The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege in modern history. From April 1992 - February '96, Serb forces established a total blockade of the Bosnian capital. Mirza Catibusic, who is from Sarajevo, was 24 years old when the siege began. He lived through the siege for 2 years before he and a few others were airlifted & eventually brought to Ireland.

Ghandi Mallak grew up in Syria in the 1970’s & 80’s, during the leadership of dictator Hafez al-Assad. Hafez al-Assad held a tightly controlled and repressive political structure, but Ghandi, despite the dangers faced, got involved in the Communist party. Ghandi lived a double life – a life on the line and no-one knew, or so he thought.

The award-winning RTÉ podcast series has returned with the telling of personal stories. Series two tells the stories of people who have personal experiences of war, violence and political oppression; those who have lived through the conflict, or who have experienced its impact.

The law is changing to give unmarried fathers automatic rights to their children, but for some men it's too late. In the last episode of this series, John - not his real name - tells us how he hasn't seen his children since 2011. This is his story.

John and Marie McPhelimy have an 18 month old daughter, Lucy. She was born after Marie’s sister acted as surrogate for the couple, giving birth to Lucy, using Marie’s eggs and John’s sperm. However, because there is no law surrounding surrogacy in Ireland, they’re all trapped in legal limbo. This is their story.

Three years ago, when Helen Rochford Brennan was 62, she was diagnosed with a form of Dementia called early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. She is now the first chair of the Irish Dementia Working group, advocating for the rights of people with this progressive and incurable illness. This is Helen’s story.

In the second of two parts about abortion, Bernadette Goulding describes her experience. Bernadette had an abortion over 40 years ago. She now works as a coordinator for Rachel's Vineyard, an abortion support network. This is her story.

34-year-old Solus, from Dublin, never imagined he'd be a full-time street artist. He worked in IT, spent some time in a drug treatment centre, but now he's eight years clean and exhibits across the world. This is his story.

Mary was 28 when she had her first baby. Although Mary had no history of any psychiatric illness prior to this, two days after giving birth she was separated from her baby, sent to a psychiatric hospital and given electroconvulsive therapy, also known as ECT. Now 67, Mary tells her story.

Jane and Derek Johnston are part-time farmers. Last year, Jane spent five days in a coma and three months in hospital after a serious accident on their farm. This is their story.