The Women's Podcast

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, Belve...

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 Ai...

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 Car...

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.

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-Law...

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, abou...

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 a...

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-L...

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...

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 reflecti...

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.c...

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 th...

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...

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.

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/p...

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...

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 incred...

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 mar...

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 u...

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 meet...

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 CN...

For over four years RTÉ Prime Time’s political correspondent Katie Hannon forensically pursued the story of Maurice McCabe, breaking a number of major stories that were instrumental in exposing how the garda whistleblower had been let down by the State. On today’s show, she speaks to Róisín Ingle about Maurice McCabe, about feeling 'the girlín' during her early days in and around Leinster House, h...

Anne Chambers's biography of Grace O'Malley, the 16th-century pirate queen, has never been out of print in the 40 years since it was first published, such is the fascination with her story. A special anniversary edition has just been printed and on today's show, Anne Chambers talks to Róisín about how discovering the truth behind the legend of Gráinne Mhaol changed her life. Plus: Jennifer speaks...

The morning after the September 11th attacks in New York, Kerry O’Brien quit her job as a senior vice president at one of the world’s largest public relations firms. Cut to 17 years later, she is the founder, designer, and CEO of Commando, a company that specialises in intimates and leggings. On today’s podcast Kerry talks to Róisín about the revolutionary seam free underwear - a favourite of cele...

Jennifer Willis shot to fame as one of The Willis Clan when they appeared on America’s Got Talent and a subsequent reality TV show about the 12 siblings and their parents. While it may have looked like the perfect all-singing, all-dancing life, the world as Jennifer and her siblings knew it imploded with the arrest of their father Toby Willis on four counts of child rape. Jennifer was in Dublin fo...