Una and Andrea's United Ireland

We're all about radical solutions to big issues here at United Ireland, and this week we journey to Donegal, to see whether what's often called the forgotten county could benefit from new thinking. Joining us this week is the mastermind behind Finland's Universal Basic Income experiment, Olli Kangas, and Donegal doer and thinker Declan Meehan gives us the lay of the land. Our County Rep this week is Una's better half, Sarah Francis, who is repping the north west hard. Andrea bowls us over with her Donegal facts, and we also talk about Jeffrey Epstein, Hong Kong protests, and our all-star drag lineup for Love Sensation when Tuna Chicken Roll goes live! Enya, Football Special, Tory kings, Donegal queens, fishing, Brexit, wee Daniel, this episode has it all! Donegal abú!

We're mixing things up this week, for a special episode on Lethal Dialect, otherwise known as Paul Alwright. Back to the counties next week! With these bonus interviews, we're trying to find out what makes artists and doers tick and the importance that their environment and their county holds to them. Lethal Dialect is back, with a new album on the way and a gig this Friday at the Workmans in Dublin. In this chat with Una, LD talks about place, country and home, capitalism, hip-hop, stoicism, and plenty of other bits in between, as we wandered around Golden Lane, Dublin Castle, Christchurch, before retiring to the Lord Edward pub.

We’re popping down to the Sunny South East this week at the same time as all of the music revelers™ making their way to All Together Now, praying for blue skies and some of that famous sun. As another sold out festival hits the circuit in only its second year, it’s clear that there’s still room for a festival with a good vibe and a cracking lineup. But the concert calendar in Ireland looks pretty crowded this summer - or is it possible that our appetite for live music in a field is insatiable? And what about the tickets to those gigs? When people were losing their minds over tickets to Lizzo’s show in the Olympia vanishing in seconds, only to be resold by Ticketmaster at inflated prices, it rightly shone the light again on how tickets are being sold in this country. We’ll be talking to RTE Brainstorm’s Jim Carroll about what’s going on with these ‘platinum’ tickets and that packed festival calendar, along with journalist Amy O’Connor, who will be filling us in all about the Déise.

This week we're off to Ireland's smallest county to talk about trees. Listen up, this is an important story that isn't getting the coverage it deserves. We speak to Save Leitrim about why they're campaigning against particular forestry projects and enterprises, and we hear about the impact this is all having on the county. In glorious news, Louise McSharry is our very special guest host this week. ALL HAIL LOUISE. Andrea is back next week to reclaim her throne. Our County Rep this week is Katherine Lynch, who is repping Leitrim HARD. Una and Louise choose their fave bits, Louise selects the tuna chicken roll, and our youngest ever guest joins us in studio. That's right, Louise's new baby, Ted, is here to make his voice heard. Save the trees, save the bees, Save Leitrim.

On April 18th, 2019, journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry. On this episode about what happened next, Lyra’s partner, Sara Canning, talks about the night Lyra was murdered and how her death impacted her, her community, and Derry itself. We also discuss the protests that emerged in response to Lyra’s murder with Lyra’s friend, Sinead Quinn. One of the most respected journalists in the country, Susan McKay, is in studio to discuss the social, political and economic context of her hometown Derry, and she also gives us added insight into the significance of Lyra’s journalism, and her own relationship with Lyra. Our County Rep this week is the brilliant Séamas O’Reilly, a writer with The Observer and the Irish Times, who delivers a beautiful ode to Derry. This episode examines the legacy of an incredibly talented young journalist murdered in her prime, and what it’s really like to grow up in a place where things like this happen, and how Derry is potentially on the precip

This week, it’s a special episode of United Ireland. We take a deep dive with some football experts about the seismic impact the women’s World Cup has had. Is this the most important women’s tournament of all time? What impact did lesbians have on the tournament? Why are female footballers so much more political than male ones? Are the USA cocky or brill? What does this all mean for pay equity for female athletes? Joining the episode is Chief Football Writer for The Independent (UK) Miguel Delaney, and a woman at the heart of RTE’s highly praised tournament coverage, Elaine ‘Bucko’ Buckley. It’s a football feelings frenzy!

We’re off to the Rebel County to talk tax. Show us the money! How can we make Big Tech pay tax? Down in Cork, Apple reigns supreme as a huge employer, but they’re also at the centre of what could be a game-changing case that strikes at the heart of Ireland’s “welcoming” environment for Big Tech companies. When the European Commission ruled that Apple needed to pay over €13 billion in back-taxes to the Irish government, Ireland sided with Apple and are currently trying to refuse the dosh. So, how can we make Big Tech pay tax like everyone else, and what will happen to all those billions resting in an account somewhere? Dara Doyle from Bloomberg tells us everything we need to know about Big Tech and Bigger Tax. Also, Una gives her Glastonbury review, and Andrea is finally a work of art.

Happy Pride! What does Pride mean to you? In a tale as old as time, the question of corporate involvement and mainstreaming of Pride continues to rear it’s head. Have we moved forward enough for Pride to simply be a party or does the protest element have to remain front and centre? ...And who gets to decide? Who better to tease it out than this year’s Pride Parade Grand Marshal and Act Up campaigner, Will St Leger; Managing Editor of Ireland’s queer mag GCN, Lisa Connell and founder of Trans Pride Ollie Bell; Una and of course, token straight Andrea. Cos they should always be centre of the conversation, amirite Tay Tay?

This episode was not easy to record. And it won’t be easy to listen to, but it is essential listening. Direct Provision will be the stain on our generation’s existence. It feels like we all know this. We all talk about this. But when talk feels empty, how do we change a broken system? Sylva Tukula was a transgender woman buried in Galway without ceremony after being housed in an all-male direct provision centre. Her personhood was removed in death as it was when she was alive. She deserved more. Ellie Kisyombe who has been living in Direct Provision for 8 years joins us in studio to share what it feels like to live like this. To have your personhood removed. We talk to Maeve O’Rourke, a lecturer in Irish Centre for Human Rights in NUIG and has done a lot of work on the culture of institutionalisation in Ireland. We also bring you some joy. Nicola Coughlan is not in fact our Derry rep as you would think as the gas bitch from Derry Girls, she’s from Galway and she shares with us all the things she love

The streets of Doonbeg in Clare were lined with locals this week to welcome in the Trump family to their hotel and golf course that employs many of the townspeople. Apart from the fact that Trump fired the staff and re-hired many of them on minimum wage, it’s hard to argue against the fact that without this employment the town would be all but forgotten and in pretty dire straits. However, the Trump’s were greeted as all out saviours and some people found the fawning pretty galling. Is that unfair? Can we just put our morals away when there’s money to be made? Well, we’re joined by journalist Sarah Kendzior whose writing became almost prophetic during the most recent US presidential campaign, calling out what was actually happening as America began sliding down the rabbit hole towards autocracy, and warning the public about the dangers of normalising Donald Trump and his administration and band of hangers-on. Her insights and knowledge about the journey from then to now makes for pretty terrifying lis

This week we’re tackling a question that dominates chats in the capital: the gentrification of Dublin, the pace of change, and what that’s all doing to the city’s character. What’s the balance between progress and keeping things deadly? Before we get stuck in, Mango tells us what he loves about Dublin. Then, Una gives you the crazy facts on student accommodation in Dublin city, and we’re using the restaurant boom as a metric by which to measure the city’s “progress”. Catherine Cleary, the restaurant critic and journalist with the Irish Times joins us to give the low down on what the hell is going on in town. We also talk about the opposition the Bernard Shaw is facing, and whether local development plans are playing a role in the attempts to (literally) silence the vibe over on South Richmond Street. We reflect on the wild weekend of elections counts, the green wave, and what the new make-up of Dublin City Council means for the city. Plus, we’ve got our fave bits, and of course, Andrea’s tuna chicken rol

One year after Repeal, Northern Ireland is still without legal abortion. As attempts to roll back reproductive rights are well underway in America, how can the North win this battle? We talk to the Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU, Louise Melling, about wtf is happening in the US, and Emma Campbell of Alliance 4 Choice fills us in on the complex path to legal abortion in Northern Ireland. Welcome to the first episode of United Ireland! Morgan from Saint Sister introduces us to what she loves most about her home county, we talk abortion rights from Alabama to Antrim, Una rants about Eoghan Murphy's co-living plans, and Andrea introduces you all to the concept of a tuna chicken roll.