BIRD IS THE LAST WORD

Right up until the end, Charlie Bird was unearthing difficult truths – as Ransom ’79 proves.

There’s something utterly inspiring to see Charlie Bird, battling against his Motor Neurone Disease whilst still fighting the very good fight as an investigative journalist.

An investigative journalist who was perhaps RTÉ’s finest, for many years the only point of contact between the national broadcaster and the Provisional IRA, and the man who reported on the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in the early 1990s and the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Closer to home, in 1998 he exposed shady tax evasion at the National Irish Bank and the Stardust nightclub tragedy in 1981.

It was shortly before he was diagnosed with MND that Bird, talking on a podcast, first revealed the 1979 plot to blackmail the Irish government with the threat of introduction of foot-and-mouth disease to Irish livestock. And Bird had always been determined to find out just who was behind the threat, and whether it was all just a hoax. Something that filmmaker Colin Quinn recognised from that original podcast too, the two of them deciding that there was a documentary here just before Bird was diagnosed in October 2021.

But he wasn’t about to let his condition stop his work. Instead, he and Colm shot Loud And Clear, which charted Charlie’s experience with MND. And with that mountain climbed, his attention turned once again to that ransom. So he brought in his old workmate, Colin Murphy, to go through Charlie’s old contacts to see who was willing to talk. Top of their list being Saor Éire, the republican splinter group who specialised in bank robberies.

“It was incredible to watch them when they were doing interviews,” Quinn told The Irish Independent. “There’s one bit of the film where they’re interviewing Bertie Ahern and you can see Bertie’s answering a question and Charlie’s scribbling notes on a notepad, and he hands it to Colin and Colin then voices the question.

“So it was this kind of dynamic, a shorthand that developed between them. Of course, Charlie was using the voice bank considerably as well, and that allowed him to lead conversations too.”

Thankfully, Charlie got to see a near-finished cut of Ransom ’79 before he passed on March 11th this year, commending Quinn for pulling it all together.

And now, The Whale will be screening this fascinating and moving documentary in honour of Charlie Bird, with his widow, Claire, and their beloved dog, Tiger, in attendance.

Screening on Thursday, January 16th at 8pm, there will be music by Celtic Grace and a raffle with bespoke prizes donated by Charlie’s family. And it’s all in aid of Wicklow Hospice.

You can grab your ticket right here: https://whaletheatre.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/873651265