On today’s show Kathy talks to theatre legends Ger Ryan and Marie Mullen about their play at the Gate Theatre, The Children, directed by Oonagh Murphy. Written by Lucy Kirkwood and also starring Seán McGinley, the play is about three retired nuclear scientists staying at a crumbling cottage by the sea, as the world grapples with the aftermath of a catastrophe at a nuclear power station.Marie and Ger talk to Kathy about the production, about Waking the Feminists, about the reality of life as a jo...
Mar 18, 2019•33 min
On today’s show Róisín meets one of fashion’s original supermodels Yasmin Le Bon to talk about beauty icons, menopause, ageing and her 30+ year marriage to Duran Duran star Simon Le Bon. In a frank and funny interview, Yasmin speaks about the difficulties of parenting, hot flushes and why #MeToo wasn’t an issue for her and her fellow 90s ‘supers’ including Kate Moss.Plus: Kathy and Róisín talk about period poverty and positive moves by the Oireachtas Women’s Causcus in putting the cause on the g...
Mar 14, 2019•32 min
On International Women's Day, we joined the 15th annual #IWD Accenture Ireland breakfast at the Convention Centre in Dublin. In front of a crowd of 1,700 (gulp!) in the main auditorium, Kathy hosted a panel on technology, Changing the Game in Tomorrow’s World, examining the future for inclusion and equality, and how the technologies we live and work with can set us up for success in tomorrow’s world.Joining her on stage were Brenda Romero, Bafta award-winning game designer; Zahra Bahrololoumi, A...
Mar 11, 2019•39 min
Lynn Enright is on a mission to empower women with vital knowledge about their own bodies. Chances are, if you've got one, you've been incorrectly referring to your vulva as a vagina for most of your life. In her book, Vagina: A re-education, Lynn provides girls and women with information they need about their own bodies - about the vagina, the hymen, the clitoris, the orgasm; about conditions like endometriosis and vulvodynia. It confronts taboos, such as abortion, miscarriage and masturbation,...
Mar 07, 2019•39 min
Liza Pulman of the satirical songwriters Fascinating Aida talks to Kathy in advance of her concert Liza Pulman Sings Streisand in the National Concert Hall on the 20th of April. She speaks about her long career in music and about being caught on the London Underground Train which was bombed on the 7th of July 2005. (Her mobile phone footage of the experience was broadcast on television news stations across the world.) Also on this episode Róisín talks to Irish Times tech journalist Karlin Lillin...
Mar 04, 2019•39 min
In 2014 Maria Walsh became the first openly gay woman to win the Rose of Tralee. That was one year before Ireland voted for same-sex marriage and since then the Mayo woman has remained in the spotlight with a broadcasting career and commitment to mental health advocacy. Now the 31 year old is standing as a Fine Gael candidate in the upcoming European elections. She talks to Women’s Podcast host Kathy Sheridan about her vision for Ireland and the strong commitment she has to her Catholic faith de...
Feb 28, 2019•58 min
Journalist and author Anna Carey talks to Kathy about the joy of needlework and explains why she felt a greater sense of achievement when she finished sewing a 1920s-style dressing gown than when she finished writing most of her six novels.They talk about the emotional benefits of making things by hand, the historical lack of recognition of needlework as an art form, its place in the history of female expression and two books on craftwork that Anna read recently – Threads of Life by Clare Hunter...
Feb 25, 2019•27 min
New domestic violence measures announced last year came into force at the start of 2019 under the Domestic Violence Act 2018, with the aim of improving the protections available to victims of domestic violence under both civil and criminal law.How is this different to the previous legislation? And, are the resources in place sufficient enough to police the new laws?Kathy talks to Gillian Dennehy, Services Manager at Women’s Aid and Ursula Regan, a Family Law Practitioner, about what the new prov...
Feb 21, 2019•25 min
Róisín talks to theatre maker Louise White about her show, This is the Funeral of Your Life – a production she made in response to the death of her father five years ago and an attempt to cope with her grief. She says it’s not morose, it’s about talking about death in a healthy way. Louise is performing the show as part of a fundraising exercise for a new musical she is working on called Poor Little Rich Girl. That show is about privilege and inequality, in which Louise will explore invisible sy...
Feb 18, 2019•18 min
Anne Maher, director and co-founder of The National Ballet of Ireland – Ballet Ireland, talks to Kathy about her career as a professional dancer, ballet's snooty image and her commitment to making her company less reliant on traditional ballet. She also talks about ballet's #MeToo moment, why there's no misogyny in her studio and Ballet Ireland's upcoming double-bill at the O’Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College, Dublin - Bold Moves & Lost.Later: Hedy Fry has been an MP in Canada since 1994, ma...
Feb 14, 2019•1 hr 8 min
St Brigid is having a 'moment'. For too long the iconic patron saint of Ireland has been overshadowed by St Patrick, but now Lá Fhéile Bríde has become an annual celebration of Irish Women. It began in the Irish Embassy in London and now takes place across the world at various Irish embassies, consulates and other venues. This year Róisín Ingle took part in the festivities when she joined RTÉ's Aine Lawlor, Marie Claire editor-in-chief Trish Halpin, former Irish rugby international Sophie Spence...
Feb 11, 2019•46 min
Intensive Care doctor Aoife Abbey went to work on Christmas Day and four of her patients died. That's normal. It's just part of the job. Every day at University Hospital Coventry she experiences feelings of fear, grief, anger, joy, distraction, disgust and hope. The former 'Secret Doctor' blogger has written about those feelings in her first book, Seven Signs of Life: Stories from an Intensive Care Doctor, which describes what it means to be alive and how it feels to care for the living and the ...
Feb 07, 2019•38 min
Ellie Kisyombe and Carol Deans will contest the local elections in May for the Social Democrats in Dublin’s North Inner City ward. They speak to Kathy about why they chose to run, what drew them to the Social Democrats and what they'll do if they succeed in becoming Dublin City Councillors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Feb 04, 2019•19 min
On Christmas day 2018, 24-year-old mother of three Karen McEvoy died as a result of sepsis at Naas General Hospital, one week after giving birth to her daughter at the Coombe Hospital in Dublin. Karen's partner Barry Kelly has told The Irish Times social affairs correspondent Kitty Holland that he wants an independent investigation into Karen's death. On today's podcast, Kitty and Dr Jo Murphy-Lawless from the school of midwifery in Trinity College Dublin, speak to Kathy about Karen McEvoy's dea...
Jan 31, 2019•26 min
Theatre maker Doireann Coady talks to Kathy about her show, I’m Not Here, running at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin next weekend. The piece is a duet with her brother Donal, but he is, in fact, not here. Donal died by suicide almost ten years ago, but we hear his voice in the show through recordings that Doireann's father discovered years after his death. She talks to Kathy about the show, about how we talk about suicide in Ireland, and why her audience has nothing to fear. Hosted on Acast. S...
Jan 24, 2019•36 min
Saudi woman Rahaf Mohammed captured the world’s attention recently when she barricaded herself in a Thai hotel room after fleeing abuse in her own country. Using social media, she communicated with the outside world from her hotel room, she is now safe in Canada. Egyptian-American journalist and activist Mona Eltahawy played no small part in her escape, translating her Arabic tweets into English and using her contacts to bring attention to Rahaf's plight. On today's show Eltahawy speaks to Kathy...
Jan 17, 2019•51 min
Dr Jo Murphy-Lawless, a sociologist at the school of nursing and midwifery at Trinity College Dublin, speaks to Róisín about what's wrong with Ireland's maternity services. She talks about her experience teaching trainee midwives and the challenges they face, and also about strengthened legislation around the reporting of maternal deaths, which it's hoped will become law by March 2019. Dr Murphy-Lawless is part of the Elephant Collective, a group which has campaigned for the new laws and which h...
Jan 14, 2019•23 min
Abortion became legal in Ireland on New Year's day. On today's show, Róisín finds out everything a person facing an unplanned pregnancy needs to know about accessing abortion services in Ireland. She talks to Helen Deely, Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme Lead at the HSE, about its information and support service MyOptions.Plus: Jennifer Ryan visits the 'Blazing a Trail' exhibition at EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum, celebrating 21 Irish diaspora women who blazed a trail in sport, s...
Jan 10, 2019•32 min
Irish author Emilie Pine chats to Kathy about her collection of highly personal essays, Notes to Self, published by Tramp Press. The book deals with the taboo topics we're not supposed to talk about like alcoholism, infertility and rape. Emilie tells Kathy the background to some of the essays, what she has learned from writing them and why her mantra for 2019 is: being strategic, but also reflecting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jan 07, 2019•49 min
Before we get back into the studio after our Christmas break, we're reposting this episode from earlier this year - Monday 28th May to be exact. Health Minister Simon Harris came into studio two days after the result of the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment and was joined by Together for Yes co-founder Ailbhe Smyth, Róisín Ingle and on the line by Marian Keyes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 03, 2019•1 hr 2 min
2018 brought us the referendum to repeal the 8th amendment, it saw Vicky Phelan blow the CervicalCheck scandal wide open and the Irish Women’s Hockey Team had us all roaring at the telly as they played their hearts out against the Dutch in the World Cup Final in London. On New Year’s eve, Kathy is joined by journalists Alison O’Connor, Kitty Holland and Jennifer O’Connell to take a look back at the year that was. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Dec 31, 2018•46 min
Irish Times journalist Rosita Boland reads an article she wrote about Elizabeth O’Kelly, the little-known Irish philanthropist who, it was revealed last October, left €30 million to charity in her will. In the piece published in the Irish Times on Saturday 22 December, Rosita reports on Elizabeth O’Kelly’s past, revealing a life of privilege and tragedy, generosity and anonymity.You can read that article here: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/elizabeth-o-kelly-the-irish-orphan-wh...
Dec 27, 2018•29 min
On today's show, we bring you thoughts about Christmas from some of the women who have appeared on the podcast in the past. They include stories by the writer Ruth Fitzmaurice and Rose of Repeal Brianna Parkins, which you'll find in the Irish Times Christmas Eve Magazine and on irishtimes.comHappy Christmas y'all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 24, 2018•31 min
Róisín reconvened the Women’s Podcast Book Club recently to give Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming the once over. It's hardly a spoiler to say that Irish Times journalists Bernice Harrison and Niamh Towey, and Róisín's mother Ann Ingle all enjoyed the book. Find out why on today's show. Plus: Róisín and Kathy tackle the thorny issue of emotional labour at Christmas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 20, 2018•53 min
The vast majority of Indian nurses working in Ireland come from one small part of southwestern India called Kerala. Why Ireland? And, what is it like to be separated from their families back home, some for years at a time? Irish Times journalist and author of New to the Parish, Sorcha Pollak, went to Kerala to find out and in today's podcast she tells Kathy what she learned from that trip. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 17, 2018•18 min
Today, Kathy speaks to Conor O’Clery, the former Irish Times foreign correspondent, and his wife, Zhanna, who met in Moscow in the heady days of glasnost and perestroika. Conor has written about his postings to Moscow and the U.S. in articles for this paper and in his books, but it is Zhanna who is the subject of his latest book, The Shoemaker and his Daughter. It is a memoir about Zhanna’s incredible family, set to the backdrop of 80 years of Russian history, from Stalin to Putin. She and Conor...
Dec 13, 2018•1 hr 5 min
On Monday December 10th, The Irish Times marks 100 years since the 1918 election, with a magazine and unique commemorative poster featuring a specially commissioned poem by Eavan Boland, illustrated by artist Paula McGloin. Articles by Catriona Crowe, Ivana Bacik, Una Mullally and others will explore how the vote was won by the women of Ireland, and how they have fared in the century since. To mark this publication Róisín Ingle hosted a special Irish Times Women’s Podcast at The National Gallery...
Dec 10, 2018•1 hr 11 min
Kathy Sheridan is back in the driving seat and in this week's episode she talks to the Belfast-born award winning foreign correspondent and FGM activist, Maggie O'Kane. They talk about her time reporting on the Bosnian war in the 1990s, the "new fears" that led to her leaving the war zone behind and how she came to be involved in the fight against the barbaric practice of FGM. Plus: Róisín makes us all sick with jealousy talking about her recent trip to London for a public talk between Chimamand...
Dec 06, 2018•40 min
Christine Comaford has lived many lives. She has been a serial entrepreneur, technology and CEO advisor, venture capitalist and was an engineer in the early days of Microsoft. Today she works with help companies as a business strategist and an executive coach. In this show she talks to Róisín about working at Microsoft in the 1980s at a time when it was thought that “chicks can’t code", about meeting Apple’s Steve Jobs after leaving Microsoft, running away “with comfort” to New York and how she ...
Dec 03, 2018•43 min
When Cork woman Samantha Barry took over at the helm of the US magazine Glamour this year, she became only its 8th editor since it was first printed in 1939. Anna Wintour, who brought her on board, has described her as "fearless", she counts Amal Clooney as one of her closest friends (since long before George was on the scene), and she has had a distinguished career in journalism at the BBC and CNN. But since her appointment as Glamour editor-in-chief, Samantha has shaken things up at the magazi...
Nov 29, 2018•50 min
