Home for Christmas (2002)

A striking ensemble feature, Home for Christmas is set in the heart of middle class small-town Ireland on a contemporary Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, imploding with the season's heightened expectations and disappointment, drink-fuelled garrulousness and silence, family role-playing and honesty, sliced through with sharp black comedy.

This one-off programme was commissioned by RTE to celebrate Christmas and the New Year. In a simple yet innovative style the programme captured the drama and atmosphere of a lively and entertaining dinner party. The presenter, former politician Marie Geoghehan-Quinn, played informal hostess to a number of well-known people including poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, musician Liam O’ Maonlai, and academics Declan Kiberd and Liam Mac an Iomaire. During and between the courses of the meal stories were told, songs were sung, and much fun was had.

Using the simplest of television formats, the face-to-face interview (with a few added twists) Clíona Ní Bhuachalla talks informally to a representative selection of the men of Ireland.

‘Fir na hEireann…has established itself as the premier head-to-head interview forum on Irish Television’

Liam Fay for the Sunday Times

Mná na hEireann (2001)

Following the success of the first two series of Fir na hEireann, Icebox (not too surprisingly) used the format to talk to some of the more interesting women of Ireland.

In his article on TG4 Ian Kilroy in The Irish Times singled out Mná na hEireann as an example of the ‘quality and imagination of (TG4’s) factual programming.’