‘Mesmeric’ Haughey the focus of €4m drama

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has given €1m towards the cost of making a €4m three-part series on the life of former taoiseach Charles Haughey.

RTÉ said Citizen Charlie is “a trilogy of 90-minute dramas charting the emergence of modern Ireland through the mesmeric figure of Charles J Haughey and his pursuit of power, wealth, and glamour”.

Produced by Element Pictures and Touchpaper for RTÉ Television, the series is written by Colin Teevan, who previously penned Single-Handed and Vera. It is to be shown on RTÉ 1 at a date to be announced.

According to RTÉ, production will start in 2013.

The total cost of production is €3.7m meaning BAI’s grant under its sound and vision scheme amounts to 27% of the total cost.

“We are very pleased that the BAI has agreed to finance the project with RTÉ,” said Jane Gogan, RTÉ commissioning editor for drama.

“Charles J Haughey is a figure in Irish life on whom everyone has a point of view, but this drama will be as much about Ireland as it is about one man.”

Overall, the BAI has awarded a total of €4,514,398 to broadcasters and independent producers under round 15 of the scheme to support the production of 64 radio and 15 television projects.

It had received 216 applications requesting €12.7m.

The BAI said all of the projects offered funding will explore the themes of Irish culture, heritage, and experience.

It added that €1.4m of the funds being allocated were to seven Irish or bilingual projects.

Of the 79 successful applicants, 34 of the projects will be broadcast on commercial broadcasting services, 29 will be broadcast on comm-unity broadcasting services, and 16 will be shown by public service broadcasters.

“This round was particularly noteworthy for the high level of qualifying applications that were received” said Michael O’Keeffe, chief executive of the broadcasting authority.

“In order to partly address this, the BAI made an additional €1m available in the round. However, given the competitive nature of the scheme, it was inevitable that some very worthy projects did not make the final cut on this occasion.”

Among the projects that were successful was the bilingual animation Inis Spraoi, which is made by Magpie 6.

It was awarded €400,000 for its 26 11-minute episodes which are to be shown on RTÉ Junior.

The Irish-language contemporary drama Corp + Anam 2, which is made by Magamedia Teo, received the second biggest grant, of €775,000. It is to be shown on TG4.

BAI said it received over 200 applications for funding under round 16 of the scheme, which closed in September. The outcomes for those applications are expected to be announced before the end of the year.