Immrama 2008

Before taking up position behind the studio desk, Alagiah was one of the BBC's leading foreign correspondents, recognised throughout the industry for his reporting on some of the most significant events of the last decade.

The 2008 Immrama festival theme is "Africa - People and Travel". George is a specialist on Africa and the developing world and has reported on : the civil war and famine in Somalia; the genocide in Rwanda and its aftermath; the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa; the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire and the farm invasions in Zimbabwe.

In 2002 Alagiah in his book "In a Passage to Africa" mixes political insights with personal testimony to produce an autobiography, not about himself but of Africa itself.

With unblinking honesty and compelling insight, he chronicles the horror, the hope and the humanity he has borne witness to: from the "kleptocracy" of Mobutu Sese Seko's Zaire to the political expendiency of Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe; from the playground petulance of Liberia's Child soliders to the towering moral authority of Nelson Mandela.

In this powerful testamant of a continent Alagiah considers home kicks as a five-year-old in 1961 when his father announced that the family was to leave Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for newly independent Ghana in Africa.

"Even as a child of five I think I knew that it represented something better than the divided island we were about to leave. I learned from half-heard conversations between my parents that Ceylon was not somewhere that we Tamils would prosper. So Ceylon was bad and Africa was good. Now we were poor; in Africa we would be rich".

He talks about optimism abound in Ghana at te time citing the musical bands like E.T. Mansah and the Tempo Dance Band whose 'hi-life' music had one meaning: the unity of Africa and the destiny of its people.

Alagiah narrates about the formation of the Organisation of African countries.

'A Passage to Africa' enters into what Alagiah calls "Africa's Lost Years". This is the chaotic period in the seventies and eighties. He says two and a half decades later, from the time his family migrated to Africa, it was now in worst shape than he could remember.

George has also presented at Cheltenham, Keswick, Hay-on-Wye and London literary festivals. This is his first appearance at an Irish leterary festival and the Immrama Festival Committee is delighted to welcome him to Lismore. He has won many awards for his work as both a journalist and a presenter and has won several awards including: the Critics Award and Golden Nymph Award at the Monte Carlo Television Festival; award for Best International Report at the Royal Television Society; commendation from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts; Amnesty International's Best TV Journalist award and the Bayeux Award for War Reporting.

Other presenters over the weekend include Tim Butcher, Guillaume Bonn, Redmond O'Hanlon, Christina Lamb and Donal Brady. Programme of events plus tickets are available from 058 53803/ 058 54975 or from Lismore Heritage Centre.

Visit the website www.lismoreimmrama.com