On one of our more eclectic episodes so far, Hazel Reilly from Dublin talks about her work trying to find a cure for cancer, as well as her desire to find young people in Stockholm to play some traditional Irish music with. Later we sit down at Sponge Cookies with pastry chef Mark Farrell, whose cookies are really taking off in the capital. Mark, who has worked in some of the finest kitchens in England and Sweden, will soon be running the Little Britain team garden in Nacka Strand, as well as ha...
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 4 min
On Saturday the Swedish-Irish community gathered in Stockholm for the first parade since 2019, and what a day it was. Guinness Zero, wolfhounds, pipers, representatives from Luleå and Gävle - even a rogue Cork jersey made an appearance! Listen back to the sounds of a great day for the Irish In Sweden!
Mar 21, 2022•31 min
On Saturday night, at the age of 44, Casey Leydon will swap press row and his regular work as the best video creator in combat sports for a place in the cage, where he will meet a man half his age in an amateur MMA bout. He talks to me about how he has transformed from "not being a sports guy" who was carrying a few extra pounds while covering the world's premier MMA events to being a lean, mean fighting machine ready to go out on his shield. One of the most thoughtful people in MMA media, his i...
Mar 17, 2022•34 min
A bonus podcast during the finest week of the year - St. Patrick's Week - as Minister Damien English sits down with me to talk about our two countries, our diaspora and what we can expect from each other, as well as trade, neutrality and the possibility of voting rights for the Irish abroad. The minister is in Sweden to talk to Team Ireland at Ireland House, as well as political and business representatives and the Irish community, and to collect a few good ideas to take back with him to Dublin....
Mar 15, 2022•45 min
Every day is a good day to be Irish, but St. Patrick's Day has that little extra, and in Sweden it will be once again celebrated with a parade on March 19. Sofie Murphy from the Swedish-Irish Society joins me to talk about the celebrations, and Sofi and Sarah from Lys Förlag pay a visit to the studio to talk about the books they publish, learning Swedish and ad fails in English by big Swedish brands, which are the subject of an upcoming book by Irishman Paddy Kelly. There's also a ch...
Mar 14, 2022•52 min
The first in a new series of football podcasts telling the stories behind Sweden's Premier League stars. First out is Arsenal and Everton legend Anders Limpar, the mild-mannered wizard of the wing who ignited a white-hot rivalry between Arsenal and Manchester United before going on to play for the club as he supported as a boy - Everton F.C. Anders speaks about how his football journey took him to England, the hard-nosed culture of the time, not being a beer-drinker, and how he still respects Ge...
Mar 10, 2022•42 min
With the pandemic seemingly receding, I visited Dublin where I took the chance to see how the other half live - the Swedes who have made Ireland their home. Anton Berglund moved to Ireland for a job last November, whereas Vanessa Moore arrived in Cork to study and in 1999 and is still in Ireland. Answering perhaps the most important question of all, writer, comedian and spoken word artists Kalle Ryan was born to a Swedish mother and an Irish father - so who does he cheer for when Zlatan meets Ja...
Mar 07, 2022•1 hr 3 min
This week I've been talking to Max Ortiz, the man behind the revival of the Irish language in Stockholm, and musician Karl Murphy joins me to talk about playing the pubs, the pandemic and the sense of purpose that singing gives him. As always, a huge thanks to Martin and the staff at Wirströms Pub, proud sponsors of the podcast.
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Behind the scenes at the Beijing Olympics, the genius of photographers and why the outbreak of more illustrates why we need the Olympics now more than ever...
Feb 24, 2022•39 min
This week Glenn Karlsson of Hyresgästförening tells us about the pitfalls of renting in Sweden and what you can do if you end up in a dispute with your landlord, and Stephen Farran-Lee recounts his career as an editor, publisher and translator of some of the most talented Irish writers of the last three decades.
Feb 21, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Hannah Fraser talks to me about the work Enterprise Ireland is doing in Sweden and the great success stories of Irish companies here, while Kieran and Tom from the Mälardalen Brewing Company say goodbye to "Dry January" with craft beers from Strängnäs.
Feb 14, 2022•56 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Teenager Aoife Leacy moved to Ireland at the age of six and became a bit of a sporting prodigy, but it is the very Swedish sport of ice hockey that won her heart, and she's now playing in the elite with AIK. They play a derby against Djurgården on Feb 26 at 1300 so let's mobilise all the listeners and the entire Irish community to go watch her - link below to the tickets website! There's also a chat with Irish-Norwegian cross-country skier Thomas Maloney Westgård who is taking on the best in the...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 9
The 1970 World Cup changed football forever as a swashbuckling Brazil team won the Jules Rimet trophy in fine style, and it's all documented in a new book, "The Greatest Show On Earth" by Andrew Downie - but how do you write a book about an event over 50 years ago that some insist on being paid to speak about, if they are still alive at all? Andrew tells the story behind this great slice of footballing history.
Feb 03, 2022•40 min
With the Winter Olympics on the horizon, our attention turns to all things snow and sliding. Now living in Stockholm and working at IES, Aoife Hoey Printz shares her amazing story of careening down the bobsleigh track at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, and Karl Lambert tells the tale of how a discussion over a few pints led to the formation of Team Ireland to take on the gruelling 90km cross-country ski race that is Vasaloppet.
Jan 31, 2022•55 min•Season 1Ep. 9
While the whole world was going nuts over "Get Back", I was giving it a major body swerve - do we really need another endless documentary about lads playing music? Turns out we do, and I got award-winning producer Pat O'Mahony to explain to me why it's a great documentary, and what goes into making one.
Jan 26, 2022•40 min
This week I spoke to Mark Ennis about mental health, depression and being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, and there's some news about what's going to be happening in the coming weeks as I disappear behind China's Great Wall, but the podcasts keep on coming! Some useful links for mental health: www.attention.se www.expatfocus.com/sweden/health/what-mental-healthcare-options-are-available-in-sweden-5679 www.studyinsweden.se/blogs/2020/11/25/mental-health-in-sweden www.mind.se/en/hitta-ratt-...
Jan 24, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 8
This week Sofie Murphy joins me to talk about the Swedish-Irish Society, probably the country's oldest organisation promoting Irish culture here, and I talk to Helen Kavanagh Berglund about her work running the show in Sigtuna. There's also some good news for Guinness Drinkers in "dry January" too...
Jan 17, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 8
A study by Denmark's sports federation published last week attempts to address the situation for trans, non-binary and intersex athletes in sport, and it surprised many - six of its seven recommendations had nothing to do with elite competitions like the Olympics, instead focusing on inclusion. I spoke to Rikke Rikke Rønholt Albertsen, a Danish academic and former elite track and field athlete, about the report's recommendations, and what a level playing field for trans, non-binary and intersex ...
Jan 13, 2022•44 min
This week I visited the Karolinska Institute to talk to scientist Gerry McInerney about his work on COVID-19 antibodies together with an alpaca named Tyson, and I paid a visit to Martin Hession, owner of Wirströms Pub in Gamla Stan (Stockholm's Old Town) to find out how the pandemic affected his business - and if we're seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.
Jan 10, 2022•50 min•Season 1Ep. 7
In the first OMIS podcast of 2022, Christian Christensen joins me to talk about Sweden's upcoming election in September - will it be another weak centre-left coalition or can Magdalena Andersson sweep to power with a strong majority? Or will the conservatives be bolstered by the far-right Sweden Democrats being brought in from the cold at long last?
Jan 05, 2022•37 min
January brings a focus on sport and fitness, and there are plenty of opportunities in Sweden to get involved. I go through some of the current gym prices from around the country and I'm joined by Henrik Tejlfors of Korpen ( www.korpen.se ), who organise leagues and competitions in different sports all over Sweden for those who want to compete, but maybe not at the highest level! There's also a chat with Jennifer O'Sullivan, our former athlete turned pasta entrepreneur, about how the kitchen is j...
Jan 03, 2022•47 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Something to listen to while you're out on a brisk, bracing walk on the days between Christmas and New Year! Emma Löfgren of The Local takes us through what's needed to get back into Sweden* once your time in Ireland is over, and Dave Rooney of the Black Donnellys band tells us about a brilliant Emmy award-winning documentary he made with my good friend Dave Browne. The two Daves toured Sweden and Scandinavia extensively before moving to America and Las Vegas, where they are taking the pla...
Dec 27, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 5
A trip through Stockholm to visit one of the few restaurants serving a turkey dinner (but only until the 23rd!), a chat with "Kitchen Hero" Donal Skehan, about trying to balance the Swedish and Irish traditions in the kitchen, and of course your greetings from all over Sweden and Ireland. God jul!
Dec 21, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 4
A review of the best season yet in Swedish Gaelic football, when Gävle and Luleå burst onto the scene to challenge Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö, and a conversation with Belfast man Aaron Kennedy on what to keep in mind when trying to stay on the right side of the "ordningsvakter" - bouncers - at Swedish pub and nightclubs.
Dec 15, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Ariel Helwani is the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) of MMA journalism and a man at the very top of the game - but along the way, he too has suffered from anxiety and the idea that at some point the dream could be ripped from his grasp. Talking to a therapist and becoming independent in his work has not just led to even greater success, it has given him even greater peace of mind.
Dec 13, 2021•39 min
Jennifer O'Sullivan has taken the plunge and started a new business, and Zack Elbouzedi has been taking football's Allsvenskan by storm - in episode 2 we're out and about on the streets of Stockholm finding Irish stories to tell.
Dec 10, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 2
It's here! The first episode of a new podcast for the Irish community in Sweden! Whether you're here building a data centre in Luleå or at university in Lund, we've got you covered. In the first episode I speak to Ambassador Austin Gormley about his work, Ireland's presence here in Sweden and what citizens can expect from their embassy. Like, share and most of all - get involved!
Dec 07, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Jack Murray is one of Ireland's foremost communications professionals, and like everyone from Hans Christian Andersen to Björn from ABBA, he quickly realised the value of storytelling, no matter what it is you are trying to communicate. HIs brilliant new book on the subject, "The Magic Slice", gives you a glimpse behind the curtain and tells you exactly how to create compelling narratives that audiences appreciate.
Nov 17, 2021•23 min
Sweden's Covid mitigation strategy has stuck out to the world, but what is seldom mentioned is those that it left behind - the elderly and people with disabilities. Eric Hammarstrand has been housebound pretty much since the start of the pandemic and he feels angry and let down by Swedish society - including a Left Party that has been just as negligent of the needs of disabled people as those on the right.
Nov 12, 2021•30 min
Two huge games for Ireland's footballing women ended with one loss, one draw and the World Cup dream very much alive - Stephanie Roche joined me to go through the tactics that Vera Pauw's side used in this momentous week.
Oct 29, 2021•20 min
