Film And TV
08 Oct 18

BBC Documentary on Eamonn McCann Airs Tonight

Eamonn McCann: A Long March reveals the inside story of his 10 months as an assembly member, rising from street activist to politician.

Despite earning a reputation at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland, McCann was only elected in March 2016 at the age of 73 to the Stormont Assembly as a People Before Profit politician. In March 2017 he lost his seat as a result of a snap election.

The documentary airing tonight on BBC portrays a portrait of the activist as he is finally elected to Stormont.

Speaking about the documentary to BBC McCann said,

"I don't claim that the account in the film is the only truth of the period. Some who were as close to the action as I was, will recall events in a different perspective. That's always the way of it. I can only say that in long conversations and interviews with producer-director Margo Harkin, I gave it my best shot. In my own view, the most valuable thing about the film is that it provides an account of the developments in Derry which led to 5 October 1968 march which may take some by surprise. It doesn't navigate between the standard lines of the Orange-Green narrative".

Hot Press contributor, McCann currently writes for the Belfast Telegraph, The Irish Times, and the Derry Journal and is a frequent commentator on BBC and RTÉ.

The documentary will air tonight BBC One Northern Ireland, on Monday 8 October, 9pm.