Insights with Sean O'Rourke

Former Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan tells Sean about her rise through the Garda ranks, the sexism she encountered along the way, her stormy tenure at the top of the organization, and the impact that the furor surrounding the Garda whistleblower controversy had on her and her family. 

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Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation Jack Chambers joins Sean to discuss all things infrastructure, becoming the country’s youngest Minister for Finance since Michael Collins, his changing views on abortion, and the response he has had since he came out publicly as a gay man. 

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Former CEO of Special Olympics International Mary Davis speaks to Sean about bringing the Special Olympics to Ireland in 2003, running for Presidency, working with the Kennedys and meeting US President Donald Trump.

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Chairman of one of the world's largest communications agencies FleishmanHillard John Saunders shares with Sean his experiences growing up in Artane, working in RTÉ as a sports journalist and his life in public relations. He speaks publicly for the first time about his daughters abuse at the hands of someone close to the family.  

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Curate for Cresslough Fr John Joe Duffy joins Sean to discuss the tragedy that happened in the small village in Donegal on October 7th in 2022. Father Duffy arrived at the scene a short time after an explosion at the Applegreen Service Station which killed ten people. He shares his journey and how the community have been coping since.

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Chief Presenter with BBC News and former presenter and Washington Correspondent with RTÉ Caitríona Perry shares with Sean what life is like in Washington second time round and how her experience in Newstalk, Today FM and RTÉ has led her to anchoring in front of millions of viewers both in the US and globally.

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Consultant Psychiatrist, Head of Addiction Services at St John Of God University Hospital and Clinical Professor at UCD’s School of Medicine Professor Colin O’Gara speaks to Sean about growing up in Cork in a family steeped in rugby and although he did play the sport like his famous brother Ronan he was more of a windsurfing enthusiast. He shares how he spends his time now advocating for those in the fight against addiction, highlighting the increasing numbers of people presenting with gambling and sex addiction as mobile phone possession and usage grows.  

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Former Director of Radio Programming and Public Affairs in RTÉ Kevin Healy joins Sean to share his journey as a journalist for the Cork Examiner and RTÉ and his decision to change careers in his fifties to retrain as a barrister. He opens up about the end of Scrap Saturday, his time involved in the Confidential Committee of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation and dealing with tragedy over the past number of years with the passing of his wife author Deirdre Purcell and his step-son Simon’s death and inquest.

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Chartered Counselling Psychologist and lecturer in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering in TU Dublin Leslie Shoemaker shares her journey with Sean from Pittsburgh to Ireland and how her dad’s side are one of the founding families of Pennsylvania. As co-founder of OCD Ireland, she explains what the disorder is and how she treats it. 

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Manager of Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap, chief commercial officer at Bohemians Football Club and former owner of Bang Bang cafe in Phibsboro Daniel Lambert joins Sean to share his journey from working in the Department of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations General Assembly in New York to managing Kneecap who have had a number of legal challenges against them. He opens up about growing up in Finglas and how his parents were influential in his life in relation to education, football and business. 

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