30 Acres: 01 - 30 Acres Says No
Pirate Predator
RTÉ Documentary on One
4.4 • 778 Ratings
🗓️ 15 December 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
December 2009. Colm is an investigative reporter for RTÉ, assigned to the story of an enormous ghost estate called 30 Acres. Only three inhabitants remain on this barren wasteland; Holly, Glenn and Iseult.
Holly is an entrepreneur intent on re-launching her salon as an alternative tourist venture - the world’s first ghost estate tour. Glenn loves the freedom of life on the vacant estate, hunting otters in the moonlight. Iseult has finally found the seclusion she craves. But the developer of this unfinished housing project, Sean Granite, is bankrupt. A government-appointed liquidator, Alistair Crowe, is on the scene, with dastardly plans to evict Holly, Glenn and Iseult. It seems like their days on the 30 Acres estate are numbered. Or are they?
Cast
Barbara Bergin, (Iseult)
Shane Casey (Glenn)
John Colleary (Sean)
Philippa Dunne (Pat)
Barry Murphy (Alistair)
Stefanie Preissner (Holly)
Colm Tobin (Colm)
Aidan O'Donovan (TV Presenter/Priest)
Produced by Kevin Brew for Drama On One with Kevin Reynolds and Gorretti Slavin. Produced by Liam O'Brien for Documentary On One with Tim Desmond, Ronan Kelly, Nicoline Greer and Shauna McGreevy. Sound Design by Damian Chennells. Audio product support by Nigel Wheatley and Áine McManus. Design by Niamh McKeown.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Sean Granite. |
| 0:04.3 | Imagine your family home set upon rolling historic lands, |
| 0:08.4 | combining the very best of rural and urban living, |
| 0:11.9 | a contemporary nest for you and your loved ones, |
| 0:14.8 | a modern Celtic utopia within commuting distance |
| 0:18.4 | at Dublin Galway and Cork. |
| 0:20.5 | I'm proud to present to the market. |
| 0:23.5 | 30 acres. |
| 0:25.1 | A mixed-use scheme of luxury 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7-bed residential units. |
| 0:31.2 | 30 acres. |
| 0:33.3 | Ireland is on the up. |
| 0:35.8 | Don't get left behind. |
| 0:39.9 | A scar on the up. Don't get left behind. A scar on the psyche of the population. |
| 0:43.3 | A government-driven initiative |
| 0:44.9 | that promised to deliver 300 detached houses |
| 0:47.9 | set on 30 acres in rural Ireland. |
| 0:50.8 | This was meant to be the town centre originally over here |
| 0:53.2 | but they didn't quite get to it. |
| 0:54.8 | I've been following the fortunes of a young woman fighting to keep her business. So who the hell |
| 0:59.3 | are you and how did you get into my house? A marriage torn apart by secrets and greed. Oh no wait |
| 1:04.4 | sorry she's not your wife. She's a bloody horse. And a diverse community fighting against the most |
| 1:09.6 | ruthless of enemies. You've all been given notice. You've got 30 days to get out. 30 days. Get out. Do it now. |
... |
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