Spoil Your Reign

This special episode is on the current situation in Northern Ireland. We are joined by our special UK correspondent Ben Simmons! We discuss politics in Northern Ireland, the future of Irish republicanism and what is going on with the UK general election in June Comments, Questions & Complaints go to spoilyourreign@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter & Facebook

This is an episode examining the first four months of 2017 and the myriad of political events that have occurred. Starting with the Gardaí scandal, the new Broadcast Tax, the Jobstown trial and the upcoming leadership race inside Fine Gael, focusing upon Leo Varadkar, his politics and the impact his victory would have on the country and on FG’s political future. Unfortunately we ran out of time to discuss other issues such as the Maternity Hospital, the #Grace trial and the Constitutional Convention, these will be examined in subsequent episodes. Comments, Questions & Complaints go to spoilyourreign@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter & Facebook

This is an episode on Generations theory and the crisis within the higher education system in Ireland. We start with the Strauss-Howe theory of generations and how this doesn’t apply to Ireland, then we dive into the massive change in the numbers of people who entered the Irish education system between the 1980s and present day. We use the following papers and websites and would encourage all of our listeners to check them out. Central Statistics Office (CSO) report on Irish education attainment.  Struass-Howe Theory basic overview, the original book and a website that might be useful.    NYT Criticisms of Strauss-Howe here & here.  The Irish economist who predicted the crash of the 'Celtic Tiger' was Prof. Morgan Kelly his bio is here.  Comments, Questions & Complaints go to spoilyourreign@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter & Facebook Leave a rating & review on iTunes

This is our special St. Patrick’s Day episode. We recorded this episode a few weeks ago about the meeting happening tomorrow between Enda Kenny and Donald Trump at the White House. We also talk about the changes within the Irish-American community and its relationship with Ireland over the past few decades. Comments, Questions & Complaints go to spoilyourreign@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter & Facebook

This is our special Northern Ireland podcast on the recent Assembly Election. Otherwise known as #AE17 for those of you following on Twitter.    We discuss the results and the potential outcomes and how this election relates the upcoming Irish election.    We would like to thank the good people of Slugger O’Toole for the graphic created of the election results there is a link to that here. We would highly recommend everyone to follow their coverage of the election which was very good.    Comments, Questions & Complaints go to spoilyourreign@gmail.com    Follow us on Twitter & Facebook

In this episode we’re discussing depictions of violence in media and how violence writ large is often debating in a generalist way without nuance or context in the modern media environment. Please give us a rating and review on iTunes You can follow us on Twitter and on our Facebook page You can contact us via email spoilyourreign@gmail.com

First off apologies for the audio quality, we were recording in a new location and had some technical difficulties. This has been fixed so it won't happen in future epsidoes.  The episode is a discussion of cultural context in movies. We start with recent Star Wars film, Rogue One and examine a number of other films in the process. This is the first in our series of culture podcasts for 2017. For anyone who has not seen the movies we are discussing there are a lot of SPOILERS. You can contact us Email: spoilyourreign@gmail.com Twitter: @spoilyourreign Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spoilyourreign

This episode was recorded in early January 2017 and is a review of the political events in 2016 and some political predictions for 2017. We would like to thank all of our listeners who have contacted us over the past 18 months and we look forward to an interesting 2017. You can contact us on Twitter @spoilyourreign, by Email spoilyourreign@gmail.com and like us on Facebook. If you have time please write a review and give us a rating on iTunes, this helps our podcast reach a wider audience.

This marks the final episode of 2016 featuring special guest Chris Beausang (@differengenera). Due to unforeseen delays this episode is being released on January 2nd 2017. This episode was a discussion of the political instability in Ireland during 2016 and the potential for more chaos in 2017, including multiple general elections. For those who remember the period 1981 - 1982, this will not be a surprise! In addition, the possibilities of a broad based left-wing coalition being formed in Ireland were explored. As always you can find us on Twitter @spoilyourreign and contact us by email spoilyourreign@gmail.com or via our Facebook page.

This episode looks at the recently released Irish budget 2017, the future of the FG minority government and the effects of Brexit on Ireland after the recent moves by the Conservative Party in the UK. You can follow us on Twitter @spoilyourreign or contact us by email at spoilyourreign@gmail.com

This episode looks at film music and soundtracks. A continuation of our expansion from politics into other areas of interest for us. Two YouTube videos influenced our conversation in this podcast and these are linked below.  ‘The Marvel Symphonic Universe’ by Every Frame a Painting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs ‘A Theory of Film Music’ by Dan Golding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcXsH88XlKM Please get in touch with us about the episode, you can contact us by email spoilyourreign@gmail.com , by Twitter @spoilyourreign and by commenting on our Facebook page.

This is a special episode on the Apple Tax controversy. We discuss the issues of the Apple Tax situation and some broader problems with the Irish taxation system as it is currently constituted. This episode was recorded on Friday September 2nd and certain events and facts have come to light since the time of recording.  You can contact us on Twitter @spoilyourreign or by email at spoilyourreign@gmail.com

In this episode, we discuss some of the issues with voting in Ireland. In particular the types of electors in Ireland, the difficulties in registering to vote and some suggestions on how to improve the voting experience.  You can contact us at spoilyourreign@gmail.com or on Twitter @spoilyourreign

In this episode, we discuss the history of Ireland as a colony and the relationship between Ireland’s colonial past and the current Irish culture. This is a follow up from our previous discussion of Irish culture and identity.  As always you can contact in the following ways:  Twitter @spoilyourreign  Facebook www.facebook.com/spoilyourreign Email: spoilyourreign@gmail.com

In this episode, we discuss some of the issues outlining Irish culture and identity today, and how it relates to nationalism, stereotypes and conflicting european and international perspectives. Follow us on Twitter @spoilyourreign ; Like us on Facebook and you can email us at spoilyourreign@gmail.com

This episode is a discussion of the preliminary results of the 2016 Irish Census and the wider issue of the Urban-Rural divide. In other news we are planning on creating a data-model looking at the urban and rural divide. In addition we are particularly interested in the average constituency or series of constituencies that track the national average in referendum campaigns. To any of our listeners who have data that could be useful to this study please get in touch by email or on Twitter. Prior to 1981, the election data is sparse and as a result any excel sheets or old papers listening tallies from old elections would be very helpful!  Email: spoilyourreign@gmail.com   Twitter: @spoilyourreign

This episode is a discussion of the current political landscape post-Brexit. We discuss the fallout in Ireland, the potential impact on Northern Ireland and the recent decision by the ECB to demand higher scrutiny of Irish legislation passed by the Oireachtas.  As always you can follow us on Twitter @spoilyourreign, like our page on Facebook and if you could leave a comment or rating at our homepage on iTunes we would greatly appreciate it, as this helps our show reach a wider audience.  Lastly any comments, complaints and requests please email spoilyourreign@gmail.com

This episode is a lively discussion of the effects of Brexit on Ireland and the broader issues of sovereignty within the UK.  During the discussion we use the term ‘yes’ and ‘no’ camps instead of the typical ‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’. In order to prevent confusion when we say vote yes, we mean an vote in favour of the EU and a no vote means leaving the EU.  For any of our listeners in N. Ireland and the UK who are voting on Thursday. If you have tallies or any updates on vote totals in your constituencies please get in touch with us via Twitter, Facebook or by email. @spoilyourreign spoilyourreign@gmail.com

This episode is an explanation of the term ‘Civil War’ politics, a particular phrase utilised in the Irish political context. This phrase is utilised as a short to describe the relationship between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. However upon a basic reading of the historical facts, the two parties in question were formed after the Irish civil war had occurred. So why is this term still used? We discuss this and more.  As always comments, questions and complaints please email us at spoilyourreign@gmail.com Twitter - @spoilyourreign  Facebook -  www.facebook.com/spoilyourreign

This episode is an analysis of the new Irish government formed after 70 days of political inertia. It is a Fine Gael minority government supported from the Opposition by Fianna Fail. This government is a historic first as there has never been a Fine Gael administration re-elected. We discuss the impact of this and how the smallest government in the history of the state can function over the medium to short term.  For our non-Irish listeners here are some basic facts about the current political state of affairs within the Irish parliament.  The government of Ireland is formed within the lower house of the Irish Parliament (Oireachtas), the lower house called Dail Eireann is comprised of 158 members, called TDs. The Speaker of the House, called the Ceann Comhairle is elected and is officially neutral, leaving 157 TDs from which a government can be formed. The Fine Gael government comprises of 50 FG TDs and 8 Independent TDs. 22 seats short of passing any piece of legislation. A minority government comprising of