Latest news with #BryanDobson
Irish Independent
14-07-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
‘The Last Irish Missionaries' review: Two-part RTÉ documentary doesn't avoid thornier issues around missionary work
Bryan Dobson and Dearbhail McDonald co-present an exploration of Irish Catholic priests and nuns spreading the world abroad Pat Stacey Today at 17:35 To be honest, I approached two-part documentary The Last Irish Missionaries (RTÉ One, Monday, July 15, and RTÉ Player) with trepidation. For people of my generation, who attended school in the 1960s and 70s, the word 'missionary' is a loaded one. It evokes memories of tin-shaking and guilt-tripping.
RTÉ News
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Bryan Dobson on the joy of retirement and his advice to Joe Duffy
A year on from his departure from the RTÉ newsroom, Bryan Dobson has no regrets about taking early retirement. In fact, he describes it as "intoxicating". The veteran news journalist talks to Janice Butler about new projects, the joy of grandchildren and the advice he'd give the newly retired Joe Duffy. "I sent him a card. I'm sure it's amongst the thousands of cards that he's got, to wish him well and to say, speaking from my own experience, that retirement is great," beams a relaxed and healthy looking Bryan Dobson, sitting in his office at his Dublin home, surrounded by books and paintings of the sea. He is talking about the recent departure of Joe Duffy from RTÉ's Liveline and his own retirement, which the broadcaster began last summer. "I think he could be very busy if he wants to be. The phone will ring with all kinds of offers, I would say. Enda Kenny, who I met around the time that I was retiring, said to me that you should do nothing or make any decisions for about six months. Don't make any commitments and then see how you feel. "So I more or less did that and I think that's good advice for anyone," he adds, content with his decision to leave at 63, after 37 years with the national broadcaster, or as he puts it, "to go out on a high." "How's everyone getting on in there"? he asks, always the gentleman. "I've had a bit of contact with a few people since I've left, but not that many." Having worked in the busy and high-pressure world of news for almost four decades, finishing his career on the News at One on Radio 1, Bryan admits he was surprised by how easy he found it to detach himself from the working environment. "I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms at all, and I expected maybe I'd have a little. But when I retired, I immediately went away for a week and then when I came back, I had things planned, so there was never a moment of missing work," he remarks. "It's gone very fast, too fast really. But I've kept pretty busy, which is good, but you're able to create gaps where you don't do anything or just have some time to yourself. The freedom is quite intoxicating. I left a bit early, earlier than retirement age, because I wanted to go while I was still enjoying the job and still looking forward to getting up and going in. I hated the idea of getting to the point where I resented having to go to work because I think that would show; hard to disguise that on the air. It was the right time," he adds. While he's taken the foot off the pedal, he's still taking on bits of TV work: his latest project, The Last Irish Missionaries, is on our screens this week. Last autumn, he was contacted by a production company to work on a documentary about the history of the evolution of the Irish missionary movement, and he jumped at the opportunity, saying that it appealed to his love of history and innate curiosity about people. In the two-part documentary, Bryan and journalist Dearbhail McDonald chart the evolution of the Irish missionary movement, from its earliest colonial era, right up to the present day, when far fewer people are entering the religious life. It's a story of self-sacrifice and philanthropy, as well as questionable politics and abuse cover-ups. The last missionaries are largely elderly and either retired or never coming home. So, what will be their legacy? This is what Bryan and Dearbhail examine over the two-parter. "It was a chance to hear their testimony," says Bryan of the people they met for the show. "And it struck me that a lot of people will connect to this documentary because there mustn't be a family or a community in the country that doesn't have some connection with those missionary priests and nuns. My wife had an uncle who was a Holy Ghost father, and he'd come home every three or four years, and I remember talking to him about his experiences in Nigeria," he adds. Bryan and Dearbhail got to travel the country and the world, with a "brief trip to the Philippines" for Dobson, to explain the origins and impact of the Irish missionary project, for better and for worse, and to assess its legacy. "It's very interesting to watch the evolution of missionary thinking. In the early stages, it was conversion and spreading the word of the gospel and then as the enterprise grew, they began to see very quickly that there were huge social needs: education, healthcare and then it evolved into social justice and social structures and that's where you get this image of the radical priest or revolutionary figure. There was this sense of standing with the people and understanding their suffering," explains Dobson with his newsman's hat on. What was his takeaway from working on the project? "I was struck by a few things. We asked the interviewees why they ended up where they ended up, and they almost looked puzzled by the question and said, 'because we were sent', so there was extraordinary obedience. Then there was a life-long commitment; they were there to stay and in many cases, they never came home. Nothing deviates them from their mission, and I found all that fascinating." He remarks that after decades of grilling politicians and reporting from high-profile events (he covered two papal conclaves and would be "greedy to want to cover a third"), it was nice to have the time to delve into a project like this over a number of months. "It was lovely. My day-to-day job was news. When the day was over, you started on a fresh page and off you went again. The chance to spend time with people and give them the opportunity to tell their story was an honour. It's always a great privilege. When it was all over and the filming was finished, I felt a little bit sad, I missed working on it," he reflects. Another outlet that's keeping him busy is his role as the chairperson of the new State Commemorations Advisory Committee, which has been established with the aim of advising on the planning and delivery of commemorative events. "When you join these committees, they say it's only a couple of meetings a year, and then it turns out to be a bit more," he laughs. "We had our first meeting recently, and the purpose is to advise the Minister and his officials on events that might be commemorated and how they might be commemorated over the lifetime of the Government. There's some stuff going on this year around the 250th anniversary of the birth of Daniel O'Connell and the committee has some ideas on what should be commemorated," he explains. Any plans to reflect on his life and career in a memoir, as his former colleague Miriam O'Callaghan will be doing in a memoir this autumn? "I had a couple of publishers that contacted me after I retired to see if I was interested, but I'm not at the moment," he answers. "I doubt that I'd have much of interest to put into it, to make a book out of my mundane life," he laughs. "I might be tempted to write something for my children and grandchildren. We'll see, but not at the moment anyhow." Away from occasional work projects, family life keeps Bryan busy in retirement. He's a picture of health, having lost almost four stone over the last number of years, with healthy eating and cycling. He and his wife Crea became grandparents again at the start of this year, with the arrival of a granddaughter, Lucy, the second child for his daughter Sophie (he has another daughter, Hannah). "We've two now", he says proudly. "Myles will be four in October, and Lucy was born in January, and she's very sweet," he smiles. "Being a grandparent is so much fun. I never knew my grandparents, but they take a more relaxed approach to things now, and the kids can get away with a lot more with their grandparents." His "escape" is to go sailing, which he plans to do over the summer. He laughs that his wife "stays firmly on dry land." He has a sailing buddy who joins him for these trips. "I'll be floating around on a boat next week. That's the plan," he says. "We go around the Irish Sea. The boat is in Carlingford at the moment so we'll go up and take it out. It's all a bit aimless; we just go wherever the wind takes us. We took it up to Carlingford last weekend and we sailed through the night on the shortest day of the year. It was beautiful." With the world news so chaotically fast now, does he ever miss the cut and thrust of reporting the stories of the day? "I follow the news and like everyone else, my jaw is on the floor most days with what's going on, and I am horrified by it. But I don't miss it from the point of view of being a reporter. I really have managed to shut that door in professional terms. I think it's because I had a good, long run, I did everything that I'd reasonably expected to do," he answers. "In the past, I would have listened to the news as a journalist, working the angles, but now I tend to listen to it as a citizen and voter, and that's been an interesting change. I didn't expect that."
Irish Times
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
TV guide: the best new shows to watch this week
Pick of the week The Last Irish Missionaries Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm The once-mighty Irish missionary movement is in decline, and in this two-part documentary series, Bryan Dobson and Dearbhail McDonald set out in search of the lesser-spotted Irish Catholic missionary, travelling around Ireland and the world to learn how the movement evolved and how it changed the religious and political landscape around the globe over the past couple of centuries. At its peak in the 1960s, the movement saw 6,000 Irish missionaries scattered to the four corners of the world, exerting huge moral and cultural influence in some of the world's poorest countries, but now there are fewer than 450 active missionaries in the field, most of them nearing retirement age, and the ranks of new missionaries are fast dwindling. Dobson and McDonald look at the origins of the missions, when Irish abbot and evangelist Columba departed from Derry to bring the Gospel to the pagan tribes of Picts in Scotland, and how the movement grew to become a fixture of Irish life, with almost every Irish family having a son 'in the missions'. They examine the positive legacy of the movement, as missionaries worked to help those affected by poverty, disease and oppression, and also the dark side, with stories of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people in remote places. Dobson and McDonald meet many former and current missionaries to get insights on the legacy of the movement, and to glean some clues as to what the future may hold for the Irish missions in an age when vocations are falling away. Highlights Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert: 2025 Sunday, BBC Four, 8pm It's a summer night's dream for music lovers as the Vienna Philharmonic performs its annual summer gig in the city's Schönbrunn Palace Gardens, and this year the orchestra will be under the baton of star conductor Tugan Sokhiev. The audience in the Austrian capital will be taken on a musical tour of Europe, with excerpts from operas and operettas across the continent, plus special guest appearances by world-renowned Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, who will perform arias from Bizet's Carmen and Puccini's Turandot, and the Vienna Boys' Choir, making its debut at the Summer Concert. The Couple Next Door Monday, Channel 4, 9pm The Couple Next Door: Annabel Scholey and Sam Palladio How do you follow up a dark psychological thriller in which new neighbours are caught up in a web of lust, lies and maybe even murder? Simple: just turn it into an anthology series, introducing a new foursome and a new storyline into the same street. This second series stars Sam Palladio, Annabel Scholey, Aggy K Adams and Sendhil Ramamurthy in a brand new love rectangle, with one returning cast member – Hugh Dennis as creepy neighbour Alan. Heart surgeon Charlotte (Scholey) and consultant anaesthetist Jacob (Palladio) are having a busy married life, but when their new colleague at the hospital, the mysterious Mia (Adams), moves in next door, their relationship is put to the ultimate test. Soon Mia has insinuated herself into their lives – and into their bed, but when patients at the hospital start dying, things take a darker, deadlier turn. The Veil Monday, RTÉ2, 10.30pm The Veil: Elisabeth Moss. Photograph: FX Elisabeth Moss stars in a globe-trotting spy series written by Steven Knight , the creator of Peaky Blinders, and if you can get past Moss's dodgy Brit accent, you might just enjoy this romp, which has been called a love child of Homeland and Killing Eve. Moss is MI6 operative Imogen Salter, whose special skills include adopting different identities and extricating targets from tricky situations. Her assignment is to get suspected Isis agent Aldilah El Idrissi (Yumna Marwan) out of a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey and get information out of her that could prevent a huge terrorist attack, but who's on whose side? The two women soon become locked in a cat-and-mouse game where the only winners may be the dogs of war. READ MORE Mix Tape Tuesday, BBC Two, 9pm Mix Tape: Teresa Palmer and Jim Sturgess Adapted from the novel by Jane Sanderson, and filmed in Sydney and Dublin, Mix Tape is a romantic drama that time-jumps between the 1980s and the present day. Teresa Palmer stars as Alison, with Jim Sturgess as Daniel, former girlfriend and boyfriend who are now living different lives on opposite sides of the world. But there's always those classic 1980s tunes to remind them of their past romance – and one tune in particular reopens the connection between them. Is it Hungry Like the Wolf? Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? She Drives Me Crazy? You'll just have to watch it to find out. Safe to say this effervescent four-parter will be soundtracked by lots of bangers from the era, as the action flashes back to the blossoming romance between the teenage Alison and Daniel, played by Florence Hunt and Rory Walton-Smith. Noraid: Irish America & the IRA Wednesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm This two-part documentary series tells the story of the Irish-Americans who raised funds for the republican movement during the Troubles, and in the second episode, we learn about those who went beyond fundraising to play an active part in furthering the IRA's cause, including a member of the notorious Whitey Bulger gang in south Boston. The episode also looks at how New York district attorney and Noraid spokesman Martin Galvin put pressure on US president Bill Clinton to grant a US visa to Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams. Home – The Story of Zak Moradi Wednesday, RTÉ One, 10.35pm Home – The Story of Zak Moradi It's been the strangest path to GAA glory for Iraqi-born Zak Moradi. He was born in a Kurdish refugee camp in Ramadi, Iraq, in 1991, on the same day the Gulf War began, and in 2002 he and his family fled the country to settle in Ireland. Growing up in Carrick-on-Shannon, Moradi found his tribe among the Leitrim hurling community, becoming a senior hurler for the county. Now retired from GAA, Moradi takes an emotional journey into his past, recalling the challenges his family faced as they set out in search of a better life in Ireland. This documentary film is directed by Trevor Whelan, and had its premiere at the 2024 Galway Film Fleadh. 'It was an honour being trusted to lead this documentary and tell Zak's story of resilience and hope,' says Whelan. Listen to the Land Speak Thursday, RTÉ One, 10.10pm Listen to the Land Speak: Manchán Magan. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Lend an ear to the landscape around you and you may hear some profound truths. That's what Manchán Magan believes, and in this two-part series, he shows how Ireland's rivers, mountains, lakes and valleys harbour deep knowledge and wisdom – we just have to learn how to attune ourselves to it. Magan's journey of rediscovery will take him through four seasons, from the winter solstice through Bealtaine, Reek Sunday and Samhain, and will see him travel through some of Ireland's most stunning scenery, beginning with his home in the ancient site of Loughcrew, Co Meath, where he recalls how he first became enamoured of ancient folklore and legend. For Magan this is a deeply personal odyssey as he deals with his own cancer diagnosis, and seeks spiritual healing by reconnecting with nature. Streaming The Summer I Turned Pretty From Wednesday, July 16th, Prime Video Get the sunblock, swimsuit and tissues ready for one last visit to Cousins Beach. Lola Tung returns as Isabel 'Belly' Conklin, a teenager who just can't seem to make up her mind. She's locked in a puppy-love triangle with brothers Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher, but now it looks as if she's decided that Conrad is her past and Jeremiah her future. As the third and final series of the romantic teen drama begins, Belly has finished her junior year in college and is looking forward to an idyllic summer with Jeremiah. The stakes are raised when he proposes marriage, sending their moms into a bit of a tailspin. And when Conrad unexpectedly comes back on the scene, all bets are off. Untamed From Thursday, July 17th, Netflix Kyle Turner is a special agent for the National Park Service, and his beat is the vast and untamed wilderness of Yosemite National Park, in California, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the US. The thousands of visitors who come here every week see only 'maybe 10 per cent of the park', Turner tells rookie park ranger Naya Vasquez, adding ominously: 'Things happen different out here.' When someone is murdered in the park, Turner and Vasquez – who knows about policing in the city – must pool their disparate talents to track down a killer whose knowledge of this wilderness seems almost as good as Turner's. Eric Bana is the gimlet-eyed Turner, with Lily Santiago as Vasquez and Sam Neill as chief park ranger Paul Souter.
Irish Independent
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Today's top TV and streaming choices: The Last Irish Missionaries, American Gangster and Apocalypse in the Tropics
An Ghig Mhór RTÉ One, 8pm The final episode focuses on singer and guitarist Síomha's efforts to help young up-and-coming band Coolboy organise a gig in their hometown of Portlaoise. The Last Irish Missionaries RTÉ One, 9.35pm With its future in doubt, Bryan Dobson and Dearbhail McDonald examine the history of the Irish missionary movement. The two-part programme begins by tracing its origins, and meets some of those who dedicated their lives to the cause. The Veil RTÉ2, 10.30pm New spy thriller written by Steven 'Peaky Blinders' Knight. Elisabeth Moss plays Imogen Salter, an MI6 agent who goes undercover to help the CIA learn the truth about a suspected member of ISIS. American Gangster TG4, 9.30pm Director Ridley Scott's crime drama is loosely based on the life of 1970s drug smuggler Frank Lucas. Denzel Washington plays the villain, with Russell Crowe as Det Richie Roberts, the man trying to bring him down. Apocalypse in the Tropics Netflix, streaming now Where does governance end and doctrine begin? To put it another way, at what point do the lines blur between democratic rule and religious rule? This isn't an anatomy of what's devolving in North America right now, but rather what's already happened in South America. In her new documentary, Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa returns with a penetrating look at how Christian evangelical movements have gained powerful influence over Brazil's political system. With remarkable access to both sitting president Lula and former president Bolsonaro — plus one of Brazil's most prominent televangelists — the film dives into the spiritual and strategic alliances shaping modern Brazil. What emerges is a tense portrait of a nation where apocalyptic beliefs mix with political ambition. Costa, known for her Oscar-nominated The Edge of Democracy, again captures a country in flux with raw honesty and clarity. One Night In Idaho Prime Video, streaming now In late 2022, a fatal stabbing attack involving four university students rocked a small Idaho town, drawing national attention. An explosion of social media sleuthing, a cross-country manhunt, a dramatic arrest, and a looming trial made this crime one of the most high-profile stories of the last decade. Foundation AppleTV+, streaming now Season 3 returns to Apple, with new episodes dropping every Friday through to September 12. Inspired by Isaac Asimov's celebrated books, the saga follows exiles fighting to restore civilisation as an empire collapses. The Crossbow Cannibal Prime Video, streaming now Keeping things super light on Prime Video this week, we also have a profile of Stephen Griffiths, who created his own deadly persona in the hope of following in the footsteps of his idol — serial killer Peter Sutcliffe. Fifteen years after Griffiths's arrest, this documentary revisits one of Britain's darkest criminal cases. Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story Disney+, streaming now National Geographic dives into (apologies) the legacy of a legendary film with this Laurent Bouzereau documentary, tracing its journey from book to enduring pop culture phenomenon. If the tween in your life has been counting down the days, they'll probably already know that Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires is also now available (be warned, it's a musical). Oppenheimer Netflix, streaming now Finally, the wait is over. Anyone who failed to catch it in the cinema back in the heady summer of 2023 can now view it on whatever device they please. Speaking of German-related drama, Brick, an atmospheric number with Danny Boyle vibes, is also available. Building The Band Netflix, streaming now If The Circle and The Voice procreated and were imbued in a cocoon of cringe. If this is too much schmaltz for you, then the second season of 1923 might be a better fit.
RTÉ News
13-07-2025
- RTÉ News
Meet The Last Irish Missionaries - making the new RTÉ documentary
Author and broadcaster, Dearbhail McDonald, introduces the documentary series, The Last Irish Missionaries, that she co-hosts with Bryan Dobson and which charts the unique evolution of the Irish missionary movement. MY earliest memory of Ireland's missionaries is the annual Trócaire Lenten campaign, a rite of passage where every mantlepiece was adorned with those cardboard cartons inviting us to think about those less fortunate than ourselves. I think, too, of the beautiful grounds and lake at Dromantine, outside of my home town of Newry. With a history dating back to the Middle Ages, the estate was bought in 1926 by the Cork based Society of African Missions (SMA). Such was the surge in men and women from Ireland joining the missions after independence – when the country was experiencing a fusion of nationalism and Catholicism that seems alien to us now - the SMA bought the large, storied property to prepare their students for missionary work in Africa. Some 600 men trained there between 1926 and 1972, yet only a small handful of returned missionaries live in retirement now at Dromantine, a retreat house and conference centre that is also home to a stunning collection of African art and carvings. From early medieval times, Ireland's missionaries – our fabled "saints and scholars" – took their faith, heritage and our history to every corner of the world. And their evolution spans not just a large arc of time, but also spans a huge arc of influence in terms of the evolution of their roles, from religious colonialists to heroic acts of self-sacrifice and philanthropy; as educators and healthcare providers; from a flourishing of Irish "soft power" to, inevitably, tawdry scandals of abuse and cover-up that have plagued the institutional church at home and overseas. Today, the Irish missionary chapter is drawing to a close, resulting in my co-host Bryan Dobson and I setting out on a remarkable journey across the world to explore why so many Irish priests, nuns, lay people and others felt called to spread the Gospel to the farthest reaches of the world. The stories we heard and the people we encountered, in Ireland, Africa and Asia – in truth, we could have travelled to every continent - are as diverse as they are extraordinary. I think of my encounter in the slums of Nairobi with Sr Mary Killeen, an Irish nun who has transformed Kenya's Mukuru slums after nearly 50 years of building state-of-the-art schools that have educated 170,000 children, as well as building training and healthcare facilities in a city where over 60pc of the population live in these distressing informal settlements. Walking through the slums with Sr Mary, known as the "Mother of Mukuru" is an almost impossible task as she is mobbed by residents who continually thank her. Fearless and ferociously witty, the now 80 year old retains a relentlessness in improving the conditions for millions of slum dwellers and has no qualms about taking on patriarchies or hierarchies – civil or clerical. Sr Mary has no intention of retiring, but her age does beg the question: who, if anyone, will pick up the baton, when, eventually, she decides her race is run? Today, there are only about 450 Irish missionaries still scattered around the world: by the end of this decade, that number is likely to fall below 200. The global reach of Ireland's missionaries is poignantly reflected in St Austin's Cemetery, also in Nairobi, the final resting place for many Irish missionaries, including lay missionary Edel Quinn, who many, today, wish to see canonised. St Austin's had once hosted the remains of Bishop Joseph Shanahan, widely regarded as the founder of the modern Irish missionary movement, credited with a mass evangelisation campaign in Nigeria – now home to the world's largest Catholic seminary. Bishop Shanahan died in 1943 was buried at St Austin's. But his remains were exhumed in 1995 and reinterred at Onitsha cathedral in the heart of the land of the lgbos, Southern Nigeria. Bishop Shanahan also founded the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary (MSHR), an Irish female order who recently celebrated a century of sending religious sisters to Brazil, Cameroon, Ethiopia, England, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mexico, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, USA, and Zambia. At their convent-cum-retirement home in Dublin, I met a remarkable group of MSHR sisters, most in their 90s, who had endured war, famine, post-traumatic stress and countless other hardships. They included Sr Grainne Fitzpatrick, a fellow County Down native, now 92, who I first saw in the haunting Radharc documentary, Night Flight to Uli. Filmed in Biafra at the height of the Nigerian civil war, the film sparked not just an awareness of the war, but also fomented, in the Irish population, an enduring flame of consciousness and conscience about the developing world. This, in turn, has led to Ireland's reputation, globally, as a world leader in overseas aid and development, as the missionaries, over time, handed over the baton to international aid organisations and NGO's, including Concern and Trócaire. What was striking about Sr Grainne, and her colleagues all over the world, is the strength of their conviction and a willingness, if allowed, to do it all over again. The Irish Missionary movement is not without its complexities. Was this our form of colonialism? Undoubtedly, in the early evangelist waves, it was. Did the Mission fields we furrowed become dumping grounds for some known and suspected abusers? Were children and others, including religious sisters, abused overseas? The answer, sadly, is yes. But Ireland's missionaries are not 'the other'. Their history is our history. Today, there are only about 450 Irish missionaries still scattered around the world: by the end of this decade, that number is likely to fall below 200. Will we miss them when they are gone? And is their story really over? Long starved of vocations in Ireland, our elder missionaries are now recruiting new vocations overseas to carry on their work there, but also to re-evangelise the Irish at home. As one missionary chapter closes, another may just be beginning.
