From top: Aoife Rafter; Aisling Gallagher; Sarah and Adrian McVann and their lockdown baby; Margaret Franklin

Saol Faoi Ghlas – an chéad dianghlasáil.

A lockdown documentary by Midas Productions on TG4.

Linda Ni Ghriofa writes:

In March 2020, our lives were turned upside down as we were forced to come to grips with the implications of living under the shadow of a global pandemic. Following unique characters and stories, Saol Faoi Ghlas captures an unprecedented time in Ireland’s history as it explores the added challenges living under lockdown.

Featuring a mixture of self-shot and documentary footage from characters in every province in Ireland, this documentary is a snapshot into a time where we as a people struggled with the new demands placed on us. Despite the personal hardship suffered by those featured in this documentary, this is ultimately a story of hope that reminds us of our resilience and strength as individuals and as communities…

Featuring…

Aoife Rafter is cocooning in her family home in Naas, county Kildare. Having lived with Cystic Fibrosis all her life, she knows only too well how devasting a respiratory illness could be for her. Just before lockdown, Aoife finished treatment for Cervical Cancer and now finds herself without clinics, check-ups or medical support and her world confined to just a few rooms.

In Tullamore Leaving Cert student Aisling Gallagher finds herself studying online and wondering if her exams will take place at all. Her dreams of studying in Trinity college are compromised as her final milestones in secondary school disappear.

Sarah and Adrian McVann from Westport are expecting their first baby in the middle of a pandemic and are faced with the reality that many expectant couples found themselves in as Sarah will enter the maternity ward alone.

Because she is over 70, Margaret Franklin has been asked to cocoon. Unable to visit family and friends, she fills her week with online choir practice, online courses and exercise classes. Despite being determined to keep active, Margaret feels abandoned by the blanket cocooning advice and lack of freedom the restrictions mean for her.

Saol Faoi Ghlas – an chéad dianghlasáil at 9.30pm, Wednesday, November 18, on TG4.