RTÉ & AETN UK Commission Doc on Mountbatten Assassination

BELFAST: Below the Radar has been commissioned by RTÉ and AETN UK to produce Mountbatten: Return to Mullaghmore, recounting the assassination of the Queen’s cousin, Lord Louis Mountbatten, by the Irish Republican Army.

In 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten and his grandson Nicholas were killed in a bomb attack as they were on a fishing boat off the coast of County Sligo. Their 15-year-old deck hand Paul Maxwell was also killed. Mountbatten: Return to Mullaghmore follows Paul’s father, John, as he returns to the scene of the attack and shares his journey. The documentary also includes interviews with political players who recall the reactions of British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Irish PM Jack Lynch, as well as reconstructions of the encounters between the two governments.

Trevor Birney, the managing director of Below the Radar, said: “Mountbatten: Return to Mullaghmore marks the 30th anniversary of the attack. This was a particularly shocking moment in Irish and British history, as the IRA’s campaign of terror infiltrated the Royal family. It has been incredibly moving to work with John Maxwell, and to explore the repercussions of the event through his eyes.”

Sean Mac Giolla Phadraig, the assistant commissioning editor for factual programming at RTÉ, commented: “RTÉ is pleased to work with the Below the Radar team on Mountbatten: Return to Mullaghmore. As the Irish public service broadcaster, we were interested to mark the 30th anniversary of Mountbatten’s assassination, by giving viewers an insight into the events that led up to the attack and indeed the repercussions of it. A personal as well as political overview, we believe the programme will have particular appeal for a broad audience, a significant group of whom will have personal recollections of the terrible event in Sligo in 1979.”