When Muhammad Ali visited Dublin to fight Al Blue Lewis he famously asked where do all the black people hang out? He was told there weren’t any. Dave Hannigan has written a marvelous book about that week in Ireland. He talks to Dion Fanning about Ali’s time in Dublin and the people who made it happen.
Two years ago, Mike McGrath and Martin Fitzgerald put their money in their own pockets and developed a minimum viable product, before launching it to the market last year. Today, their Cork-based company, Kwayga, has 50,000 suppliers listed on its platform and is operating in 50 countries.
The business, an online platform that matches buyers and sellers in the food and beverage sector, initially targeted the European market but it is now gaining momentum in the US and Canada. In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, McGrath talks about the genesis of the business, the growing problem of supply chain disruption, and raising funds to scale internationally.
Kevin O'Brien is one of the great figures from the golden age of Irish cricket. A 50-ball century against England in 2011 catapulted him to the forefront of people's minds but he was there on all the great days. After announcing his retirement, he spoke to Dion Fanning about his disappointment in how it ended.
Deciphex, the virtual diagnostics company led by academic turned entrepreneur Donal O'Shea, is applying Artificial Intelligence algorithms to pathology, a discipline that hasn't changed much in its physicality over the last century. In this podcast, he talks to Rosanna Cooney about speeding up the diagnostic process and presenting pathologists with an alternate career path.
In this podcast Jonathan Wilson talks to Dion Fanning about his new book on Jack and Bobby Charlton. In his post playing career Jack became a huge figure, while Bobby became an emblem of the glory and tragedy of Manchester United. He was an old fashioned figure, to whom, as Wilson says in this podcast, the career of George Best could almost seem like a personal rebuke. But he also became a wealthy man.
WeHaveChefs is constructing a fast-track corridor between the kitchens of south-east Asia and the restaurants of Ireland to plug the gaping hole that Covid-19 left in the hospitality industry. In this podcast, Paddy Lynn, the business's co-founder, talks to Rosanna Cooney about streamlining the process and what the government can do to help the industry survive.
Sean O'Driscoll has written an extraordinarily detailed book on the life of Rose Dugdale. Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber is centred around the many interviews Dugdale did with the author, who speaks to Dion Fanning about her contradictions, earning her trust and being savaged on Liveline for the book.
Adriaan Palm, the ambassador of the Netherlands to Ireland, says that almost every meeting he has with Irish officials and citizens throws up questions on his country’s ability to adopt cycling and other sustainable transport options. In this far-reaching interview on Dutch-Irish economic relations, he reveals that environmental issues have taken over from corporation tax and Brexit at the top of the diplomatic agenda and discusses investment from the Netherlands in Ireland, including the new €200 million cheese joint venture between Glanbia Co-op and Royal A-Ware in Co Kilkenny.
Thomas Hubert and Stephen Kinsella talk to Dion Fanning about the deal reached within the government about reduction in emissions from the agriculture sector and why without leadership the same problems will return.
Cork company Valid8Me has developed reusable identity software that it claims allows financial institutions and professional services firms to onboard new customers in a cheaper and quicker way than anyone else in the market. Grant Thornton believes in the product, and the accountancy firm has just taken a majority stake in the company for €12.5 million. In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, co-founder and CEO Patrick Horgan explains how the deal came about and outlines his plan to expand in the UK and the US. He also talks about the business of compliance, know-your-customer regulations and the company’s “atypical” journey.
In his book Chums, Simon Kuper explored the link between Oxford University and the elite that has ruled in the UK, primarily in the Conservative Party. That elite, through Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings and other, also created Brexit. In this podcast, Kuper talks to Dion Fanning about the contenders for the leadership, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss, two products of Oxford and two nostalgists for the glory days of Margaret Thatcher.
