999 Faoi Oiliúint: Would a bit more ow factor be too much to ask for?

Is it wrong to expect more excitement from a documentary about the emergency services? 999 Faoi Oiliúint (RTÉ One, Monday, 8pm) is described as a profile of “the lives of the men and women training for service on the front line”. Yet while there’s lots of training, there’s little of the front line – and certainly no sense of jeopardy – in the first of four episodes.

This isn’t to suggest that we want to see real trauma on our screens. Surely, though, there’s a better way to tell the story of the brave volunteers who are prepared to put their wellbeing on the line to help others. There is a gripping tale to be shared here, but 999 Faoi Oiliúint never finds its way into it.

All three of the volunteers we follow are to be commended for their selflessness. But the stakes never feel especially high

We are introduced to Niamh Ní Chualáin, a cadet with Galway Fire Service in Tuam. She talks about confronting gender stereotypes in signing up with the fire service – she is just one of two women among 34 recruits. “I wondered if I should apply for it – would I annoy the lads [already serving]? Then I said to myself of course not – I can do this.”

Next it’s off to Derry, where Foyle Search and Rescue was formed in 1993 in response to the high number of drownings in the city’s main river, and which today assists in suicide prevention. We meet Martin O’Neill, a new volunteer, who receives a call about a woman in distress. She is agitated and potentially a danger to herself and others. Foyle Search and Rescue brings in the police and stands down.

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Finally, 999 Faoi Oiliúint introduces us to Emer Durcan of Mayo Mountain Rescue. Durcan had been living in Mexico when her parents took ill back in Ireland. She moved home and cared for them until they both died within a short period. Grateful for the local support she received through difficult times, she decided she wanted to give something back.

She lives in the shadow of Croagh Patrick, which attracts a steady flow of climbers. These include Charlie Bird, whom we see ascending the peak to raise awareness of motor neuron disease. He is accompanied by a large group of wellwishers, including the singer Daniel O’Donnell, who praises Bird for his courage and dignity in challenging circumstances. It’s fascinating. It also feels as if it belongs in a different film, as it has very little to do with the mission of Mayo Mountain Rescue.

All three volunteers are to be commended for their selflessness. But while we accompany O’Neill on patrol and see Durcan helping set up a stretcher and wheel an injured hiker to safety, the stakes never feel especially high.

The message 999 Faoi Oiliúint obviously wants to convey is that society owes a huge debt of gratitude to these individuals. Alas, it doesn’t go far enough in demonstrating what they sacrifice week in, week out. Ultimately, the documentary makes the mistake of telling rather than showing. This is a pity, as the volunteers it profiles clearly have compelling stories to share. 999 Faoi Oiliúint is well intentioned, but, as a portrait of the emergency services assisting those in tricky situations, it lacks the ow factor.