Despite the brickbats and begrudgery regularly thrown at them, there are some things that RTÉ does very well. Indeed, if the national broadcaster was to spend more of our licence fee on its excellent RTÉ Radio Documentary On One strand rather than The Late Late Show or 2fm's Breakfast Republic, the world would be a happier place.
Aside from being a glittering example of RTÉ's public service remit in full effect, the Documentary On One strand has produced many fascinating hours of broadcasting over the last couple of years. The docs have also been prize-winners, with the programme claiming more than 120 national and international awards over the past seven years.
There are more than 1,000 radio documentaries in the archive, all available free-to-air. These include a profile of Interference singer-songwriter Fergus O’Farrell; the fascinating story of Francis Bacon’s muse Henrietta Moraes; the tale of three musicians learning how to become Music In Healthcare trainers; the life and times of an Elvis impersonator; and how Westmeath taxi-driver Ray O’Hara found himself driving Michael Jackson around the midlands.
Those with ideas for documentaries of their own will be interested in the Documentary On One's upcoming training seminar to equip people with the skills to make their own docs. It will take place on May 9th and 10th at the RTÉ Radio Centre in Dublin, and among the topics covered will be how to generate ideas, recording, interviewing techniques, the use of music and sound, narration and scripting, and more.
Applications are open and are on a first-come, first-served basis. The fee is €495. See rte.ie for details.
