Local Voices

#57: From pronouns and coming out to navigating institutional frameworks, facing barriers and discrimination, three people from the LGBT+ community discuss it all this Pride Month.

#56: Bridie Sweeney was born and bred in Tallaght and grew up in a cottage on the Old Bawn Road in the 1930s.

Set to turn 90 this year, the former Tallaght Person of the Year and last Mayor of Tallaght sits down with host Hayden Moore to reflect on what Tallaght was like through the years.

#55: On this discussion show, councillors David McManus, Laura Donaghy and Dermot Richardson debate raising the minimum wage to meet the living wage in Ireland, hot school meals for schools in disadvantaged areas, and Cycle South Dublin.

To watch this episode of Local Voices on YouTube, click here:
https://youtu.be/EZ5N-ETBMik

#54: Nine-time Leinster winner, four time All-Ireland champion, National League medalist and 2019 Players Player of the Year awardee Siobhán McGrath joins The Echo Sports Editor Stephen Leonard to recount her years with Dublin to date, enjoying club success with Thomas Davis and pushing the envelope of Ladies Gaelic football.

#53: Two-thirds of young people were unemployed in April and a recent study has showed that Ireland had the highest educated workforce in Europe. So what is going wrong?

Three young people involved in politics have their say about the issues of unemployment, education and housing they are facing and discuss what can be done to support them.

Listen in as John Kerr, Social Democrats Dublin South West Chairperson, Vanessa Mulhall, Tallaght South representative and Dublin South Green Party Chairperson, and Adam Smyth, Chairperson of Dublin South West Ógra Fianna Fail join host Hayden Moore.

Want to watch the debate? This episode of Local Voices is available on The Echo Newspaper's YouTube channel.

#52: Creator of the A Ramble About Tallaght history blog and author of Since Adam Was A Boy: An Oral Folk History of Tallaght, Albert Perris joins host Hayden Moore to talk about the cultural significance of history, reminiscence work, and share some of Tallaght’s whacky and wonderful tales.

#51: On this discussion show, councillors Charlie O'Connor, Madeleine Johansson and Liam Sinclair debate the proposed rezoning of greenbelt land from agriculture to residential in Tallaght, period poverty and issues of anti-social behaviour across South Dublin County.

Former Neilstown boxer Kenneth Egan joins The Echo Sports Editor Stephen Leonard to discuss his long road to Olympic glory in Beijing 2008, his internal battles with self-doubt and alcohol outside the ring.

#49: Considering the housing crisis in Ireland, is the build to rent housing model fit for purpose? Across 10 proposed development sites in Tallaght which are made up of 3,055 apartment units, 1,700 are build to rent. 

On this discussion show, Councillors Alan Edge, Emma Murphy and William Carey debate if the supply is meeting the specified housing demand, how one-in-four people are cutting back on food and heating due to financial constraints brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and if teachers should be higher up the coronavirus vaccine priority list.

#48: Right in the heart of the greenbelt which stretches from Tallaght to Clondalkin, is the former home of literary great Katharine Tynan. 

Whitehall, which is known locally as Katharine Tynan House, once hosted WB Yeats and AE Russell and holds massive historical value for it's role in a period of literary enlightenment in the late 1800s.

Over the years, the 200-year-old farmhouse which nurtured Katharine's poetry and playwriting ability ability grew has fallen into disrepair.

Now, owner of the land, Hibernia REIT, has plans to develop 3,500 residential units on the 144-acre land and Whitehall has been mooted for restoration.

Tallaght Historical Society's Ken Harrington brings host Hayden Moore on an exclusive tour of the lands and shares some of the history about Katharine Tynan.