Just spent the best part of 5 weeks filming a new series of Muintir na Mara (People of the Sea) this summer over in County Galway. It was fantastic even if we did spend a lot of time filming between the raindrops. The crew are thar barr (excellent people) and more or less the same as last year. So, Rachel, Paddy Tom and myself took to the high seas again with Pádraig, helped along the way by Hugh and Alan, as we travelled up the entire cost of Galway. It is remarkable to be allowed to spend time in the company of people who are so in tune with and live for and  by the sea.  Of course, it’s elemental and well removed from the urban existence most of us have from day to day but more than that, it’s very visceral and in a way, transendent. We travelled all over the Conamara gaeltacht and it was inspiring for me to hear Irish spoken in such an everyday, ordinary way. As I work on improving my Irish and get a real hit out of doing so, it’s a  tonic for the troops to see it used a simple form of communication without any of the cultural baggage that seems to come with it outside of the gaeltacht. Long may it be so.

Now, we head into the editing suite and Genevieve (editor) and I will spend the next few months trying to make sense of all that we shot. We hope to emerge with 6 half hour programmes… Wish us luck.

Paddy shoots the hookers

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