FILM:Element Pictures, the producer of films including What Richard Did and The Guard, has been awarded €1 million from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's Sound and Vision fund to make Citizen Charlie, a drama for RTÉ about former taoiseach Charles Haughey.

The authority awarded a total of €4.5 million funding to 79 television and radio projects. It said it had received 216 applications for €12.7 million in funding and that “some very worthy projects” had not made the final cut.

The Sound and Vision fund allocates 7 per cent of licence fee revenues to independent producers. Some 34 of the projects in this round have been commissioned by commercial services, 29 will be broadcast on community services and 16 will be broadcast on public services.