The title
Ireland, Cancer and Me suggests Tommie Gormanâs final programme for RTÃ (RTÃ One, Tuesday) will be an emotional roller coaster. The broadcasterâs recently retired Northern Ireland editor has lived with neuroendocrine tumours for 20 years. And now, as he bows out, he turns again to his decades-long struggle to keep at armâs length this rare form of the disease. It seems a foregone conclusion that tears will be shed, both Gormanâs and ours.
There is some of that. âFor 20 years, every 28 days Iâve taken an injection to help keep my disease at bay,â Gorman explains. âItâs like a monthly fill of petrol. You can feel the engine chugging towards the end of each month.â
Updated / Tuesday, 4 May 2021
12:00
Tommie Gorman
Tonight s TV includes Tommie Gorman s Ireland, Cancer and Me, Cosc looks back at corporal punishment in Ireland, it s May the 4th on Disney+ and it s the end of the line for Your Honor and The Syndicate . . .
Pick of the Day
Ireland, Cancer and Me, 10.15pm, RTÉ One
Recently retired from RTÉ, journalist Tommie Gorman presents a personal account of living with cancer for more than 20 years, looking at the advances made in treatment available in Ireland over the period.
He also explores the role of a health service unit based in Kilkenny that assists patients seeking to access treatment abroad by using a range of EU schemes.
Why predictive testing is the next challenge for radiotherapy
Updated / Tuesday, 4 May 2021
08:14 Development of predictive tests could lead to individualised patient treatment and avoidance of unnecessary radiotherapy in radiosensitive patients. (Image: Getty Images)
Analysis: Since the discovery of X-rays in 1895, radiotherapy has been applied as a cancer treatment yet the major challenge is to develop predictive tests that can help individualise patient treatment.
Since the discovery of X-rays in 1895, radiotherapy has been applied as a cancer treatment and is used in the treatment of approximately 50% of all cancer patients. It aims to maximise tumour cell death while at the same time minimising damage to normal cells and tissues surrounding the tumour.
TV guide: 21 of the best shows to watch this week, beginning tonight Tommie Gorman on cancer; The Big DIY Challenge; docs on Britney Spears and Ian Wright
Sun, May 2, 2021, 06:00
Sunday, BBC1, 7pm Fiona Bruce presents a special episode reflecting on the aftermath of the second World War. The team have certainly found a fitting setting: Coventry Cathedral, devastated by bombs in 1940 but rebuilt to become a symbol of hope and reconciliation. The programme hears from a woman who witnessed the city’s blitz first-hand, while the items brought in for valuation include a ballgown and a set of handmade playing cards that offer a glimpse into the final days of the war in the Far East. There’s also a fragile teacup that survived the bombing of Dresden.
Arlene s career as a juggler ends
Updated / Saturday, 1 May 2021
10:56
In his final piece of online analysis, former RTÉ News Northern Editor, Tommie Gorman, looks back on the career of outgoing First Minister, Arlene Foster, and asks what next for power sharing in Northern Ireland.
For much of her five and a half years as DUP leader, Arlene Foster has been waiting for the sky to fall.
When the end came, as so happens in politics, it was brutal.
A number of times in a past life she was one of the very few who sat up late with the then leader, Peter Robinson. One more heave was brewing in the DUP civil war between those who yearn for the past and those who worry about the future.