Stories in Sound

Many young people are living a lie on social media ; They’re posting flattering pictures, videos of nights out and location check ins - all in a bid to win approval from friends on facebook, Instagram and snapchat. But what is the impact of camouflaging reality behind this façade? Laura Trueman reports on the downside of living 24/7 online. Producer: Mary Kelly.

Londonderry is consistently at the bottom of the table on measurements like unemployment, incomes and investment. Why has the economic performance of Northern Ireland's second city been so bad? Is it the long legacy of partition and political discrimination? Or has there been failure of leadership in the city? What can be done to reverse the years of economic decline? And could Brexit provide a ca...

Gerry Kelly completes his journey along the final stretch of the Camino de Santiago and beyond, to 'the end of the earth'. Exploring why so many people are drawn to walking the famous pilgrim network to the shrine of St James.

Gerry Kelly begins his journey along the final stretch of the Camino de Santiago. From its ancient connections to Dublin, to its popular starting point in Sarria, Spain, Gerry explores why so many people are drawn to walking the famous pilgrim network to the shrine of St James.

Biceps that peak like mountains. Calves that can withstand the weight of the globe. A chest that can press a lorry in on single rep. Think Samson. Think Hercules. Think Arnold. The quest for muscle is a timeless pursuit, and in the modern era of neighbourhood gyms and protein shakes, the obsession has consumed those who chase it. Presenter, Marty Cullen, has built muscle since he was a teen, compl...

Ballymena man Paul Clegg is at the heart of the world's music industry, keeping its life pumping through the veins of Europe via his company Crossland Tour Buses, based in Swatragh. In this feature, Frank Iero, Gogol Bordello and other luminaries from the touring circuit throughout the world, share their experiences of what life is like On the Buses.

June 24th 1987 was no ordinary day. Not if you were one of the thousands of U2 fans that streamed into Belfast's Kings Hall clutching tickets for a concert billed as one of the biggest and best the city would ever see. The release of the band's iconic album, The Joshua Tree, set Bono, Larry, Adam and the Edge on the path to super-stardom and, for one night, they brought their brand of rock n' roll...

When President Bill Clinton namechecked the Belfast Giants during a speech at the Odyssey Arena in December 2000, it gave Northern Ireland's newest sport the kind of publicity other teams could only dream of. In a city still divided by politics and religion, the Giants sought to redefine the parameters of sport with their 'no anthem, no emblems' policy and promoting tolerance and unity amongst its...

1981 was the year of the hunger strikes, widespread rioting and tense Anglo-Irish relations. Yet against this backdrop of deep division, 28 Catholic and Protestant students walked through the doors of Northern Ireland's first integrated school. 'All Children Together: The Story of Lagan College' reunites past pupils, parents and teachers to talk about the early days of an education experiment many...

In Christmas 2015 Jimmy Devlin was shown a DVD of his uncle hand-making clay pipes and chimneys in 'Kelly's Yard', Coalisland. Unaware of what this job as a labourer entailed, it sparked a journey to find out more about his work and the craft and skills of others employed in the industries of crystal, clay and cloth in late 20th-century east Tyrone. With expertise honed over decades, the artistry...

At 18 Catherine Quinn, left Ireland and emigrated to London where she married and brought up her family. However, she always had one eye fixed on home, and after nearly three decades working in London she invested in a farm and retired back home to Ireland. Now 75, she has taken active retirement to a new level, running the 'Tory Hill Herefords' a herd of pedigree cattle by herself and keeping hor...

Marty Cullen has grown up within the Armagh sport of bullets since he could walk. It is a world full of burly men, headstrong champions and unhappy wives. The yarns and tales of this pastime inspires him to pen a song bearing the dirt, grit and spit of a sport that sparks iron and tar. Bullets is a traditional Irish sport played primarily in the counties Armagh and Cork. The game is formally known...

John Toal meets former death-row inmates Sunny Jacobs and Peter Pringle at the retreat they have set up in rural Ireland to offer restorative treatment to other victims of wrongful conviction in order to help them back to a normal life. Peter Pringle was sentenced to be hanged in Ireland in 1980. Sonia 'Sunny' Jacobs was sentenced to the electric chair in the United States in 1976. Sunny was accus...

Marie-Louise Muir unpicks the mystery of keening for the dead in Ireland.

Leprechauns, sprites, imps and elves - Ian Sansom is searching for the diminutive other.

The story of two young Dublin boys who, in August 1985, took a Dart ride that went several thousand miles beyond their stop.

Jenny Witt investigates the idea of a 'planned retreat' inland, which some scientists now believe is the best option in the face of rising sea levels around Northern Ireland.

Julian Fowler investigates the plight of Northern Ireland's endangered creatures and the efforts to protect them in the face of opposition.

Marie-Louise Muir arises and goes with three Irish poets to the Lake Isle of Innisfree in County Sligo, a location made famous by WB Yeats' iconic poem.

This is the story of Irish whiskey. In this programme Lynette Fay goes in search of the history of liquid gold and learns the process of whiskey production at the Old Bushmills Distillery.

Jenny Witt tells the story of the sinking of the Lusitania 100 years ago, which marked a terrifying new phase of the First World War.

Fionola Meredith goes in search of writer-scholar Helen Waddell, once known as 'Ulster's Darling', who sold millions of books in the 1920s and '30s but who died forgotten in 1965.

Twenty years after it stole the show at the Eurovision Song Contest, Ryan Tubridy explores the Riverdance phenomenon, which still plays to full houses around the world.

Writer and broadcaster Ian Sansom explores Belfast's burgeoning poetry scene and asks why the city boasts so many poets.

Professor Geoffrey Beattie learns how Northern Irish 18-year-olds feel about their country's past and future. Is the Good Friday Generation doomed to carry the baggage of the past?