BBC Week 13 Week Commencing 26/3/2016 Programme Information Television & Radio BBC Northern Ireland Press Office Email: [email protected] bbc.co.uk/mediacentre bbc.co.uk/iplayer Pictures are available at: www.bbcpictures.co.uk @bbconeni @bbctwoni THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS TELEVISION & RADIO / BBC WEEK 13 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ SUNDAY 27 MARCH BBC Radio Ulster School Choir Of The Year BBC Radio Ulster Eoin Mac Néill – Fear Dearmadta 1916 NEW (Eoin MacNeill: The Forgotten Man of 1916) BBC Two Northern Ireland MONDAY 28 MARCH Remembering Geordie BBC Radio Ulster Match of the Day from Northern Ireland BBC Two Northern Ireland WEDNESDAY 30 MARCH Delete, Delete, Delete NEW BBC One Northern Ireland THURSDAY 31 MARCH Easter 1916: “The Enemy Files” BBC One Northern Ireland FRIDAY 1 APRIL Ulster Rugby Live BBC Two Northern Irelan EDITORIAL 2016 / BBC WEEK 13 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ SUNDAY 27 MARCH TELEVISION & RADIO HIGHLIGHTS / BBC WEEK 13 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ BBC Radio Ulster School Choir Of The Year Continues on Sunday 27 March BBC Radio Ulster, 2pm The search is on to find Northern Ireland’s top junior and senior school choirs. Following on from the success of the first competition last year, 65 choirs from across Northern Ireland will be singing to impress as they battle it out for a place in the final of the BBC Radio Ulster Choir Of The Year. Presented by John Toal and Kerry McLean, and recorded at seven venues across Northern Ireland, the series culminates in a live final from the Ulster Hall on Sunday 17 April. This sixth programme in the series, on Sunday 27 March on BBC Radio Ulster at 2pm, is hosted by Kerry McLean from Craigavon Civic Centre and features 11 choirs all vying for a place in the grand final. Competing in the Junior category are: Markethill Primary School, Armagh; Ballycarrickmaddy Primary School, Lisburn; St Michael’s Primary School, Belfast; Tandragee Primary School; Harding Memorial, Belfast and St Francis Primary School, Lurgan. In the Senior category, the following schools will be competing for a place in the final: Friend’s School, Lisburn; St Catherine’s College, Armagh; St Mary’s High School, Downpatrick; Priory College, Holywood and Banbridge Academy. They will be performing for judges Rebekah Coffey, Ciaran Scullion and Richard Yarr. The competition is produced in association with the Ulster Youth Choir, and supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Fergus Keeling, Head of Radio, BBC Northern Ireland said: “At BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle we are dedicated to providing our listeners with the best music, and nurturing new talent is something we are extremely passionate about. We are delighted to be involved in finding some of the best young choirs in Northern Ireland and to have our listeners follow their journey towards the live grand final in the Ulster Hall.” Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: “The Arts Council is delighted to support the second year of the BBC Radio Ulster School Choir of the Year competition in association with The Ulster Youth Choir. This competition offers a fantastic opportunity for schools to engage and participate in the arts, nurturing a love of music and developing untapped talent in our young people. Good luck to everyone taking part.” The winning choirs will feature across a range of BBC Radio Ulster’s programming and events during this year. Films and photos of the choirs’ performances will be online at bbc.co.uk/schoolchoiroftheyear CC __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Eoin Mac Néill – Fear Dearmadta 1916 (Eoin MacNeill: The Forgotten Man of 1916) BBC Two Northern Ireland Sunday 27 March, 10pm A new Irish language documentary on the life of Ulsterman Eoin MacNeill is to be broadcast on BBC Two NI on Easter Sunday, 27 March at 10pm. It is a compelling story that gives an insight to one of the most controversial circumstances of the Easter Rising – MacNeill’s attempt to prevent it from happening. Eoin MacNeill was a scholar, revolutionary and politician from Glenarm in County Antrim. This documentary examines the influence that growing up in that Gaelic enclave had on his life and work. MacNeill founded the Gaelic League in 1893, and it was in the League’s newspaper, An Claidheamh Soluis, that he wrote the infamous article that led to the founding of the Irish Volunteers in 1913. MacNeill was then appointed Chief of Staff of the defence force. Through dramatic reconstruction, access to MacNeill’s unpublished memoir, interviews with key historians and experts, and through the personal account of MacNeill’s grandson, former Tánaiste Michael McDowell, pivotal moments in history are brought to life. The documentary also examines MacNeill’s reasons for making his most controversial decision – when he attempted to stop the Easter Rising of 1916 by issuing a countermanding order. According to the director of the documentary, Damian McCann, that much maligned decision is one of the most interesting aspects of MacNeill’s story: “MacNeill has a complicated legacy, and that is always interesting for a director – it presents a unique challenge. There is a deep divide in opinion about MacNeill, but his story cannot be told simply, by portraying him as a hero or a hate-figure. It is not black and white, and in fact, MacNeill’s dramatic life reflects the complex history of this period. The great themes of life are examined in this documentary – conflict, friendship and betrayal.” Irish historian, Professor Diarmaid Ferriter said: “We cannot reduce the options or the choices that were facing people like MacNeill in such crude terms, that they had either to be on one side of a debate or another side. There was a hell of a lot in between.” ‘Eoin Mac Néill – Fear Dearmadta 1916’ was produced by DoubleBand Films for BBC Northern Ireland and TG4, with funding from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund. CR ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ MONDAY 28 MARCH TELEVISION & RADIO HIGHLIGHTS / BBC WEEK 13 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Remembering Geordie Monday 28 March BBC Radio Ulster, 11.30am bbc.co.uk/radiodulster One of BBC Radio Ulster’s best loved contributors is the subject of a BBC Radio Ulster programme on Easter Monday. Geordie Tuft died at his home in Loughbrickland earlier this month. For many years he phoned the Gerry Anderson show, dispensing nuggets of wisdom about nature, the weather and the animals that he kept at his small farm – animals like Bin Laden the one eyed goat, Rusty the dog and Stanley the Turkey. Sean Coyle visits the farm, to talk to some of Geordie’s friends and replays some of the exchanges on air between Gerry, Sean and Geordie. Remembering Geordie is on Monday 28 March, BBC Radio Ulster at 11.30am. CC __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Match of the Day from Northern Ireland Monday 28 March BBC Two Northern Ireland, 7.30pm Northern Ireland continue their preparations for the European Championship Finals in France with an International Friendly against Slovenia at Windsor Park. BBC Sport NI will be on hand to bring all the latest team news and live action as both teams get ready for the summer tournament. The match will provide both managers with an opportunity to assess how their squads are doing ahead of the Euros. Stephen Watson presents live coverage on BBC Two Northern Ireland from 7.30pm on Monday 28 March. Stephen is joined by pundits and former Northern Ireland players Keith Gillespie and David Healy. Commentary is provided by Joel Taggert and Tommy Wright. CR ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ WEDNESDAY 30 MARCH TELEVISION & RADIO HIGHLIGHTS / BBC WEEK 13 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Delete, Delete, Delete NEW Begins on Wednesday 30 March BBC One Northern Ireland, 10.45pm Patrick Kielty returns home to host a brand new BBC Northern Ireland studio comedy chat show which clicks through his guests’ online activities. Delete, Delete, Delete begins on Wednesday 30 March, BBC One Northern Ireland at 10.45pm. The new six-part series sees Patrick back in the BBC’s Blackstaff studios in Belfast interviewing celebrity guests about the contents of their internet history – weird websites, most watched virals, odd blogs and questions asked of their favourite search engine. Among those celebrities facing Patrick on the sofa are Christine Lampard and Adrian Chiles; comedian and actor Ardal O’Hanlon and Great British Bake Off winner, Nadiya Hussain; BAFTA winning actor Jason Watkins (W1A and Silent Witness); Countryfile’s Ellie Harrison, Sally Lindsay (Ordinary Lies and Still Open All Hours), and Formula One and MotoGP presenter, Suzi Perry. Patrick Kielty said: “It’s always great to get home and to record in the studio where my TV career began all those years ago has been such good craic. We’ve had some brilliant guests and I can’t thank them enough for letting me have a