Curriculum Vitae

Conor Forrest

Moriah, Moyle Abbey 0877512244, cfcilldara@gmail.comBallitore, Athy www.ie.linkedin.com/in/conorforrestCo Kildare

Writing Experience:

Editorial Department, Ashville Media Group, January 2013 Present Writing articles for various Ashville publications. Commercial editor duties for business and other magazines. General research, editing and proofing duties.

Intern, Ashville Media Group, September December 2012 Writing articles for several publications including Ear to the Ground and Business

Ireland. Maintaining Ashville business events website. Editing, proofing and similar duties before print deadline.

Irish News Review, online collection of Irish and world news, November 2011 Present Co-editor and contributor; proofing and posting content from contributors, maintaining

social media presence. Contributing news features, history and sports stories.

Contributor, The Spanner, national student magazine, August 2011 December 2011 Satirical articles, based around current affairs.

Contributor, An Focal, University of Limerick newspaper, September 2007 May 2011 Covered current events; local and national news.

The Sports Arena, online world sports news, January 2012 July 2012 Staff writer covering the English Premier League.

Education:

2007 - 2011 BA (Hons) History with Sociology 2:1 University of Limerick

Subjects included: Various Irish History, Holocaust, Historical Research, Qualitative & Quantitative Sociology, Intro to IT.Final year project: The Great Irish Famine and its impact on County Kildare.

2001 2007 Claiste Lorcin, Castledermot, Co. Kildare.

IT skills:

I have substantial experience in using Microsoft Word and have a basic knowledge of Excel, PowerPoint and InDesign. I also have experience of both educational and commercial databases as well as online blogs. I am a regular Internet user.

Interests:

Sports; playing and watching Gaelic games, socialising with friends and using computers.

References:

Available on request.

Ear to the Ground Annual 2013

Ear to thE Ground 171717Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground Ear to thE Ground

years and still going strong20 Its 20 years since Ear to the Ground fi rst aired on

RT its longevity a testament to its continued

resonance with Irish audiences. CONOR

FORREST reminisces with the producer and former presenters, all of whom are unanimous on the

secret to the shows success ordinary people telling

extraordinary stories.

History, as they say, repeats itself; an endless cycle of events where the actors change but the story

essentially remains the same. Twenty years ago, when Ear to the Ground was fi rst pitched to RT as a new rural affairs programme, Ireland was also in a recession, part of a global economic downturn triggered by the Gulf war. Fast forward two decades and we fi nd ourselves in the same situation, albeit for different reasons. And during those intervening years, Ear to the Ground has been there, charting both the good and

the bad times in the agricultural sector. During the 1990s and the noughties,

while the rest of the Irish economy was going from strength to strength, the programme followed the struggles of farmers in the aftermath of the signifi cant changes to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) during those years, as protest marches, tractorcades and beef blockages highlighted the plight of an industry in desperation, struggling with falling prices and rising costs.

When the crash of 2008 changed everything; construction and fi nance

Full Design & Construct Contractor 20 Year Leak Free Guarantee Child & Stock Proof Fencing Cost per Gallon - from 7 cent

Size Range - 50,000 Gallonsto 5 million gallons

Former presenter Mairead McGuinness

sees the funny side while on location

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were in crisis, mired in debt while retail shrank and exports, agri food in particular, suddenly became a real player on the stage. While farming is suddenly a viable option for some once again, CAP reform and cuts to farmers subsidies are looming large on the horizon. Farming is a harsh business often tough, sometimes unforgiving. But through it all, Ear to the Ground has remained in touch with the real and everyday issues faced, not just by the farming community, but the agricultural sector at large.

Sharing storiesYou would imagine that covering such tumultuous times would result in some fairly down-heartening memories for those involved. Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. When asked to recall my favourite stories from Ear to the Ground, I thought it was like being asked to name my favourite son. I love all the stories, especially the ones I have had the pleasure of being involved in myself, said producer Liam Lavelle.

In every series and every story we have been privileged to meet wonderful people who have shared their stories with us and the Ear to the Ground audience. They have been the bedrock of the series enduring appeal real people in real places telling real stories.

Tough times can often bring out the best in people who are well accustomed to hard work, something that past presenter Ronan Clarke recalls vividly. In terms of story highlights it was the people that you met. It was the fact that you were often visiting farmers that were doing things extremely well, the really enthusiastic farmers, the ones that

were great at what they did and had a positive outlook on things, says Clarke, who worked on Ear to the Ground for 11 seasons between 1996 and 2006.

Though there were a few crisis stories we were covering a lot of positive things and portraying very positive aspects of the countryside and talking to people who were very entrepreneurial in the types of things they were trying to do. I often wonder how they got on afterwards and how things worked out but Im sure if that didnt work out for them something else did, because that was the spirit of a lot of people that we met. Certain people were really working in the face of adversity, adds the former presenter who today works as a primary school teacher in his native Co Mayo.

Emma Hannigan, currently working as a news reporter with SBS Australia, joined Ear to the Ground in 2000 and spent one series with the show, before departing for a trip around the world, eventually settling in Australia where she lives on Bondi Beach with her husband, daughter and baby son. Having covered the 2008 US presidential elections for SBS, standing 50 feet away from Barack Obama as he gave his acceptance speech, her time with SBS has been somewhat different from her year spent with the rural affairs show back in Ireland; harvesting Christmas trees by helicopter and dolphin watching in Co Clare.

However her experience with the programme still stands out and echoes that of Clarkes. When we returned from

fi lming in Belgium, unfortunately, the foot and mouth epidemic was beginning to ravage Irish farms, she recalls. In covering the crisis, I met the most incredible people with overwhelming strength of character. These were people who had lost a lifes work yet were still willing to invite us into their lives. Their stories were among the most emotional and humbling that I have covered.

One particular story that would stand out, Ronan adds, is one I did with a particular farmer near Tubbercurry in Co Sligo. He was a young lad who had been paralysed from the waist down in a car accident and had taken over the family farm and was beef farming. It was just his whole attitude. Ill never forget him telling me how much his outgoing nature had come on since the accident, how it was a real turning point in his life. He was brilliant to talk to; you would never guess by him that he was confi ned to a wheelchair, that life had been cruel to him.

And certainly the people in the agricultural industry have been, and are, what makes the show what it is. Lavelle recalls various diverse characters that have graced the programme over the 20 years; the Fox sisters who ran the last independent dairy in Dublin and treated each of their cows as pets; octogenarian Gerry Clune who wanted to set current presenter Darragh McCullough up farming in Co Clare; legendary Munster and Ireland rugby player John The Bull

We have been privileged to meet wonderful people who have shared their stories with us. They have been the bedrock of the series enduring appeal real people in real places telling real stories

Ronan Clarke spent 10 years

on Ear to the Ground

Emma Hannigan presented the show in 2000

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Hayes who welcomed Ear to the Ground to his drystock farm in Co Limerick and, of course, Brush Shiels, a former rock star who composed a ballad in honour of his tractor when he featured in the fi rst series back in March 1994.

The real starsAs Ear to the Ground celebrates two decades on air, Clarke is full of praise for a show that has stayed true to its roots despite the changes to the television industry over the years. A lot of people ask if I regret leaving it behind. I dont regret it but I do appreciate the opportunity that it was and the fun that I had and all that it did for me. People have this view of being in the limelight and it was that element of it that didnt appeal to me. It just wasnt something that sat entirely comfortably with me.

Ear to the Ground was good in that respect because it wasnt really about

the reporters, it wasnt about the presenters, it was about the people that appeared on it. I was just a conduit to get people to talk and if I was ever interested in doing anything like that again it would be in that vein. Youre really just there to facilitate people telling their stories.

Thats why, I think, people liked it and felt comfortable with it, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Im very fond of the time I spent doing the job and I feel really lucky to have worked on that particular programme there has to be a lot behind it. It has changed and it has evolved but everything changes and

Ear to the Ground was good in that respect because it wasnt really about the reporters or presenters, it was about the people that appeared on it

everything evolves over the years. Whatever the next 20 years have in

store for Irelands rural communities and those involved in the business of agriculture, one thing is certain; Ear to the Ground will be running alongside, something Clarke is assured of. Its kept its core values of getting out there and letting people tell their own stories. People still want something like that. Television has evolved a lot in recent years, in terms of The X-Factor and all that sort of thing, and its a little bit of an antidote to that, its not just Ear to the Ground, but feet planted fi rmly on the ground.

Though there were a few crisis stories we were covering a lot of positive things and portraying very positive aspects of the countryside and talking to people who were very entrepreneurial

Ronan Clarke winning the Young European Journalist Award in 1995.Pictured with Liam Lavelle (left) and Brian Farrell (right)

Mairead McGuinness with Ivan Yates

at home in Wexford

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