“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.
“In a large corporate environment, being yourself is not rewarded. You get a really damaged corporate culture where people bore the arses off everyone, all day every day.”
Jack Murray has always been fascinated with the art of storytelling. For 20 years, he has advised politicians and business leaders on how to tell their own story, while his company MediaHQ has built software to help people share stories. Now, he has just published a book on the topic called: “The Magic Slice: How to master the art of storytelling for business.”
In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, Murray explains the book's thesis – that companies with great stories get more funding, more customers, and more emotional reaction. He explains what companies need to do in order to hone their story and gives examples of companies who have got the process right – as well as those who have failed. He also talks about the science of storytelling, why he abandoned PowerPoint, and the journey that led to him writing the book.
“It’s all very well getting in a minister who totally understands the problem… But if their solution isn’t popular with the people it affects, and their voters, then it’s unlikely to see the light of day”
Ben Southwood is a fellow at Policy Exchange, a UK think tank. Along with his co-author Samuel Hughes, he has an idea: individual streets should control their own planning rules.
Now, Southwood and Hughes' idea is on the UK legislative agenda. Obscure as it may sound, the plan has the potential to deliver tens of thousands of new homes in the places they're needed most. In this podcast, Southwood talks about street votes, along with his diagnosis of what has gone wrong in the housing markets of the English-speaking world.
“The Polish government are lying every day…the main battle in Poland right now is the independence of the judiciary”
In this podcast, Roman Imielski, journalist and editor at the largest broadsheet newspaper in Poland Gazeta Wyborcza, explains what is happening in his country and why the stand off with the EU could play into the Polish government's hands as they try to create anti EU feeling in a country which remains supportive of the union.
“A lot of farmers are medicating the animals as a preventative measure because that’s the easiest thing to do at the moment.”
Sean Smith is a fresh-faced 22-year-old ag-tech entrepreneur who co-founded Micron Agritech, a parasite testing kit for livestock, while at university in TUD. Since its creation in 2019, the business now has 10 employees and an office on Dublin’s Northside. The company has already raised €500,000 through Yield Lab and is looking for a further €1.5 million in funding ahead of its official launch in early 2022. Although parasite testing in livestock is the current focus for Micron Agritech, Smith believes it has the potential for use in human health in the future as well.
“Brian Cowen knew he was finishing his own career by taking the really important fundamental, tough decisions that needed to be taken.”
"I don't believe we can trust the gambling industry." As his book on corporate culture See-Saw is published, Fintan Drury looks back on his own career and his time on the board of Anglo Irish bank and chair of Paddy Power. It has been an extraordinary career and in this interview with Dion Fanning, he discusses representing Brian Kerr, his early career in journalism and why his career left him with a feeling of angst.
“People will accept high density… if it is a lovely, walkable, humane place in which to spend your time and live your life”
Nicholas Boys-Smith is the founder of Create Streets, a social enterprise in the UK which is focused on making new development as popular and as beloved as historic development. This matters not just for its own sake, but because unpopular development tends to get blocked in the planning process, which drives up housing costs. Boys-Smith speaks to Sean Keyes.
“We are not just bean counters in this department. We do have a key role as guardians of the public finances, but we have to protect the overall priorities of government”
As Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath has overseen one of the biggest spending packages in the history of the state. As Minister for Reform, he also must ensure the state gets value for money. He talks policy, politics and the public sector with Stephen Kinsella.
“We’ve tripled our portfolio from when Statkraft came into Ireland first”
Kevin O'Donovan was a co-founder of Element Power when the Norwegian state-owned renewable energy giant acquired it three years ago. He is now Statkraft's boss in Ireland and oversees its wind and solar energy business across northern Europe. In a companion interview to Thomas Hubert's exploration of the business, O'Donovan shares his views on the renewable project life cycle, what Ireland needs to do to achieve its decarbonisation targets and the unique funding model he can tap into within the Statkraft group.
“There’s such a feeling of animosity between them that Biden is more likely to run in 2024 if Trump does”
Ben Schreckinger, a reporter in Washington with Politico, has written a book on Joe Biden's long public life and the compromises and conflicts of interest that might have arisen during those years. Biden's life has been defined by tragedy and those tragedies brought his family together but in keeping that united front, questions have been raised about some family dealings. In this podcast, he talked to Dion Fanning about the president's career and the family he shares it with.
” I never set myself up as a psychologist, but I do believe that I’ve earned the right to call myself an expert in performance”
Many of the best things that have happened in Irish sport have involved Gary Keegan, including the rise of Irish boxing, where he was high performance director for six years. Keegan has since worked with the IRFU, Cricket Ireland and is CEO of Uppercut, which looks at ways of maximising high performance for individuals and organisations. Paul Flynn worked with Keegan at Dublin and in this conversation they discuss those years, vulnerability and why Jim Gavin's endless curiosity ensured success.