The Irish Passport

Tim published a book!  How does nobility work as a power strategy,  why does it bear so many curious similarities to the construct of race, and what does all of this have to do with Ireland? We delve into Tim’s book,  “Nobility and the Making of Race in Eighteenth-Century Britain”, published by Bloomsbury Academic this …

Continue reading "Ireland’s Imposter Aristocrats"

We’re back and diving straight into breaking politics, as Naomi explains the chilling implications of the UK government’s new “Northern Ireland Troubles Legacy Bill”. This controversial new law has provoked outrage from across the communities of Northern Ireland, uniting unionist and nationalist political parties against it. But what does this law entail, how will it …

Continue reading "What does the “Troubles Legacy Bill” mean for Northern Ireland?"

Hi everyone, Naomi here. Like many people I’ve been reeling since the news of the death of Sinéad O’Connor. I took a moment to share some of my thoughts and a little about Sinéad and who she was – the girl with towering musical gifts who broke out of a Magdalene Laundry to busk on …

Continue reading "Farewell Sinéad, we didn’t deserve you"

Ireland’s strict libel laws and onerously expensive legal system is stacked against journalists and in favour of wealthy people who abuse the situation to censor reporting about them. That’s when Naomi discovered in her research for a recent report for press freedom organisation the International Press Institute. She discusses what she found out, why property …

Continue reading "How the wealthy and powerful muzzle reporting in Ireland"

What’s in a gene? We wade into the world of genetics, to find out all about an extensive DNA mapping project called the Irish DNA Atlas and to see what it can tell us about the history of Ireland. We also take a look at the phenomenon that is at-home DNA ancestry tests, which have …

Continue reading "Mapping Ireland’s DNA"

In the second part of our episode on Ireland’s lost forests, Naomi travels to the Beara peninsula in Co. Cork to speak to sculptor and author Eoghan Daltun. Eoghan’s award-wining book, An Atlantic Rainforest: a Personal Journey into the Magic of Rewilding, recounts how he has brought a sector of ancient Irish woodland back to …

Continue reading "Ireland’s Lost Forests Pt 2: an Atlantic Rainforest"

A rich political, social and economic history of Ireland can be told by an analysis of its landscape, and specifically through the history of its trees. In this episode, Naomi and Tim delve into the history of deforestation and its tangled associations with colonialism and agriculture, and whether the ‘green’ image of Ireland is all …

Continue reading "Ireland’s Lost Forests"

Beannachtaí na féile Pádraig oraibh! To celebrate Ireland’s national day, please enjoy this classic St. Patrick’s Day episode from our archives, originally released in 2018.

After years of deadlock, EU and UK leaders have declared a historic reset in their relations as they reach an agreement on Northern Ireland called the ‘Windsor Framework’. Naomi and Tim unpick the details of what is in the deal on Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements, intended to resolve the dispute over the so-called Protocol that …

Continue reading "What is the Windsor Framework?"

On the 27th of August 1979, the Provisional IRA assassinated one of the best known members of Britain’s royal family as he holidayed in County Sligo. But this was just one of 25 killings that took place that day. The events of that afternoon soon came to represent a watershed in the history of Anglo-Irish …

Continue reading "Mountbatten and the IRA"