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In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to Colm Quinnabout his documentary Ransom '79.

Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.


Welcome to The DocArena Podcast in association with Film Ireland. My name is Ross Whitaker and every fortnight, I want to dig deeply into the motivations of documentary filmmakers – how do they choose their subject material and what approaches and strategies do they employ to fund, craft and distribute their work…


Ransom '79 tells the story of legendary Irish reporter Charlie Bird and his determination to break one final story before his life is cut short by Motor Neurone Disease. Charlie's sources have given him an extraordinary true crime story, one that had remained secret for decades - the attempt by a criminal gang to extort millions from the Irish government. The disease has already taken Charlie's voice. But clever use of technology means he can still do interviews - using a voice app on his ipad - and, even as his strength falters, he keeps chasing the story.Ransom '79 charts Charlie’s investigation and reconstructs a scarcely-believable sequence of events that led from farce to tragedy, in a very different Ireland. But beneath it all, the film is an exploration of how one man confronting his own mortality can find respite in doing the thing he loves, even in the most terrible of circumstances.

Ransom '79 is directed by Colm Quinn and is produced by John Kelleher and David Power with backing from Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, Virgin Media, Derrin Group and S481.

In cinemas 24th May 2024.


Check out DocArena episodes here

Ross Whitaker is a documentary filmmaker (Katie, The Boys in Green, Between Land and Sea) and is a former editor of Film Ireland Magazine and programmer of the IFI Dublin Documentary Film Festival @RossWhitakerTV

Podcast music composed by michaelflemingmusic.com


Ross Whitaker is a producer and/or director of the feature documentaries Beat the Lotto (2025), Katie (2018), Between Land and Sea (2016), Unbreakable (2014) and Saviours (2007). His recent work includes the TV documentaries This Is Open Country (2025) for NBC/Sky, Birdsong (2024) for RTÉ (+ BBC, ARTE), Rachael Blackmore: A Grand Year (2021) for ITV/RTÉ, Barney Curley Beat the Bookies (2021) for BBC/RTÉ and The Boys in Green (2020) for RTÉ. His short documentaries include the award-winning Bye Bye Now (2009) and Home Turf (2011), as well as the documentary commercial Sleeping Flags (2019), which won prestigious D&AD and Cannes Lions Awards. He is a former festival director of IFI DocFest and editor of Film Ireland magazine.

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