The State's Decade of Centenaries Programme was initiated in 2012 and complements the on-going programme of annual State commemorations.Ar an raidi , ar an teilif s agus ar l ne, f gra onn RT raon bhar faisn iseach ag marc il tr imhse shuntasach chasta i stair chomhroinnte na h ireann.
Across radio, television and online, RT has created a diverse, compelling and informative range of content marking a significant and complex chapter in Irish history. Please find below highlights of programmes due to air in the coming weeks more details will be revealed in the months ahead.
on this island we have a common history, but not a common memory of these shaping events.
Expert Advisory Group on Centenary Commemorations
WATCH: An overview of content and output across RT in the coming weeks here.
Partition 1921
The Irish demanded self-governance. The Ulster Unionists demanded to remain under London. The Irish Question, which had plagued the British establishment from the early 19th century, essentially became the Ulster Question in the 1910s. How could Irish demands for self-government be reconciled with Ulster unionists' desire to remain British? The answer was the creation of a Unionist-dominated state, leaving independent Ireland as what was left over after Northern Ireland was established.
Presented and authored by Michael Portillo, this film is a natural follow-on from his previous two critically acclaimed documentaries on the 1916 Rising, The Enemy Files, and Ireland's War of Independence, Hawks and Doves. It's a story of unswerving support for the Unionist cause from the British political and social establishment, the Church, the army and the press. Claiming the moral high ground as the oppressed Irish minority community, Ulster Protestants, quite simply, had friends in high places who came to see Home Rule as a threat, not only to Irish Protestants under the mastery of their hereditary enemies, the Catholics, but also to the Empire.
WATCH: Partition 1921 on RT Player.
Border Lives
One hundred years ago, thousands of people on the island of Ireland went to sleep in one country and woke up in another. For these families, villages, and communities, their lives changed utterly overnight.
In 1921, a border was decided along existing county lines and Northern Ireland was established. Ulster Unionists held onto the counties with the biggest Protestant voting majorities - and some of the best farmland - leaving Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal in Southern Ireland. Some communities, like Pettigo - on the border of Fermanagh and Donegal - straddled both.
In the century since, inequality, sectarianism and the Troubles' have overshadowed the stories of people who got up every day, fed their families and attempted to get on with their lives.
From Pettigo to Drum and Clones in County Monaghan, and at several points between, Miriam O'Callaghan hears from some of them.
Border Lives, 9.30pm Monday June 21st on RT One and on RT Player.
Morning Ireland
Morning Ireland will be reporting live from City Hall, Belfast, and later from Dublin City Centre one hundred years after the historic events that led to the end of the War of Independence in Ireland.
On the 22nd of June 1921, as war raged across the island of Ireland, King George the Fifth made a speech at City Hall Belfast. Those who heard his speech, believed he was calling on all sides to begin talks for peace. These talks would lead to the end of the War of Independence. One hundred years later, to mark this historic event, Morning Ireland will be reporting live from City Hall Belfast.
On the 8th of July 1921, around a table in a room in the Mansion House Dublin, bitter enemies agreed a Truce, to end the War of Independence in Ireland. One hundred years later, to mark this historic event, Morning Ireland will be reporting live from that very table in that very room in the Mansion House Dublin.
Morning Ireland, 7am-9am, June 22nd & July 8th RT Radio 1 and on the RT Radio Player.
On RT Player
In Machnamh 100 President Michael D. Higgins leads a reflection on the power and influence of the British Empire, and Ireland's resistance to it.
This recorded seminar drew on consideration of European Empires following the First World War, the British Empire in particular and imperial attitudes and responses to occurrences in Ireland. It also included reflections on examples of resistance to Empire in Ireland and resistance to nationalism. The main reflection was given by Professor John Horne, Trinity College Dublin, who provided an overview of the international context of the events in 1920s Ireland, including the fall of empires and the particular status/power of the British empire.
The event includes responses from President Higgins, Professor Eunan O'Halpin (Trinity College Dublin), Dr Marie Coleman (Queen's University Belfast), Professor Alvin Jackson (University of Edinburgh) and Dr. Niamh Gallagher (St. Catharine's College, Cambridge).
WATCH it here.
Online
In addition to Machnamh 100 on RT Player, audiences can explore the decade in detail at RT .ie/History. This invaluable resource of articles, timelines, and audio visual archival material, is a living portal into a very different Ireland, one hundred years ago.
RT News will also be providing comprehensive coverage of the various commemorative events, and Decade of Anniversaries Series Editor, Shane McElhatton, will continue with his series of online articles. Two upcoming articles will be illustrated with rare photographs, to mark the Truce, the end of the War of Independence, and the beginning of a new and uncertain period leading to the signing of the Treaty.
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