Comedian, actor and writer Jack Carroll credits his Irish heritage for his ability to find humour in darkness. Thrust into the public eye at the tender age of 11 when he was spotted performing standup at a family function, his talent was made all the more astonishing when framed in the context of the challenges he had faced up to that point. The path to fame of child stars is littered with tragedy but Jack’s star has risen from the first moment he got in front of the Britain’s Got Talent cameras...
Feb 27, 2022•38 min•Ep. 525
In a dark and confusing week for Europe and the world, Marion McKeone attempts to make some sense of what is happening in Ukraine. She asks what options remain and why US boots on the ground is simply not an option. With her bag packed for CPAC in Orlando Jarlath asks her if the absurdity of the event will take a darker turn given the invasion. Trump wasted no time in aligning himself with Putin by issuing some bizarre comments declaring the “genius” of his strategy and military operation. Is he...
Feb 25, 2022•13 min•Ep. 524
Even the greats get anxious before the big days. Sonia and Jarlath are joined by marathon expert Trevor Cummins to discuss how you can conquer your pre-event jitters through taking a few simple steps. Trevor is a professional athletics, strength & conditioning coach based in Cobh who just this weekend posted a marathon PB of 2:37! Jarlath has had a rocky couple of weeks preparation for this #breaking20 challenge this Saturday. Between illness and scheduling the lead up has not been ideal. So...
Feb 22, 2022•39 min•Ep. 523
This week we delve into the Irishman Abroad Vault to bring you one of our most popular episodes from the series to date - the Ronan O'Gara episode. As Jarlath explains in this episode, personal circumstances got in the way of a new guest appearing on the show this week but this interview certainly does not disappoint. With Six Nations fever well and truly underway, this is the perfect time to re-release this conversation with Ronan. With the conversation surrounding Jonny Sexton and Joey Carberr...
Feb 20, 2022•33 min•Ep. 522
Has Prince Andrew settled this case and avoided any further embarrassment or has he just agreed not to be humiliated at his mother’s big party? Today Marion McKeone casts her expert legal eye over the settlement nobody saw coming. Just weeks ago we heard how intent Virginia Giuffre was on making Andrew sweat in public on the stand. Surely there is more to this settlement than meets the eye. This tamped down statement can’t be worth £12 million. Is it the outcome other victims were hoping for? Du...
Feb 18, 2022•14 min•Ep. 521
There’s no roadmap for coming back from a dose of COVID. Every case is different but are there any guidelines you should stick to? Sonia and Jar break down what the experts say and examine whether antibiotics can tinder peak performance. Sonia tells us about her trip to Spokane Washington for the Lilac Grand Prix and how the Nike Union Athletics Club smashed a world record on Friday night. We go around the parishes for a stop in Vancouver where an Irish running club took over in the local half m...
Feb 15, 2022•30 min•Ep. 520
Conor Buckley speaks to Jarlath about choosing a completely different path to the one pre-pandemic life had mapped out for him. His passion and commitment to leaving his mark on society by promoting equality and change comes as no surprise as the son of the Irish icon and ambassador for courage, Christine Buckley. In March 2020 when the first lockdown hit Conor finally had time to think. This, combined with the birth of his son, forced him to make the decision to setup the Human Collective cloth...
Feb 13, 2022•54 min•Ep. 519
If you’re on his mailing list, chances are Donald Trump has sent you 2000+ emails not just for your hard earned cash but informing you that you have been hand selected for his army and that it is now your duty to cough up. Marion explains exactly how this funding scam is worth to the tune of almost 200 million dollars post election and 50 million dollars in the last six months. We dip in the mail bag, take a look at the stand-off in Ukraine and what is happening with the Canadian blockade. Is it...
Feb 11, 2022•13 min•Ep. 518
The number 1 running podcast in the world today (Irish Runner Magazine), Irishman Running Abroad, brings you a comprehensive experts guide to marathon training this week. Sonia and Jarlath enlist the help of the great Trevor Cummins two weeks out from his trip to the Seville marathon. Together they work through some of the most common misconceptions, questions and truths of preparing for the big one. As always there is even more craic and questions answered on our supporters page over at Patreon...
Feb 08, 2022•30 min•Ep. 517
This week, we bring you a very special episode with interviews from both past and new contributors including actress Lucy Davis, author Donald McRae, activist, athlete and awarding winning butcher James Nolan plus the double kidney transplant recipient and the motivational speaker Darren Cawley. We revisit Jarlath's first moments after surgery when the reality and beauty of the donation first dawned. Finally we hear the catchup with his brother Adrian. This is a very powerful compilation of voic...
Feb 06, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 516
A tumultuous week in the US makes for a packed episode with Marion McKeone. With her trademark precision, Sunday Business Post US correspondent takes us inside the biggest stories of the week and what they mean for the coming weeks. Was President Biden sending a message to Putin with his action in Syria, how far is America away from actually burning books, is Joe Rogan to Spotify what Donald Trump is to the Republican Party? We also hear about Chris Cuomo’s take down and dump tackle of CNN presi...
Feb 04, 2022•11 min•Ep. 515
After an eventful week Jarlath puts your questions to Sonia in our monthly “Ask Sonia Anything Episode”. Sonia‘s trip to the east coast for two indoor track meets almost hit the skids when snow and ice hit New York. The Irish icon fills us in on her Michelin Man run around Central Park and dips straight into our listener questions. We then head round the parishes from Raheny to Kenya. Olympic marathon hopeful Jan Corcoran jumps on the live line directly after training camp in the mountains. We g...
Feb 01, 2022•45 min•Ep. 514
At present only 7% of Northern Ireland’s schools are religiously integrated. Carl Frampton is not content with changing the history of Irish boxing. The next part of his life is focused on helping others and Northern Ireland become a better place to live in for future generations. This week he sat down with Jarlath to talk about how he soared to the highest heights in the ring, how he almost quit at 21 years old and why boxing continues to be dogged by corruption. Carl Frampton has always had on...
Jan 30, 2022•32 min•Ep. 513
With Russia amassing more than 100,000 troops and equipment at the border with Ukraine, some experts are saying it’s a matter of when not if aggressive action will take place. Marion’s military insiders in Washington give her their opinion on what will happen next. After a disastrous start to his foreign policy regime, what kind of risk does this situation pose for President Biden and other volatile situations around the world. We will also take a look at the parallels between Boris Johnson and ...
Jan 28, 2022•51 min•Ep. 512
It’s a fact of life. Things don’t always go well. Sonia O’Sullivan, the greatest Irish athlete of all time, explains to Jarlath the head space we need to respond to the adversity we face when running and life gets really hard. The crisis might even happen while you’re running a race or out on a long run. Can we quiet that little voice that tells us we can’t and turn the hardest times into the foundations for something better? Sonia travels to the east coast for the Melrose Games and feels the me...
Jan 25, 2022•34 min•Ep. 511
On a weekend when Ireland tasted freedom for the first time in a long time, today’s guest seems particularly appropriate. Alan Corcoran knows a thing or two about embracing the opportunities that life presents you with even when it seems like there is only darkness ahead. While studying abroad Alan received devastating news from home. It’s a moment we all dread as emigrants. Ordered to stay and finish his exams rather than return to support his family, Alan hatched a plan. 35 marathons in 35 con...
Jan 23, 2022•36 min•Ep. 510
Marion hauls Joe in for his end of year assessment. Will he get to go on the school tour or will his failure in the areas of messaging and immigration be too much? All jokes aside, we cast a critical eye over the last 12 months of Biden/Harris, their biggest achievements and inability to get their party in line. Why do Americans believe their economic inflation has nothing to do with the rest of the world? And will 700 pages of Trump White House records that have just been released to the commit...
Jan 21, 2022•15 min•Ep. 509
It’s almost a week since we learned of the brutal killing of the Irish school teacher and musician Ashling Murphy. Sonia and Jarlath talk about the violence and how the proximity of this awful incident hit home. With the Cobh 10 Mile Road Race in April, we hear Sonia’s plan to commemorate Ashling’s memory forever in the race. Hersport.ie have also announced a run in March and a full campaign to highlight our country’s problem with gender based violence. We go around the parishes to see how our m...
Jan 18, 2022•36 min•Ep. 508
For years Dr Alan Desmond has been telling people, ‘We can transform our health and revolutionise our quality of life by simply eating more plants.’ It was only while working on the frontline of the pandemic that he found the time, while isolating from his family to pen the book that would make him a best selling author and allow him to completely articulate his plant based design for changing our lives. As rates of chronic disease continue to rise, ‘What should we eat?’ has become one of the mo...
Jan 16, 2022•37 min•Ep. 507
How can one juror hand Ghislaine Maxwell a second chance when he doesn’t read the questionnaire he filled out before the trial? That’s the claim of Scotty David, the man who sat for weeks hear the case against the disgraced British heiress and failed to disclose his own history as a sexual assault victim. Marion McKeone explains what the Maxwell defence team could do next and how desperate the prosecution are getting. Meanwhile, Prince Andrew has run out of straws to clutch at. Time is running o...
Jan 14, 2022•11 min•Ep. 506
Sonia is back in California with Union Athletic Club for some sunny weather and speed training. Jar spent last week soul searching and wondering whether a sub-20 minute 5K is within him. It’s been a tough week in January for a lot of people so what better way to focus your mind and energy than a bit of advice and craic from the greatest of all time. In this episode our hosts look at a few different fundamental ideas of speed training and answer some questions on the subject from you the listener...
Jan 11, 2022•32 min•Ep. 505
How do you go from whispering lines to an actor on stage at an amateur dramatics group in Dungannon to starring in a Marvel series? This week, Tyrone actor Fra Fee joined Jarlath to tell the incredible story of how he did just that. Fra opens up to Jarlath about the anonymity that he found when he moved to Manchester, coming out, how he became almost obsessive with bettering himself and the life-changing decision that he made when he became disillusioned with the musical theatre life in London. ...
Jan 09, 2022•33 min•Ep. 504
One year ago a riot took place on Capitol Hill. The facts of who incited the violence have been up for debate ever since. Hundreds of those involved have been arrested thanks to teams of internet sleuths known as “sedition hunters” who sent thousands of leads to the FBI and used social media to track those individuals caught on camera. But does any of this even impact on the support for Donald Trump? Marion McKeone re-examines what happened that day and how the subsequent investigations have pla...
Jan 07, 2022•19 min•Ep. 503
Do you find running a grind? Are you just floating along not really doing much? Tipping along is all well and good for some of the year but to really extract that joy and sense of achievement from running the right goal might be all you need. But how do you find the right one? Let Sonia explain via Jarlath’s goal to run a sub-20 minute 5K. Yes, you’ve heard of Kipchoge’s breaking two project well welcome to Jar’s breaking 20 project. It’s like Kipchoge’s enterprise with pints, complaining and du...
Jan 04, 2022•41 min•Ep. 502
Across more than 150 episodes in 2021 there was hot competition for the awards for best story, most “Irish Mammy”, most inspiring and funniest moments, but we found them. Jarlath walks us through the best of the best moments you might have missed from the past year of superstar Sunday interviews that until now only supporters of the podcast could hear. There’s big laughs and huge inspiration to be found in this stellar end of year episode. Why not go back listen to the ones that got past you in ...
Jan 02, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 501
Wednesday saw Ghislaine Maxwell convicted of sex trafficking but will this actually result in further charges, jail time and will others implicated in the case go to prison? Sunday Business Post US correspondent and our good friend Marion McKeone, explains what just happened, whether Maxwell’s appeal is already dead in the water and what she say while in the courtroom. With 300,000 new cases of Covid detected, is America even paying attention? Will this encourage or discourage other victims to c...
Dec 31, 2021•14 min•Ep. 500
Encountering a rut or a lull in your motivation is normal at this time of year. How you deal with it is what counts. Sonia dials in from Australia to talk us through her key methods for preparing athletes, and people giving running a go, for the best start to the New Year. Her advice on what to do prior to making your resolutions might just save you the heartache of failing in the first few weeks of 2022. Jarlath is back in Ireland and knows a thing or two about faulty exercise promises. He quiz...
Dec 28, 2021•36 min•Ep. 499
When Ellen Keane claimed gold at the Tokyo Paralympic Games last summer she understood and accepted the responsibility to be more than just an elite athlete. Ever since she burst onto the scene, qualifying for her first Paralympics as a thirteen year old, she has travelled a personal journey towards understanding and accepting who she is as a person and her responsibility to other disabled young people. In this relaxed and fun conversation on the eve of Christmas Eve, Jarlath and Ellen reflect o...
Dec 26, 2021•34 min•Ep. 498
Marion McKeone joins Jarlath to sift through the major events of 2021 and the implications for the future of America. From the January 6th riot in Washington to this week’s closing statements in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, our US correspondent leaves no stone unturned as she assesses the damage and potential for healing in another year ravaged by the pandemic. Last Christmas the vaccine arrived and an end appeared to be in sight. This week the arrival of omicron, the realisation that it is less...
Dec 24, 2021•11 min•Ep. 497
Technological doping, the greatest thing since the stopwatch or the greatest fad since fidget spinners! Call it what you like, super shoes are changing running one carbon footplate at a time. Jarlath doesn’t have a pair. Sonia has a pair in every city she visits! Jarlath has a lot of questions. Are these shoes intended for the slow runner? Can they be harmful? Do they really work? Why are they so damn expensive? And if they cost that much, surely we should be allowed to train in them? Sonia has ...
Dec 21, 2021•38 min•Ep. 496
