The Women's Podcast

On today's show, Kathy talks to acrobats Molly Keczan and Glory Dearling - AKA The Silver Starlets – about how they got into their line of work, what it's like to be women street performers and their participation in the Laya Healthcare City Spectacular, which returns to Dublin and Cork this July.Later: Róisín meets architect and interior designer Denise O’Connor, who runs her own design consultancy, Optimise Design. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

566 out of a total of 1,960 candidates running in next week’s local elections are women. That’s 29 per cent and marks an increase of more 100 on the 2014 local elections – or just shy of 22 per cent. So, progress is being made, but is it happening quickly enough? Kathy talks to Women for Election chief executive, Ciairín de Búis.Later: We meet three more women who are entering politics for the first time in the local elections on May 24th. Kathy talks to Grace McManus who is running for Sinn Féin in Wicklow, Fianna Fáil candidate for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, Olivia Buckley and Lorraine Hall, who is on the ballot for Fine Gael, also in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucy Caldwell, an acclaimed author known for her collection *Multitudes* and her role as a guest editor for a new volume of Irish short stories, discusses the current literary renaissance in Ireland. She highlights the diversity and talent in modern Irish writing, featuring voices from both sides of the border. Caldwell shares insights on curating her anthology, *Being Various*, emphasizing the emotional connections with authors. The conversation also touches on the unique challenges faced by women writers in Northern Ireland and the significance of their perspectives.

First: A new report has found that thousands of women who are currently "on home duties" represent a major source of untapped potential in terms of addressing skills shortages. The research, carried out by the state's further education and training authority SOLAS, shows that of the 218,000 women between the ages of 20 and 64 who are not currently participating in the workforce, 16,000 could potentially be attracted to return to work with supports such as flexible working models and training courses. Nikki Gallagher from SOLAS and Joan McNaboe, who authored this report, talk to Róisín about the findings.Later: More than 500 women are running in the upcoming local elections and around 40 per cent of those who have declared for the European elections are female candidates. Have the recent referendums on the 8th Amendment and marriage equality inspired some of the first time women candidates to have a go at mainstream politics? Socialist Party candidate for Europe and Dublin City Council Rita Harrold, Green Party local election hopeful Hazel Chu and Rachael Prendergast-Spollen, who is running for People Before Profit in Dublin, talk to Róisín about this and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today's show, Róisín talks to Bollywood superstar Yami Gautam. The Indian actor’s latest film – the 2019 blockbuster Uri: The Surgical Strike – is currently the highest grossing film in Indian cinema so far this year, but it was the critically acclaimed romantic comedy Vicki Donor that made her a household name in 2012. Yami talks to Róisín about women in her country and the Me Too movement, her unlikely start in Bollywood and, if you can credit it, cricket’s EuroT20 Slam competition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the last decade, the Irish author Tana French has become known for her brilliant crime thrillers narrated by various police in Dublin’s fictional Murder Squad, who tended to be outsiders in some way. In her latest book, the Wych Elm, she has done something a little bit different. Regular book clubbers on the Women's Podcast Bernice Harrison, Niamh Towey and Ann Ingle join Róisín to discuss the book that Stephen King called 'extraordinary' in his review in the New York Times.Plus: Ciara Kenny, acting editor of the Irish Times Magazine talks to Róisín about her first few weeks in the role and makes some reading and listening recommendations.Next time on the Women's Podcast Book Club, How to Fail, but Elizabeth Day. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This weekend (3rd-6th of May) the All Woman’s long boat team from St Michael’s rowing club in Dun Laoghaire will be one of two teams from the club competing in the Celtic Challenge race from the coast of Ireland to the coast of Wales.The race is a biennial event covering the 155 kilometre distance from Arklow in Wexford to Aberystwyth in Wales and the St Michael's All Woman’s team will be hoping to retain their title from the last race in 2017.On today's show four women from the crew, Liz O’Toole, Martina Doyle, Simone Sav and Liz Doyle, talk to Róisín about the grueling 26-hour Celtic Challenge and what possessed them to sign up to it.Follow the St Michael's rowers progress online:Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/dunlaoghairerowing/ Twitter - @RowDunLaoghaire Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jan Carson is a writer and community arts officer based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears, was published in 2014 followed by a short story collection, Children’s Children, in 2016. Her latest novel, The Fire Starters, is a dark, propulsive and original tale of fierce familial love and sacrifice, fizzing with magic and wonder. On today’s show she talks to Róisín about magic realism in her writing, her love of Belfast and the complexities of identity in Northern Ireland, her community work and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Pat Kelly, named one of the Top 100 Irish Americans, is an author and a documentary filmmaker. She has also worked in TV on the show Good Morning America and once trained as a nun. Born and raised in Chicago, she lives on New York's Upper West Side with her husband the app developer Martin Sheerin, originally from County Tyrone. Mary was in Ireland recently to speak about her latest book – a novel called Irish Above All – and she came in to speak to Róisín Ingle while she was here. They talk about Mary's Irish roots, Trump and her friendship with the Italian American film director Martin Scorsese, who encouraged her to write about her heritage. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Young And Trans In Rural Ireland is a new resource that has just been launched by Youth Work Ireland to be used by those who work with young people and in schools, in order to make them the best trans allies they can be and to make Ireland more trans-inclusive. Julie James has personal experience of life as a young trans woman in rural Kildare and in this podcast she talks to Róisín about her life and how this Youth Work Ireland resource can help to make things better for trans people in Ireland.Plus: Irish Times journalists Bernice Harrison and Amy O'Connor tell us what's on their culture radar this week. Amy had the difficult job of getting up early to watch the Beyoncé documentary, Homecoming, and reports that it's everything she dreamed of and more. Bernice has some film and podcast recommendations and considers a move to Copenhagen for their progressive bike culture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.