Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Conor McGregor’s appearance in the White House for St Patrick’s Day was another insight into Trumpworld. McGregor was claiming to speak for Ireland while the Burkes went to Washington but were left to shout and roar outside. McGregor may seem to have no chance of running for president but Ireland would need to take heed of the forces that have brought Trump to the White House. On Free State today Joe and Dion look at the dark money that has bolstered the elites in Britain and the US. They detail how these movements designed to stop regulation and higher taxes for the richest were repurposed as phoney populist movements.  The Burkes have paid Facebook €45,000 over the past six years for advertising but where has that money come from? Is Ireland immune to these movements or should we be more alert to the dangers of a McGregor presidency?Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

When Donald McRae was a young sportswriter, Hugh McIlvanney told him one night at a bar in Las Vegas that as he made a life covering boxing, “ambivalence will be your constant companion”. McRae found the romantic in boxing and particularly in boxers. He was drawn to fighters and trainers rather than promoters and advisers. His gifts as an interviewer meant that men like Tyson Fury revealed their vulnerabilities to him. But, as he writes in his new book, The Last Bell, even “the zealots grow weary”. On Free State today, Don McRae joins Dion and Joe to talk about his obsession with boxing, how he fell out of love with it and why his new book is a journey into the darkness of the ring. He speaks to about the great Belfast trainer Gerry Storey, Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. He recalls his own father’s incredible life, defying the apartheid laws in South Africa to meet the ANC in Soweto while Nelson Mandela was in jail to bring electricity to the townships. At a time of personal grief, McRae lost himself in boxing again, but in a sport that has grown increasingly ugly, is it possible to be anything but ambivalent? And what does the decline of boxing tell us about the fate of all professional sport?Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

Micheál Martin walked out of the Oval Office feeling triumphant. He had left the lion’s den - or the bully’s lair - without humiliation. Donald Trump demands craven obedience and while history might look differently on those who humoured him, the Taoiseach wasn’t thinking about history. On Free State today, Dion and Joe ask if Micheál Martin had any choice but to laugh along as Trump played his hits? Was his responsibility to those in Ireland who depend on American firms for employment more important than taking a stand? What does it tell us about how the world is ordered that he must behave like that? What does it tell us about Trumpworld that this is the only behaviour tolerated?Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

The Irish establishment is softening people up to sacrifice the country’s neutrality. But why?  On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at how countries throughout history have been organised to prepare for war. They trade on anxiety and fear to push towards increased militarisation. Joe looks at Simon Harris’s recent interview with RTÉ about Israel and why the government is looking to retreat from whatever position it said it would take.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

Colum McCann won’t look back. His life as a writer has always drawn him to the edge. In an exhilarating conversation on Free State today, McCann talks about what is needed to change the world at this time of peril. He speaks about his new novel Twist and how the connected world we take for granted exists precariously in the darkness of the ocean. This new colonialism demonstrates why the real power today rests with the tech companies rather than any nation.  With a mother from Derry, he recalls the lack of interest in the South in what was happening during the Troubles. He reflects on the experiences of the two men, Palestinian and Israeli, he made the central characters of his book Apeirogon and the conversations he’s had with them since October 7th.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

When Trevor Birney was arrested by the PSNI in 2018, he was thrown in a police cell and told an incredible tale. His documentary No Stone Unturned had named the man many believed was responsible for the Loughinisland Massacre in 1994. Birney was told by the police that this man’s business was being damaged by the documentary and for this reason they could charge him with breaching the Official Secrets Act. On Free State today, Trevor Birney tells the story of how he fought the law and won. He talks too about the day a brave former tabloid journalist from London told him he had seen the future and its name was Kneecap. He looks forward to another contentious project, a movie about Saipan and recalls a day with Roy Keane when it became clear he wouldn’t make a film.Miss Part 1 of our conversation with Trevor Birney? Listen here https://shows.acast.com/641338125bde790011089c5b/67c231a315abd9ea5faeac4bFree State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

Volodymyr Zelensky walked into a trap when he sat down beside Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Friday. He was surrounded by bullies who were emboldened by the knowledge that totalitarians around the world had their backs. Trump and JD Vance toyed with Zelensky, dismissing him as a weak man when he has shown more courage than they ever did. On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at Trumpworld, the planet inhabited by the world’s worst men. The billionaire class - including Vladimir Putin - will get rich in Trumpworld but the heist will leave nothing for the marginalised. Anyone who questions it will be humiliated as Zelensky was, no matter how high a price we all pay.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

On the evening of June 18, 1994, Ireland stopped. At the Giants Stadium in New York, Ireland were playing Italy in the first match of the World Cup. Across the country, people were making plans to watch the game.In The Heights Bar in Loughinisland Co Down, the small community had gathered on a Saturday evening with the added excitement of the game. In Belfast and other places there were fears of sectarian killings, but not in Loughinisland. In Loughinisland, the Troubles were something that happened somewhere else. On this night it happened here. With eyes on the game, nobody noticed the UVF killers walking in to The Heights Bars. Six men were murdered that night, the oldest of them 87 years old.On Free State today, Joe and Dion are joined by Trevor Birney to talk about the state collusion that was part of that massacre and his documentary No Stone Unturned, which led to a dawn raid on his house from the PSNI one summer morning.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

When Donald Trump shared an AI video of Gaza, the world responded as it often does to Trump’s behaviour, with a mixture of disbelief, shock, resignation and laughter. “Gaza 2025…What’s next,” read the caption before delivering a vision of what’s next. "Donald's coming to set you free,” the video’s song’s declared, “bringing the light for all to see, no more tunnels, no more fear: Trump Gaza's finally here.” There were no more Gazans either in the video as Trump relaxed on a lounger sipping cocktails beside Benjamin Netanyahu. Because it is Trump, the world also laughs, something we continue to do even as his gangster fascism extends from Ukraine to the Middle East.On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at the truth behind these videos, the erasure of the people of Gaza. Joe talks about Omar El Akkad’s stunning new book 'One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This' which details the complicity and silence of the west. In that context, knowing what we know, what are we doing when we laugh at Trump's video?Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/