Every March, St Patrick’s Day transforms Dublin — but few people know the man helping to turn a single parade into one of Ireland’s biggest cultural and economic events.
Richard Tierney is the CEO of St Patrick’s Festival, the organisation behind Ireland’s national celebration. In thispodcast with Ian Kehoe, Tierney explains how the festival has evolved into a multi-day, citywide programme — with free daytime events, night-time culture and thousands of participants — while still carrying the weight of national identity at home and abroad.
Coming from a background in live entertainment and major commercial deals, Tierney was brought in with a clear brief: make the festival financially sustainable without losing its cultural soul.
Denmark has long been a superpower when it comes to renewable energy. But what can we learn from their experience? In the latest episode of Energy Matters, Ian Kehoe is joined by Lise Holmegaard Larsen of State of Green, a Danish public-private body tackling climate change, to understand the journey Denmark has been on, what policies have been put in place, and how countries such as Ireland can catch up. This series is sponsored by Pinergy.
Is the recent wave of job cuts by technology companies a structural shift or a necessary realignment? The Currency’s Chief Economics Writer Stephen Kinsella and Senior Correspondent Thomas Hubert join Editor Ian Kehoe to discuss Ireland’s response to the tech slump - including the opportunities arising from it.
There will be around 100,000 satellites orbiting the earth by the end of the decade. Ubotica, an Irish space tech start-up, has developed a machine learning chip that can process images from inside these cereal-boxed sized satellites. Aubrey Dunne, chief technology officer and c0-founder, talks to Rosanna Cooney about the potential applications of this observational technology, from spotting crop failure before it's visible on the ground, to identifying forest fires and oil slicks in real-time.
In episode four of Energy Matters, we look at renewable energy and examine whether Ireland is really where it should be in terms of both onshore and offshore energy systems, and where we need to go over the next decade. Ian Kehoe is joined by Ruth Young, Senior Consultant at Cornwall Insight, and Conall Bolger, CEO of the Irish Solar Energy Association. This series is sponsored by Pinergy.
Leaving the world of mass manufactured alcohol behind, Karen O'Neill founded a new drinks brand with a modern take on mead. Beekon was going gangbusters, O'Neill tells Rosanna Cooney, but then the unimaginable happened and she had a decision to make: to fight on or fail.
Colm Tóibín talks to Dion Fanning in this week's episode of Experience about the World Cup, his career as a hurler and why he won't talk about Sinn Féin.
Siobhán McHugh is the chief executive of the Demand Response Association of Ireland, whose members scour businesses for power usage that can be postponed when a surge occurs on the national grid. She tells Thomas Hubert how this emerging industry works and who can take part.
Roddy Collins's life has been a story of adventure, resilience and, sometimes, bluster. In this week's episode of Experience, he talks to Dion Fanning about never being afraid to risk everything and standing up to John Delaney.
In episode three of Energy Matters, we look at what the future of transport in Ireland might look like and what needs to be done to get us there.
Ian Kehoe is joined by Derek Reilly of Nevo.ie, Ireland's only dedicated EV website, and David O’Reilly of Zeus Scooters, who are active in over 50 cities but are currently unable to operate in Ireland.
This series is sponsored by Pinergy
