The Irish Passport

Surprise! While we continue to prepare Season 5, we’ve decided to make last month’s Halfpint episode freely available to all our listeners. In this edition, Tim builds on our recent Season 4 finale by delving deeper into the colonial Irish Parliament around the time of the Act of Union of 1801. If you haven’t heard that Season 4 finale yet, you can go back and listen to it here: Part 1: https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/destructive-unionism-part-1-the-history/ Part 2: https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/destructive-unionism-part-2-the-current-day/ We make Halfpint extra content as a thank you to our Patreon supporters, who keep the podcast running. If you would like to support us too, and gain access to our full back catalogue of extra content along the way, you can become a supporter of the Irish Passport Podcast today at www.patreon.com/theirishpassport This episode features music from Peter Rudenko: Stay 17; Sublime Melody; and Iced Spring Theme, from the album Inner Mechanics.

New survey data suggests majorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland want referendums on whether to break with the union, and a majority across the United Kingdom expect Scotland to be independent within 10 years. With the bonds of the union under strain, Naomi and Tim sum up how the Brexit negotiations concluded, and explore the ways in which the deal pursued by the British government made people’s lives worse. Angry fishermen, queuing truck drivers, and the Irish government stepping in to pay for health insurance and Erasmus exchanges for people in the North: a snapshot of a period of Destructive Unionism. You can listen to Part 1 here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/destructive-unionism-part-1-the-history/ Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @PassportIrish. If you enjoyed this episode, do give us a good review in your podcast app and share it with your friends.

With the fallout of Brexit straining the bonds of the United Kingdom, Naomi and Tim look back on a period of history with huge resonance for the current moment. The union that still perseveres today was forged in crisis, as an emergency response by the British government to a Protestant-led Irish rebellion that deeply shook the Westminster government. What followed was a century of betrayal, struggle, and strife, culminating in a desperate attempt by successive British governments to love-bomb the rebellious Irish populace into supporting the union. This was a strategy known as Constructive Unionism: are we seeing its destructive mirror image today? You can listen to Part 2 here: https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/destructive-unionism-part-2-the-current-day/ Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @PassportIrish. If you enjoyed this episode, do give us a good review in your podcast app and share it with your friends.

Past guests including comedian Tara Flynn, Brendan Boyle, Caitríona Perry, Emma de Souza, Sarah Maria Griffin, Caelainn Hogan, Sarah Creighton, Ronan McCrea and Matthew O’Toole join us again for a Christmas reunion! It’s a bizarre one for many of us this year but we hear from people all around the world who are making it special where they are. Naomi and Tim tell some stories of hope as we approach the winter solstice: the darkest day of the year before the days get brighter, that has been celebrated as a turning point for millennia. Featuring some original (and very on point!) music by Michael Fry. Music: Lockdown Christmas by Michael Fry, Christmas lights by TRG Banks, Let’s Just Get Through Christmas by Doctor Turtle. Huge thanks to all our contributors. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @PassportIrish. If you enjoyed this episode, do give us a good review in your podcast app and share it with your friends.

Self-described "Irish Catholic" Joe Biden has elected president of the United States after a momentous election that has the potential to transform international relations and potentially Ireland's fortunes as the post-Brexit talks reach their final moment. Naomi O'Leary and Tim Mc Inerney discuss the president-elect's Irish roots, what his Catholic identity means in this historical context, why British Conservatives are unhappy with his victory, and how the result is being received in the ancestral villages that claim Biden as their own.

In this episode Naomi O'Leary and Tim Mc Inerney hear the voices of women who lived through a profound social transformation in Ireland: the coming of electricity. The ability to turn on a light or boil a kettle with just a switch came relatively late to large parts of Ireland, part of an ambitious project by the young state to economically transform Ireland and help it take its place among the nations of the earth. We explore the ways in which this changed people's lives, from the design of their houses to the food they ate, and how this transformation continues to inform social ideas about domestic work to this day. Featuring insights from design historian Sorcha O'Brien of Kingston University, the voices of ordinary women from around the Irish countryside who describe how electricity changed their lives, and material from the ESB archives. Check our our full interview with Dr O'Brien over at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/43027994 We are grateful to the Electric Irish Homes project and to the ESB for their help. Archive clips are copyright ESB and can be found at https://esbarchives.ie/. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @PassportIrish. If you enjoyed this episode, do give us a good review in your podcast app and share it with your friends.

It’s return of the clowns as Naomi and Tim dissect the latest Brexit drama and speak to Congressman Brendan Boyle, whose cutting criticism of the British government went viral after the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared it would break international law. Where are we, how did we get here, and what lies ahead? We sum it up ahead of a crunch week in the talks between the European Union and Britain that have extremely high stakes for Ireland. Featuring original music by Michael Fry, who is @BigDirtyFry on Twitter. Support us on Patreon to gain access to our full library of bonus episodes and othe rextra content overat www.Patreon.com/theirishpassport Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @PassportIrish. If you enjoyed this episode, do give us a good review in your podcast app and share it with your friends.

A golf society dinner for 81 people has thrown the Irish government into chaos. Attended by a host of senior political figures, many at the forefront Ireland’s COVID health strategy, the event appeared to flout the very social distancing regulations some of its guests had devised. This is just the latest in a series of disasters for the recently installed coalition government, which has been struggling to retain public confidence since its inception mere weeks ago. Naomi and Tim investigate why a scandal like this holds such high stakes in the current moment. We hear from listeners about how the restrictions have affected them, and speak to Dr Marc Scully of Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, about how the lives of hundreds and thousands of Irish emigrants have suddenly and dramatically changed in a way that has largely been ignored in Ireland’s public debate about travel restrictions and health policy. You can find our full interview with Marc Scully over on Patreon, where you can become a supporter of the podcast today. You can gain access to our full library of extra content at www.Patreon.com/theirishpassport Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @PassportIrish. If you enjoyed this episode, do give us a good review in your podcast app and share it with your friends. Dr Scully may soon be recruiting people for a research study into the pandemic and its effect on emigrants. To keep up to date, follow him on Twitter at @marcdonnchadh.

Celtic identity is politically powerful but historically nebulous, a subject of debate among historians and archaeologists, while being a source of inspiration to some and irritation to others. In this episode, Naomi and Tim visit a Celtic music festival in the Netherlands to explore why the concept has such international appeal. Tim explores the political use and abuse of the idea of the Celts in debates about identity and nationalism in Scotland and Ireland. Historian Adrian Martyn tells us why he finds the idea of Celticness insulting, while National Museum of Scotland curator Fraser Hunter breaks down the complex reality of early civilisations on the Atlantic islands and what we know about our ancient ancestors. Check out our archive of bonus content over on Patreon: www.patreon.com/theirishpassport Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at @PassportIrish. If you enjoyed this episode, do give us a good review in your podcast app and share it with your friends. Adrian Martyn’s website is https://adrianmartyn.ie/

After almost half a year of negotiations and political maneuvering, Ireland finally has a government. It’s unlike any that has come before it, and it doesn’t include the party that got the post votes in the last election, Sinn Féin. In this livestreamed podcast, Naomi and Tim answer listener questions with special guests Aoife-Grace Moore, political correspondent with The Irish Examiner, and Darach Ó Séaghdha of the Motherfoclóir podcast. Is the new government’s policy programme really the greenest ever? Why are people calling this the end of the Civil War politics? Are the Green party falling into a trap, and will Sinn Féin ultimately benefit? The new coalition is made up of old rivals Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with the support of the Green party. The new Taoiseach is Micheál Martin, who is supposed to be in office until the end of 2022 when he will step aside to let outgoing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar assume the role. Watch the video version of this live podcast here: https://youtu.be/E8dnapYnmig To access our full archive of bonus content head on over to our Patreon page and sign up to support the podcast www.patreon.com/theirishpassport If you liked this podcast, do share it with your friends, give us a nice rating in your podcast app, or connect with us on social media. We’re @PassportIrish on Twitter and Facebook.