Home News. Episode 2

Programme 2 of Home News: available online from Friday at www.rte.ieradio1/homenews/ The Irish Post prided itself as the voice of the Irish in Britain for decades. Crisis hit the newspaper when it went off the shelves for financial reasons. However, businessman Elgin Loane stepped in and saved the day. Within months of returning, under then editor Murray Morse, the newspaper was accused of insulting President Michael D.Higgins. We revisit that controversy and hear how the paper, like others, may struggle to connect with a new generation of Irish in Britain and we also examine the important role the newspaper played in forming Irish identity in the UK. Notable interviewees include the owner, editor and staff of the Irish Post, ex-London Lord Mayor Ken Livingstone, singer Damien Dempsey (who recorded a song for the programme), Sally Mulready and some members of the London Irish Pensioners Choir.