Watching the bubble burst in slow motion

FOUR years ago we lived in a country where the building business was booming and it seemed like every green field in the country was being eradicated by the pouring of concrete. The number of one-off houses being built was relatively small, however, with the big money being made on the backs of housing schemes, estates or other developments.
Call them what you will, most were soul-less cardboard complexes thrown up by building companies that were bathing in euro-filled baths each evening. We have come a long way since then and the journey for house owners has not been a pleasant one. While most of us settled to buy what was, at the time, a reasonably-priced cardboard box, a few brave souls went the route that most of us only dream of (mainly because getting planning permission is as likely as going to the moon for most of us) – building their own dream house.
Grand Designs is a wonderful Channel 4 programme that showcases the abilities of modern-architecture and human endeavour. It is hosted by the wonderfully eloquent Kevin McCloud and has been a feature of this column on many occasions.
Now we have something similar to watch on RTÉ. Designs for Life, is something similar to Grand Designs. It follows people as they endeavour to build their dream homes. However, unlike the British series this is a lot more than just a fly-on-the-wall series that follows the ups and downs. This series set out in 2006 to help people get these houses built.
The couples involved were paired with architects in a time when the economy was booming and the optimism in the country was palpable. These were not going to be any old houses; these were architect-designed masterpieces that were going to secure the financial security of these people and often their young families well in to the future. But with the coming of the global recession all of that was about to change.
This programme is, on the surface, just another building programme. It is well-made, well-shot and well-narrated and directed. But it’s the timing of the programme that proves to be of most interest. The fact that it deals with the crossover between the buoyant and the sinking property market makes for very interesting watching and, although it is heartbreaking to see the featured people struggle with the challenges, it sums up the mood of the average person.
These are genuine people who entered into a project in good faith only to have the very fabric of their beings tested by the task of putting a roof over their heads.
Watching the architectural aspect of the programme is also very interesting. It is a room that most of us will never find ourselves in and yet these are the people that shape and mould the world in which we live.
They make monuments to our time and our generation and leave a legacy to our children and our children’s children and yet most of us will never engage with them about what that legacy should be. So even though they are only building one-off houses for people we don’t know it is enlightening to see the thought process that goes into the creative process and the internal and external elements that drive the creation of a modern living space.
Designs for Life is a four-part series and can be viewed on Monday evenings at 9.30pm.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet and so it seems that Shakespeare’s words have rung true for Daithí O Sé. Nobody thought Ray could be replaced as the host of the Rose of Tralee yet it seems that the man of the moment, O Sé, has proven the critics wrong and proven himself a hit with the ladies. It really doesn’t matter who the presenter is as long as he is able to joke, laugh and look at the camera knowingly.
He also has to be nice enough to endear himself to the older generation but have a twinkle in his eye which makes us think there might be a bit of a rogue inside. I could only stomach about 30 minutes of it myself and, despite trying to have an open mind, I just couldn’t help but snigger. I know people love it and for many it’s like the Eurovision is for me – complete nonsense – but I have to know what’s going on.
However, I think a low point was when I was asked by a person not from these shores what the programme was and all I could think to answer was, “It’s like the Miss Universe contest but more innocent – no swimsuits more frocks.” It’s indescribable but Daithí did well and I am sure whoever wins will be thrilled.

One to watch
Channel 4 are running with some very good docu-dramas in the coming weeks and this week is no different.
Next Monday on Channel 4 at 8.30pm the factual story I Am Slave will be aired. This harrowing and difficult programme tells the story of a modern slave. It stars Wunmi Mosaku and is a powerful story of imprisionment, cruelty and despair.
It tracks the life of this young woman from the age of 12 when she is snatched from the arms of her father in the mountains of Sudan. From there she is sold in to slavery and spends the next six years of her life trying to free herself from the tyranny that she has become embroiled in.
This is the story of just one girl but modern slavery accounts for a huge number of missing persons in the developing world. These young people are often sold in to the sex trade or made to work for nothing. Many die in captivity due to beatings and starvation. This programme was directed by the same man who wrote The Last King of Scotland and comes highly recommended.