an intriguing and at times

emotional documentary, not about

Northern Ireland’s troubled past but about

Northern Ireland today. How things have

or haven’t changed since 1998 - told through

the prism of family values and family life.”

5

The Ulster CovenantThe Ulster Covenant, BBC One Northern Ireland, Thursday, September 27, 9pm

New documentary marks the centenary of the signing of the Ulster Covenant as William Crawley explores the event which changed the political landscape of Northern Ireland

William Crawley, seen here with the pen Edward Carson used to sign the Ulster Covenant

In September 1912, nearly half a

million Unionist men and women

signed the Ulster Covenant. Now,

100 years on from this historic mo-

ment, a new documentary on BBC

Northern Ireland explores the

dramatic story behind this event

which laid the foundations of the

political landscape we live in today.

In The Ulster Covenant, on BBC One NI

on Thursday, September 27 at 9pm, pre-

senter William Crawley attempts to un-

cover the mysteries, myths and misconcep-

tions surrounding this extraordinary event.

The Ulster Covenant was created as a

Unionist protest against a Third Home

Rule Bill by the House of Commons in

Westminster, under Prime Minister Her-

bert Asquith, which called for a sepa-

rate parliament in Dublin which would

have extensive powers over Irish affairs.

On Saturday, September 28, 1912, almost

a quarter of a million Unionist men signed

the Covenant while a quarter of a million

Unionist women signing its counterpart,

the Declaration. These people, from all

walks of life in Ireland, vowed to oppose

the Third Home Rule Bill ‘by any means

necessary’ and legend has it some were

6

so passionate about the cause that they

signed their names in their own blood.

The first person to sign their name to the

Covenant was the-then unionist leader Ed-

ward Carson - perhaps the most famous

name synonymous with the Ulster Covenant.

But how did Carson, a Dublin barrister and

judge, become the leader of Irish Unionism?

And what of the other main players in the

lead up to the signing of the Ulster Cove-

nant and in the weeks and years afterwards?

The programme explores the involvement

of Ulster Unionist MP Captain James Craig

who started the Unionist ball rolling; Tho-

mas Sinclair the man responsible for the

wording of the Covenant; and Colonel Fred

Crawford, the man tasked with arming the

militia end of the Covenant story, the Ul-

ster Volunteer Force. And what was Win-

ston Churchill’s involvement in the story?

William Crawley in Belfast City Hall by the actual table on which thousands of Unionists signed the Ulster Covenant

In this programme, made for BBC Northern Ireland by DoubleBand Films, William pieces together the events which led up to the event which would change the shape of politics in Ireland and almost led to a bloody civil war. He visits many of the sites used to bring the Ulster Covenant to life; lays his hands on the pen and table used by Carson to sign the Cov-enant; gets a look at the original documents from the time, including the Third Home Rule Bill and the Covenant itself and the hundreds of thousands of signatures therein. William also talks to leading historians to discover why exactly unionists were so opposed to the Home Rule Bill; what Nationalists thought of the mass Union-ist protest; how some of the actions of leading Unionists were of questionable legality; and how the emergence of the First World War threatened to extin-guish all that Unionists had fought for.

Director of the documentary, Brian Henry

Martin, says: “To tell the story of the Ulster

Covenant was a thrilling adventure. It is a

very dramatic period in our history, those

few short years before the First World

War, shaped the place we live in today.

You cannot understand Northern Ireland

without knowing about the events of 1912

and the signing of the Ulster Covenant.

“What is exciting about making history

programmes, is that history is so alive here,

so relevant, so crucial for us to understand

to move forward. The Ulster Covenant was

a mystery of history. It was amazing in talk-

ing to people, how little they knew about it.

We wanted our film to get behind the myth

and misconception and reveal the real story.”

7

New BBC NI Arts Series – The Arts ShowThe Arts Show, Thursday, September 27, BBC Two Northern Ireland at 10.00pm

Marie-Louise Muir presents the new series, The Arts Show, starting on Thursday, September 27 at 10.00pm on BBC Two Northern Ireland

“From opening nights of new

plays to movie premiers and

must-watch telly, to DJ sets,

dance, billboard art, lunchtime

classical concerts and chatting to

my hairdresser about Fifty Shades

of Grey, art is what you want it to

be. I love it.” Marie-Louise Muir.

Must-see movies, unmissable music and top theatre performances – whatever you love, you’re invited to sample the best of what the local scene has to offer in a new BBC Northern Ireland arts series.

Fronted by Marie-Louise Muir, The Arts Show starts on BBC Two Northern Ireland on Thursday, September 27 at 10.00pm. The TV series will complement Marie-Lou-ise’s BBC Radio Ulster series, Arts Extra.

Broadcast monthly, with special editions around key festivals including The Belfast

8

Festival at Queen’s, the series will give view-

ers a fresh perspective on contemporary

and classic arts and culture – from visual,

literature, architecture and all aspects of the

creative industry across Northern Ireland.

The Arts Show will feature high profile

guest interviews from the world of music,

film and culture and explore the key agen-

das and talking points driving the arts scene

here. There will also be performances from

national and international acts as well as the

very best of our own home-grown talent.

On the opening night (Thursday, Septem-

ber 27), Marie-Louise chats to director Ter-

ry George about his recent Oscar win for

The Shore. The show profiles Hans Peter

Kuhn’s Flags installation and reflects on the

highlights of the 4th annual Culture Night

in Belfast. The Futureheads wrap up the

first show with an acapella performance.

The Arts Show will also be turning its atten-

tion to the upcoming Derry-Londonderry

Marie-Louise Muir presents the new series, The Arts Show, starting on Thursday, September 27 at 10.00pm on BBC Two Northern Ireland

City of Culture later in the year. And dur-

ing the year, the show will be based there

as Marie-Louise returns to her home city.

Presenter Marie-Louise said: “I’m abso-

lutely delighted to be at the helm of our

new arts show. Having presented BBC

Radio Ulster’s Arts Extra for nearly nine

years I have been privileged to get to

know many artists, writers, actors and di-

rectors. I have watched them mature and

grow in confidence. I know these people, I

know how hard they work, how little they

are paid and how much they sacrifice for

their work, so it is a privilege to be a small

part of celebrating them and their work.

“I’m from Derry, and was in the Guildhall

the night the city won the UK City of Cul-

ture 2013 title. In fact I cried. I was a young

arts administrator when such a spotlight

was shone on the city before, with the

year long festival in 1992, IMPACT 92. I

used to spend my summer holidays hang-

ing around the Field Day Theatre Company

offices, putting up posters for their shows

and meeting incredible people, from Brian

Friel to Stephen Rea. For the last two-and-

a-half years, I have travelled up to the city

every week to do the radio arts show from

there and am genuinely excited as we go

into the final months before 2013 kicks-off.

“From opening nights of new plays to

movie premiers and must-watch telly, to

DJ sets, dance, billboard art, lunchtime

classical concerts and chatting to my

hairdresser about Fifty Shades of Grey,

art is what you want it to be. I love it.”

The Arts Show, presented by Marie-

Louise Muir, starts on BBC Two North-

ern Ireland on Thursday, September

27 at 10.00pm. Arts Extra is on BBC

Radio Ulster week nights at 6.30pm.

9

The Nolan ShowThe Nolan Show, BBC One NI, Wednesday, September 26 at 10.35pm

Stephen Nolan is back on your TV screens for another five-part series packed full of hard-hitting debate, heated exchanges and probing interviews.

Stephen Nolan is back on your TV screens for another five-part series

Stephen Nolan is back on

your TV screens for another

five-part series packed full of

hard-hitting debate, heated

exchanges and probing interviews.

Back on your screens on Wednesday,

September 26 on BBC One NI at

10.35pm, Stephen will be tackling the

topical issues of the week – both locally and

nationally. And because the show is fully

interactive, viewers can engage directly via

phone, text, e-mail, Twitter and Facebook.

The Nolan Show will also feature a

one-on-one big interview, as well as a

series of special probes into issues that have

the Northern Ireland public worked up.

Stephen says: “I’m genuinely excited

to be back for another series of The

Nolan Show. It’s exciting that as well

as my radio programme, there is

another platform to really grapple with the

subjects that are getting under people’s skin.

“We’ll be having the big debate, delving into developing news stories, devoting even more time into asking the questions that count and, more importantly, ensuring we strive for the answers and results our viewers expect and deserve.”

The Nolan Show, BBC One Northern

Ireland, starts Wednesday, September

26 at 10.35pm. The public are invited to

join Stephen in the live studio audience.

Tickets are available at bbc.co.uk/tickets

10

New BBC NI Political Series, The View, Starts ThursdayThe View, BBC One Northern Ireland, Thursday, September 20 at 10.35pm

Mark Carruthers presents The View live on BBC One Northern Ireland at 10.35pm starting on Thursday, September 20.

The View, BBC Northern

Ireland’s new political series

starts next Thursday (Sep-

tember 20) live on BBC One

Northern Ireland at 10.35pm.

Presented by Mark Carruthers the

series will take on the big political stories

and hold those behind them to account.

With head-to-head interviews, exclusive

stories and expert analysis from BBC

Northern Ireland political correspondents,

Mark will also be joined by regular commen-

tators to debate the highs and lows of the

political week in the 30-minute programme.

There’ll be an alternative look at the

political headlines from Newton Emerson,

and, with a signature theme tune by Duke

Special, The View aims to bring a fresh

look to politics on BBC Northern Ireland.

Mark Carruthers said: “For me this is a

fantastic opportunity to be involved

in our new-look political programme

right from its very inception - and

given that I’m a bit of a politics nut, it

just doesn’t get any better than that.

“The View won’t just be for the political

devotees. We hope people feel they

can watch the programme without

having to be up to speed with

every political twist and turn.

“We’ll have lively, challenging interviews

with our politicians in the mix, of course,

and we’ll also have sharp analysis from our

regular team of experts - and a dash of

satire just to keep everyone on their toes!”

Viewers will also be able to react to

stories and put their views to Mark

during the live programme via Twitter.

The View, presented by Mark Carruthers,

starts on BBC One Northern Ireland

at 10.35pm on Thursday, September 20.