Echo Island
Encyclopedia
Echo Island was an Irish
television programme for children and young adults, shown on RTÉ Network 2
. It was shown at 17:00 during The Den
. The show effectively took over from Jo Maxi
which had been aimed at Teenagers.
A number of current Irish
media presenters either began, or spent part of, their early careers on Echo Island, including Dara Ó Briain
, Derek Mooney
, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh
, Tom Ó Brannagáin, Carrie Crowley
, Mary Kingston
, Peter O'Meara, Danann Breathnach, Sinéad Chaomhánach, Sharon Ní Fhinneadha and Christine Ní Chearraláin.
The programmes also contained competitions, items on art and cookery, fundraising campaigns, the "Echovision Song Contest" for young performers and the "Pet Clinic" where TV Vet, Pete Wedderburn, answered viewers calls about their pets. Each Friday edition featured young "stringers" who reported from all around Ireland on events happening in their locality. This item contained an apparently live two-way video link between the presenter in studio and the children on location and was an advanced production technique in its day.
editions. The series ran for six seasons and was similar in format to the BBC's Blue Peter
In later years it proved a useful showcase for some of the best young rock bands in Ireland. Many of the presenters were chosen as they were bilingual, including Dara Ó Briain
.
The show was replaced by a similar format show called Sting, however this show did not air in the Irish language (as by that stage TG4 was providing an Irish language children's service). Sting also split up each day with a different topic such as Gaming, Sports and other types of activities and did away with "Make and Do" and "Pet" sections of Echo Island.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
television programme for children and young adults, shown on RTÉ Network 2
RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Two is available throughout the island of Ireland through digital terrestrial service Saorview, VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite to Irish subscribers of...
. It was shown at 17:00 during The Den
The Den (television)
The Den was the brand of the children's television strand on Irish public broadcaster RTÉ Two. It first broadcast on 29 September 1986 on RTÉ One, before moving to RTÉ Two in September 1988. The strand began to diversify throughout the late 1990s and the 2000s...
. The show effectively took over from Jo Maxi
Jo Maxi
Jo Maxi was an Irish teenage entertainment show which would report on teenage issues. The presenters would discuss issues relating to teenagers through reports and studio discussions. They would also review books, movies and other TV shows. Gig Guides and job/study information was also reported...
which had been aimed at Teenagers.
A number of current Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
media presenters either began, or spent part of, their early careers on Echo Island, including Dara Ó Briain
Dara Ó Briain
Dara Ó Briain is an Irish stand-up comedian and television presenter, noted for hosting topical panel shows such as The Panel and Mock the Week....
, Derek Mooney
Derek Mooney
Derek James Mooney is an Irish radio and television presenter, as well as a radio producer. He currently presents a weekday afternoon programme called Mooney on RTÉ Radio 1....
, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh
Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh
Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh is an Irish TV presenter, Gaeilgeoir and all-round personality. She has presented Echo Island, The Afternoon Show and Charity ICA Bootcamp. She was a judge in The All Ireland Talent Show and participated in Celebrity Bainisteoir.-Career:Ní Chofaigh is an accomplished...
, Tom Ó Brannagáin, Carrie Crowley
Carrie Crowley
Carrie Crowley is an Irish actress, Gaeilgeoir and former radio and television presenter. She has been described both as a "gay icon" and "RTÉ's Miriam O'Callaghan for the late 1990s". She appeared on television shows such as The Morbegs and Echo Island for Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
, Mary Kingston
Mary Kingston
Mary Kingston , is an Irish children's television presenter and philanthropist. She is the current presenter of The Disney Club on RTÉ Two. She has also presented Scratch Saturday and The Works....
, Peter O'Meara, Danann Breathnach, Sinéad Chaomhánach, Sharon Ní Fhinneadha and Christine Ní Chearraláin.
Format
Designed to look as though set on a desert island, Echo Island featured a resident Moluccan Cockatoo, named "Rocco", who provided the series with a constant stream of noisy background chatter. Each programme was built around an interview in "The Shack" with an adult guest, who was asked to bring along some items of significance from his/her childhood.The programmes also contained competitions, items on art and cookery, fundraising campaigns, the "Echovision Song Contest" for young performers and the "Pet Clinic" where TV Vet, Pete Wedderburn, answered viewers calls about their pets. Each Friday edition featured young "stringers" who reported from all around Ireland on events happening in their locality. This item contained an apparently live two-way video link between the presenter in studio and the children on location and was an advanced production technique in its day.
Initial Idea
Echo Island began broadcasting in 1994 with two episodes a week. This was extended to four episodes the following year with two of these being Irish languageIrish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
editions. The series ran for six seasons and was similar in format to the BBC's Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
In later years it proved a useful showcase for some of the best young rock bands in Ireland. Many of the presenters were chosen as they were bilingual, including Dara Ó Briain
Dara Ó Briain
Dara Ó Briain is an Irish stand-up comedian and television presenter, noted for hosting topical panel shows such as The Panel and Mock the Week....
.
The show was replaced by a similar format show called Sting, however this show did not air in the Irish language (as by that stage TG4 was providing an Irish language children's service). Sting also split up each day with a different topic such as Gaming, Sports and other types of activities and did away with "Make and Do" and "Pet" sections of Echo Island.
Where Are They Now?
- Dara Ó BriainDara Ó BriainDara Ó Briain is an Irish stand-up comedian and television presenter, noted for hosting topical panel shows such as The Panel and Mock the Week....
appeared on number of other RTÉ programmes including The Panel, Don't Feed The GondolasDon't Feed The GondolasDon't Feed the Gondolas is an Irish comedy panel show, similar in format to the BBC's Have I Got News For You and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, that ran for four series on Network 2 between 1997 and 2001...
and It's A Family Affair. He has since become one of the best known Irish comedians in the UK having appeared on many of the BBC's top programmes such as Mock The WeekMock the WeekMock the Week is a British topical celebrity panel game hosted by Dara Ó Briain that launched in 2005. The game is influenced by improvised topical stand-up comedy, with several rounds requiring players to deliver answers on unexpected subjects on the spur of the moment.It is made by independent...
and Three Men in a BoatThree Men in a BoatThree Men in a Boat ,The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog! published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K...
. - Derek MooneyDerek MooneyDerek James Mooney is an Irish radio and television presenter, as well as a radio producer. He currently presents a weekday afternoon programme called Mooney on RTÉ Radio 1....
has since become one of Ireland's best known male TV and radio presenters. He currently has his week day radio show on RTÉ Radio 1RTÉ Radio 1RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
. He presented Winning StreakWinning StreakWinning Streak is a weekly Irish game show in which five contestants play a number of games to win cars, holidays, and cash prizes up to €500,000. Broadcast on Saturday nights between September and June on RTÉ One, the game show is among the channel's most popular programmes, often ranking among...
for a number of years. He was then host of RTÉ's search for the cast of Fame: The MusicalFame: The MusicalFame: The Musical is a singing and dance contest in Ireland, produced by Screentime ShinAwiL for RTÉ. The audition and Fame Bootcamp stages were filmed around Ireland and in London....
reality TV show. - Bláthnaid Ní ChofaighBláthnaid Ní ChofaighBláthnaid Ní Chofaigh is an Irish TV presenter, Gaeilgeoir and all-round personality. She has presented Echo Island, The Afternoon Show and Charity ICA Bootcamp. She was a judge in The All Ireland Talent Show and participated in Celebrity Bainisteoir.-Career:Ní Chofaigh is an accomplished...
has since become one of Ireland's best known female TV presenters. She presented The Afternoon ShowThe Afternoon ShowThe Afternoon Show was Raidió Teilifís Éireann's live flagship daytime show. It ran from 2004 until May 2010. The programme was dropped by RTÉ as part of its new season of television in 2010, to be replaced by two afternoon programmes 4 Daily presented by Maura Derrane and The Daily Show hosted by...
on RTÉ OneRTÉ OneRTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
and is a judge on The All Ireland Talent ShowThe All Ireland Talent ShowThe All Ireland Talent Show was an RTÉ television series billed as Ireland's biggest-ever talent contest. It was first announced in November 2008 and the first series commenced broadcasting on 4 January 2009, completing on 15 March 2009. Modelled on Britain's Got Talent, it is produced by Tyrone...
. - Tom Ó Brannigan has since worked for both RTÉ and TG4TG4TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....
. He was a judge on TG4's talent competition Glas VegasGlas VegasGlas Vegas is an Irish language talent show. The series is produced by TG4. It is broadcast on Sunday evenings at 8.30pm. The series has a panel of judges to assess the quality of each act, the judges are Senator Eoghan Harris, Tom Ó Brannagáin and Molly Bhreathnach.The first series was a solely...
. - Carrie CrowleyCarrie CrowleyCarrie Crowley is an Irish actress, Gaeilgeoir and former radio and television presenter. She has been described both as a "gay icon" and "RTÉ's Miriam O'Callaghan for the late 1990s". She appeared on television shows such as The Morbegs and Echo Island for Raidió Teilifís Éireann...
hosted Eurovision Song Contest 1997Eurovision Song Contest 1997The Eurovision Song Contest 1997, was the 42nd Eurovision Song Contest and it was held at the Point Theatre Dublin, Ireland, on 3 May 1997. Boyzone member Ronan Keating and Carrie Crowley were the presenters of the show....
alongside Ronan KeatingRonan KeatingRonan Patrick John Keating is an Irish recording artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and philanthropist. Keating debuted on the professional music scene alongside Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately, in 1994 as the lead singer of Boyzone. His solo career started in 1999, and...
, presented several shows on both radio and TV but was soon over exposed being on TV and radio nearly seven days a week. She has since worked on her acting career, starring in many TG4 drama productions. - Mary KingstonMary KingstonMary Kingston , is an Irish children's television presenter and philanthropist. She is the current presenter of The Disney Club on RTÉ Two. She has also presented Scratch Saturday and The Works....
also presented The Works. She also presented The DenThe Den (television)The Den was the brand of the children's television strand on Irish public broadcaster RTÉ Two. It first broadcast on 29 September 1986 on RTÉ One, before moving to RTÉ Two in September 1988. The strand began to diversify throughout the late 1990s and the 2000s...
's Disney Club for several seasons and appeared on Celebrity FarmCelebrity FarmCelebrity Farm was a 2003 Radio Telefís Éireann reality television show, based on the international TV format The Farm, produced by Strix. Held along similar lines as I'm a Celebrity.....
in 2003. - Danann Breathnach went on to present FISH (Friday It Starts Here) and then moved to MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in the early 2000s. - Pádraic Ó NeachtainPadraic O NeachtainPádraic Ó Neachtain is a television presenter, director and journalist. He was born in 1973.Pádraic currently works for Telegael in An Spidéal and presents feature programmes for TG4. A native of Indreabhán, Co na Gaillimhe, Padraic is the eldest of five siblings. He attended Coláiste Chroí Mhuire...
has since presented a number of programmes with TG4. He worked with RTÉ Radio and as an editor with RTÉ Nuacht. He is the voice of Elmo and Bert in the Irish language version of Sesame Street.