Sonia ducks away from the IAAF World Championships to give us another masterclass in training for the half marathon distance. She has a big announcement that only Patrons can hear and I have a huge prize for one lucky listener. I've been getting emails all week from squad members who have picked up bumps, niggles and of course the dreaded virus. We all know the road to any big race is never smooth. Sometimes the setbacks are easily managed with some time off but when the clock is ticking, things...
Jul 19, 2022•27 min•Ep. 586
In 2019 Iain Ward signed up for a medical trial. As part of the trial an MRI was done on his brain and a small, supposedly harmless, tumour was detected. A later scan showed it growing so, two weeks after his 31st birthday he was scheduled for brain surgery, during which he had to be awake and talking the entire time. A week later it was confirmed that he had Stage 3 brain cancer, which normally comes with a life expectancy of 5 years. Because he’s younger he might get longer than this but eithe...
Jul 16, 2022•31 min•Ep. 585
US Correspondent Marion McKeone joins Jarlath for a round up of the US news and the latest developments at the January 6th hearings. Elon Musk's attempt to buy Twitter backfires in his face while Joe Biden visits Israel but refuses to shake hands! There's so much more to this conversation available on Patreon.com/irishmanabroad. Get access to double size episodes, more craic, more fun and more conversation with Marion and hundreds of other podcasts from the Irishman Abroad Podcast Network for as...
Jul 15, 2022•35 min•Ep. 584
Cathal Dennehy, Ireland’s most respected athletics writer joins us to discuss the upcoming World Athletics Championships while Sonia helps her athletes prepare for the biggest event of the year. Things are definitely heating up. Week 3 of Sonia’s training plan for the Antrim Coast Half Marathon tested our listeners with a 5 mile repeat session and a 100 minute long run. We get the feelings and questions from squad captains Neil Fusco and Aisling De Maison, take a trip around the parishes and get...
Jul 13, 2022•30 min•Ep. 583
Award winning journalist, author and special correspondent for the Irish Examiner, Mick Clifford speaks to me about the new cold case investigation into the murder of French filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier. With multiple documentaries, podcasts, endless media coverage and rumours around the crime and the one man suspected of committing it, is it possible that a new piece of evidence prompted the launch of the investigation? Mick vividly remembers the the time at which the murder took place a...
Jul 09, 2022•30 min•Ep. 582
Marion reflects on a July 4th unlike any she can remember. With many Americans experiencing complete shock and disillusionment with the senseless mass shooting in Highland Park, our friend and US correspondent for the Sunday Business Post examines the details that are emerging around this awful event and what we know about the shooter. Is there a new type of juvenile extremist phenomenon growing under the noses of authorities? Could assault rifles ever be banned again or are President Biden's ha...
Jul 08, 2022•35 min•Ep. 581
Before handing out our half marathon training plan for the week, Coach Sonia O'Sullivan gives us a look inside a record breaking night for Union Athletics Club in Oregon. Jessica Hull's attempt to claim another Australian record has parallels with the journey of our squad to the Antrim Coast Half Marathon. If you climb the mountain too fast or skip certain steps, you can easily plummet from where you are. Our team captains Aisling and Neil jump on the live line to talk about how they found week ...
Jul 06, 2022•31 min•Ep. 580
Born in Belfast, George Hamilton has worked in broadcasting for four decades. In that time he his voice and ability to tell a story as it unfolds have made him the undisputed voice of Irish football. George’s commentary like John Motson, is the soundtrack that sung by little boys and girls dreaming of winning world cups and scoring goals in the backyards when nobody is watching . He has captured the highs and lows of Irish sport for generations of fans, ever since he first took up the microphone...
Jul 02, 2022•36 min•Ep. 579
Last week seems like an eternity ago when the Supreme Court is doing everything it can to turn back the hands of time. This week award winning US correspondent Marion McKeone explains the sense of bewilderment across much of America as 6 conservative judges make their mark, one brave Republican stands up to the bullies, Ghislaine Maxwell goes down with two fingers in the air and the prospect of violence in the streets seems very real. I wonder about the absence of "checks and balances" as the re...
Jul 01, 2022•30 min•Ep. 578
After week one on the road to the Antrim Coast Half Marathon Sonia asks us to review and adjust based on what we have learned. We dial in our team captains and a few squad members to get their takes on how the plan felt. Then coach Trevor Cummins jumps on the Irishman Abroad LiveLive (00447543122330) to advise us on what to do with the cross-training days within the plan. Sitting on the deck of her team house in Oregon, Sonia breaks down how to assess if your paces are accurate and why erring on...
Jun 29, 2022•38 min•Ep. 577
Irish swimming legend and campaigner for justice, Dr. Gary O'Toole sits down with to talk on the podcast this week. Gary explains his complicated relationship with the sport of swimming and how it has changed over the years. We look into George Gibney's efforts to preempt Gary's attempt to gather a case against him and the grotesque way in which Irish swimming turned a blind eye when presented with the cold hard facts of the abuse inflicted upon young swimmers in their ranks. Special thanks to M...
Jun 25, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 576
Joe Biden says yesterday's ruling ‘should trouble us all’ as the conservative Supreme Court majority struck down laws requiring ‘proper cause’ to carry guns in public. Marion unpicks what just happened and explains why these rogue judges are intent on bringing America back to the 50s. It's a bombshell piece of news that makes it hard to talk about anything else on the podcast this week but so much is happening. We take a look at the key take aways from the January 6th hearing, the imminent sente...
Jun 24, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 575
Sonia sets out the plan for week one of her ten-week-half-marathon training block. (Full plans available to download and print in the episode notes) Why is calculating paces at the centre of this week and why do so many people struggle to accept the pace they should be running at? We get a detailed look at the theory behind the training Sonia has designed and a walk through of how to get the most out of each session, long run and rest day. With listeners taking part in the training across the wo...
Jun 22, 2022•33 min•Ep. 574
Padraig Harrington comes back to Jarlath and the Irishman Abroad podcast after 6 tumultuous years to talk about alternative sports psychology, getting your mojo back, coaching your kids, farmers with messages for other golfers and of course the LIV Golf tour. In the extended bumper cut of this episode (available via patreon.com/irishmanabroad ) we get to hear the raw unfiltered opinion of one of Ireland's greatest sportsman at a time when golf's future hangs in the balance. How has the controver...
Jun 18, 2022•56 min•Ep. 573
Can a direct link be established between Donald Trump and the storming of the Capitol? The next two weeks of evidence might be the closest Democrats will ever get. Just one week ago we asked if there was any point to the public hearings by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. After just one sitting we got a definitive, "Yes!" Marion McKeone is on the ground and watching every single minute so you don't have to. She gives us her "take aways" from week on...
Jun 17, 2022•31 min•Ep. 572
There are no half measures when it comes to training for a half marathon but your enthusiasm to give it your best might be the thing that prevents you from seeing it through. Sonia explains the biggest potential trip wires that lie ahead if you're trying to train for a half or full marathon. Sports scientist and athletics coach Dominic Munnelly jumps on the Live Line to talk about the mistakes he sees many of his clients make and how best to avoid the road blocks that a lot of people seem to hit...
Jun 15, 2022•36 min•Ep. 571
This week Jarlath sat down with one of the fastest rising stars of Irish comedy, Tony Cantwell. Given Tony's meteoric rise to Vicar Street filling, social media comedy star, you might be surprised by what went before. We get to hear about the life he had before one video about a private rugby school changed his career and life trajectory forever. It's not the normal route to cult comedy hero status but the entire comedy world has been flipped on its head in recent years. Nobody is better positio...
Jun 11, 2022•37 min•Ep. 570
No matter how much the tv networks hype these public hearings by the January 6th committee Marion McKeone tells us why a lot of the general public just don’t seem to care. With gas prices soaring to record highs worldwide who can blame them. What is the point of these public events? Is it to set the record straight or deal with a clear and present danger to democracy? As yet another “inside the White House” book threatens to reveal more about Jarred Kushner's swift exit, Marion asks why this boo...
Jun 10, 2022•29 min•Ep. 569
The strange power of doing less is the focus of this conversation with the great Sonia O'Sullivan. A "down week" isn't just essential to big race preparation, it's the central pillar of any training plan. Sonia reveals her team captains for the "Irishman Running Abroad Half Marathon Challenge" and we hear the names of some of the individuals who have been called up to the squad. Together they will train under the watchful Strava eye of the former world champ in the hope of running their best in ...
Jun 08, 2022•39 min•Ep. 568
Alexandra Ryan’s life as an entrepreneur, writer and journalist was flipped on its head when a caller from out of the blue threatened to release footage of her involved in intimate acts online. Despite the fact that this footage was obtained without her consent, the lack of any legal framework or laws to deal with such things meant she could do nothing but carry this dread for almost 5 years. Ever since she has made it her business to change the law, obtain her legal qualifications and be a voic...
Jun 04, 2022•38 min•Ep. 567
US correspondent Marion McKeone picks the through the difficult truths facing America and the world following Johnny Depp's victory over Amber Heard, the blame game of the Uvalde shootings, Sheryl Sandberg's resignation from Facebook and President Biden's latest change in policy for arming Ukraine. Together with host Jarlath Regan, Marion unpicks what the Depp verdict means for the Me Too movement. Hear the whole conversation by supporting us on www.patreon.com/irishmanabroad & get access to...
Jun 03, 2022•33 min•Ep. 566
The Irishman Running Abroad Half Marathon Challenge is your chance to be coached directly by the great Sonia O'Sullivan. Today on the show we reveal how it's all going to work and how two lucky listeners will win the prize of becoming the legend's apprentice. Even if you don't win, we want as many people as possible to come with us on this journey to the Antrim Coast Half Marathon on August 28th. Sonia had her own journey this week as she took on a run / hike like no other: The Grand Canyon. In ...
Jun 01, 2022•34 min•Ep. 565
John Connell and Aaron Rogan join me this week to talk about their new books, The Stream Of Everything & Punters: How Paddy Power Bet Billions And Changed Gambling Forever. These two are masters of their crafts. It just so happens those crafts occupy very different places on the literary spectrum. I stumbled across Aaron's book when preparing for the Paddy Power interview that we released last weekend. It's a one of a kind look into the origin of the betting giant and the man who walked away...
May 28, 2022•37 min•Ep. 564
Marion McKeone (Sunday Business Post US Correspondent & regular contributor to NPR, BBC, RTE & Today FM) reflects on another grim week in America and asks whether all the outcry, political statements, thoughts and prayers will bring about any change in gun laws across America. Jarlath asks about the bizarre suggestion that arming teachers is the answer to this problem and whether this idea is now gaining ground. Later in the show Marion looks at a story coming out of San Francisco this w...
May 27, 2022•29 min•Ep. 563
Sonia O'Sullivan selects her Irish athletes to watch this summer. She also casts a critical eye over the structures and methods of funding these talented young sports people back home. The current crop of 19 year old phenoms is rich and full of great characters competing across multiple events. Sonia gives us an insight into the FOMO that the World Championships in Oregon might throw up for a few Irish stars hoping to conquer Europe in August. Jarlath asks Sonia about his next running challenge ...
May 25, 2022•36 min•Ep. 562
There’s “Paddy Power”, the Irish bookmakers known for revolutionising the gambling business and their outlandish marketing campaigns; and then there’s Paddy Power the man. In recent years he has come to embody the brand and take centre stage in their advertising but who is Paddy Power? How does he feel about the journey of this humble family business to the global force that is today. In this candid interview with comedian Jarlath Regan he gives us a rare and personal insight into his journey wi...
May 21, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 561
After an unbroken run of episodes spanning nearly 2 years Marion McKeone was unavailable to record An Irishman In America this week due to personal reasons. So we went into the archives and found Jarlath's original interview with her from on An Irishman Abroad (Originally released November 2019). In a rare and personal conversation, Marion opens up about her early life, Dublin in the 1980s, her urge to leave the country and one particularly hilarious tale of going AWOL from a summer job as the w...
May 20, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 560
Sonia O'Sullivan answers all manner of questions on the pressing issues of nutrition, motivation and the wearing of denim jean shorts while running. Jarlath delves deep into the mailbag to present Sonia with the best emails and letters received from the Irish runners around the world trying their best to eat right and stay on track with their running goals. Whether you struggle to know what to eat before or after a race, need an answer to chafing or want to know how best to resume training after...
May 18, 2022•31 min•Ep. 559
Julie Garland is an Irish entrepreneur unlike any other and the woman leading Ireland’s charge in the new age of aviation. Not only is she the founder and CEO of Avtrain (Europe's leading drone Pilot and Operator training and certification body) but she travelled the world working in every aspect of the flying industry. From engineer to pilot, compliance and management, Julie's life took a twist one day when a nephew put a drone controller in her hands at Christmas. The rest as they say history....
May 14, 2022•49 min•Ep. 558
A new poll reveals that voting Americans are losing confidence in institutions such as the Supreme Court, Democrats have their attempt to enshrine abortion rights in federal law blocked and John Eastman’s emails paint a colourful picture of his attempt to undermine the 2020 election result. It’s a packed slate of news from the States in this week’s Irishman in America and Marion pulls no punches. The Starbucks Union situation and a shocking new report about the systematic killing of Native Ameri...
May 13, 2022•33 min•Ep. 557
