PI Week 24 June 9 - June 15 2012 Life Patrol: On The Banks Of The Foyle
Programme Information New this week Life Patrol: On The Banks Of The Foyle Page 3 IQ/NI Page 5 Joel Taggart hosts BBC Radio Ulster s new quiz show about Northern Ireland Lisdonvarna Page 6 Single radio producer with GSOH and own car seeks romantic help from Co Clare horse trader in new BBC Radio Ulster programme BBC NI City Of Culture Programming Page 7 2
Life Patrol: On The Banks Of The Foyle Life Patrol: On The Banks Of The Foyle, Monday, June 11 at 10.35pm Members of Foyle Search and Rescue on patrol around the Foyle They have become such an integral part of the fabric of the city that they are now frequently referred to as its fourth emergency organisation. The work of Foyle Search and Rescue in Londonderry is the focus of a new BBC One Northern Ireland observational documentary following the work of its specially trained volunteers, whose aim, is to save lives. Life Patrol: On The Banks Of The Foyle, on Monday, June 11 at 10.35pm, gets exclusive access to the charity s work as they patrol the Foyle, its banks and its shoreline on the frontline of suicide prevention in the city. Formed 19 years ago as a community reaction to an 18 month period when 36 lives were lost in the river, many through suicide, the charity was set up with the aim to save life in and around the Foyle. The organisation is now part of the local community - community driven - working with the Western Health and Social Services Trust, the police and local schools promoting water safety awareness and suicide prevention. The organisation also holds regular support group meetings for families affected by suicide at their base. Filmed during the Christmas/New Year period of 2011/12, the one-hour documentary brings viewers out on patrol with the volunteers who are trained in suicide intervention. They need to call upon all their training as they are faced with highly charged emotional situations. The programme hears the personal experiences of families directly affected by suicide including one family who are helped by Foyle Search and Rescue to look for their missing son. The programme also gets the perspective from a health professional about statistics that show that Northern 3
Members of Foyle Search and Rescue on patrol around the Foyle Ireland has the highest suicide rate, per ing, the programme looks at the positive thousand head of population, in the UK. impact Foyle Search and Rescue has had in the city and its community. The charity is Life Patrol: On The Banks Of The Foyle, viewed by many as essentially a unique type gives viewers an insight into the work and of organisation that doesn t exist in many demands faced by the volunteers as they other places around the world. talk about their experiences keeping a vigil in and around the Foyle. The volunteers, Des Henderson, who produced, filmed and whose day jobs include being a sales assistant, a youth worker and a technician give up directed the programme said: their time freely. Foyle Search and Rescue is a remarkable organisation. Sometimes you can forget And while some of the incidents involving these are unpaid volunteers. To see first the organisation can have an unhappy end- hand what they do and the positive part they play in the local community makes you realise the important role they play in keeping people safe and saving lives on the Foyle. I hope the programme will give viewers a real insight into the invaluable work they do and highlights their contribution when coming face-to-face with a social problem felt by many communities. 4
IQ/NI Joel Taggart hosts BBC Radio Ulster s new quiz show about Northern Ireland IQ/NI, BBC Radio Ulster, Saturdays at 12pm, repeated Mondays at 7.30pm. bbc.co.uk/radioulster How well do you know Northern Ireland? BBC Radio Ulster listeners can test their knowledge on the place they call home as host Joel Taggart asks the questions in the new quiz show IQ/NI and chances are they will fare better than team captains Gerry Kelly and Nuala McKeever. Gerry and Nuala let their competitive streaks and imagination - run riot in this new eight-part series, starting on Saturday, June 9 at 12pm on BBC Radio Ulster. The title may mean intelligent questions about Northern Ireland, but the answers to them are often anything but intelligent as Gerry and Nuala and their guest panellists wrack their brains in this battle of wits. Listeners can expect to be as amused as they are informed as Joel tries to keep order while asking general knowledge questions on all things about Northern Ireland from music and celebrities to geography and the economy. Among the well-known guests panellists in the series are May McFettridge, Brian Kennedy, William Caulfield and Peter Corry. Joel Taggart says: IQ/NI is really a programme where I ask local celebs intelligent questions about Northern Ireland. As you ll find out, the answers aren t always as intelligent. But you do learn lots of things you maybe didn t know and hopefully get a laugh or two along the way. You also get Team captains Gerry Kelly (left) and Nuala McKeever (right) battle it out in IQ/NI while host Joel Taggart (centre) asks the questions to hear just how competitive Gerry Kelly but I ve been sitting at home exercising my really is. Scary. buzzer finger. Gerry Kelly says: I thought I knew Northern Ireland -until IQ/NI came along. This is a quiz that forces you to possess a slightly askew view of life here. So if you want to be part of a quirky, thoughtful and humorous look at how and where we live, then join me on IQ/NI. You ll be amazed and somewhat dismayed at how little you actually know. Well...how little I know. And I m a team captain! Nuala McKeever says: It s been great working with the best of Northern Ireland talent and Gerry Kelly! I m only joking, it s been good fun working with Gerry, he s great fun and it s not the winning that counts, it s the taking apart of the opposition. I actually hadn t realised how competitive I was Taking part in IQ/NI, I ve been surprised by how many things I remember and it s making me feel old. Questions pop up about the period I was born and the accompanying clips are then described as archive. I m going from well-known to veteran. IQ/NI starts on BBC Radio Ulster on Saturday, June 9 at 12pm and is repeated on Mondays at 7.30pm. 92 95FM & DAB digital radio, digital TV and online at bbc.co.uk/radioulster 5
Lisdoonvarna Single radio producer with GSOH and own car seeks romantic help from Co Clare horse trader in new BBC Radio Ulster programme Lisdoonvarna, BBC Radio Ulster, Sunday, June 10 at 1.30pm. bbc.co.uk/radioulster It s an unlikely venue for international romance, a small town on the edge of a stark, scarred limestone plateau but as a new BBC Radio Ulster programme discovers, Lisdoonvarna in County Clare has been a matchmaking Mecca for hundreds of years. The BBC Radio Ulster programme, Lisdoonvarna, tells how every September, once their harvests were in, farmers from Co Clare and the surrounding counties would flock to the town in search of a companion. These days, the festival attracts hopefuls from all over the world. They come to seek the help of one man Willie Daly, a third generation traditional matchmaker, who does a little horse-trading on the side. This time around, one of the hopefuls looking for love is BBC producer Alison Finch (single, own car, GSOH) who makes the pilgrimage to Lisdoonvarna to seek Willie s help. Throwing herself into the helter-skelter of the matchmaking season, Alison encounters a lonely lorry driver who sees Lisdoonvarna as the World Cup of socialising, a happily married couple who BBC Radio Ulster s Alison Finch looks for love in Lisdoonvarna haven t missed a festival in almost 50 years Will Alison record her own happy ending? - not even for their son s wedding - and a Or will she discover that although the odds farmer who claims to know a little bit about are good, the goods are odd? everything from space shuttles to slurry. Lisdoonvarna is on BBC Radio Ulster on The signs are promising: men greatly outnumber women; Willie the matchmaker is Sunday, June 10 at 1.30pm, repeated on Thursday, June 14 at 7.30pm. 92 95FM & confident of finding Alison a partner (especially if she s prepared to move to the DAB digital radio, digital TV and online at countryside) and a jovial American assures bbc.co.uk/radioulster her there are cupids in the trees. However, she doesn t count on some serious competition in the form of international music star, Sinead O Connor. 6
BBC NI City Of Culture Programming BBC Northern Ireland will be at the heart of Derry-Londonderry s City of Culture celebrations providing audiences with comprehensive coverage of the year s events combined with a range of original programming to mark the year. With a line-up including documentaries, coverage of live events and a focus on the high profile cultural celebrations, BBC Northern Ireland will give people around Northern Ireland and across the wider UK the opportunity to experience, participate and share in what the City of Culture has to offer. On all platforms, across our arts & culture, news and sport output and with plans for dedicated programming focusing on City of Culture landmark events, BBC Northern Ireland will be reflecting the breadth and quality on offer during the year and providing audiences with a sense of the excitement and a flavour of what is sure to be a momentous year for the city. Alongside its City of Culture output, BBC Northern Ireland will also be reflecting the wider aspects of life in the North West across its broader portfolio of programming. The full list of BBC Northern Ireland s City of Culture output is yet to be finalised but will include extensive coverage on BBC Radio Foyle in the run-up, and during, the City of Culture year. Seven new TV projects are already in production including documentaries looking at the history of Derry s Walls, a programme about one of the city s most famous musical exports and a film reflecting on St. Colmcille s sea voyage from the Foyle to Iona. A special arts programme will also be broadcast from the city during 2013. In addition, a number of other television projects and events are at the development stage. To start 2013 in style, BBC Northern Ireland will also be broadcasting the Sons and Daughters concert on TV. Peter Johnston, Director BBC Northern Ireland said: We marked the celebration of Derry- Londonderry s success in being awarded the City of Culture title and we are looking forward to this fantastic year ahead for the city. We will bring our audiences a sense of the excitement during the coming year whether that is within specific programming locally on BBC Radio Foyle or across Northern Ireland through our other services and in partnership with network colleagues across the UK. BBC Northern Ireland is also pleased to announce the extension of its New Directors scheme to the North West. We will be looking for ideas from first-time directors for our True North strand. Details of the scheme are available on BBC NI s commissioning website bbc.co.uk/northernireland/ commissioning. Full details of BBC Northern Ireland City of Culture output will be announced at a later date. 7