V Day

V Day 2021

1

Documentary charting the national coronavirus vaccine campaign in Ireland, beginning in late February as the rollout to the over-85s got under way.

2021

Ear to the Ground

Ear to the Ground 1970

1

Ear to the Ground is a weekly television programme broadcast in Ireland on RTÉ One on Thursday evenings at 19:00. The show consists of reports about various countryside, rural environmental issues. It is currently in its sixteenth season and is produced by Independent Pictures. Ear to the Ground is presented by Ella McSweeney, Darragh McCullough and Helen Carroll. Previous presenters include Maeve Dineen, who left after the fifteenth season and the long-running Mairead McGuinness, who has since become a Member of the European Parliament for Fine Gael. The show is repeated on RTÉ One after the lunchtime news each Sunday.

1970

The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life 1970

7.00

The Meaning of Life is an Irish television programme, the first series of which was broadcast on RTÉ One in 2009. It is presented by the veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne. Each episode involves Byrne interviewing a well-known public figure. The series is broadcast each Sunday night at 22:20. In 2010 The Meaning of Life returned for both a second and, later, a third series. Interviews with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and actors Gabriel Byrne and Brenda Fricker during the second series attracted media attention when they spoke of their religious habits and child sexual abuse respectively. Gay Byrne appeared on The Late Late Show on 18 December 2009 to discuss the programme. A fourth series soon followed. Then a fifth series from January 2012. And a sixth in October 2012. And a seventh in January 2013.

1970

Traffic Blues

Traffic Blues 2009

1

Traffic Blues is a documentary series broadcast on RTÉ One. It follows various traffic officers from the Garda Síochána. The first series follows the Garda Traffic Corps in a six-part series. The series was filmed over six months, putting the Dublin Metropolitan division based in Dublin Castle, the Louth division taking in stations in Drogheda and Dundalk and the Donegal division focusing on Burnfoot and Letterkenny areas in the centre of attention. It is similar in format to the British programmes Traffic Cops or Road Wars. Six episodes were made for the series, which aired on Sundays at 20:30.

2009

The Live Mike

The Live Mike 1970

7.00

The Live Mike was an Irish television comedy, variety, and chat show presented by Mike Murphy. It was first broadcast on RTÉ 1 on 9 November 1979. The programme featured a candid camera pieces by Murphy himself, with parody songs and comedy sketches by Twink, Dermot Morgan and Fran Dempsey, as well as a serious studio interview. The show ended on 2 April 1982.

1970

The Frontline

The Frontline 1970

1

The Frontline is a topical debate television series in Ireland, which aired for 60 minutes every Monday night on RTÉ One at 22:30. It debuted on Monday, 21 September 2009. The Frontline replaced a similar political analysis show Questions and Answers. The programme features around an invited audience and featured guests. Many public figures politicians have appeared on the series. Some incidents on the programme have attracted a large amount of media coverage. The programme has generally received positive reviews. The programme is broadcast from Studio 4 in RTÉ. The first programme received an audience share of 43.4%, with a viewing audience of 464,000. Later into the series 100,000 fewer people watched it, watching The Apprentice instead. It won "Best Current Affairs programme" at the 7th Irish Film and Television Awards in February 2010. The show returned in September 2012. However, RTÉ announced in October 2012 that the show would be revamped in early 2013. In November 2012, media reports indicated that this revamp would involve The Frontline being axed and replaced with Prime Time: Debate, and that the new show would be similar to The Frontline but under the Prime Time branding. The Frontline aired for the final time on 28 January 2013.

1970

Play it Again Des

Play it Again Des 1970

1

Play it Again Des was an Irish sports chat show produced by RTÉ for two series. The show was presented by Des Cahill and featured top sports personalities in discussion about their favourite sporting moments.

1970

Fame and Fortune

Fame and Fortune 1970

1

Fame & Fortune is an Irish game show broadcast on RTÉ One on Saturday nights from 1996 to 2006. Hosted by popular Irish television and radio personality Marty Whelan, the show aired during the summer months of June, July, and August as a seasonal replacement for Winning Streak. It was preceded by Millionaire, also hosted by Whelan, and succeeded by The Trump Card in 2007, hosted by Laura Woods. Fame & Fortune had its production costs funded by RTÉ and its prize money funded by Ireland's National Lottery. Entry to the show was based on National Lottery scratchcards, and contestants could win cash, cars, holidays, and other prizes. Fame & Fortune had its final season in the summer of 2006. Its 2007 replacement, The Trump Card, was itself replaced a year later by The Big Money Game.

1970

Highly Recommended

Highly Recommended 1970

1

Highly Recommended was a six-part Irish lifestyle game show broadcast each Sunday on RTÉ One at 20:30. Presented by Joe Duffy, the premise was that members of the general public would compete each week to convince a panel of consumer experts that their deal ought to be "Highly Recommended". The panel, consisting of Ben Dunne, Conor Pope and Barbara McCarthy, scrutinised the deals placed before them whilst Duffy embarked on a trek into the studio audience to ask its opinions. A debate ensued and, if the deal stayed strong and the panel remained convinced, the consumer in question won a total of €2000. Topics incurred ranged from health insurance, medical and dental holidays, electrical goods, online shopping and weddings. The public could also give their opinion by voting on an online poll to determine whether they "Highly Recommended" the featured deals. The results were then featured at the beginning of the next show. The show aired in November 2007.

1970

Pobal

Pobal 1970

1

Pobal was a bilingual English-Irish current affairs programme broadcast each Sunday evening at 17:30 on RTÉ One. It acted as the bilingual sister to Nationwide. It was presented by Síle Seoige and later by Caroline Ní Dhubhchóin. Each show was filmed from a different location in rural Ireland in a similar format to Nationwide. The programme had a Polish reporter, titled Margaret Brandys. The title of the series came from the Irish language word for "community", which is what the programme was all about. In 2009, due to RTÉ cutbacks, the programme was axed.

1970

Winning Streak

Winning Streak 1970

7.00

Winning Streak is a popular Irish game show that airs on RTÉ One, where five contestants compete for prizes up to €500,000. The show began in 1990 and has been hosted by various presenters, including Mike Murphy, Derek Mooney, Kathryn Thomas, Aidan Power, Marty Whelan, and currently Geri Maye. The show is funded by the Irish National Lottery and has been a top-rated program, although it experienced a drop in viewership in 2008/2009.

1970

Dev: Rise and Rule

Dev: Rise and Rule 2025

1

On the 50th anniversary of the death of the man they called The Chief, David McCullagh authors a landmark two part documentary about the rise and rule of Éamon de Valera.

2025

Our Farm - A GIY Story

Our Farm - A GIY Story 2026

1

A six-part series follows the ambitious attempt to restore one of Ireland’s largest walled gardens and build a viable, community-scale food system from the ground up.

2026

Consuming Passions

Consuming Passions 1970

1

Consuming Passions is an Irish television series broadcast on RTÉ One. Produced by Wildfire Films, it serves as summer filler for the station and two series have thus far been produced. The series examines various obscure obsessions which people have, ranging from cuddling reptiles to piloting light aircraft, beekeeping, living rockabilly, dancing the tango, truck-driving, birds of prey, horse whispering and sailing. The show run until second season.

1970

Use It or Lose It

Use It or Lose It 1970

1

Use It Or Lose It is a weekly Irish television series broadcast on RTÉ One. Each episode features a well-known sportsperson who revisits their old youth team and sets about reforming them for one final game within six weeks. Eight former athletes featured in the eight-part series broadcast in summer 2008. The athletes are equipped with personal trainers, nutritionists, coaches and physios to aid the players, health problems are explored and professional coaches conduct regular weigh-ins, blood pressure and lung capacity testing and suggest workouts and diets suited to the individual physiques of each team member. Each programme also focused on a particularly unhealthy individual, typically one who was clinically obese, had high blood pressure and some other extreme health issues. Their journey to a healthier lifestyle became the focus of the show. The series is produced by Stirling.

1970

Today Tonight

Today Tonight 1970

1

Today Tonight was an Irish news and current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis, robust cross-examination of senior politicians and investigative reporting. The programme was brodacast on RTÉ One for the first time on Monday 6 October 1980. Brian Farrell, Barry Cowan and Olivia O'Leary were the three original presenters. They were subsequently joined by others such as Pat Cox, John Bowman and Pat Kenny. All of these presenters later went on to hold other positions in RTÉ Television. Today Tonight was broadcast from Monday to Thursday on RTÉ One after the main evening news and restored the station's reputation for current affairs broadcasting following the demise of 7 Days in 1976. The last edition of the programme was broadcast on 27 August 1992 and was replaced by Prime Time. It won a number of Jacob's Awards. An in-depth report into the 14 February 1981 Stardust fire broadcast by Today Tonight on 16 February 1981 led to a senior adviser of Taoiseach Charles Haughey accusing RTÉ of undermining the Stardust Tribunal.

1970

Gaelic In The Joy

Gaelic In The Joy 2023

1

Three-part series following Dublin GAA star Philly McMahon and comedian Rory O’Connor (Rory Stories) as they run a unique educational and sports programme in Mountjoy Prison.

2023

The Hunger: The Story of the Irish Famine

The Hunger: The Story of the Irish Famine 2020

9.00

In the 1840s, a catastrophic famine brought about the decimation of Ireland’s poor and the exodus of millions from the island. This major, ground-breaking documentary, narrated by Liam Neeson, explores the famine’s international origins and development in Europe, Britain and Ireland and charts its long-term legacy as it plays out for much of the century that follows. Today the Irish famine is recognised as the worst humanitarian disaster of the 19th Century but what is less recognised is that the crisis impacted far beyond Ireland’s shores. The story of the Blight pathogen that killed the potato crop, starts in the Andes of South America and then reaches into the heart of northern Europe where the collapse of potato crops causes the deaths of 100,000 people adding further fuel to social tensions that lead to Europe’s year of revolutions in 1848.

2020