IRELAND'S EDGE

Earlier this month at least 86 men, women and children drowned off the coast of Calabria trying to seek refuge in Italy. In the last decade tens of thousands of refugees and migrants have died in the Mediterranean, creating what Pope Francis has called Europe's largest graveyard. Attempts by European’s governments to turn the continent into ‘fortress Europe’ have created a humanitarian catastrophe for those fleeing drought, famine, war and depression. Much of the reporting of this ongoing tragedy has been done by Irish journalist Sally Hayden whose recent book The Fourth Time We Drowned won the Orwell Prize, and was named the An Post Irish Book of the Year. Sally’s courageous work has revealed the human stories of those who have faced violence, abuse and even death in Libyan detention camps funded by European governments and the lengths to which international institutions have gone to cover up such crimes. In 2008, Sally received a Facebook message that began, ‘ Hi sister Sally, we need your help’. In the conversations that followed she discovered how people were being detained in Libya in the most horrendous conditions. In front of a live audience at Ireland's Edge in Dingle, she spoke to Ireland's Edge host Chris Kissane about Europe's moral responsibilities in a time of refugee crises and mass migration.

With environmental and economic pressures squeezing those who grow, process and cook our food, how can we think creatively about building a fairer and more sustainable future for food and farming in Ireland, and how do the traditional arts and folk customs play a role in this?Cúán Greene is a chef who has worked in some of the world’s finest fine dining restaurants and now edits the Omós digest, a newsletter exploring food, culture and community. Ella McSweeney presents RTE’s Ear To The Ground, and her reporting for the Guardian and other newspapers has exposed major scandals on meat processing and fishing here in Ireland.  Edwina Guckian is an award winning sean-nós dancer and rural activist from co Leitrim where she has been active in reviving and promoting cultural traditions. In conversation with Ireland's Edge host Christopher Kissane in front of a live audience in Dingle they discuss the impact of the covid on the farming community. Featuring a special performance from Edwina and acclaimed concertina player, Cormac Begley.

How do we make sense of geopolitical upheaval?  The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted radical changes in international affairs but the nature of a new global political order is far from clear; with complex crises of energy and food security bubbling under shifts of strategic power alliances.John Kampfner has covered international  politics for more than 35 years. He reported on the fall of the Berlin wall and the dissolution of the soviet union for the Daily Telegraph before working as chief political correspondent for the Financial Times. At the BBC he covered politics for  The Today programme and Newsnight and later edited the New Statesman. His books on Russia, Germany, capitalism and democracy have become bestsellers and he currently serves as Executive Director of the U.K in the World Project at Chatham House, Britain’s leading  foreign policy Think Tank. In front of a live audience at Ireland’s Edge in Dingle, John spoke to Murieann Kelliehr about a world in flux.

"Russia’s invasion of Ukraine today is a neo-colonial war, it’s an attempt to restore their imperial geopolitical blueprint" - Olesya Zdorovetska On this episode, the Home Font of the Russian invasion of Ukrainians in Ireland. Just over a year ago, Russia launched an imperialist invasion of Ukraine. The brutal effects of Russian aggression have forced millions of Ukrainian refugees to flee their home country and there are now tens of thousands of Ukrainians here in Ireland. Singer and composer Olesya Zdorovetska has lived here for over a decade, while academic Larysa Samosonok arrived in the early weeks of the war.  In front of a live audience at Irelands’ Edge in Dingle, Olesya and Larysa spoke to Muireann Kelliher about experiencing the invasion of their homeland from Ireland, and what we all need to understand about Ukraines fight  for survival.

What is the price of holding power to account? Carole Cadwalladr won the Orwell prize for her investigation of the shadowy role of data and donors in the 2016 Brexit Referendum. Her reporting on the damaging influence of big tech and big money in  our democracies has won her admirers and enemies all around the world. Since her last appearance at Ireland’s Edge in 2019 she has fought a landmark libel case against Brexit donor Aaron Banks, and has played a key  role in founding a new public service journalism group, The Citizens. In front of a live audience at Ireland’s Edge she joined Muireann Kelliher to discuss the personal and the political.  

On today’s episode, is there hope in the atom?We live in an energy crisis, with environmental catastrophe and war questioning our reliance on fossil fuels. Nuclear power was once the great green hope, but decades of concerns about accidents and radioactive waste have turned much of Europe off. But were those concerns overblown, and have they blinded us to a vital source of clean energy? In their new film, Atomic Hope, filmmakers Frankie Fenton and Kathryn Kennedy have collaborated with Finnish scientist Iida Ruishalme to explore the environmentalist pro-nuclear movement.At Ireland’s Edge in Dingle they spoke with Emmy award-winning filmmaker and Ireland’s Edge founder, Nuala O’Connor.Atomic Hope is out in select cinemas now. 

What a year it has been! From pandemic, to war, to political upheaval, the news just never seemed to stop in 2022. On today's special episode we take a step back to reflect on it all with two of Ireland’s most engaging journalists, Séamas O'Reilly of the Observer and Irish Examiner, and Aoife Moore, political correspondent with the Sunday Times and Irish journalist of the year 2021. In front of a live audience at Ireland’s Edge in Dingle, Aoife and Séamas reeled in 2022 to look back on the year that was with a slight satirical glint in their eyes..

"Being Irish now is the thing"One of Ireland’s most exciting voices right now is Sello, who has been making waves at home and abroad with his infectious mix of rap and trad samples that he calls ‘Gaelic drill’. Hailing from Clondalkin in southwest Dublin, Sello has been collaborating with traditional musician and producer AyoMax to produce a unique sound that’s brand new but also rooted in Ireland’s rich musical past. On today’s episode Sello and Max speak to music journalist Andrea Cleary about their backgrounds and collaboration. This conversation was recorded with a live audience at Hen’s Teeth in Dublin, and begins with Max treating us to a performance on the uileann pipes. 

Malcolm X once called the media 'the most powerful entity on earth', with 'the power to make the innocent guilty and the guilty innocent'. Social media, 'fake news', and political and corporate propaganda have all shaken trust in the news media, while disinformation about vaccinations and climate change have revealed limits to its power to inform. Christopher Kissane speaks with leading figures about the future of the media in an age of 'alternative facts'. John Mulholland, Editor, The Guardian USÁine Kerr, COO and Co-Founder, Kinzen Brian MacCraith, Chair of the Covid-19 Vaccination Task Force and Future of Media Commission Moderated by Christopher Kissane, Ireland’s Edge