1997 to Now – The Archive
After the passing of founding Producer/Director, Fr Joseph Dunn, the Radharc Trust moved forward with a mandate to preserve and promote both the substance of the programmes and the values they championed – human rights, social justice and faith in the conscience of the individual.
Radharc documentaries continue to entertain and inform audiences through large and small screens in Ireland and across the globe, via broadcast, exhibition and internet. Once a collection of the World’s stories, the Radharc programmes are now stories in their own right, illustrating diverse histories and evolving attitudes towards Church, State and Society in the 20th century, with their own uniquely Irish perspective.
As subject and supplement for new documentaries and academic works, the Trust’s 35 year collection is a rich resource for researchers. Radharc programmes were meticulously archived following production. From the earliest days, nearly every major 16mm film and magnetic tape element for each programme was preserved with an unusual level of diligence, along with scripts, correspondence, research, production notes and location photographs. The Radharc Trust maintains and supervises the conservation of these materials in environmentally controlled repositories and continues to be actively engaged in restoration, preservation and digitisation projects for the programmes.