Retired RTE star Bryan Dobson set to return to national broadcaster for new show

Irish Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Retired RTE radio star Bryan Dobson is set to return to our screens to host a new documentary.
The former News at One host announced his retirement from RTE after 37 years in January 2024.
The veteran journalist has announced he will return to our screens this summer to co-host a new documentary about the last Irish missionaries.
The Last Irish Missionaries will see Dobson and his co-host Dearbhail McDonald chart the unique evolution of the Irish missionary movement, from religious colonialism to heroic acts of self-sacrifice and philanthropy; from a flourishing of Irish "soft power", to tawdry scandals of abuse and cover-up.
Today, the Irish missionary chapter is drawing to a close and Dearbhail and Bryan explore why so many Irish priests, nuns, lay people and other religious people felt called to spread the Gospel to the farthest reaches of the world.
They also hear first-hand about their experiences and the impact of those individuals worldwide.
The documentary is among a slate of new shows RTE is set to air this summer across RTE One and RTE Player.
Among those include The Phone Box Babies, which will reveal new insights into the lives and identities of three newborn babies abandoned in the 1960s in different parts of Ireland.
The babies were discovered by random passersby in phone boxes, and in a car, without any identifying information or clue to their origins.
David McBride, born in 1962, was left in a car in a Belfast driveway. John Dowling, born in 1965, was found in a Drogheda phone box.
Helen Ward, born in 1968, was discovered in a Dundalk phone box. Each was adopted and raised in different parts of Ireland.
This new documentary uncovers details about the babies' parents, where they came from, and why they were given up.
50 years later, as adults, they discover their connection to each other and embark on an emotional journey to uncover their identities.
Mary Robinson also presents her own documentary, Mrs Robinson.
In her own words, for the very first time she will open up on battles for justice and equality over half a century; on the streets, in the courts, at the ballot box, and in backroom corridors of power.
Pray for our Sinners documents Sinéad O'Shea's return to her hometown, Navan, Co Meath to explore the impact of the Catholic Church on the community in decades past.
Through first-hand testimonies, the film reveals the plight of unmarried mothers; the horrors of mother and baby homes and the prevalence of violence against children in Catholic schools.
Listen to the Land Speak sees Manchán Magan reveal the profound knowledge and wisdom contained in our landscape and myths and explore how they have shaped the way we look at the world.
Filmed over four seasons, the film unfolds from Winter Solstice to Bealtaine through Reek Sunday to Samhain.
Along his journey, he meets respected archaeologists, mythologists, writers and shamans that offer different perspectives on how our ancestors related to the land and landscape around them.
It also becomes an unexpectedly personal story - as he seeks to help heal society's relationship with nature - Manchán also realises that there is a serious illness within himself that makes him see these ancient sites and beliefs in a whole new light.