Press Release 12.07.17: Belfast film ROCKY ROS MUC to be released in US

Belfast film ROCKY ROS MUC to be released in US

A film directed and produced by Belfast based production company Below The Radar is set for its US release and will qualify for the 2018 Academy Awards – a first for an Irish language feature length documentary.

ROCKY ROS MUC premiered in Boston in March and will have its Irish premiere at the prestigious Galway Film Fleadh this evening. This Galway screening of ROCKY ROS MUC has already sold out.

The film was funded by TG4, the Broadcasting Authority in Ireland, the Irish Film Board, Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund and MG Alba.

The film will then go on release in cinemas in New York and Los Angeles in the Autumn, meaning it will qualify for the chance to be shortlisted for an Oscar at the 2018 Academy Awards.

Sean Mannion

Plans too are advanced for a theatrical release in Ireland, north and south later this year.

ROCKY ROS MUC is a gritty film about the story of Galway boxer Sean Mannion, a world-class boxer who left the Irish-speaking village of Ros Muc in Galway, for Boston, in the 1970s.

The film examines Mannion’s fighting spirit inside the ring as a professional boxer, and his life outside the ring where his sparring partners and friends at the time were at the heart of Whitey Bulger’s notorious Winter Hill gang and the South Boston criminal underworld. 

Proinsias Ní Ghráinne, Commissioning Editor at TG4 said:

“The cinema release of Rocky Ros Muc in Ireland and the U.S is testament to the quality of this superb Irish language film.  Rocky Ros Muc is a fine example of TG4's continued commitment to bring character-based, compelling narratives with the scope and ambition to work on many platforms to audiences at home and abroad.   We look forward to the premiere TV broadcast on TG4 in 2018 and to seeing how the local, skillfully and authentically produced, can have global appeal”

James Hickey, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board Chief Executive said:

“We are delighted to have supported this powerful Irish language film which is the documentary feature debut from Michael Fanning, a director we hope to work with again in the future. I’m sure that both Irish and international audiences will engage with the film on its theatrical release later this year.”

Director of ROCKY ROS MUC, Michael Fanning said:

“We have had a phenomenal response to the film since it was first screened in Boston in the spring. Sean Mannion’s story is one that needed to be told and we are especially excited to be able to bring this film home to Ireland – first to Galway and then to Sean’s own small home town of Ros Muc, which will be an emotional night.

Michael Fanning, Director, ROCKY ROS MUC 

“I first came across the story of Sean Mannion through Rónán Mac Con Iomaire’s book, Rocky Ros Muc and it fascinated me. Mannion is a humble man despite the fact he was a world class boxer and his story is one that audiences will find gripping.

“To think that his story is going to reach audiences across the USA is thrilling for everyone involved. The fact that it’ll also qualify for the Oscar next year is a boost for everyone on the team. We’re particularly excited to hear the response to the film on Irish soil in Galway this week.”

Áine Walsh of the Irish Language Broadcast Fund Northern Ireland Screen, one of the funders said:

“We are delighted that Rocky Ros Muc will air to a US audience, it is a beautifully produced documentary dealing with the universal theme of emigration that deserves a wide audience. This opportunity will raise the profile of Below the Radar, a company with an excellent track record in Irish language production, as well as raise the profile of Irish language production in general. This also aligns with Northern Ireland Screen's strategy of promoting local content to an international audience” 

In another coup for the Belfast production company, its short documentary Tit for Tatt, a film about cancer survivors who were tattooed on their surgical wounds, has also been listed to play at the Galway Film Fleadh on Sunday 16 July.

Director and Producer of Tit for Tatt, Mairéad Ní Threinir said:

“Getting a film listed at the Galway Film Fleadh is a dream come true for any filmmaker. The festival showcases the best in filmmaking talent from around the world and it is a real honour to be able to bring the story of Sabrina, Nina and other cancer survivors to such a wide audience.

“Their story is an inspirational and uplifting one for cancer survivors who have been through the wars but are still standing and still fighting. I know they will inspire others when the film is shown in Galway next week.”

Watch Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOVgb4c1FoU 

Press Release 12.07.2017: Scannán Feirsteach ROCKY ROS MUC le heisiúint i Meiriceá

Tá scannán a stiúraigh agus a léirigh an comhlacht léiriúcháin Feirsteach Below the Radar le heisiúint sna Stáit Aontaithe agus beidh deis aige cáiliú do na Academy Awards 2018 – an chéad uair ariamh do scannán faisnéise Gaeilge.

Bhí an première domhanda de ROCKY ROS MUC i mBostún i mí an Mhárta agus beidh chéad taibhiú na hÉireann ag Fleadh Scannán na Gaillimhe anocht. Tá na ticéidí don taispeántas seo i nGaillimh díolta amach cheana féin.

Rinneadh an scannán faisnéise i gcomhar le TG4, Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann, Bord Scannán na hÉireann, Ciste Craoltóireachta Gaeilge Scáileáin Thuaisceart Éireann agus MG Alba.

Seán Ó Mainnín

Ansin san fhómhar, beidh an scannán á thaispeáint sna hamharclanna i Nua-Eabhrac agus LA, rud a chiallaíonn gur féidir leis an scannán bheith iomaíocht chun áit a fháil ar ghearrliosta na nOscar ag na Academy Awards 2018.    

Tá pleananna ar na bacáin fosta leis an scannán a chur sna hamharclanna in Éirinn, thuaidh agus theas, níos moille sa bhliain.        

Is scannán é ROCKY ROS MUC a dhéanann cur síos ar shaol an Ghaillimhigh, Seán Ó Mainnín, dornalaí den chéad scoth a d’fhág Gaeltacht Ros Muc sna 1970í le aghaidh a thabhairt ar Bhostún. 

Scrúdaíonn an scannán an spiorad a bhain le bheith ag troid sa chró mar dhornálaí gairmiúil agus an saol a bhí ag an Mhainníneach lasmuigh de chomh maith - bhí a chuid céilí speárála sa ghiom ag croílár dhrong Whitey Bulger agus domhan na coiriúlachta. 

Dúirt Eagarthóir Coimisiúnaithe TG4, Proinsias Ní Ghráinne

“Is cruthúnas é an socrú dáiliúcháin amharclainne seo do Rocky Rosmuc ar an ardchaighdeán atá ag baint leis.  Is sampla iontach é an saothar substaintiúil seo ar thiomantas leanúnach TG4 do scéalta láidre a bhaineann le daoine agus a bhfuil uaillmhian agus scóp sa léiriú ag baint leo, saothair a oibríonn ar gach uile ardán sa bhaile agus thar sáile.

Táimid ag súil lena chéad-chraoladh ar TG4 ar an bhliain seo chugainn agus muid cinnte go mbíonn éileamh domhanda ar an scéal áitiúil atá léirithe le scil agus le croí.”

Arsa James Hickey, Príomhfheidhmeannach, Bord Scannán na hÉireann

“Tá lúchair orainn gur thacaigh muid leis an scannán cumhachtach Gaeilge seo atá ina chéad scannán faisnéise de chuid Michael Fanning, stiúrthóir atá muid ag súil le bheith ag obair leis arís eile sa todhchaí.  Tá muid cinnte de go rachaidh an scannán i bhfeidhm ar lucht féachana náisiúnta agus idirnáisiúnta mar aon nuair a thiocfaidh sé amach sna pictiúrlanna níos moille i mbliana. 

Arsa stiúrthóir an scannáin, Michael Fanning:

“Tá aischothú iontach faighte ag an scannán ó taispeánadh é don chéad uair i mBostún san Earrach.  Bhí mé ag iarraidh scéal Shéan Uí Mhainnín a chur os comhair an domhain mhóir agus tá muid iontach sásta go deo deis a fháil an scannán a thabhairt abhaile go hÉirinn, ar dtús go Gaillimh agus ansin go baile ducháis Shéain, Ros Muc – oíche thochtach a bheas ann, cinnte. 

Arsa stiúrthóir an scannáin, Michael Fanning

“Is trí leabhar Rónáin Mhic Con Iomaire ‘Rocky Ros Muc’ a chuir mé eolas ar scéal an Mhainnínigh agus thaitin an scéal go mór liom.  Cé go raibh sé ar dhuine de na dornálaithe is fearr ar domhan, is fear umhal é Seán agus is scéal é a mbeidh an-spéis ag an lucht féachana ann, sílim. 

Tá muid iontach bródúil go mbeidh an scannán seo le feiceáil anois ag daoine sna Stáit Aontaithe. Is ardú meanman don fhoireann ar fad é fosta go mbeidh an scannán cáilithe do na hOscars ar an bhliain seo chugainn. Tá muid ag súil go mór le haischothú mhuintir na hÉireann a chluinstin an tseachtain seo i nGaillimh.

Arsa Ceannasaí Chiste Craoltóireachta Gaeilge Scáileáin Thuaisceart Éireann, Áine Walsh, a thug maoiniú don togra:

“Tá lúcháir mhór orainn go mbeidh Rocky Ros Muc á chraoladh do lucht féachana i SAM. Is clár faisnéise é a léiríodh go bláfar agus a théann i ngleic le téama uilíoch na himirce agus tá lucht féachana leathan ag dul dó dá réir. Cuirfidh an deis seo le próifíl Below The Radar, comhlacht a bhfuil cáil iontach air ó thaobh léiriúcháin Ghaeilge de, agus cuirfear le próifíl na hearnála léiriúcháin Gaeilge i gcointinne chomh maith,

Tá seo ag teacht le straitéis Scáileáin Thuaisceart Éireann chun ábhar áitiúil a chur chun cinn do lucht féachana idirnáisiúnta freisin.”

Agus dea-scéal eile don chomhlacht léiriúcháin, ná gur roghnaíodh gearrscannán dá gcuid ‘Tit for Tatt’, scannán faoi mharthanóirí ailse a fuair tattoo ar a gcuid coilm máinliachta, le taispeáint ag Fleadh Scannán na Gaillimhe fosta ar an Domhnach 16 Iúil.

Arsa stiúrthóir agus léiritheoir ‘Tit for Tatt’, Mairéad Ní Threinir:

“Is ábhar lúcháir é do dhéantóir scannán ar bith scannán s’acu a fháil isteach go Fleadh Scannán na Gaillimhe.  Bíonn scannáin d’ardchaighdeán ó achan chearn den domhan á dtaispeáint mar chuid den fhleadh agus is onóir mhór é scéal Sabrina, Nina agus na marthanóirí eile a thaispeáint do lucht féachana níos leithne.

Is scéal spreagúil croíúil é seo faoi mhná a d’fhuilling ailse ach atá tagtha amach an taobh eile.  Sílim go dtabharfaidh siad inspioráid do dhaoine atá ag dul tríd an rud céanna nuair a fheiceann siad an scannán i nGaillimh ar an Domhnach.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOVgb4c1FoU

NI Insurance chief says proactive management of credit risk essential as Brexit negotiations kick off

The Head of Trade Credit Brokers in Northern Ireland, told a business audience today in Belfast that the uncertainty around Brexit can be controlled with proactive risk management.

Addressing the Chartered Institute of Credit Management event (the professional body for credit management professionals), Nigel Birney, Head of Trade Credit and Political Risks for Northern Ireland, stated that the rise in demand for credit insurance has been significant as the economic uncertainty triggered by the UK’s exit from the European Union has started to take hold.

Credit Risk Warning: Nigel Birney, Trade Credit Brokers

Nigel Birney, Head of Trade Credit and Political Risks for NI, Trade Credit Brokers:

“Business in the UK is likely to see an increased level of insolvency, losses and projects put on hold as trade credit risks are exacerbated by Brexit.”

“Getting paid on time, and getting paid what you expect to get paid when you enter into a contract can be difficult at the best of times, however, with the added complexity of our future relationship with the EU still unknown, a plan needs to be put in place.”

“Brexit negotiations have now kicked off and we should expect to see increased apprehension as businesses try to stay ahead of the game and ensure that there is as little risk to their day to day trading as possible. A key component of that plan should be trade credit, which provides an opportunity for continued growth in uncertain times.” 

“Credit insurance, provides vital protection to businesses against the impact of bad debt, caused by the failure of customers to pay for goods or services sold on credit, and is now an essential component for businesses seeking to manage risk proactively.”

Brexit & NI - What the Department for the Economy is working on

The Department for the Economy is in the process of undertaking an analysis to inform the Northern Ireland policy response to Brexit. Michael Brennan, Strategic Policy Director of the Department unveiled the areas that they are working on at the CBI Rural Economy Summit in Dungannon today. He also outlined that DfE have been involved in a growing number of EU exit workstreams / programme boards and that they have increased their engagement with Whitehall, Brussels and Dublin in the past 3 to 4 weeks.

Areas being worked on include:

• Assessment of the importance of migrant labour for the NI Economy;
• Assessing the sectors and locations most likely to be affected;
• Assessing the importance of cross border commuting;
• Impact of tourists accessing NI via RoI;
• Impact of international students on the NI Economy;
• Extent of cross border shopping;
• How important the Common Travel Area is in relation to family and community ties;
• Modelling the impact of export tariffs;
• Analysis of goods and services exports data by sector and business size;
• Analysis of energy supply, particularly in context of ISEM; 
• Legislation and domestic consequentials - legislative review of NI legislation no longer underpinned by EU.

The Need for Planning PR

Planning can often be contentious, despite the many economic and social benefits it can deliver for communities. Communicating your plans to the community in which you want to develop, is vital to ensuring your proposals are looked at in the best light possible during the planning process.

Arlene O'Connor, Director at Brown O'Connor Communications

Proposals can attract negative feedback from groups and people who do not believe they have been adequately consulted or informed. Genuine and meaningful engagement with stakeholders in the area is vital.

The successful management and delivery of a community consultation process, prior to and during planning applications, can maintain and protect a developer’s reputation and assist in the shaping of positive planning decisions.

Brown O’Connor have worked on some of the most sensitive planning issues in Northern Ireland to know the right approach to take.

How we can help

·        Design and implementation of the community consultation strategy;

·        Meeting the community consultation statutory requirements;

·        Talking to and engaging the right stakeholders;

·        Assisting media and key influencers to understand the rationale behind the application;

·        Planning, organising and staffing the community exhibition;

·        Collating all feedback on the proposals;

·        Writing a detailed PACC Statement to accompany the planning application;

 Our Services

·        Community Consultation Strategy Development

·        Stakeholder/ Elected Representative Engagement

·        PR/ Media Relations

·        Media and Political Monitoring

·        Reputation Management

·        PR Campaign Development and roll-out

·        Branding

New Vaping Law to spark up next Monday

The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 comes into force on Monday and introduces a number of rules about the sale of e-cigarettes.

New Vaping Law will come into effect next Monday, 20th May 2017

There are seven new points of law that will come into effect:

1. Restrict e-cigarette tanks to a capacity of no more than 2ml.

2. Restrict the maximum volume of e-liquid for sale in one refill container to 10ml.

3. Restrict e-liquids to a nicotine strength of no more than 20mg/ml.

4. Require nicotine-containing products or their packaging to be child-resistant and tamper evident.

5. Ban certain ingredients including colourings, caffeine and taurine.

6. Include new labelling requirements and warnings.

7. Require e-cigarettes and e-liquids be notified to heath regulators before they can be sold.

New Blog: The importance of trust in media, politics and business

Importance of Trust

Trust is an important value to have in any walk of life. In business, politics or even at a family level, we all need to believe that the person or organisation we are interacting with is reliable and truthful.

Political upheaval, the evolution of media and changes to personnel at the top of big companies can be attributed at some level to shifts in the degree of trust held by, for example, voters, consumers or shareholders.

Understanding the capital of trust is extremely important thing to comprehend. As a communications professional, it is vital to assess trustworthiness of the people and products we are promoting or defending.  

Who we perceive as a trusted source of information is being challenged all the time. This is reflected in the annual Edelman Trust Barometer – a global survey from one of the big beasts of the communication industry, sampling around 33,000 respondents with Ireland and UK included.

Released several weeks ago, the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer for Ireland made interesting reading.

General Findings

Family businesses and employee owned businesses are most trusted;

Social media and media as an institution showed the steepest decline in trust;

A good reputation does not always guarantee trust;

The mass population now has influence and authority over the Establishment;

Majority feel that the ‘system is failing them’ as they have a sense of injustice and a lack of hope.

Trust in Media

The Ireland study found that trust in media fell by 10% from the same time last year and was now regarded as the least trusted institution. From that media trust evaluation, it found that traditional media was most trusted with online media dropping 7% in the last year. These dips were also reflected in the UK study with trust in media dropping by 12% to 24%.

Confirming our own bias and positions, the study also found that respondents in Ireland favour search engines (53%) over human editors (47%) and are 2.5 times more likely to ignore information that supports a position they do not believe in. 49% stated that they never or rarely change their position on important social issues.

Trust in Spokespeople

CEO credibility in Ireland has dropped 16 points from the previous year to 27%, which now puts it on par with government officials and boards of directors as the least credible spokespeople.

Academic experts (61%), technical experts (58%) and ‘a person like yourself’ (54%) are the most credible spokespeople in Ireland, according to the research.

Employees are seen as the most credible spokespeople on issues including employee/customer relations (64%), innovation (33%) and industry issues (36%).

Trust in Business

Despite confidence in business tumbling, of the four institutions, it is viewed as the only one that can make a difference in the community it operates in. 68% of respondents agree a company can take specific actions to both increase profits and improve economic and social conditions in the community where it operates.

However, there are worries amongst the workforce in Ireland that business must respond to. People in Ireland expressed worries about losing their jobs due to the lack of training and skills provided to them (49%), foreign competitors (44%) and automation (37%).

It will be very interesting to see the read out from the barometer in the next 12 months as Brexit negotiations take hold, new leaders across Europe settle into their jobs and the NI Assembly threatens to be reinstalled. It certainly won’t be boring.

(Information source: Edelman Trust Barometer 2017 / Article appeared in Business First Magazine, May 2017)

Connect with Chris @cb_PRandPA and @Brown_OConnor

Over 1,000 new possible cases of Acquired Brain Injury in children in NI each year

The Chief Executive of leading acquired brain injury rehabilitation charity, Brain Injury Matters, has raised concern at the potential number of new cases of children with a brain injury each year in Northern Ireland.

An exact figure is still not fully known as many with mild to moderate injuries do not often lead to hospital admission and a large number being recorded under other conditions (for example, meningitis). This is compounded by the lack of a dedicated children’s brain injury service, making subsequent data collection on the nature of needs difficult.

However, the charity has stated that as many as 1,000 additional potential cases could exist here each year, based on extrapolated figures from NHS England and other UK hospital studies.

Early identification of an acquired brain injury in children is vital as difficulties may not be evident initially, but gradually develop into problems as the brain matures. The potential for long-term cost savings of early investment associated with a child with severe conduct disorder, for example, is estimated in the region of £70,000 per person. 

Fiona McCabe, Chief Executive, Brain Injury Matters:

“The actual number of children with a brain injury is largely unknown which is highly concerning as the lack of service provision and recording of overall injuries is relatively poor.”

“From evidence elsewhere in the UK, and what we know anecdotally, we suspect that there could be as many as 1,000 new cases of brain injury in children per year in Northern Ireland.” 

“If we don’t know just how many children collectively have a brain injury in Northern Ireland, we are on the back foot as it is difficult to allocate resources. An increase year on year makes this an even tougher task.”

One way in which Brain Injury Matters is helping children with brain injury across Northern Ireland is through its Family First programme, in partnership with Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and funded by Big Lottery NI. It provides support for families and children who have been fortunate to have had an early identification.

Fiona McCabe, added:

“For a child who remains undiagnosed, issues can start to emerge at home such as anxiety and challenging behaviour, which can often lead to disruption and the breakdown of family relationships.”

“This is possibly amplified thousands of times across Northern Ireland without parents or family members realising their child has a brain injury, placing a real strain on relations.”

“To ensure that families of children with brain injuries do not reach breaking point, we have developed the Family First initiative as a direct response to providing the help and assistance they need.”  

Family First Coordinator at Brain Injury Matters, Dr Katy Pedlow said:

“Brain injury in children, if not identified properly, can have a devastating impact especially in the family environment. The stress of not being able to understand the cause of frequent disruption can often escalate and lead to crisis after crisis.” 

“The Family First project has had a transformative effect for the children and families involved as it empowers them to recognise and solve problems for themselves, helping to diffuse, or even avoid difficult situations.”

“Getting this right in the home setting has a knock-on effect for the child’s educational development and social skills. Too often, we see children who have not had the benefit of the support from this type of programme eventually require costly support from the likes of the health service throughout their adolescent and adult life.”

“We have convincing evidence to support the need for early identification and the requirement for a defined programme such as Family First. Our worry is that with the rising numbers of children with brain injury in Northern Ireland, many are not receiving any level of support.”

Litigation PR - What is it and why is it important in NI?

The management of the communications process prior to and during legal disputes can often help maintain and protect a client’s reputation and assist in the shaping of an outcome.

The court of public opinion is often just as important as what goes on inside the courtroom.

Working with the media and key influencers can create a more balanced, accurate and less sensational coverage of a lawsuit.

Litigation PR can help by:

·         Ensuring balanced media coverage;

·         Countering negative publicity;

·         Making a client’s viewpoint known;

·         Assisting the media and key influencers understand complex legal issues;

·         Defuse hostile situations and assist in resolving conflict.

Our Services:

·        Litigation communication strategy development

·        Media Engagement

·        Stakeholder and Elected Representative Engagement

·        Proactive media statements drafting and distribution

·        Rapid rebuttal

·        Reactive statement drafting and distribution

·        Managing Press Conferences and media interviews

·        Media Training

·        Media and Political Monitoring

·        Reputation building PR campaign development and roll-out

Get in touch with us at Brown O'Connor to find out more about our Litigation PR services - hello@brownoconnor.com

Media Relations - The Brown O'Connor Professional Approach

Media Relations – The Brown O’Connor Professional Approach

Executed correctly, media relations can be effective when you need your message heard.  A famous old line once stated that 93% of all press releases get 'binned' as soon as they land.

A lack of understanding about what is going on in newsrooms; the demands on journalists and producers; and the ability to gauge news value, will often be the difference in getting an issue covered, or not.

At Brown O’Connor Communications we have many years of experience in getting media coverage for clients to make sure your press release is in the 7% that stays out of the bin and lands on the page or the screen.

We assist clients in securing media coverage by:

• Connecting news angles with corporate or campaign objectives;
• Developing and distributing press releases in an efficient and professional manner to get the message out quickly;
• Knowing what information journalists are looking for and following up with them to address further questions;
• Banking knowledge of who the journalists are and how they write or report;
• Understanding how a story should be communicated digitally and how that is supported technically;
• Setting up creative photography to support press release content for an eye catching moment that is remembered.

Get in touch with us to find out more about our media relations capabilities at hello@brownoconnor.com