IRELAND'S EDGE

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.