This bonus episode is available now for supporters over on our Patreon page. Belfast poet Gail McConnell reads her poem ‘Type Face’ in an exclusive recording for The Irish Passport Patreon supporters. As Gail explains in her introduction to the work, this poem discusses her experience of reading a report from Northern Ireland’s Historical Enquiries Team about the death of her father. A prison guard in the Maze, he was shot as he said goodbye to Gail and her mother on his way to work one morning. Settle in and let Gail’s reading bring you back in time to her Belfast bedroom as she searches for answers.
‘Type Face’ is published in Blackbox Manifold, online here. McConnell featured in our latest episode ‘Poetry and Pain’, in which she read her poem, ‘Start Out’.
A Newry woman visits her big brother in Paris. The two share a drink and talk all night. The next morning, he leaves instructions for taking the metro, and disappears. His family never see him again.
The story of Anne Morgan’s 32-year search for her missing brother Seamus is just one told in this episode, the second in a two-part series on the theme of dealing with the past. We speak to Damien McNally of Belfast’s Wave Trauma Centre about how trauma can be passed down from one generation to the next, and the implications of providing front-line care while political deadlock prevents wider societal change. Historian Roy Foster of Oxford University discusses Ireland’s culture of dealing with the past and how it differs from the mood in Britain as Brexit looms. From historical inquiries to ‘Derry Girls’, Naomi O’Leary and Tim Mc Inerney explore different routes to closure: through justice, truth-seeking, or creativity. This episode concludes with an exclusive reading by poet Gail McConnell of her poem about the Long Kesh breakout and the death of her father, ‘Start Out’.
This is the second of a two-part series on the issue of dealing with the past, dedicated to the memory of murdered journalist Lyra McKee. You can listen to part one here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/s3-episode-3-collusion/
You can read ‘Suicide of the Ceasefire Babies’, the essay which inspired these episodes, here.
Featuring editing by Alan Meaney http://alanmeaney.ie/ . Special thanks to Emma Rainey of Fem-Vibes podcast for reading an excerpt of Lyra McKee’s writing for us.
Season 3 of The Irish Passport podcast is made with the kind support of Biddy Murphy, online sellers of genuine Irish goods. Check them out on www.biddymurphy.com.
The music you heard in this episode is Night II, by Swelling, and Serial Killer, by John Bartmann.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
A brutal mass shooting shocks the world. In its wake, leaders vow to find those responsible and bring them to justice. But instead, the investigation goes nowhere. Evidence mysteriously goes missing or is destroyed. Suspects are tipped off before they are questioned. Leads are allowed to go cold.
This episode delves into the murky history of collusion in Northern Ireland. Naomi O’Leary and Tim Mc Inerney speak to investigative journalist Barry McCaffrey about the damning information he discovered linking the the infamous Loughinisland massacre to the British state’s so-called “Dirty War”. Naomi traces how Brexit has re-politicised Northern Ireland for the British right, and how modest progress in digging up the truth about the path has led to a backlash at the top of Westminster politics.
This is the first of a two-part series on the issue of dealing with the past, dedicated to the memory of murdered journalist Lyra McKee. You can listen to part two here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/s3-episode-4-poetry-and-pain/
Season 3 of The Irish Passport podcast is made with the kind support of Biddy Murphy, online sellers of genuine Irish goods. Check them out on www.biddymurphy.com.
The music you heard in this episode is Night II, by Swelling, and Serial Killer, by John Bartmann.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
A transcript of this episode is available here: https://theirishpassport.com/transcript-collusion/
Ireland just had a voting bonanza: local elections, European elections, a referendum on divorce and a vote on directly elected mayor hardly anyone knew about… What were the results and what do they mean? Why did the Emerald Isle suddenly turn green, politically? Naomi gathers a team of Irish journalist colleagues to break down the good, the bad, and the downright weird. Featuring RTÉ deputy foreign editor Colm Ó Mongáin, Mark Paul of the Irish Times, and Phelim O’Neill of the Irish Farmers Journal.
This bonus episode is now available for supporters over on our Patreon page.
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