The last Irish unionist politicians were elected in the 1920s… until now. With Brexit changing everything, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar invited Armagh native Ian Marshall to run as an independent candidate for Seanad Éireann. Marshall topped the poll, becoming the first northern unionist to be elected to the Irish parliament. His candidacy was supported by the nationalist party Sinn Féin to boot. In this interview Marshall explains his staunch opposition to Brexit, what life was like for his Protestant farming family in South Armagh during the conflict in Northern Ireland, and how he feels about a potential future referendum on Irish unity.
Marshall was featured briefly on the Season 2 episode ‘Irish Politics and the Civil War’. You can listen to the full interview now on Patreon: exclusive extra content we produce to thank our patrons.
Listen here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/22855237
Ireland’s main political parties are not split on a traditional left-right model, but instead represent different sides of a bloody civil war in the 1920s. But why is this war spoken about so little today? Could it be that its memory is too painful? Or is it because it still so strangely dominant in modern Irish politics? In this episode, Tim Mc Inerney traces the history of Ireland’s Civil War from 1922-23, and how it shaped the country’s political landscape. Meanwhile, Naomi O’Leary pays a visits the Irish Seanad or senate in Dublin, where she meets two politicians who have been deeply influenced by Civil War politics, albeit in very different ways. One is Senator Mark Daly, a descendant from anti-treaty rebels still questing for a 32-county Ireland, and the other is Senator Ian Marshall, the first northern unionist ever to be elected to the Irish Seanad.
For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
A transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/transcripts/transcript-irish-politics-and-the-civil-war/
Support this podcast
A hundred years since the end of the First World War, the remembrance poppy remains a controversial symbol in Ireland. Why? Writer Kylie Noble explains what the poppy meant to her as a child growing up in Fermanagh in Northern Ireland, and how she reconciles it with her British and Irish identity today. Naomi O’Leary traces the roots of Ireland’s complex relationship with the poppy and how it intersects with her own family history, and interrogates what the fundraising appeal is for according to the accounts of the Royal British Legion. Should Taoiseach Leo Varadkar be wearing a shamrock poppy? You decide.
For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
Featuring Cello Duet No. 1 by Chief Boima
Support this podcast
Ireland’s housing crisis is at boiling point, with homelessness at record levels and even well-paid people struggling to afford soaring rents and house prices. It’s the political issue everyone is talking about — but it’s one with a long and dramatic history. Tim Mc Inerney and Naomi O’Leary trace the backstory to how an agrarian revolt turned Ireland into a kind of property-based welfare state. Guest reporter Molly May O’Leary visits an ‘occupation training’ session by Take Back the City, the activists who are grabbing headlines by seizing empty buildings in Dublin and demanding they be turned into social housing. How did Ireland go from the excesses of the Celtic Tiger property boom, to bust and back again? And what does diaspora minister Ciaran Cannon say about the impact on those hoping to move home? Hear the whole story in this episode. Featuring insights from University College Dublin Professor Michelle Norris, University College Cork Professor Cathal O’Connell, and Lorcan Sirr, who’s senior lecturer of housing at the Dublin Institute of Technology.
For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.
A transcript of this episode is available here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/transcript-the-housing-crisis/
Support this podcast
The last Irish unionist politicians were elected in the 1920s… until now. With Brexit changing everything, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar invited Armagh native Ian Marshall to run as an independent candidate for Seanad Éireann. Marshall topped the poll, becoming the first northern unionist to be elected to the Irish parliament. His candidacy was supported by the nationalist party Sinn Féin to boot. In this interview Marshall explains his staunch opposition to Brexit, what life was like for his Protestant farming family in South Armagh during the conflict in Northern Ireland, and how he feels about a potential future referendum on Irish unity.
Unlock with Patreon