Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Free State is going live this Christmas. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday November 5th for the first (and probably the last) Free State Live show at Vicar Street on Dec 14th. More details to come on what promises to be a very special night.

On today’s Free State, Dion and Joe look at Micheal Martin’s newfound love of talking about unity.

He is ready to talk about a United Ireland. Up to a point. “What has concerned me about this push for a Border poll since Brexit is that it’s partisan, it’s a one-sided advocacy approach,” he said.

But is this better than his previous approach? Do the Happy Lundys, the Protestant group having new conversations about a way forward show a better more hopeful way?

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Why does Andy Burnham talk differently about a border poll in Northern Ireland than when he talks about Scotland?

Is he adopting a different tone and if so, why?

On Free State Joe and Dion wonder what reconciliation means and if it should stand in the way of a border poll? If we were to avoid division would we have any election at all? Is there a difference between a routine democratic election and a referendum on subjects that might be divisive? Is the opportunity of bringing real democracy to the north of Ireland the most important consideration in bringing a border poll?

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When the Tory grandee David Davis stood up in the House of Commons and said there were ‘IRA lawyers’ who were ‘more interested in drama than justice’, there was an understandable response.

In 1988 a Tory minister had said that some solicitors in the north were sympathetic to the cause of the IRA. Three weeks later Pat Finucane was murdered in front of his family.

On Free State we ask why there is a certain type of politician who persists with these dangerous and inaccurate terms. We look at what Davis said and why it matters in a world still fraught with danger.

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When Arsenal announced they were cutting 60 jobs at the home of the Premier League champions, the manager Mikel Arteta said he had been told it was to "achieve the success we want to create".

With the help of management consultants, Arsenal identified savings while simultaneously awarding Arteta a new contract worth £20 million a season.

On Free State today we look at what this story of a sporting club tells us about capitalism and inequality. Dion and Joe look at how sport was sold as everything else was sold and they wonder what happens next. Sport has been sold not just to the highest bidder but to those who believe in a version of society which is the opposite of community. What will be next?

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There was an extraordinary response to Jamie Bryson’s appearance on the podcast.

What does that tell us about what people want in the north and what people are talking about in the south?

On Free State today we ask if these are significant days for the future of unionism. What does it mean when the Belfast Newsletter, the paper of the unionism, says that Bryson is leading unionism down a dead end.

Dion and Joe talk about how communities have emerged that challenge how people felt things would be and they ask the important question: would you surrender to a sea border?

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Who is Jamie Bryson and what does he want?

On Free State today Jamie Bryson talks to Joe and Dion about Garvaghy Road, the Orange Order and a United ireland.

His conversation with Joe is heated and contentious as they talk about these and other issues.

What aspects of his cultural identity does he share with people in England and what would his view be if there was a violent response to a border poll being called?

Let us know what you think - [email protected]

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Anne Cadwallader covered the Drumcree events in the late 1990s. She remembers the tension of those days and the work Rosemary Nelson did at that time. On Free State today she talks to Joe and Dion about Rosemary Nelson's murder. She talks too about Lethal Allies her book about collusion and the Glennane Gang. She explains how she first arrived in Northern Ireland and how as a 'well brought up girl' from London, she had one view of what was happening which changed with time and experience. She also tells us how Tina Turner's intervention led to her receiving death threats from loyalists.

Anne's novel Crossing Over is available here - https://www.mercierpress.ie/books/crossing-over/

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