A Conversation With: Recent Episodes
Shared Ireland
We are a podcast team based in Ireland who want to promote a new and Shared Ireland.
The aim of our 'A Conversation With' podcast is to begin a dialogue & debate on how to achieve this.
Brian Ervine is a playwright, songwriter and teacher living in Belfast. In October 2010 he succeeded Dawn Purvis as the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. Brian's s wife Linda serves as the Irish Language Officer at Turas, an Irish-language programme notable for its location in east Belfast.
Ben Collins comes from a pro-British and Unionist background and has lived and worked across the UK. In this book Ben explains how he has come to favour Irish Unity. He uses his twenty years of experience working in political communications to give his insight on the current situation regarding the building momentum for Irish Unity, the importance of the Good Friday Agreement and Brexit.
Former Alliance party member Michael McDonald talks to Shared Ireland at his disappointment at having to resign from the party over what he believes is down to his Pro-Unity viewsm
Emma DeSouza is an Irish writer, political commentator,[1] journalist and campaigner. Emma took the first human rights case[10] of the Good Friday Agreement when she and her US husband sued the British Home Secretary over her right to be accepted as Irish under the terms of the Agreement. Emma's other campaign work includes voting rights for Irish Citizens Abroad and campaigning for full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. She is also running as an independent candidate in Fermanagh and South Tyrone at the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election.
Linda Dillion is a member of Sinn Féin. Originally from Armagh, she has been an MLA for Mid Ulster since 2016.
Freelance Chef who was worked for the NI soccer team and lobbyist in charge of ExcludedNI Brian Donaldson outlines his visions and hopes for the future, discussing his PUL background, the constitutional question and in particular - the need for a plan for Unity
First elected to Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council in 2019, Sorcha was also Alliance candidate for the Westminster election later that year, achieving Alliance’s best-ever result in the constituency.
A lifelong resident of Lagan Valley, she has worked with many people and organisations across the constituency on a range of issues, including mental health, education, jobs and climate change.
Sorcha is a champion for young and vulnerable people, having worked hard on improving youth employment, youth mental health and safeguarding issues.
Stephen Donnan-Dalzell is a freelance writer, commentator and LGBTQ activist. Working in mental health & addictions. They/Them
Belfast native and National Chairperson of Ógra Shinn Féin Caoimhín McCann speaks to us about the importance of community activism, the role of youth in politics and building momentum in the discussions around Irish Unity
Two young men from a PUL background discuss differing perspectives on the constitutional question
Delighted to welcome east Belfast native - Phil Kelly to the Shared Ireland podcast series - "A Conversation With...". An interesting mix of international politics - Cuba, Palestine, America. We also discuss Human Rights and activism as well as Phil's vision for a new Ireland
East Belfast native, Sarah Creighton is a lawyer, writer and political commentator from a protestant/unionist background. Sarah talks to Shared Ireland on topics such as the Protocol, the future of Unionism, prospects for Irish unity and more.
Prof Colin Harvey from the School of Law, Queens University, Belfast and Glenn Bradly share their thoughts on where now after Brexit, the Tory Govt, NI Protocol and their visions for the future here
Nigel Watson and Frazer McCammond join Shared Ireland just over 2 years from their first podcast with us. From a Protestant/Unionist background both men discuss the present state of affairs in N.Ireland, the important issue if there were to be a united Ireland and the present state of Unionism.
Belfast-native and member of the PUL community Joel Keys outlines his thoughts and views on his hopes for the future. Joel discusses the potential for Irish unification and how he would approach this should this come to pass.
Rev Karen Sethuraman is the first female Baptist Minister in Ireland and is currently a Pastor of SoulSpace, a Peace and Reconciliation hub, based in Belfast.
Her passion is peace and reconciliation/social justice and she is a champion of gender equality.
The Rev Karen is also one of the founders of Spectrum - a space set up in Belfast for LGBT+ people of faith. Karen feels particularly called to minister outside the Church walls, journeying with people who feel they ‘don’t fit’ in Church.
She has served as Chaplain to two Belfast Lord Mayors and in May 2021 joined the group Ireland's Future, a group established to promote discussion and debate about a new constitutional vision for our island.
Peter Canavan "Peter The Great" - former Gaelic footballer, manager and pundit. Peter played inter-county football for Tyrone, and is one of the most decorated players in the game's history. He represented Ireland in the International Rules Series on several occasions from 1998 until 2000. He was named in the Sunday Tribune's list of the 125 Most Influential People in GAA History.
Co.Armagh native and founder of Youth Voice Dermot Hamill shares his thoughts and ideas on Integrated Education, the missing youth voice in Politics, his hopes for the future and what it would take to create a new, shared Ireland
A voice from the PUL community "North Witch shares her outlook on life, growing up in a loyalist estate and her hopes for the future
Derry-native Susan McKay is a journalism, documentary filmmaker and author of the critically acclaimed book "Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People". In 2021 she followed up this book with "Northern Protestants: On Shifting Ground". From 2009 to 2012, Susan was CEO of the National Women's Council of Ireland
Kevin Meagher is associate editor of the political blog Labour Uncut and a former special adviser to Shaun Woodward, the most recent Labour Northern Ireland Secretary. He works as a political and communications consultant and has written for a range of publications including the New Statesman and The Independent. Most recently he has penned two books: "A united Ireland: why unification is inevitable and how it will come about" and "What A Bloody Awful Country: Northern Ireland's Century of Division."
A stellar line up of Pro-Union voices outline the benefits of staying in the Union. Panel guests: Prof Peter Shirlow, Ian Acheson, Julie Ann Corr-Johnston, Sarah Creighton and Rev David Latimer
Michelle O'Neill is Joint First Minister of Northern Ireland since 2020. She has served as Vice President of Sinn Féin since 2018 and has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster since 2007.
In the northern Executive, she previously served under deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness as Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011 to 2016 and Minister of Health from 2016 to 2017
Emma DeSouza, Prof Colin Harvey, Emma Rainey, Niall Murphy representing Ireland's Future, Sean Nash representing Think32 and regular contributor to the Shared Ireland Blog Kieran Harrahill join Shared Ireland to outline their vision on the constitutional question , giving their opinions and arguments for Pro-Unity
Jim O'Callaghan is a Fianna Fáil politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South constituency since the 2016 general election. He has a BCL degree from University College Dublin, a master's degree in law and an M.Phil. in criminology from Sidney Sussex College, at Cambridge University, and a barrister-at-law degree from the King's Inns. In addition, he played rugby at a senior level, representing UCD, Cambridge University, London Irish, Wanderers, Leinster and Connacht. He was also capped for Ireland at under-21 level.
Antrim native, Ian has served as the Member of Parliament for North Antrim since the 2010 general election. Previously he was a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for North Antrim from 1998 to 2010. Paisley is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and is the son of the DUP's founder Ian Paisley.
Cork native Tadhg Hickey is a comedian, actor, writer, director and musician. He is creative director of critically acclaimed Irish sketch comedy troupe, CCCahoots. He wrote, directed and starred in the RTE sitcom, The School, and has written and starred in numerous prize winning short films including Uisce Beatha (Filmmakers’ Prize, DC Shorts festival, Washington). His first solo show, In One Eye, out the Other, was the most nominated production at Dublin Fringe Awards 2019
Declan McLaughlin is a folk singer songwriter from Derry, Ireland. Having risen to notoriety in former outfits 'The Screaming Bin Lids' and 'The Whole Tribe Sings', Declan has had an incredible career to date including extensive touring across North America, Europe and Australia with artists such as The Frames, Damien Dempsey, Christy Moore and Gary Óg.
Kieran Harrahill is a 3rd year PhD researcher with University College Dublin and Teagasc, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority. He is 24 years old and is from Co. Tipperary. Kieran has a BA in Geography and Politics and International Relations and an MSc in Environmental Policy from UCD. His research on Just Transition in the coal industry has featured in a television interview on ABC Television in Australia and has been cited in a report by the Stockholm Environment Institute. The emphasis placed in his research on ensuring that a more participatory approach is taken in environmental policy is highly relevant to a number of policy areas, including the co-creation of a new, shared and united Ireland. His Twitter handle is @kharrahill_phd
Rights Campaigner, Vice-Chair & NI spokesperson for VotingRights.ie & Co.Derry native Emma DeSouza joins Shared Ireland to talk about her successful 3 year with the UK Govt regarding her right to be recognized solely as Irish under the Good Friday Agreement.
In SharedIreland's latest podcast, Kyle Paisley, son of Rev Ian Paisley and twin brother of Ian Paisley Jr joins us to talk about his father, northern politics and following in his father's footsteps to become a Minister in the Free Presbyterian Church.
Former Ulster Farmers Union President Ian Marshall joins us this week to discuss his omission from the 26th Seanad Eireann. Ian has been a Unionist voice in the previous Seanad, picked by Leo Varadkar. Ian was a proponent and promoter of cross border cooperation and building bridges. Despite Taoiseach Martin advocating a "Shared Island", Ian was unceremoniously omitted from the Taoiseach picks.
Part 2 of our conversation with Matthew O'Toole. Matthew is a member of the SDLP and MLA for the Belfast South constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly since January 2020. He is a former 10 Downing Street Brexit spokesperson and guest columist for The Guardian.
Matthew O'Toole is a member of the SDLP and MLA for the Belfast South constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly since January 2020. He is a former 10 Downing Street Brexit spokesperson and guest columist for The Guardian.
In Part 2 Sinn Fein Spokesperson for Health continues the conversation and the response to Covid-19, lessons learned, what an all-Ireland heath service may look like and what it takes to create a truly shared Ireland
Sinn Féin spokesperson for Heath and Chairperson of the Heath Committee at Stormont, Colm Gildernew joins Shared Ireland to discuss Stormont's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and possibilities of an all island approach.
Conor Houston, Founder of Connected Citizens, Governor of The Irish Times Trust, Chair of The Ireland Fund Young Leaders Belfast & Director of Shout Out an LGBTQ charity joins SharedIreland in the latest installment of our "A Conversation With" series
Singer and Politician Senator Frances Black joined Shared Ireland to talk about a range of topics including her role as Chairperson of Ireland's Future, setting up the RISE foundation and her recent appearance on The Late Late Show to help raise funds for Pieta House.
Derry native & National Policy Director for Ogra Fianna Fail Andrew McFadden joins #SharedIreland for our latest instalment of our "A Conversation With" podcast series to discuss GE2020, Irish unity and preparing for a unity poll. In addition Andrew discusses a possible Fianna Fail/Fine Gael coalition and investment in the North-West region of Ireland.
Sligo native and founder of the Queens University branch of Young Fine Gael, Jude Perry joins Shared Ireland in our next chapter of our "A Conversation With" series.
A Conversation With business owners and customers from the Mid-Ulster area on how this Coronavirus pandemic has affected their daily lives.
Our bonus podcast with Aisling Conway - "Healing your life with Aisling". A light-hearted, quickfire QA
Aisling Conway of 'Heal your life with Aisling' joins us this week to talk about mental health, healing your life and gives some tips on how to deal with the stresses of everyday life.
Professor Colin Harvey and Barrister Mark Bassett join Shared Ireland to discuss their report "The EU and Irish Unity: Planning and Preparing for Constitutional Change in Ireland", launched by the European United Left and the Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Parliamentary Group in October 2019.
A special podcast with Prof Colin Harvey - one of the guest panelist in Shared Ireland's first public event Cookstown, Co.Tyrone Tuesday 25th February. Colin asks Shared Ireland about our motivation and hopes for the event!
Reserve your free tickets here:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/exploring-our-past-shaping-our-future-registration-87821738183
Robbie Bulter is an Ulster Unionist Party MLA for Lagan Valley. He is the Ulster Unionist Party's representative for Mental Health and for Welfare as well as being a deacon at Maghaberry Elim Church
Award-winning film maker Seán Murray talks to Shared Ireland about his film "Unquiet Graves, the difficulties he faced in making the film. Seán also shared his thoughts on Brexit on how this has accelerated the Irish unity debate.
Irish human rights activist and author. He is senior advisor at Washington DC-based NGO Human Rights First
Fermanagh & South Tyrone MP Michelle Gildernew sits down with Shared Ireland to discuss a range of issues including abstentionism, impact of 1967 Caledon eviction, the growing Irish Unity debate & the upcoming election on 12th December which is centring on the subject of Brexit
Born in Co.Antrim, Andy is a journalist, editor, writer and expert on cross-border cooperation in Ireland. He is the co-author of Seamus Mallon's book "A Shared Home Place" and sits on the Board of the Glencree Peace & Reconciliation Centre
Fine Gael Senator Neale Richmond joins Shared Ireland to discuss a wide range of topics including his career with Fine Gael, life growing up as a protestant in southern Ireland, Brexit and Irish unity
Ireland's Future joined Shared Ireland to discuss their "Letter to An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar" initiative which saw over 1000 people from civic society across the island of Ireland and from the Irish diaspora sign a letter calling for the establishment of a Citizens Assembly to discuss and plan for Irish unity.
Retired RUC & PSNI Officer Sam Thompson joins Shared Ireland to talks about his experiences in the Police during "The Troubles", his secondment with An Garda Siochana and his fictional book "Nights in Armour", inspired by his experiences in the Police.
Mike Nesbitt Ulster Unionist MLA, Linda Dillon Sinn Fein MLA, Andree Murphy, Journal and representative for Relatives for Justice and Rev David Latimer Minister at First Derry Presbyterian join Shared Ireland to discuss the hugely important and emotive issue of Legacy
Feminist historian and author talks to #SharedIreland about her newly updated book on Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington - "Fearless Woman". Additional topics include the possibility of a Citizen's Assembly to discuss unity and the vital role the Women's Coalition played in the Good Friday Agreement.
Shared Ireland speak to Doire and Pearse, representatives from "Our Future, Our Choice" - a cross-community campaign led by young people in N.Ireland against Brexit and championing a "People's Vote.
Shared Ireland speak to Doire and Pearse, representatives from "Our Future, Our Choice" - a cross-community campaign led by young people in N.Ireland against Brexit and championing a "People's Vote.
Professor Colin Harvey, School of Law at Queens University Belfast joins us to discuss his recent paper "Our way back to the European Union", the importance of civic society in the Irish unity debate and the potential gains for everyone in a new, shared Ireland
Emma Rainey and Dr Maeve O'Brien, from Belfast and Tyrone respectively give their thoughts from civic society on issues such as Brexit, Irish unity, the Repeal the 8th campaign and female activism.
Sinn Fein MLA John O'Dowd analyzes Sinn Fein's recent electoral performances in the south of Ireland. He discusses the DUP pact with the Conservative party at Westminster, unionisms fears of a united Ireland and the role of civic society in the unity debate
Jeffrey Donaldson joined #SharedIreland recently discussing topics such as #Brexit, North-South relations, Boris Johnson, a potential #IrishUnity referendum & need for a "Truth & Reconciliation" process.
Rev David LAtimer of First Derry Presbyterian Church struck up an unlikely friendship with the late Martin McGuiness as they sough to build bridges across the divide. In his book "A Leap of Faith" David tells of how an initial meeting with Martin led to a strong and lasting friendship, cemented by their joint commitment to peace building.
Senator Rose Conway Walsh shares tells us about her strong sense of republicanism, the positive impact of the GAA and what a new, shared Ireland should look like.
We explore a wide range of topics with actor John Connors including this success with Love/Hate, his famous IFTAS speech, the Irish language, Travellers Rights, Mental Health & Irish unity.
Senator David Norris, former Irish Presidential candidate shares his thoughts on a changing Ireland, the long struggle for LGBT rights and the continuing denial of these same rights in the North
A powerful and moving episode where two victims of the Troubles, Stephen Travers (from the Miami Showband) and Eugene Reavey describe the trauma and impact of losing close friends and family.
Alliance party leader Naomi Long shares with us her path into Politics, the growth of voters who dont designate Nationalist or Unionist, a future Border poll
A conversation with Colum Eastwood on a new Ireland forum, his upbringing, the influence of John Hume, the recent formal pact with Fianna Fail & the Good Friday Agreement.