IRELAND'S EDGE

For centuries, Irish universities have been bastions of intellectual life, shaping education, politics, culture, and debate. With over half of young people receiving a third-level education, Ireland boasts one of the world's most university-educated populations. Yet, amidst political, financial, and societal pressures, uncertainty looms - can these institutions maintain their standard of scholarship and retain their value within our rapidly evolving world?In this episode, Professor Orla Feely, President of University College Dublin, and Professor John O’Halloran, President of University College Cork, are interviewed by Professor John Naughten, a senior research fellow at Cambridge University and renowned technology columnist for The Observer, giving their assessment of the challenges and opportunities.

It is no exaggeration to say that the history of modern Ireland has been played out on the stage of our national theatre, The Abbey, founded in 1904, and after independence the first publicly-subsidised theatre in the English-speaking world. It was there that Ireland first saw many of the great plays of Gregory, Yeats, Synge, O’Casey and others, often to great public debate and controversy. The Abbey has also brought Irish theatre to stages all around the world through its successful touring productions, alongside promoting new playwrights here at home.Recent decades however have seen financial and management difficulties, alongside a long-delayed building redevelopment plan. Caitríona McLaughlin is co-director and artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, where her recent production of Brian Friel’s Translations won a UK Theatre Award after its tour of Ireland, North and South.At Ireland’s Edge in Dingle she talked about her work, the Abbey, and theatre more broadly with musician and cultural consultant Dermot McLaughlin.

The Irish were once the biggest newspaper readers in Europe, but in recent years our interest has begun to decline. With news reporting and investigative journalism facing an existential funding crisis, and trust in information itself rapidly declining due to "fake news" and the excesses of social media, what is the future of a world with less news, and what are the consequences? Recorded live at Ireland's Edge in Dingle, Chris speaks to three extraordinary women who edit independent news outlets in Ireland, to discuss the challenges facing their work: Sinéad Carroll, Editor of TheJournal.ie and prominent figure in national media, contributing to news, politics, and sports programs; Siobhán Holliman, deputy editor of the Tuam Herald, member of the Future of Media Commission and the Press Council; and Siobhán Cronin, the first woman editor of The Southern Star in its 135-year history, and a serving member of the Press Council.Recorded live at / A South Wind Blows Production

Artificial Intelligence has already begun to change the world around us, at a speed that few of us anticipated. Will the advancement of AI bring positive progress and societal evolution, or have we created something we cannot control? On this fifth episode of Ireland’s Edge - The Podcast, Chris speaks to two fascinating guests about what opportunities and challenges this brave new world may have in store. Featuring️️: Mark Little, Founder of Storyful and now Kinzen, which uses AI to screen dangerous misinformation online, and Mark O’Connell, Writer, Author and Wellcome Prize winner for his book How to be a Machine. Out now, wherever you get your podcasts. A South Wind Blows production.

Artists all around the world are trying to make sense of what the advance of artificial intelligence will mean for their creative work. Will the very human traits of passion and creativity survive in a world where we let ever more intelligent machines do the work for us? In Belfast, the innovative people behind production company Dumbworld have been thinking about this question in radical ways, integrating AI into their mission to bring opera to the masses. Ivor Novello winning composer Brian Irvine and librettist John McIlduff brought a number of their street operas to Other Voices in Dingle, and at Ireland’s Edge they spoke with musician and cultural consultant Dermot McLaughlin about shaking up opera and why they were moved to do so, harnessing technology to open up the art form to whole new audiences, and the implications and applications of AI for opera, music and the wider creative industries.For more on Dumbworld and their work: https://dumbworld.co.uk/

Once again this winter, the Irish healthcare system has been overwhelmed, with thousands of appointments cancelled, hundreds lying on hospital trollies waiting for beds, and staff once more having to complain about unsafe and unfair working conditions.On this episode, Chris speaks to three women who see the healthcare system from very different angles: Professor Sara Burke is Director of the Centre for Health Policy and Management at Trinity College Dublin School of Medicine. Dr Monica Oikeh is a GP based in Cork, who has amassed huge views on TikTok with her helpful and accessible videos on healthcare, busting taboos around mental, sexual and female health. And Phil Ní Sheaghda is the General Secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. At Ireland’s Edge in Dingle in front of a live audience, Chris asks them how we can bring people together to improve our healthcare, as well as about implementing reform, the promise of Universal Healthcare in Sláintecare, equal access for all and more.*Correction and clarification from panellist Dr Sara Burke:When discussing the increase in the number of staff on HSE payroll between 2019 and 2023, Dr Burke cites figures from the Health Sector Employment Report SEP 2023, citing the 'total people/head count figure from 2023' instead of the 'WTE (Whole Time Equivalent)' from 2023, inadvertently overstating the increase. However, the overall point remains that there are much greater staff increases in the hospital system rather than in primary, community care and social care. We thank Dr Burke for this clarification.