Mary McAleese

Chat show that looks at current affairs in Ireland.

The Meaning of Life is an Irish television programme, the first series of which was broadcast on RTÉ One in 2009. It is presented by the veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne. Each episode involves Byrne interviewing a well-known public figure. The series is broadcast each Sunday night at 22:20. In 2010 The Meaning of Life returned for both a second and, later, a third series. Interviews with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and actors Gabriel Byrne and Brenda Fricker during the second series attracted media attention when they spoke of their religious habits and child sexual abuse respectively. Gay Byrne appeared on The Late Late Show on 18 December 2009 to discuss the programme. A fourth series soon followed. Then a fifth series from January 2012. And a sixth in October 2012. And a seventh in January 2013.

In a world television first, Revelation takes cameras into the criminal trials of notorious Catholic priests accused of sex crimes against children. Through a series of extraordinary interviews filmed during the trials, Revelation uncovers the secret lives and motivations of some of the most reviled men of modern times. How does a man of God become a predator of children? Revelation culminates in the Vatican with the story of a high ranking Cardinal accused of abusing boys in an orphanage in Australia. Across three compelling episodes Revelation presents the deepest portrayal of the culture and system that protected perpetrators of heinous crimes against children.

Mary McAleese meets politicians and peacemakers, perpetrators and victims of violence, to ask what role religion played in creating, and resolving, conflict in Northern Ireland, and whether it still has a role to play in building peace, in a more secular, diverse Ireland.