Colin Sheridan: Facing up to my childhood fear of small islands

After watching The Wicker Man, I developed a case of Insulaphobia

'I was forced to face my fears over Easter when I headed west, out to Inishbofin.'

Many years ago, RTÉ screened a movie on a Friday night that was preceded by a short, introductory lecture from writer and director Gerry Stembridge. It usually followed The Late Late Show, so was a neat and natural segue from Gaybo calling Bernadette in Tullamore to tell her she’s just won a Renault Clio. 

The late movie was a brilliant concept. The film chosen was always offbeat - Robert Altman’s revisionist western McCabe & Mrs Miller, for example — but what made the idea so oddly compelling was Stembridge’s preamble.