Eamonn McCann

Rory Gallagher was the original Irish guitar hero, whose artistry with a battered ’61 Stratocaster became the stuff of legend. Bob Dylan and Muddy Waters admired him, the Rolling Stones tried to hire him – and his fans worshipped him. Clad in faded denim and a checked shirt, he sold 30 million records and became a charismatic icon of Irish music, inspiring musicians such as Brian May, The Edge, Slash and Johnny Marr. But away from the stage, Rory was an intensely private man. His closest confidante was his brother Dónal who accompanied Rory on his rise from their childhood Everly Brothers stage performances and the Showband scene across the North and South of the Irish border through to the deafening heart of the ‘70s rock scene in London – and far beyond. Now, Dónal, along with insights from Rory’s friends and admirers, takes us on a musical journey through the life and career of this shy guitar hero to better understand what made him so great.

The Brandywell was one of the poorest areas in Europe and home to Derry City Football Club. In the shadow of the civil rights movement and the Troubles, the club managed to keep playing - until the team bus of Ballymena United was caught up in the violence, taken away and burned. Derry City FC was banned from playing at home and eventually went out of business. In 1984, the city needed a saviour. Tony O’Doherty was a Northern Ireland international who had played against England at Wembley. He teamed up with another international, Terry Harkin, and two other professionals Eddie Mahon and Eamonn McLaughlin, to become the Gang of Four who challenged the status quo. They made it their goal to get senior football back in their hometown. This film charts the emotional journey of how in 1985, after 13 years in the wilderness, football returned to the Brandywell. The club would go on to lift both silverware and the spirits of the city, unleashing a carnival of hope, pride and optimism.

The extraordinary untold story of how an NYPD bomb disposal expert played a key role in helping defuse the decades old "Troubles" in Northern Ireland. In 1975, Irish immigrant Denis Mulcahy of the NYPD bomb squad – gathered a group of family, friends and neighbours to start a scheme offering children from Northern Ireland a chance to temporarily escape the violent turmoil of their daily lives. From modest beginnings, Project Children ultimately brought over 20,000 Catholic and Protestant children to suburban US for summer-long visits where they forged unexpected friendships and found they had more in common with the 'enemy' than they thought. Now this extraordinary untold story is being brought to the screen in a new documentary by Des Henderson, and narrated by Liam Neeson, entitled How To Defuse A Bomb: The Project Children Story.

In 1978 the Undertones released Teenage Kicks, one of the most perfect and enduring pop records of all time - an adolescent anthem that spoke to teenagers all over the globe. It was the first in a string of hits that created a timeless soundtrack to growing up, making the Undertones one of punk rock's most prolific and popular bands.

Veteran BBC Radio DJ John Peel takes his first visit to Derry and discovers for himself the band that forged his favourite pop song 'Teenage Kicks'.The film, through the use of interviews and archive footage (of Derry and The Undertones), takes us back to 1975. To a time when it would have been normal, even expected, for five Derry teenagers to get together and have a riot. The Undertones got together, formed a band and created their own form of riot, bursting into a vigorous and joyous celibration of their own existence.

Feature documentary on the 3-days of riots in Derry, Northern Ireland that led to the deployment of British Troops into Derry in August 1969.

On the 14th August 1969 the British Army were deployed onto Northern Ireland’s streets for the first time, to relieve an exhausted RUC in the wake of the Battle of the Bogside. As they entered the city the troops were confronted with a ring of barricades surrounding the Bogside area and manned by the rioters, presenting them with an instant dilemma – to attempt to remove the barricades and provoke a confrontation, or to leave the barricades intact and allow the Bogside to remain beyond official law & order?

Exodus charts the decline of the Protestant population from Derry’s Cityside - which saw up to one in five of the City’s population leave their homes over a thirty year period. Directed and produced by Vinny Cunningham and John Peto, Exodus is the final film in the three part trilogy that commenced with Battle of the Bogside and No Go: Free Derry.