FLAC’s 8th Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture

FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres Ltd) invited renowned US public interest lawyer BRYAN STEVENSON to speak at this year’s Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture. Mr STEVENSON’s speech brought home some very powerful points about justice in the US that have great relevance for us here in Ireland. The justice and imprisonment statistics in the US are…

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Peter Mc Verry Trust

Noel Mc Guinness speaks to  CLAIRE SHANNON from the Peter Mc Verry trust which is  a charity set up by Fr Peter Mc Verry to reduce homelessness and the harm caused by drug misuse and social disadvantage. CLAIRE talks about the different fund raising events they organise throughout the year & about the  event which…

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Carmen isn’t Only an Opera: A Preview With Ballet Ireland

ANNE MAHER of Ballet Ireland speaks to Noel McGuinness about the origins of the group and the forthcoming production of “Carmen” at the Draoicht and Gaiety theatres. Although normally one thinks of Carmen as an opera, it is also a ballet and Anne gives a brief history of the arrangement that Ballet Ireland is working…

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School of Cosmic Physics at Dunsink Observatory

SENIOR PROFESSOR LUKE DRURY, HEAD OF ASTROPHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY SECTION, talks to Mark Finnegan about National Science Week and the international significance of Dunsink in terms of research into outer space. It is rocket science! The Irish Astronomy Trail, taking in Cork, Galway and Newgrange is also discussed. Over 4,000 people a year visit Dunsink…

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NCBI Friendship Garden Plays Pivotal Social & Employment Roles

Declan Meehan talks to SHARON LYONS of the National Council for the Blind in Ireland (NCBI) about the newly-launched Friendship Garden. The garden is designed to teach people who have become recently blind, or simply wish to learn new skills, how to grow flowers and vegetables. It also plays a pivotal social role for participants…

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Howth, Baldoyle and Sutton 1916 Commemorative Committee

Pat speaks to PHILIP O’CONNOR, local historian from the Howth, Baldoyle and Sutton 1916 Commemorative Committee. He talks about the origins of the committee, the events that they are putting together, some of the historic events that took place in Howth, Baldoyle and Sutton during the 1916 rising, the type of historic figures who were around…

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Orla O’Connor Speaks Out on Gender Balance

ORLA O’CONNOR is Director of National Women’s Council of Ireland. She holds a Masters degree in European Social Policy from NUIM and a degree in Social Science from UCD. Orla has worked in senior management in non-governmental organisations in Ireland for over 15 year. She was previously the Head of Policy of NWCI, and has…

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Tackling Homophobic and Transphobic bullying

MICHAEL BARRON from Belong To Youth services joins Yvette Reid to talk about the issue of homophobic and transphobic bullying. Michael talks about how this kind of bullying is a very serious problem in Ireland according to recent reports, what he has found from speaking to school youths who have seen or experienced such incidents, the “Stand Up”…

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Ossia Youth Choir

CARMEL WHELAN joins Noel McGuinness to talk about the Ossia Youth Choir. They begin by discussing the beginnings of the choir, which Carmel set up. With participants aged between 9 and 16 years of age there are on average thirty members of the choir at any one time. With no previous experience needed the choir…

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Raheny Residents Find Lead in the Waterworks

A HOME ON the street where the the first Dublin Says No protest took place has the highest level of lead contamination of drinking water in Dublin. Local resident TONY MacHALE gives Noel McGuinness the background to the findings. Results of random testing showed that the house on Watermill Drive in Raheny had lead contamination…

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Forest Eireann, Plain Cigarette Packaging

Mark Finnegan speaks to JOHN MALLON who is the spokesman for the speakers group Forest Eireann. He talks about plain packaging cigarettes & how it would be a huge  & unnecessary risk for the government to take. If this was to happen it would make it a lot harder for sales assistants to distinguish the…

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20 things to do in Dublin before you go for feckin pint

Sabrina Ryan interviews COLIN MURPHY co-author of the book “20 things to do in Dublin before you go for feckin’ pint” . This is a collaborative project of himself and Donal O’Dea. He talks about how sometimes we miss things being close to were we live  just because we don’t value them. Therefore this  book…

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Near FM & MediaCorp Intercultural Project Hits Bolivia

GRACE WILENTZ pops in to update Noel McGuinness on the progress of the Near FM & Media-coop Intercultural Project including the group’s trip to Bolivia. At this point there are 17 participants in the project. They are learning a wide range of skills in the field of broadcast media, from sound engineering to researching and…

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