Mairead Kenny Politics and More podcast. I’m here at the Percy French Festival in Castlecoote House in Roscommon. It’s an annual festival. The Percy French Festival & Summer School takes place in the second week in July and is set in the wonderful historic Georgian building of Castlecoote House in his native county Roscommon.
This podcast is interviewing different people from all sides. It’s not left or right or centre (politically), it’s speaking to everybody involved in politics and the human side as well.
Mairead Kenny: Mairead Kenny Politics and More podcast. I'm here in Castlecoote at the Percy French Festival in Roscommon with Paul Healy. Hi, Paul.
Paul Healy: Hiya Mairead. How's it going?
Mairead Kenny: Good Thanks. Paul you're the MC for the festival. Do you do this every year?
Paul Healy: The festival is going 18 years. Kevin Finnerty asked me to start MCing about 5 years ago, I've done the last four or five years. I enjoy it greatly. I work in Roscommon town with the Roscommon people newspaper.[3] I've enjoyed developing this engagement with the festival. It can be a tiring 3 days. There 3 full days which has great variety and great speakers, there's a very positive atmosphere irrespective of what's been discussed. I feel it's a very informal event and always a good atmosphere.
Mairead Kenny: Who’s the driving force behind it?
Paul Healy: Kevin Finnerty is very much the driving force behind it. It's really built around his vision and his fantastic determination to make it happen year after year. It's an incredible achievement to keep this festival going for 18 years, and then of course the audience engagement is always interesting. We're happy if it's if it happens to be fiery or argumentative or something, that's not the end of the world. A lot of times it's very convivial, the main thing is that people are being challenged and they're hearing different opinions and views.
Continued in the Transcript.*
Includes PAUL HEALY (MC), Paddy Joe Burke, Kenneth Egan, Peadar Tóibín TD, Michael Banahan (Musician), Fuerty Ensemble (Performers), John McQuirk, Sarah Ryan, Ger Farrell, Dr Cora Stack, Ken Phelan, Paul McDonald (Musician), James Bradshaw, Ronan Mullen Senator & Tommy McDermott (Musician).
1. Inspiring Dreams by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Creative Commons CC BY 4.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
[1] Mairead Kenny, Politics & More podcast at https://politicsmore.podview.com/
Podcast series independently created, recorded, edited and produced by Mairead Kenny, https://maireadkenny.ie/ MK MEDIA XO.
[2] 2026 Percy French Festival, Castlecoote House, Roscommon at https://percyfrench.ie/
The 18th Percy French Festival 15th | 16th | 17th | July 2026
At Castlecoote House, Co Roscommon. https://www.castlecootehouse.com/percy-french
Welcome to our celebration of the enduring legacy of Percy French, the renowned Irish songwriter, artist, and humourist. We are the proud home of the annual Percy French Festival, a vibrant three-day event featuring insightful lectures and engaging discussion on current events, all inspired by French's unique spirit.
23 July 2026 Percy French Festival a great success – Steen tight-lipped on future plans at https://roscommonpeople.ie/percy-french-festival-a-great-success-steen-tight-lipped-on-future-plans/
https://percyfrench.ie/speakers-and-performers
[3] Roscommon People Newspaper at https://roscommonpeople.ie/
The Roscommon People is a locally owned, free newspaper based in Co. Roscommon. We have the largest readership in the county.
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