Mike Cronin and Mark Duncan’s new book Revolutionary Times looks at the revolutionary period in Ireland. In this podcast he talks to Dion Fanning about the stories we tell ourselves, the problem with reunification and why Irish history remains such a hot topic to debate.
Four years ago, Kilian Kaminski and two co-founders started Refurbed, an Austrian start-up now selling refurbished electronic products across Europe. Where competitors manage their own stock of second-hand smartphones, his company acts as the consumer-facing marketplace for products ranging from IT devices to coffee makers and electric bikes sourced from specialist technical partners. Refurbed recently set its eyes on Ireland, and Kaminski tells Thomas Hubert that it likes what it is seeing here.
Derek Scally's book "The Best Catholics in the World" examines the nature of catholicism in Ireland and looks at the end of that "special relationship" and what was left behind. In this podcast, Derek discusses what it is in the Irish nature that led to the Catholicism Ireland experienced and, with Catholicism gone, what has that nature embraced now?
Last weekend, some of the biggest football clubs in the world made an attempt to seize control of the game. Where did it all go wrong? Sean Keyes, Stephen Kinsella and Dion Fanning discuss the Super League, the lessons they could have taken from history, why it failed and how there might have been a more successful version of the same idea if the club owners had made a better effort of taking on the status quo.
Having begun his career as a management consultant with McKinsey, Patrick Coveney has spent more than a decade running Greencore. In a revealing interview with Alison Cowzer, Coveney talks about personal ambition, Brexit and his own future with the food giant. He also talks about scaling an Irish business globally, dynastic politics and his views on the Irish response to the crisis.
When the Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu announced her candidacy for the Seanad by-election, it exposed further fault lines within the Green Party. She tells Cáit Caden why she decided to run, even though she believes she cannot win, and her future in the party. Chu also discussed tensions in her party and her views on the contentious topic of CETA. Since Chu has entered public office, she has been a driver for integration and diversity. She talks about what she believes should be done, especially in education, to promote integration and her thoughts on the higher level in Irish requirement to become a primary school teacher.
Bernie Madoff's death this week brought back memories of one of the most far-reaching Ponzi schemes in financial history. Diana Henriques's book The Wizard of Lies told his story. She interviewed Madoff and, even in securing that interview, she experienced in a small way what it was like to trust Madoff and for him to betray that trust. In this podcast, she talked about how Madoff did that and how his Ponzi scheme appealed to people's anxiety rather than their greed.
Sean Keyes asks The Currency’s senior correspondent Thomas Hubert and chief economics writer Stephen Kinsella to unpick Joe Biden’s proposal for corporation tax reform: Why does US tax law matter so much to Ireland? How do American multinationals react to changes in the tax code? How likely is the new US president’s plan to be implemented, and how would its combined impact with ongoing international talks at the OECD affect the Irish economy? The answers are less clear-cut than you might think.
Warren Deutrom is CEO of Cricket Ireland. The past 15 years have contained many glorious moments for Irish cricket but now the game's ruling body in Ireland is looking to appeal to those who understand cricket, those who don't and those who may know that its history in Ireland is a long one. But first, like every sport, they have to try to get back playing in Covid times
One year ago, Suzanne Rigby and Mark Hooper’s business, which focused on display advertising in pubs, evaporated overnight. Within one month, they turned around and launched Clickandcollection.com, a service allowing restaurants to manage online orders for meal kits and takeaway menus. Now joined by John O’Connor, they want to expand beyond their customer base of 250 businesses – including internationally. The three entrepreneurs join Thomas Hubert to discuss their experience and their plans.
Having risen the ranks at JP Morgan and HSBC, Sligo native Deirdre McGettrick assumed she would eventually take a job with one of the companies that she advised. Instead, based on her experience of furnishing her own house, she became an unlikely entrepreneur in 2019. Today, Ufurnish.com is the UK’s largest home furnishing and comparison website. The company has just appointed Pat McCann, the founder of hotel group Dalata, as chair, and is currently in the process of raising up to £10 million to fuel expansion. In this podcast with Cait Caden, McGettrick talks about her journey from investment banking to running a start-up and outlines the company’s ambitious plans for the future.
