“I don’t think Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams had any appetite for violence at all”
In his book, Stakeknife’s Dirty War, the former H-Block prisoner, Richard O’Rawe, provides the inside story on Freddie Scappaticci. In an interview with Dion Fanning, he explores the many lives of Scappaticci, his own experience as a prisoner during the hunger strikes, and his views on Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams as they pursued peace, viewed as “treachery in a pristine sense” by many republicans.
“Fianna Fáil did have an ability to present itself as something different for different types but its obsession with economic success during the Celtic Tiger was seen by some on the left of the party as a betrayal of its original ideals”
Professor of Politics at DCU, Gary Murphy and Fintan Drury, who worked with many politicians during a long career in communications, discuss the fall of Fianna Fáil and whether there is any chance of the party achieving relevance in the future.
“We should be teaching children about the salaries associated with their career choices.”
Sonya Lennon has put in the hard yards. For three decades, she has worked in the fashion industry gaining fans and favour. What makes her remarkable is what she has done with that profile. She talks to Rosanna Cooney about making the decision to empower women economically and doing so in a practical hands-on way.
“Part of that operating theory is that Russia will need friends on the world stage and that could create opportunities for African countries”
David McNair of ONE talks to Ed Brophy about food insecurity and the reality of the fall out from Russia's invasion of Ukraine for African countries who no longer trust the West and have been courted by Russia and China as a new front opens in a new cold war.
“I think the real reckoning is that Russian money and Russian influence with power was allowed to infiltrate Western economies and political systems in a way that was profoundly unhealthy.”
The sanctions placed on Roman Abramovich in the UK have created uncertainty about the future of his football club, Chelsea FC. Dion Fanning talks to the sportswriter Paul Hayward about the rise and fall of Abramovich, the money in the Premier League and where English football - and England - goes from here.
“We don’t want to muddy the water between whiskey and Poitín. I believe it should be white. It should have a bit of fire, a bit of grit in its teeth”
Dave Mulligan is a man on a mission. Having shaken up the drinks industry in Ireland with the lockdown hit Craft Cocktails, he is working on making Poitín the drink of the roaring 2020's. In this podcast he talks to Alison Cowzer about the bars of the future, how to retain staff during a national shortage and breaking into a bottled drinks industry dominated by global players.
“My parents are in Kyiv and they don’t want to leave.”
The Ukrainian academic Volodymyr Ishchenko has dealt for much of his career with nationalism in Ukraine and beyond. He is part of this podcast this weekend, discussing the motivation of Vladimir Putin, why he feels Russian nationalism doesn't play a huge role in the career of a man who has been driven by cynical, kleptocratic politics and Ishchenko also talks about his own parents who remain in Kyiv. In the first part of the podcast, Johnny O'Reilly speaks to The Currency from Odessa about covering this story and what lies ahead.
Russian money in Ireland: “There’s no employment activity associated with this. There’s also no taxation revenue.”
As international sanctions target an ever-increasing list of Russian interests in response to the invasion of Ukraine, Thomas Hubert's reporting has traced €13 billion worth of Irish-domiciled assets to Russian firms on the EU and US sanctions list and Stephen Kinsella has assessed the balance of forces between Moscow's military might and Western powers' economic pressure. They join Ian Kehoe to discuss how this confrontation will play out and why Ireland finds itself at the centre of it.
“Ukrainians are realising that they are alone in this war but still hoping that Europe will be proactive, not just in terms of making statements.”
After a harrowing week in Ukraine, two academics at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna spoke to Dion Fanning about what is happening in the country. Ukrainian Lidiia Akryshora and US historian Katherine Younger about why Putin isn't a rational actor and why there is no way he can achieve what he wants in Ukraine.
“We should be looking at tax reforms for families, and better incentives for family members to join their own family businesses.”
Paul Keogh advises some of the most illustrious dynasties of Ireland. His new book, The Family Business Book, offers practical advice on succession planning, firing your relatives and employing them in the first place. He tells Rosanna Cooney how to prevent bust-ups and plan for the future when more than just business is at stake.