The power of nature during lockdown with Darach Ó Murchú, Cumhacht an Nádúir airs on TG4

We catch up with  Darach Ó Murchú to learn more about his new documentary exploring the power of nature and also the challenges that it has faced in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The power of nature during lockdown with Darach Ó Murchú

Cumhacht an Nádúir is a new two-part documentary for TG4 that looks at the solace nature has offered during this pandemic and how it may fuel the debate for a broader range of wildlife habitat and land management.

A positive consequence of the coronavirus is the way in which it has led many of us to value and explore our natural surroundings. Access to wilderness areas, coastlines and parklands has provided much needed solace during this pandemic. In this two-part documentary, Cumhacht an Nádúir, we find out if this greater awareness has been of any benefit to wildlife, and whether a greater natural balance can emerge from the lockdown experience.

What happens when sites fall strangely and beautifully silent, when nature is given a chance to breathe and to revive? Has this twelve-month period implanted a greater need to protect and expand our wilderness areas?

In the hands of presenter Darach Ó Murchú, an environmental educator who was given permission to travel outside of his own restricted area, we visit some of Ireland’s most celebrated destinations and tourist sites: Malin Head, the Blaskets, Glendalough, and Garnish Island, as well as community spaces and local areas of beauty. We capture these locations during a near total absence of visitors and we consider how wildlife has behaved in their absence. Post-lockdown, we return to evaluate how these landscapes could be better managed in the crucial years ahead.

See more stories here.

Red Pepper Productions’ (www.redpepper.ie) previous documentaries include Fota: Into the Wild (VMTV, 2020), Born Addicted (RTÉ2, 2015) and Tar Abhaile (TG4, 2013).

Martin Danneels is director of the acclaimed RTÉ2 ‘Reality Bites’ documentaries Ireland’s Sulky Racers and Rural Addiction. He recently directed the ground-breaking documentary for RTE1, Will Ireland Survive 2050?  Previous work also includes the IFTA-nominated series How the Irish have Sex (2009), and Only Fools Buy Horses (2004).