The 25-minute film was interspersed with news archive footage giving historical context to the abortion debate in Ireland.

"[2] The documentary was eventually screened on RTÉ on 27 October 1994 at a later time and was followed by a studio debate on abortion in Ireland chaired by Marian Finucane.

“We were told that it lacked balance, and that one of the reasons for this was that the women involved didn’t express sufficient remorse.” RTÉ's decision put commissioning editor John Masterson in an impossible position, and he resigned from his post as head of Tuesday File and moved out of current affairs broadcasting.

After four years as executive producer of Today Tonight (the Prime Time of its day) I was well familiar with editorial procedures when dealing with sensitive topics.

The programme, with one very minor cut, was transmitted on October 27 in a much later time slot and followed by a studio discussion chaired by Marian Finucane.

The open and honest natures of the interviews in 50,000 Secret Journeys about personal experiences of abortion enabled a ‘cultural conversation’ where the media also served as an ‘ongoing participant’.