Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Free State is going live this Christmas. Get your tickets here for the first (and probably the last) Free State Live show at Vicar Street on Dec 14th, with special guest James McClean. https://www.ticketmaster.ie/free-state-with-joe-brolly-and-dion-fanning-tickets/artist/5770194

On today’s Free State, Dion and Joe look at Micheal Martin’s newfound love of talking about unity.

He is ready to talk about a United Ireland. Up to a point. “What has concerned me about this push for a Border poll since Brexit is that it’s partisan, it’s a one-sided advocacy approach,” he said.

But is this better than his previous approach? Do the Happy Lundys, the Protestant group having new conversations about a way forward show a better more hopeful way?

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Dara Molloy was ordained a priest but it was a trip to the Aran Islands that changed his life. He talks to Dion about leaving the priesthood, becoming a Celtic monk and why the world needs the spirituality of the Celtic way rather than the guilt imposed by the church that colonised Ireland.

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Why does Andy Burnham talk differently about a border poll in Northern Ireland than when he talks about Scotland?

Is he adopting a different tone and if so, why?

On Free State Joe and Dion wonder what reconciliation means and if it should stand in the way of a border poll? If we were to avoid division would we have any election at all? Is there a difference between a routine democratic election and a referendum on subjects that might be divisive? Is the opportunity of bringing real democracy to the north of Ireland the most important consideration in bringing a border poll?

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When the Tory grandee David Davis stood up in the House of Commons and said there were ‘IRA lawyers’ who were ‘more interested in drama than justice’, there was an understandable response.

In 1988 a Tory minister had said that some solicitors in the north were sympathetic to the cause of the IRA. Three weeks later Pat Finucane was murdered in front of his family.

On Free State we ask why there is a certain type of politician who persists with these dangerous and inaccurate terms. We look at what Davis said and why it matters in a world still fraught with danger.

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In 2006, Elif Shafak was charged with 'insulting Turkishness' because of words uttered by a fictional character in one of her novels. She had been born to Turkish parents in France and grew up in Ankara but now she lives in London. On Free State today, Turkey's most widely read woman writer talks to Dion about exile, the age of anxiety and reaching out for home.

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When Arsenal announced they were cutting 60 jobs at the home of the Premier League champions, the manager Mikel Arteta said he had been told it was to "achieve the success we want to create".

With the help of management consultants, Arsenal identified savings while simultaneously awarding Arteta a new contract worth £20 million a season.

On Free State today we look at what this story of a sporting club tells us about capitalism and inequality. Dion and Joe look at how sport was sold as everything else was sold and they wonder what happens next. Sport has been sold not just to the highest bidder but to those who believe in a version of society which is the opposite of community. What will be next?

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Free State is going live this Christmas. Get your tickets here for the first (and probably the last) Free State Live show at Vicar Street on Dec 14th, with special guest James McClean. https://www.ticketmaster.ie/free-state-with-joe-brolly-and-dion-fanning-tickets/artist/5770194

There was an extraordinary response to Jamie Bryson’s appearance on the podcast.

What does that tell us about what people want in the north and what people are talking about in the south?

On Free State today we ask if these are significant days for the future of unionism. What does it mean when the Belfast Newsletter, the paper of the unionism, says that Bryson is leading unionism down a dead end.

Dion and Joe talk about how communities have emerged that challenge how people felt things would be and they ask the important question: would you surrender to a sea border?

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Damien Pearse is a psychologist and he is also a football fan. Why does it affect him so much when his side loses and what does it tell us about the modern world? On Free State today he talks to Dion about why we want to belong and why we identify with the tribes we do.

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Free State is going live this Christmas. Get your tickets here for the first (and probably the last) Free State Live show at Vicar Street on Dec 14th, with special guest James McClean. https://www.ticketmaster.ie/free-state-with-joe-brolly-and-dion-fanning-tickets/artist/5770194

Who is Jamie Bryson and what does he want?

On Free State today Jamie Bryson talks to Joe and Dion about Garvaghy Road, the Orange Order and a United ireland.

His conversation with Joe is heated and contentious as they talk about these and other issues.

What aspects of his cultural identity does he share with people in England and what would his view be if there was a violent response to a border poll being called?

Let us know what you think - info@freestatepodcast.com

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Anne Cadwallader covered the Drumcree events in the late 1990s. She remembers the tension of those days and the work Rosemary Nelson did at that time. On Free State today she talks to Joe and Dion about Rosemary Nelson's murder. She talks too about Lethal Allies her book about collusion and the Glennane Gang. She explains how she first arrived in Northern Ireland and how as a 'well brought up girl' from London, she had one view of what was happening which changed with time and experience. She also tells us how Tina Turner's intervention led to her receiving death threats from loyalists.

Anne's novel Crossing Over is available here - https://www.mercierpress.ie/books/crossing-over/

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“This man's issue and the reason why he did what he did changes the world,” Ben MacIntyre says. “He changed the world that we now live in. Without this person we would probably be living in a different world.”

On today’s Free State we learn the story of Vladimir Kuzichkin, a Soviet spy working in Iran whose codename was ‘Redwood’.

Redwood had a problem, a sexual problem and the author Ben Macintyre tells us of this problem and why this spy and what he did might have changed the course of history. He explains what drew him to the story and the key ingredient in delivering a book as compelling as this.

More details on Redwood can be found here https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739964/redwood-by-ben-macintyre/

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Drumcree is now a peace dividend. Where once the attempt to march led to violence, destruction and death, now it leads to court wranglings, endless negotiations and the support for the Garvaghy Road residents from Noel Gallagher.

On Free State, Dion and Joe look at this death rattle for anachronistic unionism and what it means for a new Ireland. Joe and Dion argue about whether calling a border poll would help.

Let us know what you think, email info@freestatepodcast.com

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Thousands gathered on Garvaghy Road determined that there would be no going back. A new generation, confident and assured, are determined that the north chooses a different road.

But what is it about a parade of elderly orange men that causes these emotions?

On Free State today Joe explains why Garvaghy Road represents a new and confident community.

Joe and Dion discuss what it means for a United Ireland. What that Ireland would look like might be even more important than a border poll.

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Louise Kennedy's first novel Trespasses was a beautiful and heartbreaking story of the Troubles. In her new novel Stations she deals with the loss and sacrifice of emigration. Louise talks to Dion about moving from the north to Naas when she was 12 and the truth about emigration and why Ireland has yet to acknowledge it.

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In November 2023, Peter O’Mahony sat down for a meeting with his coach at Munster Graham Rowntree where the reality of a professional sportsman’s life became brutally clear.

On that same day, Peter and Dion met for the first time to begin work on his autobiography. Peter is the guest on today’s Free State where he talks about why having an obsession with winning was essential to his career and his brief time as a Gaelic footballer.

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In Drumcree and in Debrecen, we were forced to consider different Irelands last weekend.

The determination of the Orange Order to parade down Garvaghy Road brought back memories for so many of the dark days in the north.

But does it really show how much has changed?

On Free State today, Dion and Joe discuss what happened at Drumcree and in Hungary where Gavin Bazunu told his team mates he didn’t want to play against Israel. Should his team mates have stood with him? What does beating Israel mean for Ireland? Is there any merit in it or are Ireland just participating in the sports washing of war crimes?

Email us at info@freestatepodcast.com

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Jon Ronson joins Dion on today's Free State to talk about the manosphere, his time with Ian Paisley and his new book, The Castle. Learn more about Jon's new book here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/455289/the-castle-by-ronson-jon/9780241754771

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‘We’re not playing with genocide, we’re playing against genocide. We’re playing against Israel, we’re not playing with Israel.’

With these words, Irelqnd’s manager Heimir Hallgrimsson tried to rally support for his players before they play their first game against Israel.

The Israeli Fa responded by saying, ‘We’re not playing with ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity, We’re playing against the coach who embodies them."

With these words, the Israeli FA would seem to be in step with their government and those who attack anyone who criticises the genocide in Gaza.

On Free State today, Dion and Joe discuss what should happen next. They disagree about what it says about the players if they play this game against Israel but not about what should happen next.

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‘Three things come with taking a man’s life. The first one is the easy bit – going into a room and shooting somebody… The second is preparing yourself if you get caught coming or going and getting life in prison – could you do it? And the third and final and most important is can you live with it for the rest of your life? And that’s where a lot of people fail.’ 

Aaron Edwards is the great chronicler of loyalism in this time. His new book details the life of Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair who spoke those words to Edwards and gave a glimpse into the world that made him feared across the north.

On Free State Edwards talks to Joe and Dion about Adair. He explains how he got to know him and he discusses the broader loyalist mindset and how it would approach a border poll.

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Robert Harris's book have always been about power. His latest Agrippa tells the story of the close friend of the Emperor Augustus as they take power folloing the assassination of Julius Caesar. Harris talks to Dion about how power erodes and all empire die as he looks to the modern world and how democracy is failign. You can learn more about Robert's new book here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/463350/agrippa-by-harris-robert/9781529154412

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‘I am not complicit’ Ed Sheeran said in his statement after Macklemore was dropped as a support act on his US tour.

Macklemore had been dropped because he said the words ‘Free Palestine’ on stage. 

Sheeran blamed the promoters and the billionaire Robert Kraft said he put pressure on Sheeran to drop Macklemore.

On Free State today we ask what lies beneath the pressure to silence Macklemore .

What does it tell us about the world that is being shaped by billionaires? Does the response by those including Sheeran’s other support acts tell us something too about a resistance to this world order? Is there a determination to do something about the helplessness so many people feel about a genocide and much more?

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What a weekend for Ireland. Donald Trump flew in and across the land, people whooped and hollered as if these were the greatest days of their lives.

Before he left, Trump had presented the Irish Open trophy to Shane Lowry, removed tariffs on Irish whiskey and united Ireland.

On Free State, Dion and Joe consider the significance of Trump’s comments and whether it brings the prospect of a border poll closer.

Who was in more discomfort from his words, Micheal Martin or the unionist politicians who believed Trump was an ally.

But there are no allies as far as Trump was concerned. Will those cheers at Doonbeg ensure Ireland and unity are looked on favourably? Or will they, as is so often the case with Trump, be viewed as just another transaction which only has significance until the next payment is due?

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The great historian Jill Lepore joins Dion on today's Free State to talk about the history of the artificial state and what we can learn from past movements which attempted to advance the cause of machines. Jill takes us on a journey from the Technocracy movement through to today's AI evangelists.

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When Ed Miliband announced that the UK would take action and sanction illegal Israeli settlements, the response was swift. 

Britain had lost its moral compass, these moves would only aid Benjamin Netanyahu, the real victims were the Palestinian people were among the lines of attack. 

Miliband, who is Jewish, was called a ‘Jew hater’ by Mike Huckabee, the US’s ambassador to Israel.

On Free State today we look at how Israel went on the attack and why it is not a pariah but a model for the future. 

We examine the range of the criticism for anyone who deals in the reality of life in Gaza and the West Bank and details the ethnic cleansing and war crimes that have been committed. 

Will Israel’s approach be viewed dimly in time or will it be seen as a template for the post democratic apocalypse we’re entering?

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What will it take to unite Ireland? In a live Free State we took that question (and Dion) to West Belfast. 

We were joined by Paul Howard, author of the brilliant new novel ‘A Nation Once Again’ about the government department secretly planning for a United Ireland.

In front of a packed crowd, Paul took us through the absurdities of the situation and why bureaucracy says no even if the people say yes.

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Joe and Dion look at the 'cruel and unknowable' Donald Trump, and how Qatar are regretting getting friendly with the 'hyena' in the White House. Meanwhile, the Man With Zero Political Convicton, Keir Starmer, is stepping down as a MP mere weeks after relinquishing his role as Prime Minister - in sharp contrast to Jeremey Corbyn who has remained on to serve his constituents long after leaving his role as leader of the Labour Party.

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Should Andy Burnham have a say in the future of Northern Ireland? Could "Kitchen Appliances : The Musical" be the next big thing at the Fringe? And will Dion be shunned by the Dungiven whatsapp group when he heads to Belfast this Thursday with Joe to interview Paul Howard?

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Referees are abused and derided. They are mocked and pursued but what does their demonisation tell us about the world we live in today? William Ralston talks to Dion about his deep dive into the world of refereeing. He talks about his own attempts to referee at the lowest level and the lack of humanity shown to officials - people - at all levels of sport.

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Few things make Irish people feel more inadequate than being told how well everything functions in Scandinavia. 

We are constantly told about their education systems, its welfare system and its work-life balance.

But have we got it wrong?

On Free State, Philip O’Connor, who has been based in Sweden since 1999, talks to us about the upcoming election in Sweden.

He explains the rise of the Sweden Democrats and how a party with Neo-Nazi origins may now hold the balance of power.

He also tells us how they did it, how they switched from talking about race to talking about culture even if their message is the same. And he explains why Ireland should be concerned.

A reminder that on Sept 3rd, Free State will be live in Belfast with Paul Howard to talk about his brilliant new book ‘A Nation Once Again’. Book your free ticket here - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-free-state-podcast-live-paul-howard-in-conversation-tickets-1998226075984?aff=oddtdtcreator

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‘We recognise sometimes its signature is written in pencil’

With these words Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney declared a trade war with its unreliable neighbour, the United States.

On Free State today, we look at why so few want to assert what Carney stated so baldly, that America under Donald Trump cannot be trusted.

This is a reality the world knows but the leaders instead of acknowledging it, run from it as they try and pretend the world is still the same.

A reminder that on Sept 3rd, Free State will be live in Belfast with Paul Howard to talk about his brilliant new book ‘A Nation Once Again’. Book your free ticket here - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-free-state-podcast-live-paul-howard-in-conversation-tickets-1998226075984?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Annie Jacobsen deals in scenarios. As she says on today's Free State, there are other scenarios around biological war. They are worse. Jacobsen talks to Dion about the world's failure to learn from the pandemic, the Wuhan lab theory and what we can do to prepare for an even more devastating lab leak.

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James McClean’s return to Derry hasn’t worked out as anticipated.

But beyond the headlines, what was at stake when he was on the receiving end of abuse on social media, in the English media and from the football grounds of England?

On Free State today, Dion and Joe look at how McClean was reduced to caricature and how the outrage machine shaped it. 

We also have some Free State news. On Sept 3rd, Free State will be live in Belfast with Paul Howard to talk about his brilliant new book ‘A Nation Once Again’. Book your free ticket here - https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-free-state-podcast-live-paul-howard-in-conversation-tickets-1998226075984?aff=oddtdtcreator

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On August 14, Jason Arday was found unresponsive at his home in Battersea in London.

In a statement, his family said they were "in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son".

They added that the “campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone."

On Free State today, we look at the life and death of Jason Arday. A man who made mistakes in his life but was pursued relentlessly by sections of the media until it became too much.

Was it just sport for them or was there something more sinister at stake?

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"Can you tell us how he died, where and why?" On August 9, 2025, Mo Salah tweeted this above a Uefa post which said "Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the Palestinian Pele". Salah's tweet has been viewed 140 million times. On Free State today, Melissa Reddy talks to Dion about the cultural importance of Mo Salah, how he has been held to a different standard and why his last year at Liverpool wasn't what it seemed.

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Darragh McGee understands sport. As a Donegal man he understands the hold and the importance sport has across this land. So as an academic when he went to investigate the betting industry, he didn’t expect to discover all that he learned about its hold on so many individuals and on society.

On Free State today. Darragh McGee talks to Joe and Dion about his book Imitation Games - How Gambling Hijacked Sport. He explains why the digital age caught everybody by surprise, but while the betting industry was quick to grasp what it could do, the legislators were asleep at the wheel and then slow to act.

He explains what happens to someone who bets and why we are all sitting ducks.

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David Hearn was once an Olympic canoeist. He was facing ten years in a federal prison for allegedly vandalising the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC before all the charges were dropped.

‘It’s a relief, but there’s a detachment to that relief of extreme concern for other people and for our country,’ Hearn said,

On Free State today we explain why the story of the Reflecting Pool is a perfect example of how Donald Trump works. 

We look at how Donald Trump captured the United States and what the new book by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Sean tells us about that operation.

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Michael Thomas found the kind of success most writers dream of with his first novel, Man Gone Down, but his life and career took a different direction. Now he has returned with an astonishing memoir, The Broken King. On Free State, he talks to Dion about addiction, race, and retiring to Ireland.

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July was the driest July on record in Ireland and the second hottest since 1900. 

Most of us have enjoyed this summer but should we just now accept our Mediterranean climate and whistle past the climate graveyard.

On Free State today we look at how climate and migration became weapons to protect the elites and sustain inequality. 

Dion and Joe look at the way the events in Ceuta were seized upon. It provided a backdrop for misinformation and fear and another chance to tell you your freedoms were under attack while your freedoms were being trampled on somewhere else.

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In the 1980s, there were 21 days when the temperature in London reached 30 degrees. In 2026 there have been 24.

In Greece, two died in a midair collision between helicopters fighting wildfires. France has seen the greatest civilian evacuation outside wartime as people flee the danger areas. 

And yet people will take issue with what they are seeing.

On Free State we look at the movement that turned climate science into a climate debate. We examine how the methods that were used by big tobacco transferred to the climate arena. We look at how Brexit may be the model as the same alliance that drove the UK out of the EU, question the science as the world can burn so long as it doesn’t affect the bottom line

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Running agents during the Troubles has become one of the darkest element of the history of the north. John Ware has covered this story since the 1970s and produced a ground breaking Panorama on the topic. Ware talks to Dion today about a lifetime covering this subject and the stories of Brian Nelson and Freddie Scappaticci.

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Can you put a price on what we watched at Croke Park on Sunday? What would you sell a Mayo victory in the All Ireland for?

We know that what we watched affects us in ways that money can’t buy but Gianni Infantino thinks he can sell the essence of sport.

On Free State today Dion and Joe look at why sport is so important and why men like Infantino are a danger to the things that are most important in our lives.

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Everybody wants to know how Mayo did it, but when something like this happens what is more important is why Mayo did it.

Why did these players play without fear? Why did the world weep along with Mayo people on Sunday when they won the All Ireland?

On Free State today we look at why Mayo were able to do what they did against Kerry.

In a county that has been waiting for so long, Joe and Dion look at how Andy Moran didn’t run from the emotion but instead made it an ally and created an adrenaline loop for his side.

Joe reflects on his comments about Mayo earlier in the year - and earlier in the decade and earlier in the century - and talks about what it was like to watch it unfold on Sunday.

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Will the world have changed thanks to the World Cup? Or did the world change while the World Cup was taking place and people were too busy watching the World Cup to notice.

On Free State today, the great novelist Joseph O’Neill talks to Dion about what he learned watching the World Cup and how the authoritarian US regime prospered during the tournament as other authoritarian regimes prospered in the past.

He talks us through his own views on the tournament and tells us the identity of the one team he can support unconditionally.

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Mayo have been denied in All Irelands in every way possible - balls bouncing over the bar, the referee blowing up early, own goals... they've also taken a few pastings along the way, but what will they do with the freedom they will have on Sunday?

Somehow Mayo have reached an All Ireland final this year against all odds, but does that make this year different? Does everything change because it would be one of the most stunning shocks in history if Kerry lost? Does that give Mayo a freedom they’ve never had before or will it make no difference?

On Free State today, we look at the lengths some teams go to win and the ways some find to lose. Does luck play a part when you lose by a point or is it about something more.

Joe explains too why he will have a Mayo jersey with him on Sunday and why he hopes that finally the curse is ended.

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Did the World Cup final hit different from the million dollar seats or was the best thing about them the helicopter that flew you back to New York City?

On Free State, today we ask who mourns the end of Gianni Infantino’s dance with Donald Trump and the depraved nature of football today?

Dion does and he explains why football still matters despite the decadence at the top of the game. Things get heated as they discuss it and Dion wonders if he’s talking to Joe or Fr Dougal.

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On the weekend of the World Cup final, Eamon Dunphy is our weekend guest. Dunphy reflects on his astonishing career in journalism, the price he paid for being an outsider and why he didn't care when he left the RTE panel.

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England lost at the semi final stage again but what does how players are shaped for professional football tell us about how they perform? 

England lose when they play a team more cunning than them but they have a system designed for obedience.

Kids will be dreaming of playing in a World Cup but what is the reality of professional sport.

On Free State today we look at how the attritional nature of succeeding in sport can break so many who try to make it. And we ask what it does to those who succeed.

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And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make. It made sense for Paul McCartney and it makes sense when we consider why we engage with whatever gives us pleasure in life. 

On Free State today we look at the meaning of sport. Why winning doesn’t matter as much as how sport makes you feel. Does this mean Mayo can win the All Ireland? Does it matter?

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Martin Sixmith was the BBC's man in Moscow as the Soviet Union collapsed and Vladimir Putin came to power. In today's podcast he talks about his time in Russia, the fight for the billions lost and his time working on The Lost Child of Philomena Lee.

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Jeffrey Donaldson sits in a prison cell, waiting to be sentenced for the most horrific crimes. 

On Free State today we look at the rise and fall of Jeffrey Donaldson.

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Donald Trump destroys everyone in his orbit. His transactional nature means that eventually whoever is close to him is ruined Gianni Infantino might soon know how that feels.

‘I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States,’ Infantino said as he explained how FIFA had lifted the suspension on the USA forward Folarin Balogun. 

“During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold.”

On Free State, we look at those principles and how they fit in with Donald Trump’s. The White House insists that Trump’s only concern is the American people. As he spends every hour thinking about them, he just happens to have made more than a billion dollars from crypto in his first year back in office.

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You might not have heard of Helenio Herrera but without him, you might not have the modern football manager. Herrera was a lowdown and a dirty football manager who wasn't so much a pragmatist as an absolutist. He was full of contradictions: he hated his players having sex but he ruined many lives with his own pursuit of sex. He would do anything to win and stopped at nothing for victory. He wasn't a pragmatist, it was more pathological than that.

On Free State today, Dion talks to Richard Fitzpatrick about HH and how he shaped the modern football world, for better and for worse. Although not a lot of it was for the better.

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The World Cup continues to captivate. France stunned the world with their performance against Sweden, with a display of pace and skill that was as good as anything witnessed in the competition.

But what is the hidden World Cup? What is the secret anguish that this and all sporting events facilitate.

In their final episode in this series looking at the dangers of online gambling, Joe and Dion look at how the dopamine hit is so carefully regulated and how the ebb and flow of sporting events became another hook.

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How many times do you look at your smartphone each day? How often do you pick it up? How aware are you of how it makes you feel?

On Thursday’s Free State we looked at how gambling has got out of control.

Today Dion and Joe examine how what we are dealing with is an entirely new phenomenon, a supercharged addiction of smartphone and gambling, a dopamine hit of huge power. 

We look at the demographic most affected and ask when will people do enough to help them?

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When Fintan Drury wrote his first book onPalestine - Catastrophe, Nakba II, the manner in which it resonated with people told its own story. Now he has written Genocide - Sponsoring the destruction of Palestine,another searing and detailed account of how the Palestinian people have been failed. He talks to Dion about why now is the time to act.

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The 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act prohibited betting on baseball, basketball, American football and most other sports in nearly every US state.

In 2018, the Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional, opening up America to a stampede of betting.

On Free State today we look at how the gambling industry achieved such prominence and how they made gamblers feel that the problem wasn’t them it was you. 

With tens of billions being bet on the World Cup and prediction markets like Polymarket allowing people to take a position on everything, we wonder where it will end?

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‘I have come to sell a product called soccer.’ The former FIFA president Joao Havelange announced himself in 1974 with these words. They have been the model for the expansionist, grasping FIFA that has existed to this day.

But maybe what matters was not the product but everything but the product?

On Free State today we look at why the World Cup matters and why it might be everything that Donald Trump’s America is not.

From David Clifford and Kerry to Messi and Argentina, sport is what it is because of the communities that are brought together.

Could it be that as America experiences the World Cup, they see that the world is a better place than their leaders want them to believe?

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In Power Ballad, Rick, played by Paul Rudd, a washed-up wedding singer, and Danny, a fading boy band star, bond over music and a late-night jam session. On Free State today, old friends Dion and Peter McDonald, co-writer and co-start of Power Ballad, discuss their own late night escapades, Peter's time in the theatre and and his extraordinary time working with the legendary Robert Altman.

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There are no atheists in the foxholes and in the darkness of the night there is nobody who won’t find consolation in the World Cup.

On Free State today Joe talks about his own World Cup journey. Joe and Dion look at why the tournament captivates and what it tells us about communities as opposed to the leaders of those communities.

At a time when Elon Musk had become the world’s first trillionaire, we look at the hatred he is trying to foment. 

And we look at the story of Palestine Action and what it tells us the authoritarian direction of the world today.

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How have Donegal got themselves in this mess? Has Jim McGuinness’s obsession with Kerry blinded him to the other threats.

On Free State today, Joe examines why some counties accumulate All Irelands and others fail, while Dion surprises him with his knowledge of Roscommon’s football history.

Joe and Dion also look at how the Belfast Riots happened. 

For months the PSNI were warned that houses were being identified and that people were stockpiling food for fear their homes would be attacked but according to reports nothing was done.‘My daughter was crying, saying she doesn’t want to die,’ one father said of the terror his family endured during the riots.

Why has this happened and what is the hypocrisy at the heart of loyalism that allows this hate to prosper?

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The World Cup has begun but will there ever be a tournament like Mexico '86 dominated by Diego Maradona? On Free State today, Dion talks to David Arrowsmith about his book on Maradona, the impulses that drove Maradona and how he escaped from poverty but could never escape the sense of being an outsider.

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Belfast has burned this week. The horrific knife attack on Monday night shocked everyone. But nobody was surprised by what came next. In Belfast, In Glasgow and around Britain, people came out on the street. Some were there to protest, others were there to intimidate. In Belfast, the intimidation took over.

On Free State today, Joe and Dion consider the riots in Belfast and whether there is a difference there than in other places. Joe looks at the inherent supremacy in the loyalist mindset and why it has made that community more susceptible to the hysteria driven by social media.

As people take to the streets in Dublin and elsewhere, can any politician challenge the power of the technology and the propaganda advancing this cause?

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The FAI have decided to move Ireland’s game against Israel to a neutral venue. But is this a pragmatic move or another attempt to avoid making a principled decision?

OnFree Statetoday Joe and Dion talk to Sinead Gibney of the Social Democrats about why this is a cop out. 

Would there be consequences for Ireland if they refused to play the game or would it lead to others following?

Sinead Gibney explains why this is a moral issue and even if Ireland were removed as hosts of the Euros in two years, they should refuse to play. The decision to move the game doesn’t address the moral core of the problem.

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John Kampfner doesn’t believe there is a better way, he believes there is only one way for western democracies to survive.

On Free State today he talks about what democracies have to do to survive. They - we - are drinking in the last chance saloon he says. He explains why there has to be a reckoning and why so many politicians do not have the capability to change.

He speaks about his new book Braver New World which we have discussed on the podcast and where in the world countries are doing things differently. If the rest of us don’t do the same, there will be trouble ahead.

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Have you been watching Love Island? As part of his deep research for the podcast, Dion has and on today’s Free State he shares his concerns about Fitzy and the world he has walked in to.

Joe encouraged Dion to watch it but hasn’t done so himself but he marvels at the Love Island universe and what it contains.

Yet it is the universe of the late great Frank McGuigan that holds his attention. Joe recalls a player of preternatural gifts whose genius drew people to him and whose vulnerability ensured they always willed him on.

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Aziz Abu Sarah’s older brother Tayseer was like a father to him. Azis was ten years old when his brother died after he had been tortured and beaten in an Israeli jail. Aziz says his brother’s death sent him to his own prison where all he wanted was revenge.

Maoz Inon’s parents were killed by Hamas on October 7th. A couple of days later, he and his family released a message. “For the death of our parents on October 7,  

my family is seeking no revenge. What we are seeking is peace and equality.”

On Free State today Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon talk to us about their extraordinary friendship and their determination to find a way to peace in the Middle East.

They speak about their attempt to understand each other as Israelis and Palestinians and why there must be justice and equality as well as peace.

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Sally Hayden is a fearless journalist. She has covered war and conflict around the world. She lives in Lebanon where, early in her new book, she notes that ‘in the past fortnight, Israel has killed more than one thousand people’.

Her book opens with a quote from Elon Musk: ‘The fundamental weakness of Western civilisation is empathy.’

On Free State today Sally Hayden explains her journey to disprove Musk’s claim. ‘I encounter love daily - more than fury, revenge, greed or abuses of power.’ She writes about how love endures in the middle of genocide and how the powerful use it, as well as everything else, as a weapon against humanity.

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What do Sinn Fein stand for? What do they believe? And do the other left wing parties believe they believe it?

On Free State Joe and Dion look at the state of Sinn Fein following the recent by-elections. Does it tell us something about the scrutiny Sinn Fein are under that there is more analysis of them than of Fianna Fáil which got a comically low vote?

Dion and Joe disagree about what Sinn Féin’s intentions are when they talk about immigration. Joe also responds to the Jim McGuinness developments.

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What do great art and great sport have in common? Why do the moments that transport us to another dimension in sport and art have such power?

On Free State today, Dion reflects on the spiritual experience of seeing Paul Simon and Joe reflects on writing Kerry off.

What does the game between the All Ireland champions and Donegal tell us about the summer to come? And what does it tell us about Jack O’Connor? Has he been found out by the new dynamic Gaelic football or were the seeds of Kerry’s destruction planted long ago?

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On today’s Free State, Dion talks to Louise Brangan about The Fallen, her book about the Magdalene Laundries and what they tell us about Ireland, then and now

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Do you feel like lower value human capital or do you believe you should be on Love Island? 

Who declares who is of value and who isn’t? Will the future belong to those who refuse to be defined by what the tech overlords decide they should be? 

On Free State we look at how the climate emergency is being accelerated by data centres and why nobody has the will to stop them. 

And we provide a major update on the potential Love Island appearance of the Galway footballer ‘Fitzy’.

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Bertie Ahern says he rejects ‘racism in all its forms’. So what is it if not racism when a former Taoiseach says ‘we can’t be taking in people from Congo and all these places’?

On Free State today we ask how do you talk about immigration and not get mistaken for a racist? Is it best not to say things that a racist might say to begin with?

Ahern defended himself by saying ‘I don’t think there is anything wrong talking about what the people are talking about’.

But what does this mean? What is the requirement of a leader, even a former leader, when people are troubled and anxious? Do you resort to the lowest common denominator or do you provide a vision? What did Bertie Ahern do?

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When Israel’s contestant in the Eurovision appeared on stage in Vienna on Tuesday night, a lone voice shouted ‘stop, stop the genocide.’ The Israeli contestant kept singing and nothing stopped.

On Free State today we look at why the Eurovision became a key part of Israel’s propaganda war.

We examine the money that was spent ensuring Israel’s entries got votes and we ask why. 

We also look at some of the less notable Irish entries over the years and Joe tries out his own power ballad.

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There was a huge response to last week’s episode on Universal Basic Income.

On Free State, Dion and Joe look at the arguments made in the emails and comments.

But as they go through the comments, the atmosphere changes and Free State reaches another crossroads…

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A study after the covid pandemic established that in care homes controlled by private equity firms the death rate was more than 50 per cent higher than in other homes.

On Free State today we look at how private equity is capitalism cannibalising itself. Hettie O’Brien, author of The Asset Class, is on with us to talk about how this happened, how governments retreated from the public realm and left private equity take over the world.

She explains how they took over the things we have to have, electricity, childcare, housing when governments retreated. And as they did, things became worse. 

She explains how ideology took hold and while the masses were scolded for acquiring debt, private equity found they could live with it, or somebody else could die with it.

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More than 60 per cent of Irish jobs are in positions highly exposed to the threat from AI. So what do we do in the face of this threat? Give everyone free money.

On Free State today we look at universal basic income and how it could transform lives.

How does it work and why would it be profound? And why does the opposition to this sound like the opposition to every other great transformations in society?  

On Free State today we explain why.

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What does Ireland in 1926 tell us about Ireland today? What do absences tell us about the lives we live whether it is in Ireland a hundred years ago or at a graduation in Gaza today? On Free State, Joe and Dion look at loss and absence. They examine the emotion that can pack a punch from a hundred years ago and the lives that are ripped apart today

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It would be harder, Jamie Bartlett says, to open a sandwich shop in Dublin than to release a large language model of near infinite power into general public use. On Free State, Bartlett talks about his new book on how to talk to AI and what we are doing when we hand agency to a personality type that is drawing from the worst of impulses. How do we protect ourselves? Is the only winning move not to play but is that even possible?

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What does the world look like when the world has turned away? On Free State today we ask about the loss of faith that will echo through the generations following the genocide in Gaza. We examine how leaders failed and are left taking comfort in the circus of a visit from a king to the court of Donald Trump. We also wonder how far someone can let themselves go that they don't iron their shoelaces.

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“I’m getting in touch because I’ve written the attached open letter as a serving Garda,” this email was one of many we received since Sinead O’Sullivan came on the podcast. 

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” it continued, “but I felt I had to say something given how things are going. I wrote it out of a genuine sense of frustration with the direction the country seems to be heading. More than that, I’m writing as a father of a young family, and I’m increasingly worried about what kind of Ireland my kids are going to grow up in.”

On Free State today we ask why people hurting has been turned into an urban versus rural debate when everyone is affected. Does this tell us something about the inability of the ruling class to see beyond the short term? Why is there always a defensive attack or a short term fudge rather than leadership?

And when it comes to lack of leadership? Could things actually get worse for Mayo?

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“The bravest man it fell to my unhappy lot to execute.” These were the words of the hangman who took Roger Casement to the scaffold in Pentonville Prison in 1916.

Roger Casement’s final years were lived in pursuit of Irish independence. But was he a driver of rebellion or a hopeless romantic whose brainwaves did more harm than good? 

On Free State today, Rory Carroll talks about his book A Rebel and a Traitor about Casement and Reginald Hall, the man who pursued him.

He talks about the lover who betrayed Casement, why Irish prisoners of war in Germany didn’t trust him and the complicated legacy that persists to this day.

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What allows a manager to bring a group with them? What is it? How do they possess it and what happens when they lose it? On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at how managers fall to earth and consider how Ger Brennan can make it work as Dublin manager. They look at the power and control Alex Ferguson had and what happens when a manager becomes toxic and indiscipline spreads. They also consider the shocking developments in Howth where people aren't saying hello to Vogue Williams.

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When Sinead O'Sullivan created a graph which she believed illustrated the problems in Ireland, she hadn't realised what would happen next. She found herself in the middle of an argument about data with many including Leo Varadkar. It raged over what Ireland did and didn't do well. But did it highlight the real problem in Ireland today? A defensiveness from the establishment which could be seen in a broader context in relation to the protests.

Sinead O'Sullivan joins Dion and Joe on today's Free State to talk about what when wrong in Ireland, why the country is like this and how it can be changed.

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As a young Roy Keane headed on the train to Dublin from Cork for a coaching course, he saw some railway workers toiling by the track.

‘Look at them fuckers out there and they’re going like the hammers,’ he said. ‘I have to make it as a footballer.’

On Free State today we look at what drives a man like Roy Keane and how is the boy the father of the man?

Dave Hannigan, author of We Need to Talk About Roy, discusses how Ireland and Keane have got along and not got along. He explains the force that took him from Mayfield to England when many expected he would soon be back. But Keane stayed and succeeded in ways nobody could have imagined.

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This week Irish life returned to normal and Irish politics resumed its normal parlour games.

The resignation of Michael Healy Rae was described repeatedly as a ‘bombshell’ and the political parties shouted at each other in the Dail.

Outside protestors and malcontents hovered but will their protests take on those who are really exploiting the ordinary people?

Since Israel and the US launched their war against Iran, the top 100 oil companies are making an additional unearned ‘war profit’ of $30 million an hour. There are calls for a windfall tax but who will take the side of the ordinary consumer over big oil?

On Free State today we look at the real divide in society and we consider the moment when Leo Varadkar ran out of diesel

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‘Nobody has a right to blockade our country,’ Micheal Martin stated when announcing what the government would be doing in response to the protests that brought the country to a halt.

But what does it tell us about the fraying of the social contract that people felt they had to take to the barricades in their country to demonstrate how desperate things have become?

On Free State today Joe and Dion look at a week that might have changed Ireland and why the establishment doesn’t know how to respond. We ask who were the bad actors who tried to attach themselves to the protest and explain why they are being used as a distraction to avoid dealing with the fundamental problems in the country.

Joe and Dion also discuss the piece by Sinead O’Sullivan which you can read here https://www.butthistime.com/p/mind-the-gap.

Feel free to email info@freestate.podcast.com with your own thoughts.

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“It is a low bar to ask that people aren’t killed so that I can fill up my car.” Alex Perry is an investigative journalist who has uncovered an extraordinary story.

It is a story where the backdrop is the new imperialism. If the first scramble for Africa was led by the imperial nations in the 19th century, the second has been by the oil companies that have so much power in the world today.

In Ireland, we have seen this week the power of oil and gas, but on Free State today, Alex Perry talks about the incredible story of Palma in Mozambique. He tells us about the massacre that took place there in 2021 which the world knows nothing about and why so many who should know more also say they know nothing.

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How close did the world come to annihilation this week? What will happen the next time Trump parades his negotiating skills and can the world always be sure that Trump Always Chickens Out?

On Free State, Dion and Joe reflect on a ceasefire which was a defeat for Trump and ignored by Benjamin Netanyahu.

Does this mean peace or does it mean we should enjoy the little things that make life worth living? 

Since the death of his friend Michael Lyster, Joe has been reflecting on what made Lyster the man he was and he shares a story which captures his magic.

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Stalin was reported to have asked ‘How many divisions does the pope have?’ when told of the Vatican’s view on world affairs.

On Easter Sunday, Pope Leo addressed the crowds at St Peter’s Square and said, "Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace."

Shortly afterwards, Donald Trump gave his view on world affairs. “Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell — JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

On Free State today we ask who will stand up to Donald Trump? Are the church leaders who are supposed to provide leadership in terms of morality being forceful or are they dealing simply in wooly abstractions that are of no use?

When Trump is becoming increasingly deranged and there is a need for firm and moral leadership, will someone stand against him or will they continue to use language that is vague and uninspiring?

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Olivier Norek says he has never met a killer who wasn’t eaten inside by what they’d done. Before he became a writer, Norek was a policeman in the most dangerous parts of Paris and a humanitarian worker in the former Yugoslavia.

On Free State today, Norek tells the story of Simo Hayha, the sniper known as the White Death, who fought for Finland during the Winter War when the Soviet Union invaded the country.

He tells the story of how Finland, abandoned by the world to fight alone, stood against the Red Army, fighting for their communities.

Norek researches his books the way he would investigate a crime and in preparation for the Winter Warriors, he spent a winter in Finland, experiencing the subzero temperatures in which Finns fought to defend their country.

He tells us what the Winter War meant to Finland and how it shaped the world we live in today.

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When a California court ruled that Meta and YouTube had deliberately designed addictive products, many declared that this might be the Big Tobacco moment for the tech companies.

The plaintiff was awarded $6 million damages. Meta’s revenue in three months last year was 60 billion dollars. Their share price was unaffected.

On Free State today we ask what will it take to make a difference? 

If the social media companies are relaxed about the finding, is it because they know that there is no appetite to make real change?

We look at the power of the addiction and the power Big Tech utilises to enforce its position.

These powers rule the world now and one ruling may not make much difference.

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Trust the process has become one of world’s worst cliches. But what if the alternative was worse? What if ‘trusting the emotions all around’ was the other option?

On Free State today Joe and Dion wonder why Ireland lose. 

The country will not be at the World Cup this summer. How much was this down to the Irish players’ inability to keep their heads and be led by the emotion that was all around them?

Are teams more susceptible to this in an age when information and anxiety are all around them? 

What is the cure for the headlong rush to emotion and will Ireland ever experience it?

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Toby Harnden was sent to Northern Ireland for the first time in 1995. A reporter for the Daily Telegraph, it was an assignment that was not expected to produce much at a time when the peace process was the dominant story. But Harnden became fascinated with the republican movement and in particular how South Armagh had become a place that, not only could not be touched by the British government, but was controlling much of the IRA’s military campaign in England and Ireland. On Free State, Toby Harnden talks to us about his classic book Bandit Country, getting to know the people of South Armagh and the remarkable time he spent in the Royal Navy alongside Prince Andrew

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“The White House does not tolerate any administration official illegally profiteering off of insider knowledge, and any implication that officials are engaged in such activity without evidence is baseless and irresponsible reporting.”

Fifteen minutes before Donald Trump posted that there had been ‘productive conversations’ with Iran, $580 million in oil bets were made in a period of 60 seconds.

Who knew to place those bets? Did anyone have insider information? 

“The only focus of President Trump and Trump administration officials is doing what’s best for the American people,” a White House spokesperson said.

On Free State today we look at the con that was Trump’s war on Iran, a war that he is trying to end and which Iran prolongs any way it can knowing his desperation.

Thousands have lost their lives in this latest example of American aggression and Trump now talks about peace.

But does he know how to control the forces that are unleashed in a war? Or, as with Vietnam, has he set America on a course that will lead to greater human misery?

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When Michael Lyster started presenting The Sunday Game, Ronald Reagan was seeking reelection as president of the United States. When he stopped presenting it, Donald Trump was president for the first time.

For 34 years Lyster was the presenter who shaped our summer days. He was the accompaniment to the drama and the tension, the celebration and the argument. It is no wonder that when his death was announced, the country felt as one,

On Free State today Joe remembers his friend Michael Lyster. He recalls his calm and poise and ability to relax a studio so that the audience was entertained. He remembers Lyster’s ability in a rally car and his love of life. Above all, he remembers a friend from the time when they were kings.

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Adam Doyle, the artist known as Spicebag, achieved some notoriety when his art depicting evictions became a talking point in the national media.

He is an artist of significance and he is also doing significant work.

On Free State today he tells us about the project he is involved where his merchandise has funded a centre for children in Gaza The Ionad Hind Rajab is an Irish–Palestinian solidarity initiative based in Al-Mawasi, Khan Yunis, Gaza.

Adam tells us the story of Hind Rajab and why art is always political.

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Micheal Martin emerged from his meeting with Donald Trump on St Patrick’s Day with the commentariat purring.

He had stood up for Europe, for Keir Starmer and, in part, for Winston Churchill but that didn’t matter. He had survived.

On Free State today we ask does any of it matter. As oil and gas fields in Iran, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are attacked, oil prices rise and governments insist they will protect their people. But what can they do?

On Free State, we look at how commodity traders control the movement of the world’s resources. We examine the astonishing claims in the book The World for Sale. We ask in this world, what good can politicians do? Let us know what you think - info@freestatepodcast.com

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When the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission threatened to revoke broadcasters’ licences because of their coverage of the war, some complained that it violated the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of speech.

On Free State we look at what those rights mean in a country where Trump must get what he wants.

We go back to what happened in Iraq when the country was broken apart, its resources plundered and its people scattered. Is Donald Trump following in that tradition or is what he is doing in Iran potentially worse? Contact us at info@freestatepodcast.com

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Riham Jafari has heard the stories of her grandparents. The stories of a time before the Nakba when her family lived a simple existence in a village outside Jerusalem. They enjoyed farming the land and their independence.

It was a “beautiful life” her grandparents said before occupation came.

After the Nakba, they lived in a camp one square kilometre, crowded with nowhere for children to play.

Riham was born in the Dheisheh camp near Bethlehem. Today Riham Jafari works for Action Aid and when she came to Dublin last week she spoke about the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.

On Free State today she talks to us about life under occupation, why the Occupied Territories Bill has to pass and why a two-state solution with an independent Palestine could be a reality if the world was determined to see it.

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