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Eamonn Flaherty

EastEnders episodes in Ireland
Episode no. Episode 1508–1510
(3 episodes)
Original air date 22–25 September 1997
Running time 90 minutes (3x30)
Episode chronology
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"Episode 1511"
Maggie Flaherty
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Olivia Shanley
First appearance 22 September 1997
Last appearance 25 September 1997
Profile
Occupation Housewife
Home Kilmoneen, Ireland
Sean Flaherty
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Pat Laffin
First appearance 22 September 1997
Last appearance 25 September 1997
Profile
Home Kilmoneen, Ireland
Eamonn Flaherty
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Maurice O'Donoghue
First appearance 22 September 1997
Last appearance 25 September 1997
Profile
Home Kilmoneen, Ireland
Brenda Flaherty
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Janet Behan
First appearance 22 September 1997
Last appearance 25 September 1997
Profile
Home Kilmoneen
Colette Flaherty
EastEnders character
Portrayed by Shiona Redmond
First appearance 22 September 1997
Last appearance 25 September 1997
Profile
Home Kilmoneen, Ireland

In 1997, the BBC soap opera EastEnders broadcast three singular transmissions that were filmed on location in Dublin, Ireland. The episodes involved the Fowler and Beale family travelling from London to Ireland to meet their long-lost relatives. They were badly received by viewers and heavily criticised in the media. The BBC was inundated with complaints from angry viewers from Ireland for negative stereotyping, portraying Irish people as "dirty, rude, and drunk". Complaints were made by the Irish Embassy and there were fears that the episodes would have a negative effect on the Irish tourist trade. The BBC was forced to issue an apology for causing offence.

In 1997, EastEnders aired a storyline in which the character Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard) discovers that she has a long-lost sister, Maggie Flaherty (Olivia Shanley). In the storyline, Pauline's deceased mother Lou had given Maggie up for adoption shortly after her birth, as she was born out of wedlock. Maggie is first said to be the result of an illicit affair Lou had with an Irishman 60 years prior, but although Maggie is initially thought to be Pauline's half sister, it later transpires that they share the same father too; Maggie was only the result of pre-marital sex between Lou and her husband-to-be, Albert Beale.

Pauline and various members of the Fowler and Beale family travel to Ireland to reunite with their long-lost relatives in a special week of episodes. The episodes were filmed on location in the countryside around County Dublin, away from the soap's typical filming location in Borehamwood, Elstree, England. They were filmed over a period of two weeks in July and August 1997, and were broadcast on 22, 23 and 25 September 1997. In the three episodes, Pauline is accompanied by her sons Mark and Martin (Todd Carty and James Alexandrou), Mark's wife Ruth (Caroline Paterson), nephew Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) and his daughter Lucy (Casey Anne Rothery). Speaking about their trip to Dublin, actress Wendy Richard who played Pauline said "It's nice to be in Dublin for a change. It's not like London at all, where they take you a little bit for granted", and Todd Carty, who played her screen son Mark, said "It's also really nice to get out of Albert Square for a while to do something different."


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