Our Man In Stockholm

On this week's episode, Stephen Smith joins me to talk about how his time with Leinster Rugby led to the foundation of his company Kitman Labs, which brings together vast amounts of data about athletes and teams to provide greater insight and improve performance, a fascinating tale of a journey from the rugby boot-room to Silicon Valley and beyond. Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstoc...

Last Thursday saw an incredible array of Irish talent in Sweden exhibiting their art at the Ambassador's residence as part of the "Arrivals" exhibition organised by Carrie Cooke and Sarah Galligan. Though I didn't get to speak to all the artists, I got to talk to many of them, as well as the organisers themselves about what was a hugely successful event!

Spring is in the air and with it a hot of events and happenings in Sweden! This week I paid a visit to our good friend Aaron Kennedy at his new FSA gym at Odenplan, and I caught up with Carrie Cooke and Sarah Galligan to talk about the upcoming Arrivals art exhibition at the Ambassador's residence in Stockholm this week. Support the podcast: patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm Aaron's new gym: h...

When Irishman Tomás Mac an tSaoir goes out for a spin on his bike, he's often away a little longer than the average lycra warrior - the Kerryman is currently in the middle of a marathon journey form New Zealand to Ireland by bike, across some of the most beautiful and rugged terrain in the world - and this is after traversing America and Africa on similar journeys. Currently back home rechargi...

Shrugging off another bout of man flu to bring you Ireland's hottest TV star in Sweden right now. Fireman Mark Bannon from Waterford is blazing a trail on "Robinson", Sweden's answer to "Survivor", and he joins me to talk about moving here and finding home in a small town of 1500 people near Örebro - and, of course, life on the Robinson island!

Last week I was in Gothenburg on the west coast for a soccer game so I took the opportunity to sit down with Ian "Mocha" Moloney, musician, photographer, occasional curmudgeon and nowadays one of the driving forces in bringing the Irish community there together. He told me all about the St. Patrick's Day celebrations there, the plans for the future and how singer/guitarists (known as...

Even though she got her first camera at the age of six, Holly McGlynn wasn't sure that she wanted to be a photographer, but having studied fine art and PR, she felt the pull of making pictures and threw herself in at the deep end in Berlin. From there she has gone on to be one of Ireland's foremost fashion photographers, working with huge global brands and taking pictures of supermodels fo...

The long tradition of a St. Patrick's Day parade in the Swedish capital continued on Saturday March 16, with community organisations and companies represented at Kungsträdgården. We took the chance to talk to some of those in attendance about what they were up to! Support the podcast - patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm

Northern Ireland's Gray Hawthorne is well-known in music circles, as much for his ten-gallon hat and his love of country music as for his skill as a guitarist, singer and songwriter. Last week I met up with him as he visited Stockholm to talk about his love of country and how a change in his family situation has led to him writing new songs, and we close out with an acoustic rendition of a bri...

We're celebrating International Women's Day on the Global Gael by handing over the reins to Molly Breen, our wonderful business development manager in the Stockholm office and one of the many talented young women that we have the privilege of working with! Among many great suggestions for female guests for March 8, Molly has chosen to interview fellow Malahide girl and musical genius Laury...

On a visit to Dublin last week, I met up with Motala's own Madeleine Johansson, who moved to Dublin 19 years ago and got involved in local politics, leading to a seat on South Dublin County Council for left-wing party People Before Profit. Motala's loss has very much been Ireland's gain, and we talked about what it's like to be at the coalface of local Irish politics in the teeth o...

Tipped as a possible leader of the next Irish government, Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald jumped at the chance to join the Global Gael to talk about what our diaspora means to her and her party - and what them being in government might mean for us. In a wide-ranging - and very different - conversation we talked about emigration, housing, voting rights for those of us abroad and why, despite...

Another jam-packed episode this week as Carrie Cook and Sarah Galligan join me to talk about their new "Arrivals" exhibition which will take place in the spring and feature YOUR art, and Amy Falck in Malmö tells me about her plan to swap homes with someone in Ireland early next year so that her, her husband and her soon-to-be-firstborn can steep themselves in some Irish culture for a cou...

When Israel attacked Gaza in the wake of the violent and bloody incursion by Hamas on October 7 that saw more than 1300 people killed and around 250 hostages taken, one Palestinian-Irish family was caught in the eye of the storm. Zak Hania, who had moved to Ireland where his four sons were born and had returned to the Strip to take care of his ageing parents, found himself doing everything he coul...

Irish filmmaker Dennis Harvey explores themes of migration and identity in his work, and many of his films feature people that he has gotten to know during his seven years spent on and off here in Sweden. His film "The Building And Burning Of A Refugee Camp" documents how a group of far-right protestors set fire to a migrant camp in Dublin last year, and that led to a fascinating chat ab...

Irish comic Stevo Timothy's character of Farmer Michael has become a global internet phenomenon, reaching audiences around the world with his clumsy (and often offensive) takes on everything from feminism to football, and he's brining his live show to America for St. Patrick's Day. But comedy and tragedy are never too far apart, and Stevo's backstory is one of the most intriguing y...

On this week's episode, Doreen Burke form the Irish embassy in Stockholm talks to me about how to go about getting an Irish passport abroad, whether you're renewing your own, getting one for a child born outside of Ireland, or you find yourself in an emergency situation. You can apply for your Irish passport here: https://www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/passports/passport-online/ Please support this...

Irish comedian Cormac Moore is coming to visit Stockholm in mid-February, and he joined me this week to talk about life as the man behind the mic, what it takes to get up there and make people laugh, and how being convenient is almost as important for your stand-up career as being funny ... Get your tickets for Cormac's show here:  www.thelaughhouse.se/event/feb-17th…tting%20comedy .

A busy one this week packed with drama and music! I paid a visit to the initial readings for English-language theatre group Spuds & Sill's upcoming production of "Canaries" which will take place in the spring, and later in the week I caught up with Ged Graham, the writer and performer behind the "Seven Drunken Nights" stage show which tells the story of the Dubliners an...

Corkman Dr. Mark O'Sullivan is causing serious ripples in the sporting world from his position as associate professor of football at Norway's School Of Sports Science in Oslo, ripping up the coaching manuals as he tries to answer the question - how do we coach the next generation of athletes so they can get the most out of sport? Support the podcast: www.patreon.com/ourmaninstockholm You c...

Dubliner Alan Dalton has been a guest on the show before to talk all things birding and nature, and he joins us again to talk about his new podcast "Wild Bird Acoustics". An accomplished artist, photographer and bird-watcher, Alan puts an incredible amount of time into recording birds as they migrate around Sweden, and his new podcast uses those sounds as a backdrop to some fascinating w...

A love of rugby has brought Dubliner Gar Moss from Raheny to coaching Albania in their first official international against Kosovo last weekend - via Beijing and Dubai and a few more places in between! The nation's first head coach for their international team joined me to talk about the growth of the game and how, despite his boys being on the wrong end of a 34-12 defeat, the future is bright...

We've all heard about the great things happening outside of the big cities, but what's it actually like to live in the colder, more northerly parts of Sweden? Journalist Paul Connolly and his partner abandoned the high-flying media life in London and moved to Skellefteå, and they haven't looked back since - hear their story on this week's podcast!

Tadhg HIckey's searing memoir "A Portrait Of The Piss-Artist As A Young Man" won the Global Gael Bok Of The Year award for 2023 and if you've read it, you'll know why - it's a warts-and-all account of how he tried to balance tremendous success as a writer and actor with family struggles and the bottomless despair of alcohol addiction. In a scenario that many in the Irish...

For the first podcast of 2024 I'm joined by Kalle Ryan to talk about celebrating a Swedish-Irish Christmas in Dublin, creativity and how he came to quit the booze a few years back, instantly making Dry January a walk in the park every year! You can find Kalle at www.kalleryan.com , where he says: All  my services  are on there, and I have several blog posts about creativity for anyone interest...