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06 Sept 2025

Do you know any of these men who featured in a 1986 documentary?

Documentary-maker wants to find men who feature in the 1986 edition of RTÉ's Reeling In The Years

A radio documentary-maker is seeking help in tracking down three men who feature in the 1986 edition of the popular RTÉ show Reeling In The Years.
With emigration rife in the 1980s, the end segment of the ’86 episode shows the human side of this, with three young men interviewed by Tommie Gorman before departing for London.
Denis Hurley, a Cork-based journalist, is seeking to meet these men an interview them as part of the RTÉ Radio 1 Doc On One series, and is appealing to readers of the Democrat to get in touch if they can provide information.
Broadcast on the Countrywide show on Friday, October 9, 1986, the original footage featured the Diamond in Donegal town, with a young man – identified in the RTÉ archives as Kevin McGinn – speaking to Gorman before he departs, saying that he “can’t get nothing in this country”.
Also interviewed before boarding the Supabus to London are two O’Boyle brothers, possibly from Donegal but more likely from Ballymote, Co. Sligo.
“I had the idea to make the documentary last year and got the go-ahead from RTÉ,” Denis Hurley says, “but unfortunately so far I haven’t had any success in reaching these young men.
“Their situations are emblematic of so many others who were also forced to leave and I feel that relaying how life has gone for them would be informative and insightful.
“Hopefully, the readers of the Democrat can provide valuable assistance in this regard.”
Anybody with any information on the men involved can email michael.daly@donegaldemocrat.com and we will pass on the information.

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