Serendipity

Approaching the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement and with Northern Ireland making headlines again this is a unique audio record of a 50-year-old friendship which defied the odds.

In the 1970s, a remarkable couple in Holland decided to change the lives of two little Derry boys for ever. Donna and Danny De Vries signed up to bring working-class Catholic and Protestant children from Northern Ireland into their home. Their first young visitors were Patrick O‘Doherty and Raymond Hamilton. Memories and remarkable moments from that original visit were captured on tape by Danny, a sound recordist.

Producer Proinsias O'Coinn has unearthed the De Vries tapes and goes to Derry to reunite Patrick and Raymond as they listen and reflect on that visit and how it changed them. The trip derailed the odds of geography, history and destiny. How did they sound then and what do they think no

Ever since he was a teenager, he's been trying to find a song, a film, a poem 'any' piece of art which has the power to make him cry.

When friends would be moved to tears by a weepy film or a sad song, Proinsias would look on in envy, wishing it could happen to him. You see in his head, being able to cry at a piece of art would let him engage with it and appreciate it like everyone else.

He's come close on a few occasions. Like when Jean Grey kills Professor X in X-Men 3 - or when listening to the Adele song 'One and Only'. But it's the sheer joy at these moments - that this could be it, this could be the time he's finally able to cry - that actually stops the tears from coming.

It's like the sneeze that comes tantalisingly close but just never happens.

So Proinsias is on a mission to finally find a piece of art that can make him cry. But as he embarks on this very personal challenge, he finds himself facing up to much bigger questions about himself and who he is.

Producer: Conor Garrett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.

Proinsias O'Coinn goes in search of a piece of art that has the power to make him cry.

A piece of art, an email from a stranger and a friendship born out of a bloody past.

26-year-old, Proinsias O'Coinn, has spent most of his life thinking that something is wrong with him.

Ever since he was a teenager, he's been trying to find a song, a film, a poem 'any' piece of art which has the power to make him cry.

When friends would be moved to tears by a weepy film or a sad song, Proinsias would look on in envy, wishing it could happen to him. You see in his head, being able to cry at a piece of art would let him engage with it and appreciate it like everyone else.

He's come close on a few occasions. Like when Jean Grey kills Professor X in X-Men 3 - or when listening to the Adele song 'One and Only'. But it's the sheer joy at these moments - that this could be it, this could be the time he's finally able to cry - that actually stops the tears from coming.

It's like the sneeze that comes tantalisingly close but just never happens.

So Proinsias is on a mission to finally find a piece of art that can make him cry. But as he embarks on this very personal challenge, he finds himself facing up to much bigger questions about himself and who he is.

Producer: Conor Garrett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.

Proinsias O'Coinn goes in search of a piece of art that has the power to make him cry.

A piece of art, an email from a stranger and a friendship born out of a bloody past.

They started writing to each other and discovered they actually had a lot in common. Donna understood Proinsias' struggle with his sexuality, as her daughter is gay. But there was something else too. They both had the same type of cancer. Proinsias found out he'd had cancer after his tumour had been removed, but Donna was not so lucky - her diagnosis is terminal.

Proinsias knew he had to meet Donna and visit the sculpture with her. Maybe, it would be the work of art that would finally bring him to tears. More importantly, he wanted to meet his new pen pal.

An email from a stranger sparks a remarkable friendship.

A piece of art, an email from a stranger and a friendship born out of a bloody past.

In 2015, Proinsias O'Coinn made a programme called ‘Lacrimosa' about his search for a work of art that could bring him to tears. For years, he felt he couldn't cry because he was struggling to accept his true identity. A month after the documentary was broadcast, Proinsias received an email from a woman called Donna who wanted to tell him about the work of art that makes her cry - a sculpture by Ossip Zadkine called The Destroyed City, which commemorates the bombing of Rotterdam in WWII.

They started writing to each other and discovered they actually had a lot in common. Donna understood Proinsias' struggle with his sexuality, as her daughter is gay. But there was something else too. They both had the same type of cancer. Proinsias found out he'd had cancer after his tumour had been removed, but Donna was not so lucky - her diagnosis is terminal.

Proinsias knew he had to meet Donna and visit the sculpture with her. Maybe, it would be the work of art that would finally bring him to tears. More importantly, he wanted to meet his new pen pal.

An email from a stranger sparks a remarkable friendship.

A piece of art, an email from a stranger and a friendship born out of a bloody past.