tv40

RTÉ brings TV40 to Galway

A scene from RTÉ Television's Official Opening Night in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin, 31 Dec 1961.

Some Irish people remember where they were when they first saw RTÉ Television others grew up with it, but every Irish person has watched RTÉ television at some point in their lives, and this year RTÉ Television celebrates 40 years. Throughout the year RTÉ will bring a flavour of the last 40 years to different locations around the country.

RTÉ and the Cinemobile - a 100-seater mobile theatre – will pull into cities, towns and villages across Ireland this summer bringing a visual medley of the last 40 years of RTÉ television.

On Monday 29 July RTÉ will arrive in Galway for a three-day spraoi of screenings illustrating the highs and lows of the last 40 years as brought to the viewers by RTÉ television.

At each venue RTÉ will show a 45-minute film featuring Shared Memories - 40 years of RTÉ Television; and area specific film and a montage of young people's programmes across the years.

The summer season of the TV 40 roadshow kicks off at the Galway Races on Monday 29 July. In Ballybrit we will screen Photo Finish first broadcast in 1966 as part of the 'Discovery' series. Photo Finish is a day in the life of a racecourse, following bookmakers, jockeys, punters, horses and horseboxes. It was filmed as an observational look at the Killarney Race Course, and will appeal to first time racegoers and seasoned punters alike moving along at a good pace with lots of interesting images and scenes from the 1960s.

Clifden

From Ballybrit the Cinemobile moves to Clifden on Tuesday 30 July. In addition to Shared Memories and the montage of young people’s programmes

RTÉ will show Stories from South Connemara, an 18 minute film featuring Amuigh Faoin Speir from 1968, a Radharc documentary on poverty and emigration first aired in 1969 and the making of bodhrans for Italia '90 soccer fans from Cursaí in that year.

The film also features Andy O'Mahony’s report on nuns picking apples at Kylemore Abbey for Insight in 1980. In the early 1980's Kylemore Abbey was a secondary school, and the nuns also ran a small craft shop and pottery. Since this programme was first aired the craft shop has become one of the biggest and most popular craft shops in Connemara and the nuns have restored an old walled garden, which is now open to the public.

Gort

The cinemobile’s last stop in Galway is Gort on Wednesday 31 July. Our area specific film in Gort is Down Time in South Galway and Clare featuring a 1977 Hall's Pictorial Weekly from Gort; The Riordans on honeymoon at the Cliffs of Moher (1973); an Evening Extra on the ancient art of matchmaking in 1987; a 1999 Breaking Ball which focused on the divided loyalties for GAA fans living on the border of Clare and Galway and local youngsters Tadhg MacCurtain, David Wall, and Sean Ward report on the flooding for Echo Island in 1995.

Locations and screening times:

Galway Racecourse Ballybrit, County Galway: On Monday 29 July, 2002 RTÉ will bring TV 40 to the Racecourse at Ballybrit as part of the Galway Races. Shared Memories, Photo Finish and the montage of young people's programmes across the years will be on a loop, from 3pm, to allow people to relax and watch the film from beginning to end. Others can drop in and out to find something of interest and take a breather from the hectic drama of race day.

The Mart, Galway Road, Clifden, County Galway: Tuesday 30 July 2002 - 11am; 12.30pm; 2pm; 3pm; 5pm

Gort Community Centre, Gort, County Galway: Wednesday 31 July 2002 - 11am; 12.30pm; 2pm; 3pm; 5pm

The screenings are for all age groups and if you require tickets for any of these locations please contact RTÉ Communications on 1850 223 224.

In July RTÉ published a special 40-page souvenir booklet to celebrate 40 years of RTÉ Television. The content is a mix of nostalgia for what RTÉ Television has shown over its 40 years but also a representation of RTÉ going forward. Copies will be available to cinemobile-goers!

Issued by RTÉ Communications, Wednesday 24 July, 2002

For media queries please contact Majella O Doherty, Public Relations Co-ordinator, Tel: 01 208 2305/ 087 294 0875