The Time Out Podcast

Fintan Coll hails from Dunfanaghy Co. Donegal. In his early working life he worked as a salesman for Gallaghers of Creeslough before going on to sell things for himself. In 1994 he began Coll Cleaning, a successful business that is still going strong today. Fintan's business deals in the cleaning of sofas, mattresses, upholstery, hard floors and more. He explains how cleaning solutions have a...

Stephen Bennett Snr is an artist who was born in the East End of London, but moved to Ardara Co. Donegal in 1992 with his wife Bernie. I talk to Stephen about the transition of such a big move and how his talent for art opened many doors for him, including getting the opportunity to represent Ireland at the Florence Biennale. In Stephen's earlier years at school, he was diagnosed as dyslexic,...

Ciaran Gallen has ran Gifts and Cards shop on the lower main streeet Dungloe since 1993. Selling a wide range of different items. Be it for a birthday or any special occasion, kitchenware, DIY plus lots more. Ciaran originally from Co Tyrone tells me how the shop business runs in the family. I chat to him about his shop, his past times and much more.  Support the show

Donegal man Kieran McDermott began cycling around 2010 as he was seeking to take up a form of regular exercise. What he has done since then he could have never imagined at the outset. Just last year he was one of eight from Ireland to take part at Tour De France. Elsewhere he has competed on challenging routes from London to Brighton, the Isle Of Man and more, being very successful along the way....

Bart Whelan is from Ardara Co. Donegal and well known throughout the county and beyond. A witty man with great character, with many interesting stories who has experienced so much from the various jobs/roles he has had down through the years. He spent 35 years working as a teacher, for the vast majority of that, he taught woodwork. In GAA circles he was chairman of his local club Ardara for a spel...

Helena Gallagher's career story so far is a great example of why I do podcasting. Having failed her leaving cert, her reaction could have been a negative one, however it was quite the opposite. It made the Arranmore native more determined to never experience that feeling again. After 17 years working experience at the BBC on production, Helena then went solo and decided to set up her own comp...

Michael English began his Country Music singing career in the late 90's. Since then the Kildare native has steadily built his reputation and today is one of biggest attractions in Irish Country Music. I talk to him at the opening weekend of the 58th Mary From Dungloe International Festival. Michael talks about his memories of his previous appearance at the festival. We talk about some of his...

It's here. Episode 100. As it's a special milestone interview, I decided to go big. 18 guests featured. All guests are voluntarily involved in presenting shows with Owenea FM radio station who are based in Ardara Co. Donegal. A local community station who broadcast each weekend on Saturday and Sundays. Fittingly for this episode number, Owenea go out on 100.8FM across South West Donegal...

Anne Biddie hails from Fanad, Co. Donegal. A well known singer songwriter in Irish Country Music. To date she has released three albums, two of which are completely self penned. Her latest single 'Missing You' is a song with very personal meaning to Anne, as sadly in the last number of years, both her parents passed away. In the interview Anne talks about the song in detail.  Elsewhere i...

Tom Comack has decades of experience working as a broadcaster/commentator on radio. From Highland Radio since the early 90's, through the noughties etc to now occasionally being heard on Ocean FM. Tom has a great passion for GAA in particular, and down through the years has helped cover radio coverage on big matches across various levels and codes. He also had a long running weekly GAA progra...

Shunie Crampsey from Culdaff Co. Donegal is one of the finest singer songwriters in Irish Country Music. A man who has numerous albums released himself while also having many of the top Irish Country Music artists cover what he's penned down through the years. It's an extensive list which includes the likes of the late Big Tom, Daniel O'Donnell and his sister Margo, Mick Flavin and...

Stephen Bennett Jnr from Ardara Co. Donegal is fastly making a name for himself in Irish Country Music as a young talented singer songwriter. Travelling to perform at gigs in his own county and is also taking to the stage across many venues throughout the country. The now 24 year old entered a Donegal's Got Talent competition in 2017, and came 2nd place with former X Factor judge Louis Walsh...

John Joe McGinley first appeared on my podcast back in 2021, EP 43. This time around via a car journey,  we talk about similar topics as our previous interview but in a much updated way. Last time John Joe was a guest he had not long released his first book 'Irish Wise Guys', fast forward to today John Joe has 3 books available for purchase, and we talk about his new releases in depth al...

PJ Murrihy from Co Clare is a singer songwriter well renound throughout Ireland and beyond for his talents in music. Along with being a performer himself, he has written so many songs down through the years which have been recorded by the biggest names in Irish Country Music, including Big Tom, Larry Cunningham, Daniel O'Donnell, Margo, Foster and Allen, Jimmy Buckley, Patrick Feeney and many...

Michael Bonner hails from Glenties Co. Donegal. A singer songwriter with a number of songs released with more to come. Michael's attitude is one to be admired; in his early 20's he took to performing in bars and although it didn't turn out how he'd have liked, the experiences back then are now inspiring him to give it another go in his 40's. During my interview with him, h...

Peter Cambpell has worked with the Donegal Democrat since 1977. Starting out in their printing office, he took up a journalism role with them in 1990. He was sports editor between 2004-2021 and in recent years , has retired and but continues to work part time. A respected voice who has seen so much down through the years, and I reflect with him on some of the finest moments he has covered includin...

Mark Forker from Burtonport currently works as journalist; he is the editor of CNME magazine based in Dubai. A lot of his background is linked to soccer, he played over 100 matches for Ballybofey based club Finn Harps from 2008 to 2014, and to this day still helps out at the club as a coach of their underage teams. Before his move to Finn Park, Mark got a professional contract as a teenager himsel...

Down through the years Stephen McCahill has gotten involved in many different aspects of both community and business life in Donegal and beyond. From Glenties originally he also has strong connections to Ardara where he currently helps out with the running of The Corner House Bar. In 2016 Stephen was named 'Donegal Person Of The Year'.  Among his experiences in life so far he has volunte...

Fergal O'Brien recently retired from being a professional snooker player, having enjoyed a 33 year career as a pro. His finest moment came in 1999 when he won the British Open, beating Anthony Hamilton 9-7 in the final. He competed in the Masters final in 2001 v Paul Hunter and just lost out 10-9 having held a 7-3 advantage at one point. He now joins Eurosport to commentate on the 2024 World...

As individual solo acts both Mickey Duffy and Jordan Mogey have gained a large amount of admirers in music, through the combination of the singing voices they possess and for their song-writing talent. The latter being how this great friendship began; a mutual love and appreciation of song-writing. Mickey originally from Paisley in Scotland but now living in Stranorlar has 2 albums behind him. Jor...

2023 will be a year that will live long in the memory of all connected with Na Rossa GAA club in Lettermacaward. Despite all the challenges of lack of numbers available to the club as a whole it hasn't stopped success being achieved on the pitch, like in 2023. Junior A Champions, and promotion sealed back to Division 2. I'm joined in this episode to reflect on a great year for Na Rossa b...

Danny O'Donnell was born and raised in Islington England but has lived in Donegal since 1991. Both his parents were from Donegal. During my interview with Danny, he talks about his memories of coming to Ireland in his youth and tells how things were back then and how much they've changed. As I myself am a big Manchester United fan for almost 30 years I'm pleased to be including a tr...

Honoured to be featuring two legends of Irish country music in the one episode. Both Sandy Kelly and Brendan Shine are enjoying long successful careers in music. Although both are closely connected to country music, its not the only genre they've been involved with. Sandy Kelly as she describes in the interview has a love for music generally. In 1982 she was part of pop group The Duskeys when...

The title of the episode sums it up.  Mary From Dungloe Past & Present. The festival's full title has grown slightly in recent years. Its now 'Mary From Dungloe International Arts Festival'. Since the festival began in 1968 till current day, there is a huge amount of history attached to it. The aim of these 5 interviews is to perhaps share memories or stories with listeners that...

Máire McCole won the Mary From Dungloe in 1983. Becoming the first Mary representing Dungloe to win the title. 40 years have gone by and its a special anniversary since Máire's victory, a win which thrilled locals. I went along to Máire's house for a chat with her on August 1st past, which by chance turned out to be 40 years to the night since her memorable victory.  She reminisced on ma...