My friend Grace Dyas is still relatively young but she’s already something of an Irish legend. Grace is an artist, activist, writer, director, producer, and performer. Originally from south inner-city Dublin, she now lives on the Inis Oirr, one of the beautiful Aran Islands off the coast of County Galway.

Grace has an incredible portfolio of work and award-winning achievements to her name. She has created films, plays, live performances and large-scale projects with people who had never done art before. She has made art about all facets of addiction, and topics such as sex work, social housing, political conflict and corruption, abortion, and the legacy of Church and State abuse in Ireland, mostly with survivors of Magdalene Laundries. Grace writes on her website, “I make art because I know it changes lives for the better”.

We’re going to dive into some of these areas and more in this rich conversation. We also talk a good bit about emotional health and some of the challenges Grace has been through and I want to say if you find yourself in need of help or support, please do reach out to a friend, a GP, a relevant helpline, or support service in whatever country you are in. It’s also important that we look out for each other these days when so many people are under pressure.

Subscribe, share, rate, review and donate to support this podcast. Thanks to patrons who chip in at www.loveandcourage.org Host Ruairí McKiernan is a well-known social innovator, charity founder, campaigner, counsellor, consultant, and author. Find out more via: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn and check out his book Hitching for Hope. He also has another podcast called Creative Souls of Clare.