The Mick Clifford Podcast

Should one-off housing be allowed to a much greater extent than it is and would that contribute towards tackling the housing crisis? Irish Examiner Deputy Political Editor Elaine Loughlin is this week’s guest on the podcast where she sets out the case for a more innovative approach to one-off housing at a time when communities across the country are seeing so many young people fleeing rural Ireland. We also discuss the wider issue of how much the high price of land has impacted on the housing crisis today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This year marks the centenary of one of the most momentous years in the country’s history. Arthur Griffith was a leading figure during the revolutionary period who has perhaps not been remembered with the same respect and affection as others. Founder of Sinn Fein in 1905, friend of the 1916 leaders, president of the provisional government while DeValera was in the USA and one of the chief negotiators of the Anglo Irish Agreement in 1921. Why, in the popular imagination, is Griffith not held in higher esteem? Colum Kenny, author of The enigma of Arthur Griffith – Father Of Us All joins the podcast to rake over the man, his life and his legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s guest Saoirse Exton is worried about the planet, the future and the failure of those who lead to act against the dangers.Saoirse is a 15-year-old transition year student in Limerick who wrote to the Irish Examiner to express her anger and concern at the apparent disregard for the ravages of climate change. She is already an experienced activist in her young life and rightly feels that her generation needs to take the initiative.“I am sick and tired and angry and yet I have barely lived,” she wrote. “I am exhausted simply by caring. My grief runs deep, it saps my strength when I am forced to continue to live in a society shaped by your hands that simply does not care.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How long does it take to be radicalised online? Caolan Robertson reckons as short as six weeks and he should know because he was radicalised and went on to make videos for You Tube for a range of different right wing extremists and conspiracy theorists. He travelled extensively making these films, including back to his native Ireland at the time of the Eighth amendment referendum. Today, he is dedicated to warning people of the dangers of radicalisation, which, he believes, is growing at an alarming rate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Normal fare in politics has resumed with a bang as we appear to be finally heading out of the pandemic. Housing is the issue that is dominating and according to this week’s guest, Irish Examiner political editor Danny McConnell, it is also likely to be the front and centre all the way to the next election. Danny talks about how this government and its predecessor appears to have missed a trick in really tackling the housing issue before it got to where it is now at. He also runs the rule over the forthcoming Dublin Bay South by-election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s report from the ESRI says that the millennial generation in this country is likely to be the first to be worse off than their parents. Stagnant wages, and particularly rising house prices and rent, mean that those in their 20s and 30s are experiencing serious struggle to follow the well trod path of settling down and owning their own home.So what is it really like for those who left education with high hopes a few short years ago? Do they feel betrayed, bitter, confused? Do they retain any optimism about the future? This week the podcast guests were two millennials, Ryan O’Rourke and Shauna Bowers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kieran McCarthy is a former IRA member and a former Sinn Fein councillor. He left the party after a falling-out in 2015. Unlike others who have left he is largely in agreement with the Sinn Fein political project and is not a critic of the party, although he has some issues about how his time there came to an end. He spoke to the podcast about his past in the IRA, his belief that the campaign of violence was justified and about who is in control of the party’s principle policy – bringing about a united Ireland.Irish ExaminerMick Clifford Podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author Mark O’Connell spent two years travelling around the globe meeting individuals and groups who are preparing for, well, the end. ‘Notes From an Apocalypse – A Personal Journey to the End of the World and Back’ is his fascinating and humorous account of what makes these people tick and how he can relate to some of their anxiety. Mark is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Frank Serpico exposed major corruption in the New York Police Department and his story spawned the Hollywood classic movie, Serpico, with Al Pacino in the eponymous role. Fifty years later, Frank Serpico is going strong, railing against corruption, finding new hope in nature and still carrying the bullet in his head since the night he was shot in controversial circumstances.He talks to the podcast about the police and their attitudes to minorities, then and now, and whether the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd will change anything. He also talks about his own experiences, the Irish cops he knew, how he nearly died the night he was shot and why he’d do it all again. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With outdoor activity opening up again for children and adults, will it just be a question of picking up where we left off? What impact did the lockdown and the pandemic have on the development of children, particularly in the relationship so many of them have with sport? Will the events of the last fifteen months prompt sporting organisations to rethink how to engage with children and those attracted to their games?To address these and related questions, the podcast spoke to Brian Cuthbert, school principal, former senior Cork football manager and an expert in the field of youth development in sport. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.