This article is from page 8 of the 2012-08-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
FORGET Katie Taylor, a woman from Miltown Malbay may have the most recognisable Irish female face on the planet.
For the last six months, Lourda Sexton, from Ahey Bridge in Miltown, has been broadcasting to hundreds of millions of people on the Chinese television network CCTV.
The Chinese state broadcaster has a potential reach of more than half a billion people in China, but also broadcasts internationally on a number of cable television platforms. Based in Dubai, Lourda has been back home for the last four weeks, compiling a number of broadcasts from Ireland, including one from the Willie Clancy Summer School.
“I worked in TV and radio in Dubai for a number of years and I was delighted to get this chance to work for CCTV. China Central Television is like the BBC or the RTÉ of China – it has 13 channels and I work for the news channel, which is an Englishlanguage channel,” said Lourda.
“I’m normally in Dubai and I cover a mixture of stories but I’m spending the summer in Ireland covering a lot of different stories from here. It’s exciting work, I get to go to a lot of interesting places and meet a lot of different people.”
After the visit of Chinese VicePresident, Xi Jinping, to a Clare farm and the Cliffs of Moher earlier this year, hopes are high that agricultural and tourism links can be forged between the Banner county and China.
“I’ve already covered the Volvo Ocean Race in Galway and the Willie Clancy Week in Miltown and I’d hope to do a few more stories from this side of the country. It really is a mixture of trying to show off Ireland, and what it can offer, and the links between China and Ireland,” said Lourda.
“In China, they do have an interest in Ireland. They have an interest in everywhere. There are around 60,000 Chinese in Ireland for one, so they do want to know what is going on here.”
Lourda will remain in Ireland until September and is on the look-out for any local stories which may have an interest for a Chinese audience. Anyone who thinks they may have an interesting story can contact Lourda on lourdasexton@gmail.com.
Anyone who wants to see Lourda in action can locate her on channel 510 on SKY.