Arts and Culture

As the impact of the global pandemic receded in 2022 and artistic and cultural activities resumed at something close to previous levels, RTÉ was able broadcast a greater range and quantity of arts and culture content, from events with live audiences to commissioned productions. In so doing, RTÉ continued to prioritise creating distinctive Irish arts and culture content to engage broad audiences and support and foster the full range and diversity of Irish creative and performing artists

Television

A series of TV documentaries with broad audience appeal included 100 years of Ulysses, Songs of the Open Road (featuring Thomas McCarthy), Tommy Tiernan’s Epic West and A Note for Nature, a production that sought to combine music and performance with imagery and reflection on the pressures placed upon our natural environment. In parallel, RTÉ continued to commission major television documentaries on leading Irish artists with Brian Friel – Shy Man, Showman, Micheál Ó Súilleabháin: Between Worlds, Francis Bacon: The Outsider and the iconic fashion designer, Clodagh. These were complemented by The Works Presents, which added another striking series of profiles of the artists, Eimear Noone, John Boyne, Eilis O’Connell, Robert Ballagh and Conor McPherson.

Other television highlights included Culture Night – Live at Lough Boora, in a welcome return to a live RTÉ broadcast for Culture Night. This featured a diverse range of artists performing with and alongside the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in an iconic setting that facilitated the combination of music and performance reflecting on the challenges facing our natural environment.

Radio

Arts and Culture programming on RTÉ Radio 1 included the continuation of a series of Bank Holiday Monday specials, entitled The RTÉ Concert Orchestra Presents ..., including the music of Paul McCartney introduced by Paul Muldoon and the music of David Byrne. The RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards were once again broadcast live from Vicar Street, with a subsequent television highlights programme. In The County Measure, a major new RTÉ Radio 1 project marking the Decade of Centenaries, presenter Vincent Woods set out on a multi-annual journey to create a radio atlas of Ireland, conveying something of the cultural identity of each of the 32 counties, and traversed eight in this, its first year.

Regular arts and culture programming continued to be central to RTÉ Radio 1 output. Programmes created for specific audiences included The Rolling Wave and Céili House, both of which embraced the opportunity to record live from communities right across the country; the touchstone weekday magazine show Arena; South Wind Blows; Folk on One; The Poetry Show; and a second series of commissioned writing in Spoken Stories – Creatures of the Earth.

The RTÉ Short Story Competition continued to discover and reward new Irish writing talent on Rte.ie/culture and RTÉ Radio 1, with an Irish language story, ‘Cnámharlach Uaigneach’ by Nicola Crean, read by Denis Conway, among this year’s prize winners. Likewise, linchpin series with a proven appeal to a large and broad audience continued with Sunday Miscellany and Book on One, which included prize-winning author Claire Keegan reading her own Small Things Like These.

RTÉ lyric fm output continued to serve its growing listenership through its distinctive blend of Irish and international music, from early mornings with Marty in the Morning to Classic Drive and into the evening with The Mystery Train, Vespertine and The Blue of the Night. RTÉ lyric live featured regular broadcast performances by the National Symphony Orchestra, strikingly diverse performances by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra including new interpretations of Peadar agus an Mac Tíre (Peter and the Wolf) narrated by Aedín Gormley and The Carnival of the Animals narrated by Marty Whelan, and live broadcasts to international territories via the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) from the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. Regular opera output included in-depth coverage of Wexford Festival Opera, including two operas broadcast live throughout the EBU, together with productions from Music for Galway, Cork Opera House and Irish National Opera.

Distinctive new projects included participation in Black History Month, highlighting the remarkable legacy of Black composers, conductors and performers, and a new six-part series, Root and Branch, from ecologist Anja Murray and traditional musician Brían MacGloinn, offering audiences a timely celebration in word and song of Ireland’s native trees and their place in our heritage and ecosystem.

Online

RTE.ie/Culture once again offered audiences on-demand access to the best arts and culture content drawn from RTÉ television and radio shows. A featured highlight was the hosting of a range of content celebrating the centenary of the publication of James Joyce’s masterpiece, Ulysses. Featured live events included streamed performances from Wexford Festival Opera, Other Voices, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Dublin International Piano Competition. RTE.ie/Culture also hosted a range of significant content from other cultural organisations including The Arts Council, Culture Night and the First Fortnight Festival.

RTÉ Concert Orchestra The RTÉ Concert Orchestra embraced the resumption of performing before live audiences, beginning in January by bringing the music of John Williams to sell-out audiences in Galway, Limerick and Dublin, continuing with classical lunchtime concerts live on RTÉ lyric fm during August, and culminating in a Christmas-themed jazz extravaganza with Guy Barker at the Helix in December. Interspersed with its broadcast concert schedule, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra’s television schedule included a highlights programme on RTÉ One performing the music of Thin Lizzy live from Collins Barracks, Dublin, and guest appearances on major shows including The Tommy Tiernan Show and Dancing with the Stars. New initiatives on RTÉ Radio featured a special live concert with Arena on RTÉ Radio 1 and, with RTÉ lyric fm, broadcast concert productions of Marty in the Evening and Movies and Musicals.