Our Man In Stockholm

With Ireland's Girls In Green set to face Sweden in two crucial Euro qualifiers in the space of a week, I sat down with Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson to talk about football, the Fontaines DC, Drogheda hospitality and a whole lot more!

This week's guest is Patrick Hamilton Walsh, who as a teenager in Tyrone realised he wasn't actually much good at anything - but he had some dreams, and a plan, and nothing was going to get in his way. Since then he has visited more than 150 countries and is now based in Sweden with his family in the midst of a life that touches on sport, business and experiencing all that the world has to offer.

There's also news of Claire O'Halloran's new restaurant and FREE TICKETS for Sweden v Ireland, and a live podcast in the works!

Support the show: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm

The Irish In Sweden podcast is calling it - winter is OVER and the Gaelic football season is underway, so this week's episode comes to you from the Danish capital of Copenhagen, where Stockholm Gaels, Malmö GAA and Sandviken Gaels were all flying the flag for Swedish Gaelic football! There's a range of voices old and new from all over Ireland, brought together by the big ball game that has done so much to bring our community together.

Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm

On this week's episode, Stephen Smith joins me to talk about how his time with Leinster Rugby led to the foundation of his company Kitman Labs, which brings together vast amounts of data about athletes and teams to provide greater insight and improve performance, a fascinating tale of a journey from the rugby boot-room to Silicon Valley and beyond.

Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm

Last Thursday saw an incredible array of Irish talent in Sweden exhibiting their art at the Ambassador's residence as part of the "Arrivals" exhibition organised by Carrie Cooke and Sarah Galligan. Though I didn't get to speak to all the artists, I got to talk to many of them, as well as the organisers themselves about what was a hugely successful event!

Spring is in the air and with it a hot of events and happenings in Sweden! This week I paid a visit to our good friend Aaron Kennedy at his new FSA gym at Odenplan, and I caught up with Carrie Cooke and Sarah Galligan to talk about the upcoming Arrivals art exhibition at the Ambassador's residence in Stockholm this week.

Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm

Aaron's new gym: https://fsaworkoutsstudio.se/en/

The Arrivals Insta page: https://www.instagram.com/arrivals.2024/

When Irishman Tomás Mac an tSaoir goes out for a spin on his bike, he's often away a little longer than the average lycra warrior - the Kerryman is currently in the middle of a marathon journey form New Zealand to Ireland by bike, across some of the most beautiful and rugged terrain in the world - and this is after traversing America and Africa on similar journeys.

Currently back home recharging his batteries for a final push from Dubai, Tomás joined me to tell his fascinating story of lions, tents, street food, the hospitality of strangers and a whole lot more besides on his journey halfway around the world.

Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm

Shrugging off another bout of man flu to bring you Ireland's hottest TV star in Sweden right now. Fireman Mark Bannon from Waterford is blazing a trail on "Robinson", Sweden's answer to "Survivor", and he joins me to talk about moving here and finding home in a small town of 1500 people near Örebro - and, of course, life on the Robinson island!

Last week I was in Gothenburg on the west coast for a soccer game so I took the opportunity to sit down with Ian "Mocha" Moloney, musician, photographer, occasional curmudgeon and nowadays one of the driving forces in bringing the Irish community there together. He told me all about the St. Patrick's Day celebrations there, the plans for the future and how singer/guitarists (known as "trubadurs" in Swedish) are getting all the gigs around the country at the moment.

Even though she got her first camera at the age of six, Holly McGlynn wasn't sure that she wanted to be a photographer, but having studied fine art and PR, she felt the pull of making pictures and threw herself in at the deep end in Berlin.

From there she has gone on to be one of Ireland's foremost fashion photographers, working with huge global brands and taking pictures of supermodels for household-name designers - but there's a lot more to her than just the glamour game.

Holly joined the podcast to talk about photography, networking, how to take a portrait and the challenge of photographing someone you struggle to connect with, and why sustainability has become a core value in what she does.

Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm