The Maze Prison ranks alongside prisons such as Alcatraz and Sing Sing. It became the scene for symbolic protests, hunger strikes and a dramatic escape in 1983, which lead to it attaining a special status and focal point of the conflict in Northern Ireland, for those on both sides of the political divide. Known to prisoners as Long Kesh, it played a significant role in the negotiations for ‘The Peace Process’ and was finally closed down on 29th September 2000. NvTv went back to the prison with an ex-Loyalist and ex-Republican prisoner, to see what life was really like in the Compounds and H-Blocks.
When Kate O’Hanlon started work at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, the people brought in to the A&E were victims of road traffic accidents and Saturday night scuffles. So when the telephone rang on 26th June 1966 with the news that there had been a shooting in Malvern Street, no one in the department could believe it. Soon such incidents would become daily occurrences and Sister Kate went on to spend sixteen years as sister in charge of A & E, working through many of the darkest days of the Troubles. This is her fascinating and extraordinary story of nursing on the front line.
This Irish language production from Northern Visions, uses a conversation with an aged nurse to look at changes in the profession over the past fifty years.
NvTv presents the first ever televised history of James Mackie & Sons, once the world’s leading textile machinery manufacturer. Former Mackie employees and local historians tell their stories and explain how Mackies grew from humble beginnings to become a world leading engineering firm. The programme has sad stories and plenty of legendary Belfast humour, as people explain what it was like during Belfast’s industrial heyday.
‘Kick Out The Jams’ is a programme is on NvTv every tuesday from midday and is repeated every hour or so until midday the following day. The show usually lasts 20-30mins and features local bands. They film gigs on location and invite bands into our studio to perform acoustically. They also show local music videos. Each show is dedicated to an individual band (except for the occasional music video special). The show has been running since 2005 and had featured many bands including The Answer, Brian Houston, Biffy Clyro, Desert Hearts, Oppenheimer, Fighting with Wire, And So I Watch You From Afar and Duke Special to name but a few. Over the years there has been barely a handful of Irish bands whose dizzying ascent to the top of the music industry has been made in double-quick time, Ham Sandwich are among those.
The Flaws, a four-piece from Co Monaghan, Ireland released their debut self financed EP in the summer of 2005. The 4 track EP won a host of admirers with tunes like ‘Sixteen’, & ‘Idolise’. National airplay quickly followed on Today FM with presenter Alison Curtis describing the lead track ‘Sixteen’ as “brilliant, one of the best Irish tracks of 2005”.
A hugely successful set at the 2005 Hard Working Class Hero’s festival has seen them hailed as one of the top 3 bands of the weekend in the Irish Times and helped them garner support slots with the likes of Nine Black Alps and Nada Surf.
Their debut single ‘No Room’ was released in Ireland in March ‘06 as a calling card and was limited to 1,000 copies. It won many fine reviews as did the bands live performances. They took to the road for a 6 date tour and warmed up with some U.K shows in March with Nightmare of You.
The Flaws released the graceful ‘1981’ in July ‘07. The single taken from the forthcoming debut album ‘Achieving Vagueness’, which is due for release on 14th September was also recorded at Grouse Lodge and mixed at Apollo by Mannix . It will be available to download from various digital music services worldwide including itunes and at record stores nationwide.
When the BNP won a seat on his home council Billy Bragg had a real shock, this led him to write a book that looked at questions of integration and the meaning of national identity in UK. Here Andy Fields interviews him at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Bragg outlines his concepts of national identity and human rights, and how human rights bind us together as a society.
Falls Road bus tour brings you on a journey around the Falls Road with a tour conductor called Jim McVeigh. It takes a look at community murals, ancient burial sites and of course, memories of the troubles.
“Before I built a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out”
Over the next while, DCTV will carry a series of programmes profiling life at the Interfaces in Belfast. The series was initiated with the Belfast Interface Project and was carried by Northern Visions a sister community station up north, in the summer of 2007. Research and consultation began in early August to discover the key issues which interface groups felt should be highlighted. Filmed over two months, Northern Visions interviewed 48 people from a wide range of community groups, representatives from all the main political parties, statutory agencies and several historians and academics, both local and international. All of the participants gave their personal experiences of interfaces, as well as their views on the way forward for the peace lines in Belfast.
The four documentaries give a general introduction followed by an in depth look at the issue of youth and violence at interfaces, the role of ex-combatants in peace building and investment and regeneration. In this schedule we’ll broadcast the first two, with the sequels to be added to our next schedule.
Programme Schedule not available Programme Details not available
