Noel interviews JOHN COTTERELL, Manager of the Dublin City North Volunteer Centre, in Coleraine House at Coleraine Street, and talks about the different opportunities to contribute as a volunteer depending on your time and skills…
Learning about the Work of Umbrella Charity group “The Wheel”
GERT ACKERMAN joins Pat Meehan to discuss the results of studies done by “The Wheel”. Gert explains that “The Wheel ” is an umbrella body for charities in Ireland who work to help charities more effectively “get things done”. They talk of some elements of a recent press release beginning by talking of “services under…
Men’s Shed Movement Has A Welcome For Everyone
FRANK SCALZO & ROB WALSH talk to Mark Finnegan about the Men’s Shed movement in Ballymun and Ireland as a whole. What is a Men’s Shed? A Men’s Shed is a dedicated, friendly and welcoming meeting place where men come together and undertake a variety of mutually agreed activities. Men’s Sheds are open to all…
Tree Planting for Chernobyl Kids
Pat Meehan talks to VANESSA KENNERNEY, from Chernobyl North Dublin Outreach Group, about the initiative of planting 25 trees for the children of Chernobyl in the Backweston Campus, Celbridge (Co. Kildare), as well as giving updates about the situation 25 years after the nuclear accident…
Viewing Ireland From The Air
RAY SCANLON, Principal Geologist with the Geological Survey of Ireland talks to Noel McGuinness about the Tellus survey. Tellus employs a low-flying aircraft to collect geophysical information on the properties of soils, rocks and waters below gound. Flying at 60 m, the aircraft is able to sense geological properties not apparent from conventional mapping techniques,…
Alaskan Epi Rogan Wins Dublin Cookery School Scholarship
EPI ROGAN, who is originally from Alaska and has been living in Ballincollig, Co Cork for the past 12 years, is the Dublin Cookery School scholar 2015. Rogan tells Pat Meehan how she won a place, worth €8,500, on the cookery school’s 2015 12-week intensive course, beginning in September. Rogan was one of 13 amateur…
Cafe O Play celebrates first anniversary
MICHELLE BARRY CASHMAN and HANNAH LOPEZ, the operators of Cafe O Play at Clonliffe & Croke Park Community Centre explain how this new concept in play groups operates. They provide a cafe service for parents, and full playgroup facilities for children. This means parents and children can socialise at the same time. There are some very…
Live from Darndale Belcamp Summer Festival
Tony Captain and John Healy interview LINDA HAYDEN, Manager of the Darndale Belcamp Village Centre, who celebrated their 10th anniversary with a Summer Festival; in these years they managed to become one of the biggest community centres in Europe…
Live from the Water protests – Clare Hall
NOEL McGUINNESS reports live from a water charge protest in Clare Hall. The police have been in attendance since early morning but seem somewhat ineffectual. The residents of Clare Hall and the Irish Water workers are in a stand-off position…
Anam Cara Helping Bereaved Parents
Noel McGuinness talks to SHARON VARD, CEO of Anam Cara, a support group for parents who have lost children. The loss of a child is every Mum and Dad’s worst nightmare, the pain goes deep. Family and friends try to understand, and indeed are going through their own grieving process, but the only person who…

Bram Stoker House up for Sale
Pat Meehan talks to local historian DENIS MCINTYRE about the proposed sale of Bram Stoker’s house in Marino Crescent. Denis argues that Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, should be recognised by the State in the form of the house being purchased buy the State as a heritage site and the property turned into a museum…
Granby Park Project: One Month of Art in Dublin City Centre
SAM BISHOP of non-profit arts collective Upstart joins Noel McGuinness to discuss the Granby Park Project in Dublin city centre. Upstart’s latest project, a ‘pop up’ park on Dominick Street with an ampitheatre and a cafe, will host a number of events. It will only exist for one month. It cost €21000 to fund the…
Mary Coughlan at the Axis, Ballymun
Singer MARY COUGHLAN joins Noel MCGuinness to discuss an upcoming gig at the Axis Centre in Ballymun. Mary gives details of the concert and a new album being released early in 2014. They also discuss the recent death of Nelson Mandela and the effect of his passing on her. Mary shares details of her new…
New Life Centre – Darndale
CHRISTINE O’KELLY speaks to John about the New Life Centre based in Darndale Belcamp and what it offers within the community such as after school clubs, computer courses, flower arranging, wood burning, beauty care and a number of others. They also offer free counselling. They talk about how they have a community bus which can…
Christmas Pop-up Shop for St Michaels House
John Healy interviews DEIRDRE WALSH from St Michaels House, about the Christmas Pop-up Shop to raise money for the two centre of Santry Centres, and how the service users decided to help out another good cause, and they chose the Children Hospital in Crumlin. She also wanted to thank the Near FM listeners for the response and all…
