Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Where is the way out of the horror in Gaza? When the Shankill Road bomb killed ten people in Frizzell’s fish shop 30 years ago there seemed to be no way out of violence and destruction in the north. But a year later there was a ceasefire and by 1998 a peace process that was the envy of the world. It happened because world leaders like Bill Clinton and Tony Blair were resolute in working with those who wanted peace. Unfortunately today in Gaza, the leaders in the U.K. and US have turned their faces away. In a bonus 'Free State', Joe and Dion look at the relationship between Hamas and Benjamin Netanyahu and how Israel’s prime minister has allowed Hamas to prosper in order to destroy Palestinian moderates. In the darkest hour, there is always a way out but leaders of courage are needed.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much is enough? With the threat that things will worsen even more in Gaza, what will it take for those with influence to intervene. The US and President Biden are friends of Israel, as they should be, but now they need to be friends of Palestine too. What is stopping them?On this episode of Free State, Joe and Dion look at what might be needed for peace and how it was lost a generation ago with catastrophic consequences. There is also a moment of light relief when they consider the sliding doors moment which may have resulted in Sir Joseph Brolly.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The world is watching as terror and suffering come to the people of Gaza once more. In this terrible war, there is also a propaganda war. This war is waged to distract and deflect from slaughter and genocide. After the savagery of Hamas on Oct 7th, there is an understandable need among Israelis for a response but indiscriminate attacks on Palestinians will not destroy Hamas. On Free State this week, Dion and Joe discuss how Israel is breaching international law, anti semitism and why Joe Biden needs to speak truth to Benjamin Netanyahu.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Israel commits war crimes in Gaza, can anyone persuade the country’s government to stop the slaughter?On part 2 of this week’s Free State, Joe and Dion recall their own trips to Israel and their experiences in the country. It is a land where fundamentalism, hatred and fear have twisted all hopes for a peaceful existence. Within the country there are voices, even after the horrors of October 7th, calling for restraint. The Hamas slaughter was their 9/11 but the lesson from history is that a need for revenge only leads to greater misery and massacre.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Israeli government - emboldened by politicians in the west - is committing war crimes. Gaza is a human catastrophe where the horrors will echo through history. There is a primal need within so many Israelis for action to avenge the horrific massacre of the innocents by Hamas. But how is the cycle of violence broken? In the bloodlust for revenge, sane voices in Israel and around the world are being drowned out.On the first part of a two-part Free State this week, Joe and Dion look at how anger and fear create the conditions for violence and why the cycle can only be broken by acts of courage. After the Holocaust, Israel wanted to create a country where it would never feel terror again but instead it is a land where fear is the one emotion both sides share. History shows us there only two options: make peace and allow people to live in dignity and without oppression. Or repeat the circle of violence forever.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second part of 'On Her Majesty’s Secret Service', Peter Taylor discusses the attempts of the British establishment to censor & intimidate him. He describes the central importance of the hunger strike and how it changed everything. He recalls a day spent locked in a cell in the dreaded H Blocks with a young Eamonn McDermott & marvelling at his book collection. “How can an IRA man read Tolstoy & Hardy?” he asked. “An IRA man is just a man like any other” said McDermott. He takes us through the landmark events: how Mrs Thatcher had to have her hand firmly guided as she signed the Anglo Irish Agreement, the meeting of Martin McGuinness & Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth & how the peace was eventually won. This episode is dedicated to all the precious lives lost in the Troubles. And to the courage & integrity of Peter Taylor.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Late in the night following Bloody Sunday, a young reporter arrived in Derry. ‘If you want to know what’s going on here,’ John Hume told him, ‘he’s the person you should be talking to you. He’s called Martin McGuinness’. It was the first time this young reporter called Peter Taylor had heard the name. For 50 years Taylor made establishing the truth in the north his goal. He talked to everyone.Peter Taylor is this week’s guest on a two-part special on Free State. From IRA leaders suspecting their fruit was poisoned to the civil servant who wanted to end the hunger strikes with M&S shirts, Taylor always got the story. It was dark and dangerous work and only a man like Peter Taylor could have done it. Peter also talks about his book Operation Chiffon and the risks that were taken for peace from a chip shop in Derry.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the end, Pat Gilroy will remember the fun more than the winning. What is sport for except those moments shared among a team that will never be forgotten? In this episode of Free State, Joe and Dion talk to Pat about what is being lost in sport as backroom teams swell and clubs and counties are being drained of finances by professional management teams who have no bond with them. Pat recalls the words of Kevin Heffernan as he reminded him of what their club St Vincent’s was all about. And he delivers exclusive news about a new association he has founded which will give the most important people in the GAA long overdue recognition.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the news broke that Mickey Harte was the new manager of Derry, some accepted it as part of how the modern GAA operates. But for others it struck at the heart of the GAA. In a powerful and emotional episode of Free State, Pat Gilroy is back with Joe and Dion to talk about Mickey Harte and loyalty. What is the GAA about? What do we want? Is the association becoming a sham, where there are more barter accounts than at RTÉ?Are the old ideals of loyalty, amateurism and doing good for its own sake disappearing?As professionalism becomes more brazen we ask if the GAA can be saved.Joe also explains the mystical bond he had with his Derry brothers and why that is shattered by the Mickey Harte appointment.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matthew Collins was dead inside. This is where hatred led - to a library with mothers cowering in fear, sheltering from an attack from his far right group. The sound of hatred was the sound of a pregnant woman crying and begging for mercyHis life changed that day when he realised that violence is always where hatred leads. Hatred of asylum seekers, Jews, people of colour, the trans community, Muslims, librarians…anyone will do. In Part Two he talks to Dion and Joe about the violence and why he changed. Today he works as a ‘fat James Bond’ taking on the far right. He explains what that means and how he protects his family from death threats.Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/To get in touch with the podcast: info@freestatepodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.