Virgin Media to air documentary on Charlie Bird's final journalistic investigation

A ground-breaking two-part documentary tracking veteran journalist Charlie Bird on his last investigation will air on Virgin Media Television later this month.

‘Ransom 79’ follows Charlie on his quest for the truth while in a race against time after receiving a devastating diagnosis of Motor Neuron Disease (MND) in October 2022.

Still reeling from the news, he met with an old source, former Head of the Fraud Squad Wille McGee, who let slip details of what Charlie believed could be one of the biggest stories of his career. In September 1979, the Minister for Agriculture received an anonymous letter.

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Failure to hand over £5m, the letter read, and the dreaded Foot and Mouth virus would be purposely let loose in Ireland, an act of criminal terrorism that would buckle the faltering Irish economy. Senior staff were left shaken and appalled, not only for the brazenness of the demands within, but also for the potential devastation that would be wrecked on the State if the demands weren't met.

The old maxim that truth is stranger than fiction certainly applies here. Over the next seven months an often-surreal game of cat and mouse played out between a mysterious criminal gang and the authorities.

Ransom '79 is a feature documentary that charts Charlie's final investigation and reconstructs the unlikely series of events that occurred over forty years ago. Charlie, now restricted in mobility and speech, reaches out to friend and previous collaborator journalist and playwright Colin Murphy, to assist on his quest.

The duo's dogged research turns to clues, which in turn become sources as, piece by piece, the truth behind this bizarre case is laid bare.

In truth though, the film is an exploration of one man's mortality and the respite that can be found in doing the things you love to do even in the most terrible of circumstances.

Despite communicating almost exclusively with voice-bank technology and with his mobility diminishing as the story progresses, the dogged newsman in Charlie still remains and through his work he discovers the truth about who he is and what his life has meant.

The film becomes a race against time, for Charlie to get to the bottom of one last case, to secure one last scoop, before his own story finally reaches its end. 

The documentary is produced by John Kelliher Media with support from Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann and Coimisiún na Meán's Sound and Vision Scheme.

In honour of Charlie Bird's memory, from Thursday, March 20 to Monday, March 24, Ireland AM will highlight the work of Research MND and Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association, sharing stories from people living with MND and their families. 

For further information and to support go to https://rmn.ie/ and https://www.imnda.ie/.