''An Crisis'' ("The Crisis", using the Irish article and the English noun) is an Irish

comedy television series A list of comedy television series by country of origin. Argentina Argentinan Comedies Australia Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina * '' Viza za budućnost'' Brazil Canada China *'' Miracle Star'' *'' Number One Surprise'' Chile * ...

which was first broadcast on

TG4 TG4 (; , ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television channel. It launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on-demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was initially known as (TnaG), before bein ...

in 2010 as a six-part miniseries satirising the inner workings of an

Irish-language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenou ...

quango. It was written by

Antoine Ó Flatharta Antoine Ó Flatharta is an Irish playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, ...

and directed by Charlie McCarthy. A sequel, titled ''Crisis Eile'' (; "Another Crisis") aired in 2013. The action shifts to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, with Maeve Kelly Clarke ( Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh) exiled to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

as Ireland's new

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

Production

Location filming took place in

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent coastal suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It lies south of Dalkey, east and northeast of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown within ...

and

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by ...

. The series received funding from the Sound and Vision scheme of the

Broadcasting Authority of Ireland The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI; ) is a former broadcasting authority which regulated both public and commercial broadcasting sector in Ireland. It was established in 2009, effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Irel ...

Plot

An Chomhairle Teanga (ACT, "The Language Council"), an Irish-language government agency, deals with cutbacks after the

post-2008 Irish economic downturn The post-2008 Irish economic downturn in the Republic of Ireland, coincided with a Post-2008 Irish banking crisis, series of banking scandals, followed the 1990s and 2000s Celtic Tiger period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign dire ...

, media scrutiny and a difficult new Minister.

Cast

Both series

Conor MacNeill Conor MacNeill is a film, television, and stage actor from Northern Ireland. He is best known for his role as Kenny Kilbane in the BBC Two and HBO series ''Industry'' (2020–2024). Early life and education MacNeill was born in West Belfast. ...

as Ciarán Mac Ionraic, ACT's financial controller. From

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and with a chip on his shoulder about it, as well as a crush on Aoife. In ''Crisis Eile'', he becomes

Chef de Cabinet In some Francophone countries and international organisations, a ( French; literally 'head of office') is a senior official working for a high-ranking political or administrative figure such as a government minister. They are typically responsib ...

for Maeve Kelly Clarke. *Norma Sheahan as Emer de Barra. ACT employee. A lesbian with a young baby. In ''Crisis Eile'' she works with SPIEL (Support and Protection for Inter-European Languages) *Michelle Beamish as Aoife McBride, ACT's receptionist. A failed

Irish dance Irish dance refers to the traditional dance forms that originate in Ireland, including both solo and group dance forms, for social, competitive, and performance purposes. Irish dance has evolved over centuries and is believed to have its roots i ...

r, she spends her time at work doing yoga and meditating to the sound of Raidió na Gaeltachta's death notices. *Donncha Crowley as Muiris, longtime civil servant and etymologist who spends his days doing

crossword A crossword (or crossword puzzle) is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of cl ...

s. In ''Crisis Eile'' he moves to Brussels as an

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

. *Kate Nic Chonaonaigh as Caoimhe Ní Chuinn, an assessor sent in by the Minister to decide if ACT should be shut down. In ''Crisis Eile'' she becomes a

junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

''An Crisis'' only

Risteárd Cooper Risteárd Cooper (; born February 1969) is an Irish actor, comedian, singer and writer and is one third of comedy trio '' Après Match''. Cooper's parents Cáit Lanigan and Richard Cooper were both educated through Irish and were highly accomp ...

as Setanta De Paor, acting director of ACT for ten years. *Caitríona Ní Mhurchú as Deirdre De Paor,

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

wife of Setanta who runs away with a Hungarian fellow musician. *

Don Wycherley Don Wycherley is an Irish actor. He played Father Cyril McDuff in ''Father Ted'', Father Aidan O'Connell in ''Ballykissangel'', and Raymond in '' Bachelors Walk''. Wycherley is a fluent Irish speaker. He is the brother-in-law of actress Tin ...

as Donncha, the Minister. Has a voice reminiscent of

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...

and a grudge against Setanta *Maeve Fitzgerald as Eileen, partner to Caoimhe

''Crisis Eile'' only

* Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh as Maeve Kelly Clarke, Transport Minister exiled to Brussels as punishment for her many gaffes and scandals. *Helen Norton as Ana Conda, a Spaniard. Maeve's deputy Chef de Cabinet and PR spokeswoman. *Jamie O'Neill as Peter Westerville, a German. Maeve's Climate Action officer. *

Moe Dunford Maurice "Moe" Dunford (born 11 December 1987) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his roles as Aethelwulf in the television series ''Vikings'' (2014–2018) and Patrick Fitzgerald in the 2014 film '' Patrick's Day''. He is the recipient of ...

as Christian * Mark Lambert as Van de Veld,

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission, also known as president of the College of Commissioners is the Head of government, head of the European Commission, the Executive (government), executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president ...

Reception

''An Crisis'' was well-received, the ''

Connacht Tribune The ''Connacht Tribune'' (''An Curadh Connachtach'') is a newspaper circulating chiefly in County Galway, Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Ge ...

'' calling it "one of the most entertaining things on TV at the moment, poking fun at so many sacred cows that you wonder how they get away with it." ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' noted ''An Crisis''' "sharp satirical bite" and said it was "a subversive subject for TG4 to give the green light to". It was shown at the

Monte-Carlo Television Festival The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Monaco, Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony ...

where it was nominated for six Golden Nymph Awards. ''An Crisis'' was nominated for a Special Irish Language Award at the 8th Irish Film & Television Awards.

References

External links

* 2010 Irish television series debuts 2013 Irish television series endings Irish drama television series Irish-language television shows TG4 original programming Television shows set in the Republic of Ireland Workplace comedy television series Political satirical television series Multilingual television series {{Ireland-tv-prog-stub