TROUBLED MEMORIES
Troubled memories
News reporters reflect on 'deep sadness' of Omagh bomb
The difficult job of reporting on the Omagh bombing atrocity by an ITN news reporter who was born in the town will be featured on The Troubles I've Seen, a new three part series on UTV, launching tonight (Monday) at 8pm.
Presented by Belfast-born journalist Denis Tuohy, the series features Kate Adie, Martin Bell, Michael Brunson, Andrea Catherwood, Jonathan Dimbleby, Sir Trevor McDonald, Dermot Murnaghan, Nick Ross and Peter Taylor, reflecting on how they reported from the North during the Troubles.
Tonight, programme one deals with the puzzlement, ignorance and shock with which outsiders - including some who would later become experts - reacted to the start of the Troubles. Nick Ross, who first came to study at Queen's University and would subsequently go on to report on the Troubles, remembers, "The first dead body I ever saw was just lying on a street. I never heard bombs before, let alone watch them go off. There were times when we were held at gunpoint, times we were shot at."
Peter Taylor reveals that he first set foot in Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday and says, "I always remember walking down the empty Bogside and almost touching the silence. And I couldn't believe what had happened."
And Kate Adie confesses that she discovered, and kept secret, news of Bernadette Devlin's pregnancy and how years later, Bernadette Devlin referred to her as 'the one who never told'.
In programme two they talk of the fear of being around places of danger during the 70s and 80s and further fear involved in trying to reach major players in the violence.
Sir Trevor McDonald remembers experiencing a bomb blast and coming across a murder scene where a young boy had witnessed the gunman's horrific act while Kate Adie remembers being caught, upside down, in a privet hedge, in the middle of a riot and being offered a 'cuppa tea'!
Jonathan Dimbleby discusses the controversy caused by the programme 'This Week -Death on the Rock'. Margaret Thatcher's government was locked in a bitter row with the production company over the programme which questioned the circumstances of the shooting by the SAS of three IRA members in Gibraltar.
The final programme in the series looks towards peace with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and at the deep sadness of the Omagh bomb. The contributors also talk about the delight and utter relief at the new power sharing Assembly.
Having grown up in Omagh, Dermot Murnaghan, who returned to cover the bombing, admits: "It was one of the most difficult stories I've ever had to do in my entire life because I just couldn't get the ghosts of my childhood away from the actual task of just trying to report this as straight as I possibly could."
Co Down's Andrea Catherwood remembers how she persuaded the News at Ten editor to move the 'and finally' story about Christmas lights being switched on in Omagh, the Christmas after the bomb, to the top of that evening's programme. "Because it was a tribute to the bravery of all those survivors" she says.
The Troubles I've Seen, Mondays from March 24 at 8pm on UTV.
News reporters reflect on 'deep sadness' of Omagh bomb
The difficult job of reporting on the Omagh bombing atrocity by an ITN news reporter who was born in the town will be featured on The Troubles I've Seen, a new three part series on UTV, launching tonight (Monday) at 8pm.
Presented by Belfast-born journalist Denis Tuohy, the series features Kate Adie, Martin Bell, Michael Brunson, Andrea Catherwood, Jonathan Dimbleby, Sir Trevor McDonald, Dermot Murnaghan, Nick Ross and Peter Taylor, reflecting on how they reported from the North during the Troubles.
Tonight, programme one deals with the puzzlement, ignorance and shock with which outsiders - including some who would later become experts - reacted to the start of the Troubles. Nick Ross, who first came to study at Queen's University and would subsequently go on to report on the Troubles, remembers, "The first dead body I ever saw was just lying on a street. I never heard bombs before, let alone watch them go off. There were times when we were held at gunpoint, times we were shot at."
Peter Taylor reveals that he first set foot in Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday and says, "I always remember walking down the empty Bogside and almost touching the silence. And I couldn't believe what had happened."
And Kate Adie confesses that she discovered, and kept secret, news of Bernadette Devlin's pregnancy and how years later, Bernadette Devlin referred to her as 'the one who never told'.
In programme two they talk of the fear of being around places of danger during the 70s and 80s and further fear involved in trying to reach major players in the violence.
Sir Trevor McDonald remembers experiencing a bomb blast and coming across a murder scene where a young boy had witnessed the gunman's horrific act while Kate Adie remembers being caught, upside down, in a privet hedge, in the middle of a riot and being offered a 'cuppa tea'!
Jonathan Dimbleby discusses the controversy caused by the programme 'This Week -Death on the Rock'. Margaret Thatcher's government was locked in a bitter row with the production company over the programme which questioned the circumstances of the shooting by the SAS of three IRA members in Gibraltar.
The final programme in the series looks towards peace with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and at the deep sadness of the Omagh bomb. The contributors also talk about the delight and utter relief at the new power sharing Assembly.
Having grown up in Omagh, Dermot Murnaghan, who returned to cover the bombing, admits: "It was one of the most difficult stories I've ever had to do in my entire life because I just couldn't get the ghosts of my childhood away from the actual task of just trying to report this as straight as I possibly could."
Co Down's Andrea Catherwood remembers how she persuaded the News at Ten editor to move the 'and finally' story about Christmas lights being switched on in Omagh, the Christmas after the bomb, to the top of that evening's programme. "Because it was a tribute to the bravery of all those survivors" she says.
The Troubles I've Seen, Mondays from March 24 at 8pm on UTV.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE HERALD
Ref: TYH/070
Published Date: 24-Mar-08
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