Una and Andrea's United Ireland: Recent Episodes
Una & Andrea's United Ireland
32 Episodes. 32 Counties. 32 Questions. Every week United Ireland looks at how issues in small places have a much bigger context, and discusses the issues important to you. Let's go!
It's our 2022 Summer Jam! On this episode, we give you our on top 20 cheerful summer vibes; things to look forward to, positive changes a'coming, good vibes to soak up, and all round Positive Pam feelings. Enjoy!
What makes a city sing when it comes to biodiversity? We're joined by Dublin City Council's biodiversity officer, Lorraine Bull to talk about wilding, bees, otter surveys, and making the capital greener. Also, Andrea is raging with Apple, our queen JLo ties the knot, and the plans for "culture" at the former site of the Tivoli theatre stall.
Attention paid to dereliction across Ireland has increased hugely during the pandemic, with a grassroots anti-dereliction movement emerging from ordinary people interested in addressing the scourge of vacancy and dereliction, but also offering solutions that should be acted on now, which would address aspects of the housing crisis, improve villages, towns and cities across Ireland. On this episode, we speak to James McGauran who has launched Dog House, a portal for derelict properties, and also Jude Sherry, one of the people behind #DerelictIreland which took off on Irish Twitter in 2020.
It’s a time of great distress and anger in the US and beyond, as Roe V Wade was overturned by a Supreme Court once again throwing the future of American democracy into turmoil. But don’t despair. In this episode we turn to hope, tactics, strategy, and mobilisation with the great Ailbhe Smyth. Instead of repeating the same conversations rattling around, could this be a moment for radical change?
Also in this ep; the airport and airline breakdown, Una reflects on Neale Richmond’s grievances, and Andrea calls for a Head of Aesthetics for Dublin City.
For our final episode before Dublin Pride's biggest weekend, we're talking to Philly McMahon and Philip Connaughton about their new production, Party Scene, which examines chemsex and community.
Plus, Andrea and Una give their verdicts on J Lo's Halftime (and her giant bejazzled coffee cup), and Roisin Murphy held hands with Andrea, so now they're best friends.
This week Blake Lemoine, a Google engineer was put on leave after he claimed an AI program, named LaMDA, had become sentient. We've all seen the movies where AI becomes sentient, turns on humans and machines take over the world - is this what's happening now? In a word, no. But we are joined by Dr William Ratoff, Asst Professor at the Department of Philosophy, School of Social Sciences and Philosophy at Trinity, who has a focus on current various issues in the ethics and regulation of artificial intelligence to discuss the possibility and implications of machine sentience.
We're also discussing the frustration of being a lesbian journalist listening to & reading all the anti-trans sentiment coming through Irish media; wondering if the SocDems have all the solutions ready to roll for the housing crisis, nay disaster, that President Higgins so spicily called out and how the lack of confidence in ABP has gone official as Cork County Council passes vote of no confidence. Plus great art at the RHA, techno & great stages at AVA and obviously, JLo.
You can sign up for William's course: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, and Ethics in Trinity this August here: https://www.tcd.ie/courses/hci-cpd/az-of-cpd-courses/big-data-artificial-intelligence-and-ethics/index.php
Mick Clifford is one of the most experienced and dogged journalists in Irish media. He is a special correspondent at the Irish Examiner, and author of several books, in genres as broad as political analysis and crime novels. On this episode, we talk about Mick's career, and his focus on corruption, especially the Garda whistleblower scandal. But our main focus is on planning, from Mick's time at the Mahon Tribunal to his current reporting on An Bord Pleanála. What's going down in ABP as the wheels come off, and is Ireland as corrupt as many people think it is?
We begin June with a different look at Pride. What happens when queer activists use their learnings to tackle issues that wouldn't be traditionally seen as LGBTQ+? We're joined by Irish filmmaker Paul Rowley in New York, who has been documenting the protest and creative activist group Gays Against Guns, in the wake of more horrific mass-shootings in the US. Plus, the ABP tea keeps spilling, the country is in a weird blend of 2007+2010 energy, and it's festival season and we're getting ready to rave.
Confused about the crypto crash? How will this turbulent time in digital currency impact society? We’re joined by Alex Hern, Technology Editor at The Guardian to discuss buying the dip, Ponzi scheme characteristics, and evangelical crypto communities. Also, Emer Higgins is back, the rolling An Bord Pleanála drama, and loads of techno tales.
Across Ireland, small businesses are facing a near-crippling confluence of events; the staffing crisis impacting hiring and retention, out of control insurance costs, crazy energy price hikes, and inflation across the board. There's also the housing and rental crisis which is having a huge impact on small businesses. On this episode, we're digging into the reality of these issues, as well as looking at immediate solutions that could help. Andrea is repping Tropical Popical's perspective, and Colm Keane of the award-winning Daddy's cafe is talking about the various issues hitting independent hospitality businesses hard.
Also: An Bord Pleanála, Housing For All(?), Conversations with Friends & An Cailin Ciúin.
The date of the Assembly Election, May 5th, was also the anniversary of Bobby Sands' death, a seismic moment in Irish history. On this bonus episode, we talk to Laurence McKeown, who also joined the hunger strikes that changed the political landscape. McKeown is an author, playwright, and poet, who was also imprisoned in the H-Blocks, and spent 70 days on hunger strike. In this episode, he discusses his memoir which details his time in prison, the trajectory of those protests, and how the discourse around Irish unity has changed.
It's our final #AE22 instalment before the North goes to the polls, and this week, we're talking borders. But not the border discourse you're used to. Many, many people are prevented from moving from county to county in this country because of border restrictions placed on visa-nationals. Imagine working in a hospital in Derry, but being unable to take a day trip to a Derry beach. Imagine living with fear of being "caught" driving your child to school if it involves crossing the apparently invisible border. Imagine being racially profiled on public transport. This is the reality for many people on this island. We'll be joined by people from the North West Migrants Forum to discuss how to end the racist border, and what its day-to-day impact is on people's lives. If you'd like to get involved in this, you can find more information on the North West Migrants Forum website: https://www.nwmf.org.uk - from signing the petition to finding email templates to contact ROI TD's. We're also talking about Darragh O'Brien's othering of migrants; the National Maternity Hospital & Church marriage; The victory (for now) at the Cobblestone; The Met Gala; the beginning of the end of An Bord Pleanála? and much more.
Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick of Ulster University School of Law joins us to discuss what we feel is probably the biggest underlying election issue in the North: poverty. What aspects of poverty hit harder in the North, and why? With the cost of living crisis spirally, we chat about the problems and the solutions.
Also, Andrea has a life-changing experience at Roisin Murphy, and it's the return of J LO NEWS.
On our third instalment examining issues beyond the headlines during election season in the North, we're digging into the parties - as in the ones on the dancefloor. Which political party has decent arts and culture policies? We're also joined by AVA bosswoman Sarah McBriar who gives us an insight into running one of the most interesting festivals on the island, and how Belfast is leading the way in electronic music culture.
On our second NI Assembly spesh, we’re looking beyond the traditional binaries to spotlight one of the new era of candidates that are focussing on being independent voices in the hope of being elected in a jurisdiction known for partisan politics. Emma DeSouza joins us to discuss her ideas, and the changing landscape of voters and the issues they’re invested in, in the North.
Also, NASCAR racing, Brit Brit is preg preg and the wondrous Saint Sister make magic in the Olympia.
Welcome to the first episode in our month-long series examining the upcoming Northern Irish Assembly elections!
You know we love a good vote (and this one takes place on May 5th), but we also feel that a lot of people in the South simply don't engage in Assembly elections, and tend to tune out.
Not here!
We're going to bring you the FUN ASSEMBLY ELECTION SPESH.
Get ready to tune into a different take on a hugely significant election, with expert analysis, brill guests, candidate interviews, constituency profiles, and a focus on the big issues beyond the political binaries.
In our first Big Picture ep, Andrea has been down the library ready to bring you her Assembly Explainer, and Susan McKay joins us for some big picture chats on unionism's regression, election issues, and what happens when the power dynamics in the North begin to shift.
BYLINE is back! This month, we're chatting to The Irish Times' Public Affairs Editor, Simon Carswell. Carswell is known in the industry for his breadth of expertise, his fastidiousness, and his capacity to take on any beat. His background in financial journalism - when he worked at both the Business Post and then the Irish Times - switched gears to American politics when he became the Washington Correspondent of the Irish Times during Obama's second term. In this episode, we're talking about what it took to cover a pandemic, his time in Cuba with Obama, covering the Irish banking crisis and loads more.
BYLINE is a companion series to United Ireland where we talk to great journalists about the stories that matter. Your support of United Ireland on Patreon helps make this series happen, so if you haven't signed up yet, please do! It costs just €3/month.
Peter O'Dwyer of the Business Post joins us to discuss the Irish aircraft leasing sector's turbulent times, with leased jets languishing in Russia in the face of EU sanctions, how did this industry come to be massive in Ireland, and can they get their planes back? If you've always wondered what Ireland's strong connections are with this sector, here's the explainer you've been waiting for!
As an epic return to St Patrick's Day celebrations winds up, we're chatting about the new Celtic revival currently influencing contemporary Irish identities across Irish culture, society, and politics. From the popularity of the Irish language, to the blending of tradition in art, music, design and fashion, it feels very much that we're in a new Celtic revival. What's behind this shift, what will its impact on society be?
32 Questions with the First Woman of Ireland, live from the London Irish Centre in Camden.
On this week's episode, we're joined by the brilliant journalist, Natalia Antelava, the editor-in-chief of Coda Story, to discuss the Russian invasions and military actions over the past decade and a half that preceded the invasion of Ukraine.
A Citizen's Assembly on drug use that was expected to take place this year has been pushed back till 2023 much to the frustration of many campaigning on the issue.
Ireland has one of the highest rates of drug overdoses every year.
Senator Lynn Ruane tabled an amendment calling for an end to the delay in establishing this essential Citizens Assembly and gave an impassioned speech in the Seanad this week highlighting why we must move now.
She joins us on this week's pod.
Does the self-build movement offer some solutions to the housing crisis and the rent trap? Would you like to learn how to build your own gaff? This week, we're speaking to Fionn Kidney of Common Knowledge, a new enterprise based in County Clare that's teaching people the skills to build, plant, forage, and connect with each other, and the land.
It's been a tough time for our fair city recently and the levels of frustration being felt by people who want to continue living here but can't because of the housing crisis, the eradication of spaces to create and meet and the insane cost of living.
It seems like we've made the decision that only people who buy into the definition of success that those who can accumulate the most are successful and can live in the city. We need to redefine our metrics of success as otherwise, whoever has the deepest pockets gets to have the final say on who gets to live in the city. We need to remember that no one owns this city, we all do.
So as the closing date for submissions to the Dublin Development Plan falls on Valentine's Day, we asked some people to tell us what they love about the city. We hope that listening to this reignites the reasons you love Dublin but also encourages you to make a submission to the Dublin Development Plan before Monday.
https://consult.dublincity.ie/en/consultation/draft-dublin-city-development-plan-2022-2028
This is our city. This is our love letter.
It's the housing showdown everyone was waiting for! O'Brien V O'Broin.
On this week's podcast we're analysing the debate that had everyone talking, until it didn't, what it says about the government's approach to housing, and whether Sinn Féin's vision is up to scratch.
Plus the return of Glenisk yoghurt, Bezos' yacht a bridge too far, Investors taking legal action against residents objecting to developments and more!
This week, Una and Andrea are doing something different. With Andrea feeling worn out by the news cycle's barrage of negativity, and the frayed feeling that you have to fight for everything in this GODFORSAKEN COUNTRY, Una does her best Dr. Melfi impression in an attempt to find out what's beneath a feeling of end-of-tether-ness that's cropping up so much at the moment, how people can feel more in control of bad situations, and how 2022 will be a year of connection, gathering, mobilisation and change.
In the midst of a housing crisis, all building is seen as “good” when it comes to tackling supply, but how much attention is being paid to developments that don’t just provide “units”, but community? We’re joined by architects Alfonso and Rob to talk about urbanism, SHDs and why accusations of NIMBYism are often misplaced when it comes to creating cities we want to thrive in.
As Boris Johnson struggles for his political life thanks to a load of lockdown parties, what about the bigger picture of British political chaos? On this episode, we're joined by the editor-in-chief of OpenDemocracy to discuss how British democracy is under attack thanks to a shift to the libertarian-right within the Tory party, and how a raft of regressive and sinister legislation seeks to curtail freedoms and undermine democracy.
Plus: Iveagh Markets; Deadly Cuts AGAIN; our new TV show about coddle and our ongoing problem with pleasure (not ours obviously, the collective ours!)
New Year, Same us.
We're not buying into the January narrative round these parts and instead have enlisted the warmth and wisdom of author, journalist, coach and most importantly for this ep, meditation teacher Conor Creighton to spin that narrative on its head.
Conor says, "The Pressure to be highly productive in January is capitalism further disconnecting us from our true selves. All nature is resting right now, so should you."
Less Namaste is the rioting in Kazakhstan and it's connection to bitcoin mining, Operation Transformation; the ongoing bananas-ness of Build-To-Rent and the sham of minimum unit pricing for alcohol.
Plus a reminder to fill in the review on alcohol licensing. https://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/open-consultation-sale-of-alcohol
Strap yourselves in for an episode of unwarranted judgements, chaos, joy, nitpicking, and other ridiculous yet somehow tremendously insightful assessments of the year that was. From Best Minister to Gas Bitch Of The Year, our awards show has it all. Happy New Year!
La la La - Tis the season. We're putting our fingers in our ears and blocking out anything that isn't joyful for the next week (or so). So this episode is just a bumper filled episode of fave bits. Will JLo make the cut? Of course she will. Does everyone apart from Una know what Christmas Milk is? Is there a full on lean to the left in Latin America? YES! And is The Golden Girls on TG4 every day? Thank you for being a friend. Good things are happening.
Recent revelations about the National Broadband Plan say a lot about public-private partnerships, transparency, and what the State does with large amounts of money for big projects. Joining us to explain it all is Thomas Hubert of The Currency, who has been investigating the broadband money trail. Meanwhile, Una wants the new season of Drive To Survive ASAP, and Andrea has her PR hat on with Peloton.
Reform of Ireland's licensing laws has long been advocated for, but the desire for more flexible and expansive licensing was ignored. Now, the government is getting to it. Even as clubs are closed, there is progress being made, and a public consultation on licensing has been opened by the Department of Justice. So what needs to happen, and how can you make an impact in the consultation process? We're bringing you a licensing explainer, and the thoughts of PYG booker and DJ Colin Perkins. Shout out to Give Us The Night and everyone working towards a better vibe at night (you can register for webinars GUTN are doing on this consultation through their socials)
You can take part in the consultation here, the closing date is the 21st January.
https://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/open-consultation-sale-of-alcohol
Reform of Ireland's licensing laws has long been advocated for, but the desire for more flexible and expansive licensing was ignored. Now, the government is getting to it. Even as clubs are closed, there is progress being made, and a public consultation on licensing has been opened by the Department of Justice. So what needs to happen, and how can you make an impact in the consultation process? We're bringing you a licensing explainer, and the thoughts of PYG booker and DJ Colin Perkins. Shout out to Give Us The Night and everyone working towards a better vibe at night (you can register for webinars GUTN are doing on this consultation through their socials)
You can take part in the consultation here, the closing date is the 21st January.
https://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/open-consultation-sale-of-alcohol
We know things are a bit grim & frustrating right now, but there are reasons for be cheerful.
It's Mariah season! Let's go!
In this episode, we give a rundown of things that are making us smile, and reasons for hope. From new vibes in the capital to Carrie Bradshaw's podcast, let's get happy.
This week's episode is a recording of our recent live podcast event at the National Concert Hall with ourselves and Conner Habib of Against Everyone With Conner Habib. You should definitely support Conner's podcast on Patreon, it's genuinely one of the best around. For this episode, we were joined by an audience to discuss utopian processes, unity, creating the life you want to live, and asking: what do you want?
Shit got real again this week as the COVID surge escalated, and HSE chief Paul Reid issued a crisis management directive. So the government obviously stood up to the task of introducing mitigation strategies, right? Well, em, no.
They popped a midnight curfew on clubs and continued to talk about washing your hands.
We're looking at a cataclysmic week for the govt where things were reduced to arguing over who was going to pay for their own antigen tests (how noble) and who was throwing teachers under the bus off mic (or not) rather than talking about how the hell we're going to get out of this fine mess, without simple relying on the silver bullet of the vaccine.
The mood has changed. The room's been lost. But what now?
Just as the Leitrim community was able to relax after winning it's fight against onshore fracking, another threat to the county strikes - the hunt for gold.
A few weeks ago, a group called Treasure Leitrim was formed when it emerged a company called Flintridge Research was seeking a prospecting licence for gold and silver in north Leitrim near Manorhamilton.
We're joined by Jamie from Treasure Leitrim to find out what's going on, if there's an actual difference between prospecting and mining licences and what the granting of a prospecting license would mean, not just to the community but to the direction of our country going forward as a 'resource' hunter.
Also, LOADS of Fave Bits - we're excited about a lot at the moment, but also an equally large amount of things to Get In The Sea and Drive us BANANAS!
Enjoy xo
Waterford's approach to dereliction has dramatically decreased the number of families living in emergency accommodation, and homelessness more generally. By utilising a rarely talked about scheme, derelict and vacant buildings are being transformed into social housing. So why can't this happen everywhere else? We're joined by Fine Gael Senator John Cummins to discuss this success story. Also, Andrea is not entering the metaverse any time soon, and Una is binging on D.A. Pennebaker documentaries.
Have you waited for clubs and gigs for so long, you're feeling weird about not rushing out to them? How can we cope with anxiety and overwhelm as places open back up? Our favourite psychotherapist Sarah Gilligan joins us for calmness, coping mechanisms, and capacity tips. Plus, Una discusses what it was like at the eviction on Prussia Street in Dublin 7, and the capital loses two more beloved cultural spots.
'water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink'
This famous line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem seems perfectly apt when we're (still) talking about student accommodation. Following a heap load of frustration communicated from UCD SU's Ruairí Power to Owen Keegan, CEO of DCC about the change of use of PBSA to short term student lets, Owen Keegan suggested, perhaps, the SU could build their own.
In this ep, we're down at the protest organised by the UCD SU at DCC HQ talking to the students affected by this accommodation crisis and ensuing glib remarks.
We're also throwing the budget in the sea and rediscovering the Home & Away theme tune.
And most importantly, we're finally back together.
Why does it feel we have to keep protesting for the things that should be a given in a society?
1: Somewhere To Live Killian Woods predicted a rent strike in a recent Byline episode because of the crazy housing crisis. Within that crisis, there's another arc that perfectly illustrates why trying to find somewhere to live is so difficult. Empty purpose built student accommodation being granted change of use rather than lowering the prices. We're talking to Dublin Inquirer's Laoise Neylon about a recent article she wrote: “Providers of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation Have Been Saying There’s a Lack of Demand for It” while students have been making 200km round trips to lectures cos they can't find anywhere affordable to live. What gives?
2: Parents Being There For The Birth of Their Children There's a #MarchForMaternity on Wednesday at 1pm at the Dail because even though most things have reverted to some sort of 'normality', restrictions remain in place in maternity hospitals across the country. We're talking to Linda Kelly from The Better Maternity Care Campaign or Women Ascend on Insta about what restrictions are still in place, why and who is responsible for removing them.
Plus Fave Bits, Tuna Chicken Rolls and a State of the Nation.
Stephen Carroll is the Business Editor of France24. In this episode of Byline, we talk about his career in broadcast news, from starting out as a radio reporter in Dublin, to presenting young people's news for RTE, to producing and editing global breaking news stories for Sky News, working at the BBC World Service, and for the past decade working as a television journalist in Paris for a French public broadcaster, reporting on Brexit, Davos, and the personal and professional impact of the Bataclan massacre. Settle in for a fantastic insight into broadcast news from our man in Paris.
As Ireland continues to be home for many Big Tech HQ's, the responsibility for enforcing privacy laws lies with us too.
This week, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties released a report that suggests Ireland is failing to enforce these laws on these companies.
The report comes on the back of a recent case with WhatsApp where the Irish Data Protection Commissioner's suggested fine of 30-50 million was pushed back on by our EU counterparts in the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which oversees the GDPR and ended up coming in at 225m.
Obviously financial penalties are but a thorn in the side of big tech, and enforcement of the privacy laws with order's to bring data systems into compliance is much more pertinent.
To discuss this report and to offer suggestions on what needs to happen to bring Big Tech under control is Dr Jonny Ryan, Senior Fellow at ICCL and the Open Markets Institute and co-author of the report.
Last night Eoin O'Broin launched his new book, Defects: Living with the Legacy of the Celtic Tiger. Today, bus loads of mica redress campaigners have arrived at the Fianna Fáil think-in in Cavan.
In this bonus episode, we talk to the Sinn Fein spokesperson on housing and TD Eoin O Broin about his new book where O Broin examines the personal stories of people living in defective homes, as well as the legislative and political context that gave rise to scandals such as breaches of building regulations in fire safety, pyrite, and the ongoing mica scandal.
Housing For All launched last week and there were some easy wins for the government that were kicked down the road, like tackling the vacancy and dereliction problem that is currently rampaging through the country. The most sustainable and sense filled solution is to obviously use what’s already built - but you simply have to look at the hashtags #DerelictIreland & #DerelictDublin to see the amount of buildings that are just being left to rot.
But here at United Ireland, we don't like to just give out, we love to look at solutions and action. Step forward Lauren Tuite from D8 Developments, a social enterprise in Inchicore that turns empty properties into beautiful and affordable spaces where people can live and work. We were also extremely interested to hear about Lauren's research regarding the correlation between car usage and dereliction.
We're also talking Mighty Zapponela; The Guardian's edit (or slashing) of an entire section of Judith Butler's interview calling out TERF hatred; and some Motel Makeover for good measure.
Everything is a dance at the moment.
Government are dancing between vaccine rollout, reopening plans and warnings from immunologists that it's too early, the events and entertainment industry are dancing on the spot and it's safe to say we are all dying for a dance.
So we're talking to the man fighting for our right to dance - Sunil Sharpe from Give Us The Night - about the reopening roadmap. What does it mean for ppl trying to roll out events, what will the pilot event look like and will it in fact pilot anything, and maybe most importantly, what does the future hold for clubs and dancing in Ireland going into the future?
Plus, the Texan abortion ban, land speculation on co-living plans and why can't ministers manage to figure out how to free up space on their phones without deleting govt business from their phones and what FOI really means?
Sarah Schulman is one of the most influential and important queer writers and thinkers in the world. Writing and creating across multiple forms, from novels to non-fiction books, plays to screenwriting, her clarity of thought and depth of research illuminates both the causes and the effects of the often under-interrogated systems that influence our lives, from familial homophobia to urban gentrification.
Her latest book, Let The Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York 1987-1993, is a huge piece of work and an essential piece of documentary, memoir, oral history, and journalism that examines the incredible successes of ACT UP during the height of the AIDS crisis in New York. The book has been lauded in the New Yorker, the London Review of Books, and the New York Times has called it "a masterpiece".
In this episode, we talk about her career, her new book, and what the pandemic revealed about the future of cities.
It ended with a tweet.
Last night, DCC announced the end of pedestrianisation on Capel Street and Parliament Street, by way of a tweet outlining how successful it had been. There was no consultation with the businesses surviving because of the pedestrianisation, or the people living there enjoying their traffic free life.
We're talking to the landlady with the biggest, blondest wigs since Peggy Mitchell - the Queen of Ireland, Panti aka Rory O'Neill, about the frustrations of running your business on the whims of tweets, the exhaustion of having essential changes to the city based on outrage and public pressure rather than a vision for how the city can be better and how having a city run by elected officials with no power needs to be overthrown.
The City Revolution is a coming......
Ok. Ok.
We always try our best to provide solutions and things you can do about the subjects we're covering but understand that it can sometimes not feel like enough or all a bit overwhelming.
Which is why we're so excited to be talking to Catherine Cleary and Ashe Conrad-Jones who were feeling like that too and started Pocket Forests - a special method of planting small biodiverse forests in urban areas.
We'll also be talking about the events industry shit show, Owen Keegan's interview & more Build to Rent shenanigans.
So dive in and get your Vitamin Tree!
Killian Woods is a senior business reporter with the Business Post. His reporting on housing has provided readers with a detailed, complex, and global picture of the forces at work that contribute to and benefit from Ireland's housing crisis.
In this episode of Byline, we go behind the scenes of Killian's work, as he discusses the seemingly insurmountable disfunction of the current crisis as it has been created by misguided government tinkering. From empty luxury apartments across the capital, to the reasons so much student accommodation is being built, from the return of short-term lets to his prediction of how the stress and strain of this all will likely end up in a rent strike.
Also, we discuss the incredible and bizarre story at Johnstown Estate in Enfield, and the infamous estate in Maynooth that kicked off another piece of government intervention earlier this year.
It's clear from the IPCC report that shit has hit the fan.
But it's also true that we can still do something about it.
Which is why we're especially pleased to be joined by Dr. Paul Behrens, author of The Best of Times The Worst of Times: Futures from the Frontiers of Climate Science, a book that lays it all out but also has alternating optimistic chapters of what we can do.
We're also talking about wealthy shoppers apparently absconding from town because 3 roads were pedestrianised; robot trees in Cork; new lobby groups for Data Centres which leads to an Una Rant™ about time being called on lobbying aka legal corruption.
Lean in listeners, lean in (not in a Sheryl Sandberg way though).
Also, isn't it so great the Luas is still free?
Half of the world is starting to consider the pandemic coming to an end. The other half, the poorer half, can't afford access to the vaccine and won't start vaccinating till 2023.
The phrase "None of us is safe until all of us are safe" couldn't be more true when we live in such an interconnected world trying to fight a virus that can mutate and respread, even to those who are protected.
So we're talking to Robbie Lawlor from Access to Medicines Ireland about the importance of equitable access to not just COVID 19 vaccines, but to patented medicines across the board. How do medical IP's work, how do they hold back innovation and what can we do to ensure fair access to medicines for people who need it.
Log on to https://peoplesvaccine.ie/ to sign the petition, tweet your politician and join the conversation with #PeoplesVaccine
This week we're talking to Niall Davidson from Allta Summer House and architect & artist Rae Moore about how the pandemic has led them towards creating temporary restaurants and cultural venues. Does the temporary nature of their creations allow for more freedom to experiment, a wider scope of creativity and will there be more of this sort of thing coming down the line as we emerge from pandemic living?
Also DaBaby is in DaBits; Dizzee Rascal drops to 40,000 people and we're still living with cages at pilot events and maternity restrictions still remain in place.
With the greater Dublin area becoming the largest hub for data centres in Europe, this massive boom in huge industrial sites went unnoticed for a while, but is increasingly heating up. Literally. We're joined by Dr Patrick Bresnihan of Maynooth University to talk about wtf is going on with data centres in Ireland, tech companies buying wind farms, and what data degrowth may mean in the future.
Plus, Andrea inspires with her new no-work-Sunday business plan, and Una reminisces about going out in gay bars with the Book of the Week.
As the dust settles across Dublin Bay South, we wander through the day after the weekend like disorientated England football fans, and discuss Fianna Fáil's road to nowhere, Fine Gael's self-awareness vacuum, and how Ivana Bacik's election win doesn't necessarily mean a Labour resurgence. Also: populist tweets, the fading aesthetic of 20th century campaigning tactics, and a humiliated far-right.
It's voting day in Dublin Bay South.
We might have mentioned it once or twice!
With so much riding on this election, everything has been thrown at getting the candidates noticed, and as such we've seen a new direction for election posters. We're talking to acclaimed artist and previous political muralist Maser about the seachange we've witnessed with the introduction of illustrated posters taking over the lamp posts.
GO AND VOTE (if you can!)
See you for some results bonanza chats on the flipside.
On our final candidate interview on 32 Questions, we talk to first-time candidate Brigid Purcell of People Before Profit, about how we can reinvigorate the docklands, her interactions with Lynn Boylan on the campaign trail, and pouring one out for Rosa Luxemburg.
Next up in our series of 32 Questions for candidates in the Dublin Bay South by-election is Green Party candidate, Claire Byrne.
It's the penultimate week before the big By-Election and things are heating up 🔥🔥🔥
We're delving into the results from the Irish Times Ipsos MRBI poll that see James G taking the lead, but as predicted by us in DBS SPESH #1, Ivana is coming up strong. It looks like our marvellous voting system is going to bring us on a ride though, because if transfers come into play and Vote Left, Transfer Left and Women transferring to Women kick in, this could be a very juicy count day.
We would also like to point out how much the results of this poll reflect last week's tarot predictions. The future of political analysis and predictions are in the cards!
The sage and wise Ivana Bacik & Labour candidate for DBS is in the 32Q's hotseat today talking about the art of compromise, clubbing in Powderbubble and dealing with Portobello Harbour.
Behold, a new era of election predictions. What does the tarot say about the Dublin Bay South by-election? Our very special guest this week is Sarah Maria Griffin who, armed with a lifetime of tarot reading skills, is bringing her talents and insight to the battle for the southside. As the candidates attempt to manifest a victory, what do the secrets of the tarot reveal about their chances? Settle in, for a very witchy episode and political analysis like no other.
On this episode of BYLINE, it's the brilliant Susan McKay. We talk about her fascinating new book Northern Protestants: On Shifting Ground, which you can (and should!) buy here. We discuss her time in the Irish Press and its "downstairs office" (Mulligan's pub), her tenure at the Sunday Tribune and Vincent Browne's prowess as editor, her feminist politics and how that informs her work, and, of course, unionist politics.
Our LEGENDARY '32 Questions' with the main DBS candidates series continues, and in this ep we get to know Social Democrat Sarah Durcan and where she sees the opportunities and problems for DBS.
In this special series of 32 Questions, we're focussing on the candidates in the Dublin Bay South by-election. First up, Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan on seafood, CMAT, and fake pollsters.
Una heads to the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin for Sorcha Richardson and James Vincent McMorrow performing live in front of an audience of 500 people as part of the Irish government's pilot series trialling a return to live events.
Philosophy Queen Laura Kennedy joins us to discuss how existentialism is the mood of the moment, the force behind people making dramatic changes in their lives, and how it can guide us through the anti-climatic aspects of society “opening back up”.
With South William Street securing centre-of-the-universe status over the past week, we talk to Lord Mayor Hazel Chu about the lack of preparation for an outdoor summer, and how - if possible - a change of culture in Dublin City Council needs to occur so that the city thrives. Also, Una runs the Bechdel Test by Maid In Manhattan, James Geoghegan V Jane Jacobs, and Andrea is getting ready for BBQ season.
We may mention in the ep that this is our 100th episode. This is in fact, a lie. Enjoy episode 99 and get ready for our centenary celebrations next week.
With Belarusian leadership going for a "piracy in the skies" plot even Olivia Pope couldn't make up, what is actually going on in Belarus? How has a generational shift cracked Europe's last dictator's grip on power, where does Russia come in, and what happens next? We're joined by Coda's editor-in-chief, Natalia Antelava, to dig into the future of the Belarusian regime and its opposition.
Also, the Brown Thomas carpark is not for turning, Sinead O'Connor's memoir is published, and the Dublin Bay South by-election heats up.
Ahead of an event she is curating at the National Concert Hall with the International Literature Festival Dublin on Saturday May 29th called Breaking the Silence, we catch up with Republic of Shame author Caelainn Hogan to discuss how art responds to and channels the legacy of survivors of institutions in Ireland, the impact of her book, and how the intense reflection instigated by the pandemic will have a wide-ranging impact on social movements in Ireland.
BONUS: How to run a festival in a pandemic with Naoise Nunn of Brightening Air by Una & Andrea's United Ireland
On this month's 32 Questions, we hear from the Sinn Féin senator Fintan Warfield. What clubs is he dying to return to? Who is his favourite non-Sinn Féin TD? Why don't Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael understand the legacy of referendum activism? Is he really going to open a new nail bar on South William Street, and more!
Rising rents, falling wages, collapsing home ownership, increasing unemployment: hard data is finally backing up the experience of intergenerational inequality that is leaving millennials in Ireland worse off than their parents.
This week, we're joined by Dr Barra Roantree, an economist from the ESRI, and one of the people behind a new report that lays bare the struggle young people in Ireland are facing to build their futures.
It's not all bad though! Change is in the air, and the political system can make things better, if the will is there.
Plus, Tropical Popical is back open, TikTok dance their way into the office block Google passed on in Dublin, Facebook moderators speak out, and a little thing called white water rafting makes its return.
This week, Soc Dems TD Cian O'Callaghan joins us to discuss the boiling point that peaked this week regarding Ireland's housing crisis. This is a fascinating conversation with a TD who breaks down what's wrong with Fine Gael's housing policy, the shared equity scheme in the government's bill, REITs and investment funds buying up estates, apartment blocks and gaffs in general, and why and how we got to this boiling point.
Also we discuss the bizarre Eoghan Harris Twitter saga and online attacks against women journalists, Kate O'Connell's decision not to run in Dublin Bay South, the lacklustre "pedestrianisation" plans for Dublin city, clubbing as culture in Berlin, and Kathy Acker!
Half of Killarney National Park was burnt by devastating fires this week due to 'countryside burning', something that has become an annual ritual. The Mourne Mountains suffered a similar fate. And many, many other hills and mountainous areas.
We talk to Pádraic Fogarty of the Irish Wildlife Trust about why these fires are started, what CAP payments have to do with it, why we need to stop it and how we can go about it.
We also talk 'ideological' housing policies; Debenhams workers still on strike; Eoghan Murphy; Arlene; Jigsaw closing and the country opening back up again.
We ask one politician 32 questions. This ep, we're talking to Labour Leader Alan Kelly.
The word on everybody's lips this week has been languishing. There's a collective feeling of stagnation, even though we are progressing. We'd been having conversations about our feelings of being stuck and working on tactics to emerge. Perfectly timed was this article in the New York Times putting a name to how we were feeling.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-mental-health-languishing.html
We wanted to look at this situation and feeling and figure out ways to face it, manage it and to emerge from it by finding meaning. Hopefully it helps you if you're feeling the same.
No, this isn't a podcast about the crazy new European Super League.
But it is about something super. (Badum Tish)
Bohemians FC has just announced Mark O'Meara as it's Club Artist Officer.
You don't often hear about the merging of football and art, although there is a rich artistic heritage to the game. We're talking to Mark to find out more about the role, what his plans are to grow the artistic output of the club & to bring people & the local community in and the importance of fan owned football.
We bring you behind the scenes of Dublin City Council’s outdoor plans for the summer, how Cork is steaming ahead of the capital, why city recovery taskforce was revamped four days after launching, and the plan for coffee docks to supply public toilets. Bananas.
Also: Stefanie Preissner’s Fianna Fáil cheque, MHQ fully booked in a city full of hotels, and the excellent novel Detransition, Baby.
Suzanne Lynch is the Washington Correspondent for the Irish Times, and has gone from the chaos of the Trump era to the slightly more zen vibes of flying on Air Force 2 with Kamala Harris. Suzanne's love of music, her English PhD from Cambridge, and her accidental background in finance journalism all contributed to her excellent reporting from Brussels as the newspaper's Europe Correspondent before she headed to D.C.. In this interview, she discusses the graft of her earlier career, the despondency in America at peak Trump, and what Biden may have in store for Ireland's happy relationship with FDI and our corporate tax rate.
Paul Handrick and Clare-Louise Donelan are from the Bee Sanctuary of Ireland and have started the ambitious 'National Meadowland Project'. We're talking to them about side stepping the old style of farming in favour of creating the perfect conditions for the 98 kinds of wild bees in Ireland with the only dedicated native wild bee sanctuary on the planet.
We're also talking to novice bee-keeper Adam Sherry about the logistics of setting up your very own hive.
PLUS Jack Charlton, The Sopranos (it's a new show, have you heard of it?) and Cllrs petitioning em, the council for more outdoor toilets.
With tempers fraying amongst a despondent public, and case numbers plateauing, we talk to Pete Lunn, the head of the ESRI Behavioural Research Unit about current public health messaging, what he has learned from a year of research in an extraordinary time for behavioural scientists, and how we can overcome this current difficult moment.
Plus love for For Those I Love, CMAT, Saint Sister, Pillow Queens.
And White Water Rafting, Green Implosion & United Ireland on Claire Byrne.
This week we're wondering how communities can buy their local pub by asking Isla McCulloch from Co-Operatives UK to give us the DL on Britain's long-standing co-op culture.
The Tories just launched a £150 million Community Ownership Fund to help community groups buy or take over local community assets at risk of being lost. As the hospitality industry continues to await the light at the end of the COVID tunnel, is it time to start a co-op culture in Ireland?
With protestors being shot dead on the streets, and a sense that history is repeating itself in Myanmar as the military once again takes over in a coup on February 1st, people from Myanmar living in Ireland are desperate for the Irish government and other countries to move beyond statements and take action. We speak to two people from Myanmar living in Kilkenny and Kerry about watching from afar, and calling for help.
When we saw Samuel Brazys, an Associate Professor at UCD tweeting that 1,257 companies with a combined turnover of 68 billion (= to 17.5% of Irish GDP) work from one office block on North Wall Quay in Dublin, we had to know more.
We wanted to know about GDP, GNP, GNI*, tax loopholes, whether we have any intangible assets we can move to a tax haven, are we a tax haven on purpose, what's a double Irish and should we do away with all these maybe fake measurements of our economy and change to Gross National Happiness like Bhutan and New Zealand?
We are talking to friend of the pod Aoife Gallagher from the Institute of Strategic Dialogue about the end of February protest in Dublin that turned violent.
Ten years ago this week, Una and her two flatmates were in Dublin, depressed about the recession, and decided one of them should run for election. A decade later, Una and Dylan reflect on that time.
In our ongoing quest to dance, we're looking at the importance of Clubbing being considered as culture.
On the back of the Dept of Justice announcing intentions to extend our archaic licensing laws and repeal the 1935 Public Dance Halls Act following the long term campaigning by Sunil Sharpe and the rest of the Give Us The Night crew and the establishment of the Night Time Economy Task Force, we're delving into the policies of each of the parties with regard to what happens in our cities and towns after dark.
You can also watch the Clubbing Is Culture mini doc here: https://youtu.be/pECGnXz6PBc
Little Collins is a CBD shop in Kilkenny and Galway that's been raided by Gardaí a number of times over the past few weeks. We're joined by owner Ide O'Brien to try and get to the bottom of why this is happening.
We also have a broader look at the journey Ireland is currently on with cannabis and delve into the reasons why drugs are illegal in the first place, and it's not the reasons you think, reader.
State of the Nation, It's Bananas, Get in the Sea and Una's Book of the Week also included.
We ask one politician 32 questions. This ep, we're talking to Social Democrat TD Holly Cairns.
We've been taking your feedback very seriously from our survey and as a result we'll be having a culture focused ep once a month. Not a culture review or listings type convo, more a look at what's happening in culture and how is that informing or being informed politically and socially.
This month, we're talking about It's A Sin. Who isn't?
We're talking to High Priestess and Queen Witch Veda about where It's a Sin hit the spot and where there were some inadequacies.
Enjoy.
It's the final county.
Longford, this is your moment.
We're talking to Ruairí McKiernan, a wonderful man full or hope and promise. Whilst we're talking about the problems that don't seem to get solved without citizen intervention, Ruairí shows us how we all possess the power to bring about change.
We've TWO county reps - Longford listener Paula McNally and maybe the most famous Longford woman, campaigner Siona Cahill.
Of course we have the State of the Nation, County Facts, It's Bananas, Get in the Sea and the Tuna Chicken Roll.
32 Questions is back! We ask one politician 32 questions, with this episode featuring People Before Profit TD, Richard Boyd Barrett.
OMG. A county. On the day we bid adieu to Trump. And JLo shines in white.
WHAT A CULTURAL RESET.
We're talking all things Offaly with county facts making a return, comedian Edwin Sammon as county rep and Minister of State and Green party Senator Pippa Hackett joins us to talk about what's next for bogs in Offaly, where she lives and farms.
We've a briquette moment of appreciation with James Kavanagh, Una becomes an influencer and Soulwax remix Fontaines D.C.
I couldn't help but wonder, what if... Samantha was replaced by a city planner?
We spend a lot of time talking about our capital city on this pod, how it's shaped, how it develops and all the bits and bobs that throws up.
So, as the Dublin City Development Plan is now currently open for submissions, we wanted to go straight to the horse's mouth to find out exactly how the city is planned and how we can be part of that process.
We're joined by Dublin City Council's City Planner John O'Hara to talk about the process; the decisions; co-living and naturellement Andrea's not letting the moment pass without talking about the situation with our clubbing landscape.
Please take this opportunity to make a submission to the City Development Plan! This is your opportunity to have your voice heard and to create a city YOU want to live in. The link is below and the deadline is the 22nd Feb.
http://dublincitydevelopmentplan.ie/
This month on BYLINE we talk to Elizabeth Paton of the New York Times. Paton covers the fashion industry and luxury sectors in Europe for the NYT, and in this episode offers a fascinating insight into how those parts of the broader fashion industry have been impacted by the pandemic, and how coverage has changed to reflect and investigate shifting forces.
Everything feels like one giant dumpster fire atm. But instead of fanning the proverbial flames and giving out about all the mistakes that were made, we're focusing instead on bringing the calm and just trying to get through this.
So as we enter lockdown number 3 and we try to drum up all the endurance required to make it through another lockdown we decided to talk to endurance running coach Rene Borg to see what endurance lessons we can borrow.
Plus Bridgerton scraps, the lovely Tolu Makay, owls and why we're considering changing It's Bananas to a weekly feature of 'Co-Living is Bananas'.
A year in review and the inaugural United Ireland Awards for your listening pleasure.
All the love for 2021 and thanks for listening during this most challenging year.
In the words of Daniel Beddingfield, I Gotta Get Through This.
Happy New Year, we got this!
Celebrating Solstice, we're making our weekly Sunday Soothe ep available to everyone.
It you enjoy the Sunday Soothe, there's one every week available especially for our supporters on Patreon.
To sign up, visit www.patreon.com/unitedireland
Happy Solstice. We hope you find your light.
After a week of bonuses and Bylines, we're back with a standard ep. But no county - the last few are in the post, we swear!
This week we’re talking about an incident in women’s gaelic football that once again shines the floodlights on a not so equal playing field. We go under the hood of what’s going on as the GAA season reaches its peak, with Elaine Bucko Buckley.
We also have the details of our Christmas competition to win a hamper of all (neé many) of our fave bits.
Oh and a cute lil plan to completely restructure the modus operandi of running the country. As an aside, like.
Our guest this month is Lise Hand, a self-described rowdy journalist-at-large. Lise’s career crosses the Sunday Tribune, the Sunday Independent, the Irish Independent and the Journal. She began her print career in music journalism, evolving into an excellent colour writer focussing on what happens behind the scenes and on the stage of Irish politics.
In this episode, as we reflect on the year, we talk about her career, the impact of the Great Recession, and how that carried forward to the 2020 general election.
This week, we've consciously stepped away from the tit-for-tat shenanigans taking place in politics and instead focused on uplifting our souls with music and art.
In this episode, we're talking to Irish fashion designer Natalie B Coleman about her new Sister, Mother, Goddess collection, how her feminism and reproductive challenges within the Irish system have informed her work and the potential of creating a Bauhaus-esque movement for Irish fashion.
This bonus episode comes to you from Dingle on what is usually a massively busy weekend for music fans in Ireland.
In 2020, Other Voices - an entity that lives and breathes live music - managed to overcome the incredible logistical challenges of an industry shutdown, to create the Courage series, and livestream its annual Dingle event without an audience in St James' Church, yet the online audience ended up responding in huge numbers.
In this episode, we speak to the people who made it happen.
That's right!
It's December, we're ready to get the joyous vibes flowing and wonder at all the culture we got to enjoy in 2020, even in the midst of a pandemic.
Here's our contribution to the Best of 2020.
Yes. It's true.
We have now become that annoying friend with too much energy, constantly urging you to be hashtag thankful.
This week we're taking a moment to reflect on all the things we're thankful for.
Audio food for your soul.
Fintan O’Toole is a columnist with the Irish Times, and widely and correctly viewed as the most essential voice in Irish journalism. He is a visiting lecturer at Princeton University, has written 25 books, and has won many awards, including the European Press Prize for commentary in 2017, the same year he won the Orwell Prize for Journalism. Fintan is not just the conscience of Irish journalism, but a conscience of Irish society, upholding the values of journalism with real meaning, empathy, honesty, truth, and often a tenderness that is increasingly easy to abandon in an era of binary debates and hot takes.
In this episode of BYLINE, we talk to Fintan about Brexit, a subject he has emerged as the smartest voice in any room on, rising above the din with his trademark reason, insight and intelligence.
As some ppl try to turn the narrative from councillors this week voting not to trade half the Oscar Traynor site for private development and for the council to become the lead housing developer, to the apparent collapse of a deal to build 853 houses, we're looking back to a utopian community build in the Tenters.
The Tenters is about to celebrate its centenary and resident & local historian Maria O'Reilly joins us to discuss this pioneering development that has stood the test of time. If we could do it then etc....
We also have 'the wisest woman on Twitter' ™, architect & UCD professor Orla Hegarty to talk us through how we might navigate our way out of our public land development mess.
WARNING Please be aware that this episode contains descriptions of extreme violence, child abuse and cruelty, animal abuse and cruelty, acts of murder, sexual violence, and other descriptions that listeners may find distressing.
People working as content reviewers, moderating the dregs of the internet on Facebook, have one of the toughest and most distressing modern jobs. So why do it? In this episode, we speak to a former worker who lays out the reality of what the fundamentals of the job are, despite Facebook’s policies and processes continuing to change. This is a tough listen, but an essential one.
It's not always bad news you know!
This week we're talking about the recent wins against fracking in Fermanagh and the end of a long, 12-year legal battle on Monday that quashed planning permission for Shannon LNG terminal. We're joined by the inspirational Tony Lowes from Friends of the Irish Environment to talk about his work on this case and with the phenomenal Climate Case Ireland.
We're also overflowing with Fave bits including, but not limited to Kevin McCloud, Roisin Murphy, Ruth Medjber, nature (in general) & christmas cards.
Onwards sailor!
We're talking to artist and co-founder of the Icon Factory and Icon Walk, Aga Szot about their new landlord seeking to turn their cultural space in Temple Bar into a restaurant.
Has art and culture had its day in Temple Bar and have the ravages of strictly commercial gain made its way into what was designated and developed to be a cultural hotspot for Dublin?
If you want to support Icon Factory and the Icon Walk, Sign the petition here
It's not just the results that are coming in from the election that are making us feel a bit more hopeful all of a sudden, even though we're sure that energy is definitely having an impact on this turn - but all of a sudden, it feels like we're collectively coming out the other side.
We wanted to take an episode to mark this turning and talk about the things that are making us more hopeful for where we are and where we're going.
Enjoy.
Off we pop to the county home of the oldest brewery in Ireland up until recently, and we delve into the resurgence in shebeens around Ireland. (SIRI, what's a tenuous link?) Chief writer of the Irish Times’ An Irishman’s Diary Frank McNally joins us to discuss illicit drinking dens from Cape Town to Inishowen.
Also, Andrea is obsessed with Kilkenny’s witchy history (festive), Una’s impression of Stephen Donnelly wins an Oscar, and Fine Gael are obsessed with themselves.
It felt inevitable.
And now disappointing decisions from Planning at DCC see purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) being granted permission to 'pivot' to accomodation for tourists or “short-term worker apartments”.
Was this always a backdoor way of building much maligned co-living developments?
We're talking to Labour Senator Rebecca Moynihan about why, or more so how, this has happened.
“Now more than any other time in history, you really ought to please yourself because in mysterious winds a cave inside your soul might be the only place to go.” - Eileen Myles
There's a bang of The Sunday Soothe off this episode because we are doing our very best not to get our knickers in a twist and to try and deal with this situation in a way that best serves us.
This isn't our first rodeo anymore when it comes to lockdowns, so we're looking back on coping mechanisms from last time and trying to take learnings on board for this current wild ride.
It isn't all optimism and light though as we're still watching radio presenters trying their best to stoke up frustrational fires; the beauty and fitness industries adopting a #WeWontClose approach and Leo wishing his cup doth runneth over.
We’re on a trip to Tipp this week with crime journo extraordinaire Nicola Tallant, who is delving into the world of car dealership raids by CAB in Tipperary. How are criminals laundering their money, what does Tipperary have to do with it, and how has the pandemic impacted organised crime?
Plus, Andrea has the hots for Brian Boru, Una is the first Dubliner ever to go sea-swimming, and we pitch a co-living development ban.
Our recent HORSE POWER episode looked at horse culture in Dublin's Liberties, and now the filmmaker Marion Bergin has a new short film called Saoirse, premiering now on Nowness.com - watch it here! We spoke to Marion about the story she was telling, returning to Dublin, and what making art in a new era of Eire is like.
Normal can only be what you decide it is - so we're going back to our normal and breaking the counties back out again and boy, does it feel good!
This week's county is Wicklow and this week's question is: What happened to the people who lived in the trees?
As tempting as it is to be always looking at the current news cycle and what might happen, sometimes it's good to go back and look at change with perspective. So for this episode, we're talking to Daithi O’Reilly who was one of the environmental activists who lived in the trees and occupied a section of the Glen of the Downs in Wicklow to protest the widening of the roads along the N11 that would see the felling of 1,700 mature broadleaf trees between Kilmacanogue and Kilpedder.
We also see the return of Andrea's legendary County Facts and for the County Rep, Simon Harris is taking the Wicklow mantle.
PLUS Get In The Sea, It's Bananas and all of our Fave Bits.
It's good to be back to normal.
As Facebook finally takes action to combat the QAnon conspiracy theory on its platform, Institute for Strategic Dialogue analyst and friend of the pod, Aoife Gallagher, joins us to discuss if the horse has already bolted, whether this action will make a difference, and what the impact on the Irish conspiracy theory ecosystem will be.
EPISODE 69: The US Presidential Campaign with Katherine Zappone by Una & Andrea's United Ireland
The Irish Times features writer is known for his hilarious, absurd takes on TV and pop culture, along with a reporting style that is loaded with humanity and kindness. His new collection of personal essays, Ok Let's Do Your Stupid Idea, reveals more about a journalist whose formative years were rooted in a hard-working band, before committing to life on the page.
Horses have been part of Dublin's culture for generations, but in the inner city, that culture is being sidelined and in some cases erased by development. At Molyneux Yard in the Liberties, horse yards are now under serious threat from yet another hotel being built.
On this episode, we speak with Norwegian artist, Kristin Vollset who found herself embedded in this community and is now fighting for it to be sustained, alongside horse-owners, and other locals.
Also, Owen Keegan is Una's new pen-pal, clampers are up to some wily tricks, and one meat plant was charging its workers for PPE.
Yes we know things are crap, we know people are stressed and on edge and beginning to crack. We know Dublin at least is on the verge of more restrictions. We know the government and its comms strategy is clown car levels of YA WHA. And yet, there's always hope. In this episode, we flip the script, and instead of getting bogged down, ask some beacons of hope to give us just that. What positive things can emerge from this harsh moment? Mary Lou McDonald, Ailbhe Smyth, Maser, Philip King, Conner Habib, Gary Gannon, Elaine Feeney, and more join us to offer hope - it's a thing with feathers, so let's fly.
Manchán Magan's book 32 Words for Field, Lost Words of the Irish Landscape has sold out in most places. When you read the blurb accompanying his book, you can see why.
"The richness of a language closely tied to the natural landscape offered our ancestors a more magical way of seeing the world. Before we cast old words aside, let us consider the sublime beauty and profound oddness of the ancient tongue that has been spoken on this island for almost 3,000 years. In Thirty-Two Words for Field, Manchan Magan meditates on these words - and the nuances of a way of life that is disappearing with them."
As our COVID lives continue on, and we try to connect with simpler and more magical times, this book is perfectly timed to enhance our thoughts and minds. AND, finding out the 32 words for sesh in Irish makes it feel more uplifted. As is right.
Less enhancing of our minds is what can Get In The Sea this week, some It's Bananas thoughts and of course the Tuna Chicken Roll. There's 2 this week and they are TUNAS!
Robert Burns is a council director who oversaw pandemic-era design and infrastructure changes that are transforming public space in coastal villages in south Dublin. In this episode we talk to him about what the public wants and needs and what councils everywhere can learn from moving so quickly to change the layout of where we live. Also, Una is not spoilering Tenet, the Dublin Fringe begins, and David Blaine is being a balloon bore.
On this episode of BYLINE, we’re speaking with Aoife Grace Moore about her career, and of course the story she and Paul Hosford broke at the Irish Examiner, now known as Golfgate. It's a story that shook the Irish nation, its government, and the EU Commission, and led to the resignation and disciplining of multiple political figures, including the EU Trade Commissioner, Phil Hogan, and the second Minister for Agriculture of this administration, Dara Calleary. Aoife is a journalist with the Irish Examiner working the political beat, who got the scoop of the year, instigating conversations about accountability in public life, and bruising a government that has a habit of denting itself. In this episode, she discusses breaking Golfgate, her eclectic start in journalism from Scotland to Melbourne, and more.
BYLINE is our companion series where we speak to brilliant journalists about the stories that matter. Thanks to our Patreon supports for helping us make our podcasts.
32 Questions is back. In this episode, we speak to former Fine Gael TD Kate O'Connell. Kate is a rare Fine Gael voice on our podcast, but much like Fine Gael itself, United Ireland is a broad church.
In this episode, Kate discusses losing her seat in the 2020 general election, her constituency relationship with Eoghan Murphy, her assessment of Fine Gael's direction under the leadership of Leo Varadkar, the Golfgate saga, as well as vodka tonics, how her upbringing formed her outlook, her experience of sexism in Irish electoral politics, her role in the Repeal movement, that infamous "choir boys singing for their supper" comment, her fearlessness, and whether or not she'll contest another election in the future.
Paradox: A seeming contradiction. A FF led press conference?
Look, we know decisions are being made in the best interests of public health but how the hell did they end up being so confusing, contradictory and so god damn frustrating. We're having a delve into last night's presser and have many questions for the comms team behind it all.
Also, social media pile ons can Get in the Sea and we find a state funded agency with a board of nuns telling sex workers what’s best for them to be more than a bit Bananas 🍌🍌🍌
And even though there's been a lot of bad buzzes this week, we still manage to find loads of fave bits.
In recent years, urban development in Ireland has seen a massive increase in hotels being built, purpose built student accommodation, and so called “co-living” developments. But what’s behind this drive in the midst of a housing crisis? Who is planning our cities, and how does that process work? We’re joined by architect and lecturer Orla Hegarty of UCD to demystify the planning process and see what other forces are contributing to development in Irish cities that are displacing communities, and creating a culture of transient living in small spaces.
Also on the pod, Andrea recovers from a drag blowout, the Tánaiste takes to Twitter(!), and Una is playing frisbee.
WIth the announcement that we wouldn't be proceeding to Phase 4 this week, a can of worms was opened filled with frustration, fatigue and an overwhelming feeling that an element of sense was missing in some of the propositions and plans being put forward by Government to combat COVID-19.
It almost feels like the young and the entertainment industry are being thrown under the bus to distract from the shortcomings in dealing with the pandemic in the areas that we've seen outbreaks in - direct provision centres; processing plants and care homes.
We're taking a read on the state of the nation's mood right now and how that will impact people's adherence to guidelines and we're also talking to psychotherapist Sarah Gilligan about how to manage our collective frustrations.
On our third episode of byline, we speak with journalist Peter Geoghegan, author of the new book Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics, tracking the money that flows through British politics. We talk to Peter about Brexit, the DUP, Arron Banks, as well as Peter's career, his work with openDemocracy, and his encounters with Steve Bannon.
Byline is made possible by our Patreon supporters. Thank you, and sign up if you can!
This week, we're talking to Brett Scott about the future of cash. The pandemic has accelerated the idea of a "cashless society", but is that a good thing, or even the right term we should be using?
Also, the clown car government continues, Una is back from west Cork to share her love of camping with Andrea, and we introduce a new segment: IT'S BANANAS.
Many of us bought the Tiocfaidh Ár Sesh jumpers filled with hope and optimism during lockdown and this week, the first hint of the (official) night time industry peeped its head out as a club was reformatted in Dublin to make way for a new way to party. There were temperature checks on arrival, socially distanced tables, substantial glam bites to nibble on, table service and a show provided Dublin Drag Diva, Davina Devine. We're catching up with Davina to see how lockdown impacted the entertainment industry, bringing drag online, how it feels to be back IRL and what the future holds for the night time economy (and the sesh).
In this bonus episode, we talk to Gary Grant of the Irish company Imbibe, which sells high-end coffee, yet also returns 3% of its turnover to Women’s Aid, its own staff, and projects in countries where it sources coffee. How has this small company designed itself with ethics and decency in mind, and how can more people do this?
One of the recurring conversations we have off mic over the past couple of years is around how the internet radicalises people, how people become indoctrinated by their own particular echo chambers - from men’s rights red pill stuff to conspiracy - and how it’s so hard to engage with people on this because it’s like their minds are made up, they’re totally closed off. The growth in visibility of the far-right in Ireland, some of it rooted in outright conspiracy, and the spread of QAnon-related conspiracy and conspirituality online has brought this to the fore again. People have even started listing it as a hobby on Tinder.
So we wanted to talk to someone who can tell us what to do if someone we know starts falling down the rabbit hole. We're talking to Rick Alan Ross, who is a specialist in cults, and deprogramming. He has handled hundreds of deprogramming cases around the world, he was consulted by the FBI during the infamous Waco siege in 1987, he is the author of Cults: Inside And Out, and is the director of the Cult Education Institute.
https://culteducation.com/
This week, we've not only given up our counties format but we're eschewing many of our regular features for a very special 'The 8th' film special.
The 8th opened this year's Galway Film Fleadh on Tuesday, albeit in a digital capacity, but has still managed to excite both feminists and film lovers alike with both subject and style. We're joined by the 3 co-directors Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy and Maeve O'Boyle to talk about the making of the film, releasing it in a COVID world and the films onwards journey.
This week, we delve into the world of QAnon. Una and Andrea discuss the genesis of a conspiracy turned community turned cult-like structure that has seen an increased real-life impact, from its followers running for public office in the US, to people losing family members and friends who are falling down a Q-shaped rabbit hole. Aoife Gallagher from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue joins us to talk about where QAnon came from and where it’s going. Also, in this episode, Andrea is out and about while Una remains in her bunker, a new government is formed with some very random ministers, and the Great Hotel Buffet Debate.
The overspill of people on to the streets as a result of our socialising being restricted to public space because cafes, pubs and restaurants are closed has really highlighted the lack of amenities we have in our towns and cities when the commercial providers are taken out of the mix.
Which begs the question, who is public space for (or not as the case may be) and can we enjoy it if we're not spending money? We talk to Joan O'Connell from Streets Are For People and Green Party Cllr Claire Byrne about the seating situation as well as the anticipation around the PfG votes.
This month on BYLINE, we're joined by one of the most vital voices in American journalism today, Sarah Kendzior.
Kendzior is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The View from Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America, and her latest brilliant assessment of American carnage, Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America.
Kendzior rose to fame as the urgency in her voice grew throughout 2016 when she warned about the likelihood of Donald Trump's election win, and has since laid out - with terrifying accuracy - his kleptocratic actions since then.
She is also the co-host with Andrea Chalupa of the podcast Gaslit Nation, which you can support on Patreon.
BYLINE is our monthly series where we talk to excellent journalists reporting on the stories that matter. In this episode, we talk to Kendzior about her formative years in journalism, the power of being an outsider, the transnational crime syndicate that is the Trump administration and its hangers on, the Russian mafia, the upcoming November election, Qanon, and more.
One of the biggest talking points during this pandemic has been about the reopening of hairdressers and the greater beauty industry. Beauty is important to Irish people. But what is beauty? As beauty ideals constantly evolve and change, has our time in lockdown- staring at ourselves on zoom calls -changed our perception of how we relate to these ideals? And even if we think we reject these beauty ideals, is that a moral statement in itself?
So often the subject of beauty and its industry is overlooked by philosophers, but what greater definition of self is there than the visual one we project to the world? So we were extremely happy to be joined by Heather Widdows who is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham and Co-lead of the Beauty Demands Project and #everydaylookism activist. She is also the author of Perfect Me.
This week’s episode is about how Ireland is racist, how and why it’s up to white people to sort that out, and how constantly asking black people and people of colour to hand-hold, educate, and “help” white people do that work is part of the problem. D.I.Y.
We also discuss the impact of the Black Lives Matter protest in Dublin, the generational shift in visibility, solidarity, and anti-racist activism, how young black people and people of colour in Ireland have become the backbone of contemporary Irish pop culture, and the tensions in Insta-activism.
Una initially planned to speak with the actor Jonny Beauchamp (Penny Dreadful, Katy Keane) about the impact of lockdown on the film and television industry. A Puerto Rican New Yorker, Jonny is a rising star in television. So what happens when production stalls? But as New York became the epicentre of the covid-19 pandemic and Jonny’s family was impacted, and then the Black Lives Matter protests took hold of the city, this conversation grew into a snapshot of what it’s like to be an artist in NYC right now. It’s hot outside, and tensions are rising. Here’s Jonny’s view from Washington Heights.
Curtain twitchers, lockdown Stasi, narcs and snitches; the lockdown has caused many people to internalise surveillance, compete for social capital through rule abidance, and assert themselves by shaming others. But where does surveillance capitalism fit in all of this? Should we be worried about contact tracing apps - and not in a tinfoil hat kinda way? We’re joined by the mighty Liz Carolan to talk about tech and tracing.
Byline is a new bonus series from United Ireland, where we speak to journalists working on important stories. We take a deep dive into those stories, and the journalists’ working processes, and tack how they brought the issue into the public sphere, and the impact it had.
The covid-19 pandemic has created a huge appetite for quality breaking news, reporting, and investigative journalism, but it has also caused advertising revenue to collapse, leaving many media outlets in precarious positions.
At a time when trust is at something of a low in media, and where tech companies that participate in undermining democracy, promoting misinformation and disinformation and benefiting from advertising that previously went to newspapers and other traditional media outlets, and where mainstream media outlets are often subjected to attacks from several quarters, we want to get back to the story and highlight the decent work and hard graft that often goes uncelebrated.
Byline is about good journalists doing the hard yards in the public interest.
First up, is a young reporter in the Irish Times, Jack Power, who has earned the respect of his colleagues and the industry for his diligence, tenacity, and the seriousness with which he pursues stories. Jack is a reporter almost in the classic mould. Today, Una talks to him about his work investigating and reporting on the sexual abuse of children in scouting organisations in Ireland.
With the iconic Grafton Street cafe unable to afford its rent and closing, what does this say about how businesses and retail are coping with rent, landlords, and survival in the pandemic? We’re joined by Irish Times Business Editor Ciarán Hancock for the lowdown on the landscape of retail rent in Ireland, and Rosie from Hen’s Teeth gives her perspective as one of those involved in running a small but vibrant creative space in Dublin. Plus, Una finally coins a JLo-related republican slogan, and Andrea is ragin about Boris.
You’ve probably heard a lot about how Sweden approached the covid-19 pandemic differently, and it’s an approach that is providing media and amateur covid-commentators with a rake of hot takes and opinions. But what’s really going on in Sweden, and what can the rest of the world learn, positively or negatively, from their approach? On this bonus podcast, Una talks to journalist Philip O’Connor in detail about the Swedish pandemic experience. This is a fascinating conversation, and we learned A LOT.
This week, Una and Andrea assess how the lockdown has impacted how they think about the world and are sharing some lockdown learnings. Are you seeing the world differently? What has lockdown brought up for you. Meanwhile, the Greens are running in the burning building otherwise known as the It’ll Be Grand coalition, Leo Varadkar thinks handing out food parcels is Trumpian, SOUND, and every teenager’s dream comes true as the Leaving Cert is cancelled.
Sean Byran aka Seany B of Cut & Sew joins us to discuss the drama of blokes having to forgo haircuts in lockdown, as well as assessing the impact on the barber industry as a whole. If you’ve ever thought of giving yourself a DIY fade, this episode is for you.
As a glorious bonus accompaniment to this week's fashion episode, Andrea is talking to the king of bold colour and luxuriously voluminous silhouettes, Christopher John Rogers.
After recently winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and presenting his exquisite Fall 2020 collection with the fabrics of his dreams and seeing his clothes on powerhouses like Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Lizzo and Tracee Ellis Ross, we find out how Corona is impacting him as a designer both creatively and commercially.
With the fashion industry in flux, this week’s episode is inspired by Saint Laurent’s announcement that the brand is bowing out of fashion weeks, taking back control of its own schedule, and focussing instead on creativity. At the start of the pandemic people were rushing to create and fill the pause with content, but now it seems lots of industries are taking stock. Could it be that the pandemic will change the fashion industry forever? We speak to the fashion writer and editor Sarah Schijen about how the industry is responding to the pandemic, and the Chief Product Officer for LVMH’s private equity firm, Jemma Cassidy. Also this week, Una has her eye on pandemic surveillance capitalism, and Andrea is bopping to the BBC.
We are facing into a musically barren summer as festivals are cancelled across the land and around the world. With the live music industry hugely impacted by the pandemic, we check in with someone who runs a festival and someone who plays one, to talk about the logistics and learnings of live music pressing pause. Avril Stanley who runs Body & Soul talks about her experience of putting a massive amount of work on ice and wonders what festivals really mean now, and Krystal Klear gives us the lowdown on the disruption so many touring DJs are experiencing. Meanwhile, Andrea is gunning for the 2k Stasi, and Una is drinking wine.
With lots of time to think in lockdown, Una has been wondering what the future holds for Dublin. Time to imagine a Dublin utopia.
We’re back in the government formation limbo this week. Una and Andrea are joined by top buzzer and artist Emmet Kirwan to discuss the FF-FG pre-nup, and the consequences of the pandemic on government formation, collective political amnesia, and the “venus fly trap” the framework document creates in an attempt to lure smaller leftwing parties into their clutches. Plus, the discourse around Keelings gets in the sea, Andrea is enjoying dry-quari life, and Una made the mistake of drinking margaritas
Right now, we are going through an awful pandemic. But one of the things it has given us is the chance to see what would happen if the world simply stopped. And when we start it all up again we’ll have the opportunity to shape what the restart will look like. With that in mind and before we get to that point, we’re looking back at the TEDx talk Andrea did in 2017 and spoke about in her last bonus ep. Why now, more than ever, we need to redefine what success looks like as a business owner post Rona.
This talk was originally given as part of TEDxDublinInstituteofTechnology
What does normal even mean any more?
There’s no way we can go back, we don’t know where we’re going, yet somehow we all seem to be adapting to this weird stasis. We talk to Finian Murphy from Core about its research into the current sentiment being experienced by Irish society right now. Like Rihanna found love in a hopeless place, are we finding contentment in an isolated place, once all the factors trying to sell us back the idea of happiness have been stripped from our daily repertoire?
For more information on the Core report Finian spoke about visit https://onecore.ie/blog/
Struggling with convincing older family members or friends to cocoon? Una chats with psychotherapist Sarah Gilligan about tactics for having compassionate, effective chats with people over 70 who may be struggling to stick to the stringent rules outlined by the Irish authorities. This is for anyone having frustrating phonecalls, or overcome with worry about the potential behaviours of people they love and feel compelled to protect. Some super useful advice here!
As a huge portion of the world's population is existing under lockdown conditions, many personal freedoms have been sacrificed for public health. But there is increasing concern in various countries about the impact of lockdown culture on civil liberties. This week, Andrea speaks with Liam Herrick, the executive director of the ICCL about Ireland's new rules, and Una talks to a leading anti-corruption campaigner in Hungary about how covid-19 is intersecting with Viktor Orbán's desire for power and control. Also the Corona Correction and urban wildlife, things to do virtually this week in Ireland (or anywhere), and the impact of covid-news-overload.
Andrea talks about the journey she's been on as a small business owner trying to cope since Coronavirus struck.
Una and Andrea are back together (remotely) to talk about about behaving ourselves! Not really, but we are interested in the massive role behavioural science plays in containing the pandemic and keeping people safe. We're joined by behavioural scientist Pete Lunn from the ESRI who co-authored the working document 'Using behavioural science to help fight the coronavirus' to discuss the science of collective action, how isolation will impact us, and how leadership impacts a population's intake of information. Also, a certain fighting man is getting in the sea, there's LOADS to do virtually this week on Andrea's new virtual social guide, and our President wrote a poem! Sound.
coping
noun
The top, typically curved or sloping, course of a brick or stone wall.
How novel that the first definition of coping we came across is talking about a curve. Our collective priority right now is to flatten the curve and can we just say, what a great job our caretaker government, frontline medical staff, retail staff who are keeping shelves stocked and indeed the people of Ireland are doing right now to try and control this virus. But whilst we’re all trying to do the right thing to have the best impact, there is so much collective anxiety, panic and fear. So many tears. The need to take to bed to deal with the trauma we’re feeling. And that’s ok – what’s happening right now is extraordinary. It’s not business as usual.
coping
verb
Coping means to invest one's own conscious effort, to solve personal and interpersonal problems, in order to try to master, minimize or tolerate stress and conflict.
So how do we cope? While we try to cope with the logistics of recording a podcast together but apart, zen Priestess Una is on hand to explore how we might cope right now in what we hope is some salve in a very heightened environment.
Two of the main themes to come out of the recent Coronavirus outbreak are fear and contagion, things that have been front and centre in the queer community for so long.
So we reached out to Adam Shanley from HIV Ireland on the subject of U equals U - Undetectable equals Untransmittable. This is something that’s spoken about quite regularly in queer communities but maybe not as top of mind in more mainstream society. We wanted to approach this in relation to the stigma, fear and panic that surrounds HIV and how we can learn from the historical and ongoing focus on their reduction, especially as we see these behaviours unfold with Corona.
All the usual news (both current affairs and JLo related), Get In The Sea, Fave Bits and Tuna Chicken Rolls also enclosed.
The middle of Ireland currently resembles Waterworld due to flooding which has been causing chaos for homeowners, businesses and farmers. In this episode we wanted to get to the bottom of why this is happening, whether the precautions and flood defences currently in place are adequate and what can be done moving forward. We’re joined by Breandán Anraoi MacGabhann, a lecturer in geography at University of Limerick and Mary Immaculate College and a Green Party Executive Committee member to answer these q’s. We also have the King of Westmeath, Bressie, in studio as our county rep. Fave bits and Get In the Sea’s as usj.
Remember that ad for Tracker Mortgages? "I don't know what a tracker mortgage is. I don't know how to save money on my car insurance." Well that's how we feel about REITs. And given our current homeless crisis and the fact that Ires Reit is the largest private landlord in the State, we wanted to remedy that situation and get to the bottom of the benefits and downfalls involved with REITs. So we brought Sean Keyes, Finance Correspondent at The Currency in to the studio to give us the full lowdown. As well as getting the lowdown on what's going on with JLo this week and some Getting in the Sea around International Women's Day shenanigans.
We're back on our county buzz. The Kingdom of Kerry is our county this week, and we're examining the case of Elizabeth Coppin, as the UN Committee on Torture permits her case against Ireland to be heard. Leading lawyer on the case Dr. Maeve O'Rourke breaks down the legal context of the case, and the author of Republic of Shame, Caelainn Hogan joins us in studio to give us some context about a history that keeps coming back to haunt the present day. Are we finally getting to a point where Ireland can confront this dark part of our past, and will survivors of institutional abuse get justice? Also on the pod, Kerry county rep Molly King, government formation drama, Andrea's legendary county facts, a JLo update, and much more.
This is an audio version of Una's longread on the narratives and reasons for the #GE2020 vote. The written version is on our Patreon page. Please subscribe to United Ireland on Patreon to support our work. www.patreon.com/unitedireland
After a wild weekend, a historical election, and a period of heightened discourse, it's time to take a breath and figure out what all of this means. In this episode, we step away from the intense conversations and decompress. This election has thrown up so many issues around identity, history, class, and discontent, and now it's time to start talking about all of those things. Let's have discussions that are led with empathy, confront our past in a responsible and smart way, and use the skills we have amassed as a nation over the past decade to put ourselves in other people's shoes and move forward. The times, they are a changin', so let's start to understand and feel what that change means and navigate our hope and our discomfort. Onwards!
Should you vote all the way down the ballot? Should you give a candidate a preference even if they're in bits? What's a quota? How does a surplus get distributed? How did we end up with this voting system? Get ready to nerd out with our special How Does My Vote Work episode. We headed out to UCD to talk to an unsung hero of Irish democracy, political scientist Professor David Farrell. In this episode, David answers your questions about voting, our voting system, how the count works, and more.
It was presumed this election would be overshadowed by the Green Wave. This hasn't been the case. And where it has, it has been supported by quite an urban demographic and green policies have really been seen as an issue by rural, farming dependent Ireland. We talk to pal of the pod Saoirse McHugh about the challenges rural Irish communities are faced with to try and engage with the Green Wave and provides some of the solutions for why going green can actually be of benefit to farmers and why the conversation around climate change in Ireland doesn't have to be reduced to the size of the national herd.
As we examine how voter sentiment may potentially alter the landscape of Irish politics this weekend, what that sentiment boils down to is not just change, but radical change, and change that is directed towards what can be broadly described as the left, although we absolutely know that the traditional binaries by which we measure and describe the ideological spectrum of politics keep shifting and have changed a lot in recent years.
There’s one particular journalist whose trademark is speaking truth to power, interrogating corruption, making establishment politicians cower in fear, and more broadly a journalist who is steered by a sense of equality, fairness and justice in Irish society.
We knew that this was the man we wanted to be talking to this week about what is actually now happening in Irish society, the context, the causes, and the potential outcome. We’re delighted to welcome in studio Vincent Browne.
What would it take to make the cities of Ireland into urban utopias? We're joined by Labour candidate Rebecca Moynihan to imagine the possibilities and realities of what could be for our main municipalities. Throw in a look over the previous week of campaigning and polls, as well as our fave bits and this week's contender to Get in The Sea and finally top off with an absolute Tuna Chicken Roll.
Ireland currently has a gaping hole when it comes to regulating online campaigning.
We talk to Liz Carolan who is behind the Fair Play Pledge about online campaigning, why we need an Electoral Commission, who’s spending what online, and more. As we release this recently recorded episode, Liz has just released news of a breach of Facebook political advertising policies by Renua. The ads, which were running under the radar of being flagged as political advertising, contained dog-whistle anti-immigration messaging and highlight the fact that we just don’t know what anyone is seeing online.
This is an important episode with a woman who is doing incredibly important work.
“tone of colour in a room or a morning sky, a particular perfume that you had once loved and that brings subtle memories with it, a line from a forgotten poem that you had come across again, a cadence from a piece of music that you had ceased to play— I tell you, Dorian, that it is on things like these that our lives depend.” Oscar Wilde
Culture always seems to be seen as a nice to do and is always first for the chop - even though we rely on it for export; tourism; mental health; employment; damn, culture is a reason to be alive. It shapes the type of world we live in. Without it, what …..is the meaning of life? And in elections, we shouldn’t be pleading for the very fundamentals of being alive, we should be voting for the type of society we want to live in.
But even in putting together this episode, it felt like we were putting together a fluffy episode when the issues of the day and of the election are (rightly) housing and health. So how do we make culture a priority issue for voters and ensure it’s front and centre in manifestos and debates?
On the day the Social Democrats launched their impressive Arts and Culture manifesto, we’re joined by Cian O’Brien from the National Campaign for the Arts and Artistic Director of Project Arts Centre to talk about the importance of culture for the very essence of our existence.
More and more young women we speak to appear to be voting for Sinn Féin. Is this a sentiment the broader political and media establishment has overlooked? What explains the Sinn Féin surge? In this bonus episode, we chat about what we think is behind Sinn Féin's rising popularity in the polls, and whether or not it'll make a difference as #GE2020 progresses. Plus, we take a straw poll at Andrea's nail bar in Dublin to hear what young women there think about Sinn Féin.
As the general election campaign took off, the horrific murder of a teenager brought organised crime into sharp focus as an election issue. In this episode, we discuss crime and punishment, and how political parties approach the issue. We talk to Marcus Keane from the Ana Liffey Drug Project about drug policy, and Social Democrats candidate for Dublin Central, Gary Gannon, joins us in studio to discuss tackling the causes of crime, rather than just the end result. Also in this episode, we bring you our first Voter's Voice - a young, professional, Dublin renter - and we digest the campaign news and bring Get In The Sea to GE2020.
It's election campaign time, which means for the next month Una and Andrea will be covering the general election, but a little differently to everyone else. No doses, no debates, no clickbait. We want to talk about big ideas and issues. We kick off our first election special with the king of campaign ephemera: Alan Kinsella of Irish Election Literature. Alan is in the studio to discuss the semantics of sloganeering. Also on the pod, we outline how we're covering the election and why. There's also devastation in UI HQ over J-Lo's Oscar snub, and Andrea tackles certain tech company tweets, which is extra dangerous ever since she took up axe-throwing.
If you were the mayor (with decision making power) of your town, what is the one thing you'd implement? As we kick off 2020, we ask some of our faves to answer this very question. Back to county life next week.
Before we look forward to positive pastures new, we have to look back on the in bits past to make sure we don't make the same mistakes in 2020. So whilst we're all pondering who the new us will be in a few days (spoiler, same deadly you) let us reminisce on the key GITS moments of the year gone by.
What do we really know about Tyrone? It’s a county that keeps a low profile, but we’re ready to lift the lid. Andrea reveals all in her county facts, and Dominic McGrath from the Journal (and also Tyrone, thankfully) is in studio to tell us about the changing voting trends in the county, what it was like growing up in Omagh, and how the recent election may show a shift to the centre. On the ground, it’s less about Brexit, and more about the day to day as Tyrone struggles like the rest of the North without a functioning Assembly. Meanwhile, Una and Andrea talk about Marriage Story, raving in Paris, and it’s been another good week for our girl J-Lo.
How has an idea for a white water rafting project that’ll cost 22m and cost 50 euro per person to use managed to make its way to the sign off stage when the city is facing daily crises from literal shit spewing into the sea, record levels of homelessness, rents skyrocketing and cultural amenities for the actual people who live in the city being demolished at a rate of knots.
We welcome Dublin Inquirer editor Lois Kapila into the studio (who we both j'love) to find out about the journey this project has taken, how it’s managed to get the green light and the direction Dublin City Council are taking the city in.
There's been a recent spate of targeted violent attacks on sex workers across Ireland with the primary aim of theft. Charges have been brought against 3 men in Roscommon as part of Operation Quest. But surely our laws protect all workers from attack?
Well, in 2017, legislation was introduced in Ireland to criminalise the purchase of sex. This was seen as a victory in some quarters for women's rights, and as a positive move to try and tackle the issues around women being trafficked.
But many sex workers say that criminalising the purchase of sex drives sex work further underground and that the environment they work within becomes more dangerous.
Conner Habib is a sex work's rights advocate, the host of the fantastic Against Everyone with Conner Habib, and author, lecturer, a Dubliner for the past year, and the only person (that we know of) who has won awards for writing, teaching, AND porn.
With the recent decriminalisation of sex work in the Northern Territory in Australia by NT Attorney-General Natasha Fyles who said the new act was about keeping workers safe, we want to talk broadly today about sex work laws internationally, what philosophies underpin them, and what is best practice in terms of protecting the multiple rights that stem from sex work across the board.
This week, we’re heading to the micro-county of Dublin 7 to take a deep dive into the housing development saga at O’Devaney Gardens in Stoneybatter. For well over a decade, this development has had so many false starts, and within those pauses, the shenanigans keep coming. What is happening tells us a lot about planning, public land being transferred to a private developer, the de-prioritisation of social housing, the unaffordable nature of “affordable” housing, and the ineptitude of Dublin City Council, the Department of Housing, and indeed, the Minister for Housing, Eoghan Murphy. This week, there were more alarm bells, as Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin published a letter Murphy sent to Dublin’s mayor indicating the project may have hit the skids again. Eoin joins us in studio to give his assessment of what is going wrong and why, as well as interrogating the housing policies Fine Gael is pursuing, and giving a pretty damning appraisal of Eoghan Murphy’s tenure. Also, we weren’t going to let this ep pass without talking about the Grafton Quarter sign, Una discusses the trend of artists banning phones at gigs, and Andrea receives a shock Dynasty-related delivery.
Come through our fashionistas. This week, we’re looking at the trend of sustainable fashion and wondering if it’s actually possible for the industry of excess and newness to actually be sustainable, and if individual boycotts of unethical brands is enough to bring about change in the industry.
We’re joined by Tara Stewart who is a DJ, fashion kween and now host of RTE podcast Dirty Laundry that looks at the subject of sustainability and her journey from fast fashion to a more sustainable approach.
On the other side of the industry, we talk to Wexford born, London based designer Richard Malone who approaches his process in the fashion industry as a vocal sustainability advocate and has previously said “It amazes me how young designers aren’t committing to sustainability. You can’t be a modern or contemporary designer if you are not sustainable.”
We also talk Lizzo, Le Mans ’66, Dimitri From Paris, Irish Water (again) and BelongTo’s 2019 School Climate Survey.
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink (unless it’s boiled). How do we, a small island with such a rainy disposition, have more issues than Vogue when it comes to water? As we face into another boil water notice, rain continues to bucket it down, and an emergency meeting of Kildare County Council is called about the Leixlip Water Treatment Plant with Irish Water in attendance; we talk to Michael Brennan, the author of recently published book ‘In Deep Water’. Where do the problems stem from, is climate change going to make it worse and why is shit still literally hitting the fan in Dublin Bay? A huge amount of money has been spent on Irish Water and its meters, so why are we not seeing any improvements?
We’re also talking Cher, Xtina, Dolly Parton and Joan Collins. Who said you can’t mix politics and glamour?
We're off to Monaghan, home to Ireland's only reverse vending machine. But, does individual consumer behaviour make a difference when it comes to recycling, or are paper straws and reusable bottles just designed to make us feel better? We talk about the psychology of recycling and how moral license impacts behaviour with psychologist Nishat Babu, and the Industrial Designer and bioplastic expert Megan Valanidas joins us from the US to discuss recyclables and plastic disposal.
Plus, fashion queen Natalie B. Coleman is our County Rep, Andrea reveals her Patrick Kavanagh fandom, and Una is v disappointed in Fine Gael MEPs.
Every hour brings new twists and turns to Brexit, but it’s important to remember that a very murky referendum got us to this point. In this, ‘Brexit, dark money and the DUP’ episode, we press pause on a frantic news cycle and go back to 2016 and 2017 to ask questions about the dark money that funded the Leave campaign. The Americanisation of British politics now impacts the mysterious bankrolling of political campaigns, partisan think tanks, how the Tory Party is funded, and why the British media is sounding increasingly American. Our special guest to delve into all of this is bossman investigative reporter, Peter Geoghegan from Open Democracy.
Also in this episode, Una is excited about a Dublin City Council initiative (shocker!), Andrea is very worried about Ireland’s potato crop, but still found time to outline the clearest breakdown of the Brexit timeline you’ve ever heard.
Trying to figure out the 'what can you do?' section of this week's podcast was interesting given that we were talking to trailblazing astrophysicist; scientist; one of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world and one of Nature magazines ten most prominent scientists worldwide Guillem Anglada-Escudé, who discovered the Proxima-b exoplanet orbiting Proxima-Centauri, our closest neighbouring star. Suggesting ways to build your own lightsail spacecraft seemed a little excessive for you to have done before settling down to next week's episode.
We delve into the the journey further into space and find comfort speculating on the aliens out there watching in on our little simulation here on earth. As new planets are discovered, are we any closer to finding living circumstances similar to our own that can facilitate life? Mulder and Scully, this is the episode for you.
There's also an absolute banger of a Tuna Chicken Roll, get in a rage about 6k being spent a day on barriers to pedestrianise an area and find some joyous fave bits to bring Una back from the brink after finding out that the Government's approval rating has shot up.
We're feeling very witchy this week with the onset of Samhain, and so we are journeying to the heart of Ireland's mythical history, the great county of MEATH. Last year, an incredible discovery was made at Newgrange by Anthony Murphy and Ken Williams who stumbled upon a massive henge at the Brú na Bóinne site. We talk to Anthony about DRONEHENGE, a discovery that shook the world of archeology and has made us rethink what was really going on at Newgrange back in the day (clue: a giant sesh.)
Join us in rolling back the clock as we talk druids, pagan Olympics, human sacrifice, and and how an extra-hot Irish summer unearthed more Meath magic. Also, a cohousing cafe, Eoghan Murphy's Stoneybatter interventions, Andrea resurrects the Sex and the City movie, and Una reveals her past as an interpretive dance teacher.
Power, violence, threats, abductions, torture, and jobs. Sean Quinn was Ireland’s richest man a decade ago, but now his company’s name is embroiled in a shocking series of events in Fermanagh and Cavan. We talk to brilliant local reporter Rodney Edwards about the Quinn Industrial Holdings saga and find out WFT is going on in Cavan.
Plus John Delaney’s sweetener, the new PJ Harvey documentary, Andrea’s tuna chicken roll and loads more.
We all gasped when pics of the Wetlands in Tallaght were shared, recently covered over by dredged silt from the nearby lake. How could this have happened? Why would someone do this? How could an official body let this happen? Who was responsible?
It’s safe to say that orgs and institutions are literally sweating to make sure they tick all the sustainable boxes for PR, photo opps and green flags on their websites, but when it comes to actions, are they following through? The actions from South Dublin County Council would indicate that’s a big fat no, but how could councilors and heritage officers let this happen? Surely there’s a plan that everyone in there is sticking to, to maintain our greenways and biodiversity. Sadly reader, the answer is no.
The same week a motion was passed unanimously in Dublin City Council by elected councilors, but was rebuffed by a member of the appointed Executive who said that initiating changes to the development plan was a power held by the council’s executive and the council’s management did not intend to do so. So you have to ask, who exactly holds the power to shape our city?
We spoke to Science Officer with the Herpetological Society of Ireland (HIS) & research associate at TCD, Collie Ennis to get the exact details on what happened to the Wetlands and to Cllr Carly Bailey to find out what is going on within the Councils.
Ireland recently declared a climate emergency. The bogs of Ireland are our equivalent to the rain forest in terms of their role as a carbon sink, but for some bizarre reason, a bypass for Ardee that was initially planned in 2001, but put on hold, was recently put back on the table. It is due to cut right through one of the only easterly raised bogs left in Ireland.
The plans were put on hold yesterday, but only due to issues raised by the community about potential division of the town, rather than the environmental issues. An Environmental Impact Assessment has never been carried out, but surely now, the question we should be asking is; if we're in the midst of a climate emergency, why are we building more roads to counter excess traffic, rather than looking for alternative solutions? And why are we looking to build it to the detriment of one of the biggest solutions to our climate problems, the bog?
We're joined by activist, artist and friend of the Ardee Bog, Katie Holten and Conservation Policy Officer with the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, Tristram Whyte. LEAVE THEM BOGS ALONE!
In a week that brought us the news that the Shaw was closing to make way for, you guessed it, a hotel, we start to look at what can be done to encourage more value to be placed on art and culture from the those who have the power and money to shape our society.
Increasing and improving access to art is one step we think that can be taken to help people understand the weight, importance and benefits that come from having a thriving creative scene in Ireland. But another issue thrown up when you start exploring access to art, is people's perceptions of what constitutes culture. Comments from some councillors showed that what many considered the centre of their cultural universe with the Shaw, was considered nothing more than a nuisance and eyesore. How can we support people pushing the boundaries not just with their art, but those pushing the boundaries of what art is. And who gets to be the gate-keeper of where art and culture starts and ends?
We talk to two people whose remit is to improve access to art in Ireland. Sinead Rice is Head of Education in the National Gallery and Emer McGarry is the interim Director at The Model in Sligo. We also have Patrick Curley who runs Illuminations in Sligo as our county rep.
We're coming live from Electric Picnic this week with our LAOIS episode, asking the question : are festivals the perfect societies? Joining us to discuss utopias and future societies are Mango, Saoirse McHugh, and Bríd Smith TD.
In front of a live audience at the Ah Hear podcast stage in Mindfield at Electric Picnic, we discussed what parts of the festival bubble could work in real life, and local legend Mary White and her son Willie White joined us as the Laois county reps. Contains kebab puns, socialism, and all the Picnic buzz.
It's very easy to moan and groan about the influx of hotels and the homogenisation of the landscape in cities and towns around the country, but it's worth remembering that it’s not the job of hotel owners to shape the fabric of our society, it’s their job to build hotels and make money. So, who's job is it?
When it comes to being custodians of culture and city planning, we have the Minister for Culture & Heritage, her department, Dublin City Council and many art institutions and councils. When it comes to the night time economy or life after dark, however, it is that so often these pursuits aren't considered culture. But, the fact of the matter is -- clubbing IS culture.
This week, we're talking to Global Night Mayor advocate Mirik Milan, who was the first Night Mayor of Amsterdam in 2012, along with Philly McMahon, who has challenged the definition and scope of culture with ThisIsPopBaby. This episode of the podcast is longer than a club night in Dublin and it's time for us all to get behind and champion culturally relevant nightlife in Ireland.
We also have the "complete Aisling", Sarah Breen as our county rep for Carlow, news from the week, top Carlow facts, Get In the Sea and of course, our Tuna Chicken Roll.
If there’s anything we’ve learned since the Cambridge Analytica exposé, it’s that data is both very precious to those who own it and extremely dangerous if it’s accessed by power hungry maniacs. Hell, we learned this from James Bond and The Bourne films, but it’s only when it hits you in the face that the stark reality of what’s at stake IRL truly materialises.
Which is why we wanted to fully focus this week’s episode on the fallout from the Data Protection Commissioner’s landmark investigation into the government’s Public Service Card. We’re joined in the studio by the Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon to talk through what happened, why it was found to be illegal and what the ramifications of that are, what they could have been and where we go from here.
We’re also talking about Aches’ Horseboy mural; Tarantino being a forever creep; The Berlin Boys Club, a nomadic men’s group exploring healthy masculinity and just how great Aisling Bea is.
We're all about radical solutions to big issues here at United Ireland, and this week we journey to Donegal, to see whether what's often called the forgotten county could benefit from new thinking. Joining us this week is the mastermind behind Finland's Universal Basic Income experiment, Olli Kangas, and Donegal doer and thinker Declan Meehan gives us the lay of the land. Our County Rep this week is Una's better half, Sarah Francis, who is repping the north west hard.
Andrea bowls us over with her Donegal facts, and we also talk about Jeffrey Epstein, Hong Kong protests, and our all-star drag lineup for Love Sensation when Tuna Chicken Roll goes live!
Enya, Football Special, Tory kings, Donegal queens, fishing, Brexit, wee Daniel, this episode has it all! Donegal abú!
We're mixing things up this week, for a special episode on Lethal Dialect, otherwise known as Paul Alwright. Back to the counties next week! With these bonus interviews, we're trying to find out what makes artists and doers tick and the importance that their environment and their county holds to them.
Lethal Dialect is back, with a new album on the way and a gig this Friday at the Workmans in Dublin. In this chat with Una, LD talks about place, country and home, capitalism, hip-hop, stoicism, and plenty of other bits in between, as we wandered around Golden Lane, Dublin Castle, Christchurch, before retiring to the Lord Edward pub.
We’re popping down to the Sunny South East this week at the same time as all of the music revelers™ making their way to All Together Now, praying for blue skies and some of that famous sun. As another sold out festival hits the circuit in only its second year, it’s clear that there’s still room for a festival with a good vibe and a cracking lineup. But the concert calendar in Ireland looks pretty crowded this summer - or is it possible that our appetite for live music in a field is insatiable? And what about the tickets to those gigs? When people were losing their minds over tickets to Lizzo’s show in the Olympia vanishing in seconds, only to be resold by Ticketmaster at inflated prices, it rightly shone the light again on how tickets are being sold in this country.
We’ll be talking to RTE Brainstorm’s Jim Carroll about what’s going on with these ‘platinum’ tickets and that packed festival calendar, along with journalist Amy O’Connor, who will be filling us in all about the Déise.
This week we're off to Ireland's smallest county to talk about trees. Listen up, this is an important story that isn't getting the coverage it deserves. We speak to Save Leitrim about why they're campaigning against particular forestry projects and enterprises, and we hear about the impact this is all having on the county.
In glorious news, Louise McSharry is our very special guest host this week. ALL HAIL LOUISE. Andrea is back next week to reclaim her throne.
Our County Rep this week is Katherine Lynch, who is repping Leitrim HARD.
Una and Louise choose their fave bits, Louise selects the tuna chicken roll, and our youngest ever guest joins us in studio. That's right, Louise's new baby, Ted, is here to make his voice heard.
Save the trees, save the bees, Save Leitrim.
On April 18th, 2019, journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry. On this episode about what happened next, Lyra’s partner, Sara Canning, talks about the night Lyra was murdered and how her death impacted her, her community, and Derry itself. We also discuss the protests that emerged in response to Lyra’s murder with Lyra’s friend, Sinead Quinn. One of the most respected journalists in the country, Susan McKay, is in studio to discuss the social, political and economic context of her hometown Derry, and she also gives us added insight into the significance of Lyra’s journalism, and her own relationship with Lyra. Our County Rep this week is the brilliant Séamas O’Reilly, a writer with The Observer and the Irish Times, who delivers a beautiful ode to Derry.
This episode examines the legacy of an incredibly talented young journalist murdered in her prime, and what it’s really like to grow up in a place where things like this happen, and how Derry is potentially on the precipice of even more difficulties with Brexit looming. But it’s also about a place of tremendous spirit, creativity, humour and resilience.
We’d like to especially thank Sara for being so honest and generous with her time while she is still grieving her partner. Rest in Power,
This week, it’s a special episode of United Ireland.
We take a deep dive with some football experts about the seismic impact the women’s World Cup has had. Is this the most important women’s tournament of all time? What impact did lesbians have on the tournament? Why are female footballers so much more political than male ones? Are the USA cocky or brill? What does this all mean for pay equity for female athletes?
Joining the episode is Chief Football Writer for The Independent (UK) Miguel Delaney, and a woman at the heart of RTE’s highly praised tournament coverage, Elaine ‘Bucko’ Buckley. It’s a football feelings frenzy!
We’re off to the Rebel County to talk tax. Show us the money!
How can we make Big Tech pay tax? Down in Cork, Apple reigns supreme as a huge employer, but they’re also at the centre of what could be a game-changing case that strikes at the heart of Ireland’s “welcoming” environment for Big Tech companies. When the European Commission ruled that Apple needed to pay over €13 billion in back-taxes to the Irish government, Ireland sided with Apple and are currently trying to refuse the dosh.
So, how can we make Big Tech pay tax like everyone else, and what will happen to all those billions resting in an account somewhere? Dara Doyle from Bloomberg tells us everything we need to know about Big Tech and Bigger Tax.
Also, Una gives her Glastonbury review, and Andrea is finally a work of art.
Happy Pride!
What does Pride mean to you?
In a tale as old as time, the question of corporate involvement and mainstreaming of Pride continues to rear it’s head. Have we moved forward enough for Pride to simply be a party or does the protest element have to remain front and centre? ...And who gets to decide?
Who better to tease it out than this year’s Pride Parade Grand Marshal and Act Up campaigner, Will St Leger; Managing Editor of Ireland’s queer mag GCN, Lisa Connell and founder of Trans Pride Ollie Bell; Una and of course, token straight Andrea. Cos they should always be centre of the conversation, amirite Tay Tay?
This episode was not easy to record. And it won’t be easy to listen to, but it is essential listening.
Direct Provision will be the stain on our generation’s existence. It feels like we all know this. We all talk about this. But when talk feels empty, how do we change a broken system?
Sylva Tukula was a transgender woman buried in Galway without ceremony after being housed in an all-male direct provision centre. Her personhood was removed in death as it was when she was alive. She deserved more.
Ellie Kisyombe who has been living in Direct Provision for 8 years joins us in studio to share what it feels like to live like this. To have your personhood removed.
We talk to Maeve O’Rourke, a lecturer in Irish Centre for Human Rights in NUIG and has done a lot of work on the culture of institutionalisation in Ireland.
We also bring you some joy. Nicola Coughlan is not in fact our Derry rep as you would think as the gas bitch from Derry Girls, she’s from Galway and she shares with us all the things she loves about Galway. We talk about the week in review, all our fave things and of course end with a Tuna Chicken Roll.
The streets of Doonbeg in Clare were lined with locals this week to welcome in the Trump family to their hotel and golf course that employs many of the townspeople. Apart from the fact that Trump fired the staff and re-hired many of them on minimum wage, it’s hard to argue against the fact that without this employment the town would be all but forgotten and in pretty dire straits. However, the Trump’s were greeted as all out saviours and some people found the fawning pretty galling. Is that unfair? Can we just put our morals away when there’s money to be made? Well, we’re joined by journalist Sarah Kendzior whose writing became almost prophetic during the most recent US presidential campaign, calling out what was actually happening as America began sliding down the rabbit hole towards autocracy, and warning the public about the dangers of normalising Donald Trump and his administration and band of hangers-on.
Her insights and knowledge about the journey from then to now makes for pretty terrifying listening.
To lighten the mood, we’ll also be touching on Rihanna’s iconic leopard lewks, Drag Balls & Cock Destroyers, who deserves to Get in The Sea, Clare county rep Milliner Margaret O’Connor and an absolute Tuna Chicken Roll of the Gods to make sure you approach the weekend with joy.
🚨🔥🚨🔥🚨 This week we're scratching our heads and wondering what the point will be of riches and economic success if we're all actually killed off and we're not the only ones. The Local and European elections were swept by a Green Wave that gave a very clear message that our priorities are very much on humanity's survival. But is it too little too late and will those in power finally not just listen, but actually make the changes we're all screaming for? One person not screaming but calming and rationally making her point and slaying in the Primetime debate is The Green Party's Saoirse McHugh. She became the unlikely star of the recent European Parliament elections receiving over 51,000 first preference votes and we were charmed to have her in the studio to find out where she came from and where she's going.
Given that we're focusing on science and facts, it was glorious to have Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabháin as our Mayo rep. With a degree in theoretical physics, a PhD in maths education, current lecturer in maths in UCD she's all about the QED and she tells us why it's a fact that Mayo is one dreamy county. She is also a broadcaster, musician and a proud Mayo woman.
Obvs we have Get In The Sea, Our Fave Bits and this week's Tuna Chicken Roll (#🐟🐓🥖). Let's get right on top of this Green Wave and get stuck in to Mayo.
This week we’re tackling a question that dominates chats in the capital: the gentrification of Dublin, the pace of change, and what that’s all doing to the city’s character. What’s the balance between progress and keeping things deadly?
Before we get stuck in, Mango tells us what he loves about Dublin. Then, Una gives you the crazy facts on student accommodation in Dublin city, and we’re using the restaurant boom as a metric by which to measure the city’s “progress”. Catherine Cleary, the restaurant critic and journalist with the Irish Times joins us to give the low down on what the hell is going on in town.
We also talk about the opposition the Bernard Shaw is facing, and whether local development plans are playing a role in the attempts to (literally) silence the vibe over on South Richmond Street.
We reflect on the wild weekend of elections counts, the green wave, and what the new make-up of Dublin City Council means for the city.
Plus, we’ve got our fave bits, and of course, Andrea’s tuna chicken roll of a disco banger.
One year after Repeal, Northern Ireland is still without legal abortion. As attempts to roll back reproductive rights are well underway in America, how can the North win this battle? We talk to the Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU, Louise Melling, about wtf is happening in the US, and Emma Campbell of Alliance 4 Choice fills us in on the complex path to legal abortion in Northern Ireland.
Welcome to the first episode of United Ireland! Morgan from Saint Sister introduces us to what she loves most about her home county, we talk abortion rights from Alabama to Antrim, Una rants about Eoghan Murphy's co-living plans, and Andrea introduces you all to the concept of a tuna chicken roll.