The first programme is on itison.tv officially as of 22nd of December 2007 at 06:08 UTC (Winter Solstice). It is called “Tara Saga” (now the third working title for this documentary project!) and is a project to tell the story of Tara from circa 3,000 BC to the present day.

There are still a few glitches to sort out with the site but it is up and running now and I wil fix it and build upon it along the way. The last few months since June of this year has been an amazing journey for me because of taking on this project. I’ve been relatively quite about it on the blog here as it has been taking up a lot of my time and energy. I didn’t want to start the online documentation of the documentary (and that’s what it is, and more) until I was prepared to do so. I been looking for some way to fund this project but nothing in the usual official ways works out for a variety of reasons. So now take the project back to the internet where my interest in the current issues surrounding the preservation of our heritage and culture and better future which have been highlighted by the controversial decision by the Irish Government to build a motorway through the Tara-Skryne (Gabhra) Valley.

So the site is open and the idea being that it is an open media channel. You can participate in the dialogue by uploading video responses to the site or my comment in audio and/or video via your computer’s mic and/or camera.
At present the technology behind the this is not working and it will hopefully be fixed soon. But you can still use Revver to upload pre-recorded pieces from your computer when you log-in to the site.

Here’s the first Revver video I put up which was made in the small hours before the Winter Solstice and the launch of the site.

Please participate in the Tara Saga. The site will be unmoderated for the first few weeks so you can register straight away and collaborate with this new media.

Here’s a great documentary about the Irish music industry made by Manina Films. Made in late 2005, early 2006 about the Music Board Of Ireland which was set up by the government in partnership with the music industry through IBEC to promote and support contemporary Irish music in 2001. It was disbanded (pun intended) in 2004 having accomplished little if anything. The idea was good but it was not a priority for the government.

This was in a sense banished to the web as it could not be shown in it’s entirety because of it’s critical angle of government policy in the area of support for young Irish bands. Comparisons are made to funding giving for others areas in the Arts and in Sport (which is handled by the same government department – I never quite got that one!).

There is a point made by Jim Carroll that the government is more interested in entertaining the National Concert Hall punters (can you call them that?) than the regular young gig goers and young musicians, as the former are more likely to vote. This is a fair point, but a worrying one. There are a lot of young people apathetic to politics in this country and this is a shame. Ultimately then, when complaints are made about the “state of the nation” the apathetic are the ones to blame. Vote not just for the Battle of the Bands, vote for (or against) bigger things.

Thanks to Nialler9 for bringing this to my attention on his blog.

Here are some words from Lindsey, the director of the film, to lead you in :

After failing to get this documentary seen by the general public I’ve finally put it up on the Internet. It’s amazing how much control someone in power has. I was warned that by showing a certain individual in a bad light then I would be shooting myself in the foot because my film would not be accepted into film festivals or shown on TV. The Last Broadcast on RTE showed part of my film but refused to air the entirety, omitting the scene with this particular individual.
I felt that the film would not prove the point I was trying to make if I left the scene out so I made the decision to keep it. Unfortunately I underestimated how much fear people have for this man. The power that he holds over funding for arts makes sure that he can maintain a good image.
The only place my film was actually seen in its whole was in Wales where it was a runner up in the Screen Academy Wales student awards.
Anyway… here it is!

Roll it there Roisin!