Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Is there any point to the presidential election anymore? Maria Steen who failed to get on the ballot has called for the presidential election to be cancelled and run again following Jim Gavin’s withdrawal.On Free State today, we ask why Maria thinks democracy has failed? Joe and Dion disagree on her chances of getting elected if she’d been a candidate. But she isn’t, so does it matter?Dion explains using a football analogy he’s pretty sure neither Joe nor Maria Steen will understand Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What was Jim Gavin thinking? What was going through his head when he decided he would like to be Fianna Fail’s candidate for president.On Free State today Joe talks about the conversations he has had with Jim Gavin and why he was a good man, going for the wrong role with the wrong people. Joe and Dion look at what brought Gavin down and why the campaign was doomed even before the weekend revelations. And Dion reveals the secret of Catherine Connolly’s success at keepy uppies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In January 2025, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist, running for mayor of New York had an eight per cent chance of winning the race. Today, he has an 83 per cent chance and Donald Trump calls him a “100 per cent communist lunatic.The story of how Mamdani has defied not only the odds but the establishment is a story of how many are rejecting the media narratives.Mamdani spoke out against the genocide in Gaza, people said he could not win in a city like New York. He was demonised by the Murdoch media and the people of the city were told to be afraid.Instead they have embraced his message, including saying he would order the NYPD to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he arrived in the city.On Free State today, Ted Hamm, author of a new book on Mamdani, explains how it has been done and the lengths the establishment went to stop him. In the weeks before the election he looks at what could derail his candidacy and what it means for politics around the world.Ted’s book can be ordered here - https://orbooks.com/catalog/run-zohran-run/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where did Catherine Connolly’s belief in social justice come from? If she is elected president, how will she use the presidency to advance those beliefs?On a Free State special, Catherine Connolly talks to Dion and Joe about the truth about her presidential bid.She explains why her comments about Hamas only reflected the reality of life for people in Gaza and why the media search for sensationalism is undermining the democratic process.She talks about her belief in a different more substantial role for Ireland in the world and what she really felt as she applauded Volodymyr Zelensky in the Dáil. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Freedom Flotilla is reaching a critical point in its journey to Gaza. In the next 24 hours, those aboard the 50 ships will reach what is believed to be the danger zone for interception by the Israelis. Nobody knows what will happen next.On Free State today, Joe and Dion talk to Caoimhe Butterly, one of those on one of the ships in the flotilla. She explains the serenity that those on board the boats experience even with the uncertainty of what is coming next. And she talks about the extraordinary people from around the world who are part of this mission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“He wasn’t the kind of person who ever greeted you,” Ireland’s former president Mary McAleese says of David Trimble, who was a law student at Queen’s University when Trimble was a lecturer.But on this day he did. He was seeking people out and telling them it was a “wonderful day”. The day was the Monday after Bloody Sunday and McAleese believed she knew why. “It wasn’t actually a reference to the day at all but a reference to the day before.”On Free State today, the real David Trimble is revealed by Stephen Walker, who has just published a biography of the man.How did Trimble move from the figure who was “nakedly sectarian” and celebrating Bloody Sunday to the man who did so much to deliver peace? What happened to him in, as McAleese told Walker, “the hot-red forge of life” to change how he viewed the world? And what lessons can be learned from him today? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Dave Zirin flew home to America last week, as a precaution he wrote the telephone numbers of a lawyer and an Irish politician on his arm.He had been away for only a week but a week is a long time in an authoritarian state. While he had been gone, JD Vance had declared an article about Charlie Kirk’s death in The Nation, the magazine Dave works for, to be ‘soulless and evil’. Dave wondered again what kind of country he was coming back to.On Free State today, Dave Zirin explains why Ireland has been conned by the NFL game taking part in Croke Park this weekend. He laments that a venue so historic as allowed itself to be hijacked for a sportswashing exercise. He details why the NFL has no place in Ireland but why Kneecap give him hope. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Mary Lou McDonald announced a ‘game changing’ candidate many eyes looked to Joe Brolly. But was he ever in the running and would Dion have voted for him?On Free State today, Dion and Joe look at what Sinn Féin’s backing of Catherine Connolly means for the presidential campaign. They also wonder if Jim Gavin can redeem himself after farmgate and Joe reflects on Gavin’s words about Gaza.They also ask what does the Charlie Kirk memorial service tells us about America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when a man tries to take up hurling at 41?What does he learn about himself and Ireland’s relationship with its fabled national game.On Free State today, Second Captains co-host Ciaran Murphy tells us what he learned about Ireland when he joined his father’s old club in West Waterford.Are the obstacles to more people playing hurling all to do with the skills demanded or are there other reasons we need to examine? Do we pay lip service to this game and is hurling another cultural jewel that Ireland treats poorly? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the age of 45, Leo Varadkar decided to resign as Taoiseach. Many people wondered why.In an extraordinarily frank interview on Free State today, Leo Varadkar talks about how finding peace in his personal life dulled his political ambition.He speaks about his failings as a politician and a man. He explains why he believes in a united Ireland but isn’t a nationalist.He criticises Keir Starmer’s embrace of nationalism in Britain and denies he was conned by Boris Johnson during their summit at the Wirral in 2019. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.