The Irish Passport

Every year, thousands of returning emigrants make their way through the sliding doors of Dublin airport arrivals to come home to Ireland for Christmas. Tim Mc Inerney and Naomi O’Leary record from the scene to bring you the stories of those who have travelled from far and wide and come back home to celebrate the …

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The UK has voted for a Boris Brexit, and the future of the union has never seemed so fragile. What does the biggest Conservative majority in a generation mean for Ireland north and south? Naomi O’Leary and Tim Mc Inerney dissect the election results, discuss how a number of upsets from the Democratic Unionist Party …

Continue reading "What the UK election means for Ireland, Brexit and the union"

During the 20th century, a significant proportion of the Irish population was incarcerated in a network of institutions. These ranged from Magdalene laundries where ‘troublesome’ women were put into servitude, to industrial schools for children that were famed for their cruelty. Journalist Caelainn Hogan is the author of Republic of Shame: Stories from Ireland’s Institutions …

Continue reading "Halfpints: Ireland’s history of locking up women: interview with Caelainn Hogan"

Live from Dublin, the Irish Passport brings you the hidden history of the Irish capital with Naomi O’Leary and Tim Mc Inerney. Comedian and author Tara Flynn discusses her favourite Dublin secrets. Tonie Walsh describes gay life in the city before the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and the furious anger at violence against gay people that …

Continue reading "Secret Dublin with comedian Tara Flynn, Irish Queer Archive’s Tonie Walsh, and historian Terry Fagan"

Islands on opposite sides of the world with deep differences, and surprising similarities! Naomi O’Leary and Tim Mc Inerney explore the thriving traditional Irish music scene in Tokyo, reporting from a session in a downtown pub where dozens of Japanese musicians meet to play jigs and reels, many of them speaking in Irish accents. Ireland’s …

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A century since a revolutionary Irish government declared the birth of a new nation, we ask how Ireland could be re-invented for the future. We are living in a moment of rapid change. Great geopolitical shifts are destroying old certainties. Climate change is poised to transform our way of life. In Ireland, landmark referendums have …

Continue reading "Re-inventing Ireland: live show with author Sarah Maria Griffin, Green Party’s Clare Bailey and political scientist David Farrell"

The Irish Passport is opening up the floor to listeners in this episode, and taking questions on everything from recent Irish political history, to life as a returned member of the diaspora. Several people got in touch with practical questions about a United Ireland. Is the republic prepared for the possibility of loyalist violence? And …

Continue reading "Returning diaspora, repeat referendums and loyalists in a United Ireland: it’s a listener questions episode!"

The second installment in two episodes bringing you the voices of those with the most at stake as a disastrous No Deal Brexit threatens the island of Ireland. Naomi O’Leary and Tim Mc Inerney speak to Orla Smyth, a businesswoman who has invested everything she had in building Belfast’s thriving Kaffe O coffee chain, only …

Continue reading "Where the Brexit Stakes are Highest Part 2"

With the threat of a cliff edge Brexit posing extremely serious consequences for the island of Ireland and the border, we bring you the voices of people with the most at stake. Featuring a doctor in Derry who is worried about his patients getting their essential medicines, young people in Belfast facing changes to their …

Continue reading "Where the Brexit Stakes are Highest Part 1"

Irish law in an international outlier in its restrictions on where its its citizens can vote. The franchise is limited to those resident inside the boundaries of the 26 counties of the republic, with almost no provision for early, postal or overseas voting. Ahead of a planned referendum to extend the right to vote for …

Continue reading "Why can’t all Irish citizens vote?"