The Irish Passport

A bonus special episode in honour of our national day! We discuss the annual pilgrimage of Irish politicians to the White House that inevitably results in scandal. Tim Mc Inerney tells us the surprising origins of the St. Patrick’s Day festival and the murky history of the leprechaun mascot. Naomi O’Leary investigates the global empire behind the viral spread of Irish Pubs from Hong Kong to Panama, but discovers how a friendly Irish bar can be a real  asset for immigrants far from home. For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish. Support this podcast

A United Ireland: the idea has been a political force in Irish and British politics for centuries, and it has been given fresh momentum by Brexit. Tim Mc Inerney explains how the concept long pre-dates the partition of the island and was once championed by Protestant elites. Naomi O’Leary visits a public meeting about unification in central Dublin, and asks why it matters to people — and when they expect it to happen. We hear from expert Katy Hayward on the potential options for Northern Ireland after Brexit, and why she believes talk of a United Ireland should be avoided altogether. For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish. Support this podcast

It’s the grand finale to the first season! Tim Mc Inerney and Naomi O’Leary examine how a standoff over the Irish border in the Brexit negotiations brought ignorance about Ireland among politicians and media to the surface. We review the biggest embarrassing moments on air from the past few weeks, quiz ordinary English people about what they know about Ireland, and give a quick and dirty roundup of the history you need to know to understand today’s news. Tim hears from a group of Northern Irish podcasters about what it’s like to be from the forgotten province, and Naomi meets the Irishman who worked in Downing Street in the thick of the Brexit campaign and tried in vain to warn his colleagues of the border problems that were coming. We speak to finance professor Brian Lucey about the myths about Ireland that Brexit has brought to the surface, and hear an audio essay by Gordon Guthrie about Britain’s ‘great forgetting’. For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish. Support this podcast

Just below the surface of modern Ireland, a parallel world exists with its roots in pre-Christian belief. Irish fairies aren’t like Tinkerbell – they’re more like a supernatural mafia. So be careful what you say, because as the story goes, they’re probably listening. Tim Mc Inerney talks to one of Ireland’s last seanchaí or story-teller historians, who once managed to get a highway diverted to prevent the felling of a fairy bush. We also hear about modern traditions from the streets of Galway as the Celtic New Year Samhain festival is underway. Meanwhile, Naomi O’Leary discovers that fairies can even make an appearance in modern politics, thanks to Ireland’s unique clan of rural populists, the Healy Rae political dynasty of County Kerry. For bonus episodes, support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/theirishpassport. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish. Support this podcast