The Southern Star Podcast

West Cork has always taken wellness seriously.  Long before there were Tibetan temples, sanctuaries, and luxurious spas, West Cork was the destination of choice for people who had the urge to head west for a day, a season, or a reason.  It was always a place where they could breathe fresh air, rest in its remoteness, and simply be.  In this episode of The Big Story, The Southern Star takes you beh...

Skibbereen Rowing Club will send seven members to the Tokyo Olympic Games. Olympic Silver medallist from Rio, Paul O’Donovan, will look to go one better when he teams up with fellow Skibb oarsman Fintan McCarthy in the lightweight double.  Paul and Fintan were in the boat together when claiming World Gold in 2019. Paul’s brother Gary, also a Rio silver medallist, will be held in reserve.  Emily He...

West Cork, West Cork, West Cork Home of the Fastnet lighthouse, Bank Holiday tailbacks on the N71 and General Michael Collins. In 2018 more than 2.7 million people came to Cork from outside the county with a large percentage of those likely venturing West of the Kinsale Road Roundabout. For a region so dependent on welcoming visitors to our towns, villages and islands, the last 24 months have been...

Situated around halfway between Cork city and Kilarney, the historic town of Macroom is famous for its castle, the iconic Mountain Dew festival and being one of the two biggest supply points in the Danone network. During the middle ages, the town was invaded by a succession of warring clans. But in more recent years, Macroom has been under siege from much noisier invaders. For a town that accordin...

Since the start of April we have been hosting our weekly Coronavirus podcast from West Cork. We kicked off with an interview with Skibbereen woman Emer Downing, a primary school teacher who spoke to us from her home in Bergamo in Italy, which back then was the epicentre of the pandemic. In the following nine months our news editor Siobhan Cronin, and her colleagues Emma Connolly and Niall O’Drisco...

This week we have a books special, called The Best Book I Read This Year. Now, with Christmas coming, what better gift is there than a book. There really is a book out there for everybody in your life. As has often been said, if you think you don’t like books, you just haven’t met the right one yet. If reading isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other books you can get lost in – from comic novel...

This week’s podcast is an interview with Bandon native and Sunday Times political correspondent and columnist Justine McCarthy. Justine, a highly respected campaigning journalist, talks about growing up in West Cork, starting her  journalism career in The Southern Star and some of the incredible stories she has covered in her wide-ranging and very impressive career. This week's music is from Clare...

This week’s podcast is an interview with well-known politician, journalist and author Shane Ross. Shane’s father was from Cork, and he has devoted a large portion of his book ‘In Bed with the Blueshirts’, to his relationship with Cork South West TD Michael Collins, which started out very amicably, but ended with Collins apologising for a ‘scumbag’ remark made the day Ross lost his seat after last...

This week’s podcast is an interview with well-known broadcaster, and one-time Indian hotelier, Bibi Baskin. Although a Donegal native, Bibi now lives in Crosshaven, from where she runs her life coaching business and recently published her second wellness pocket guide, called The Happy Book, volume II. She spoke to me earlier about her move from Ireland to India and back again, her successful caree...

This week’s podcast interview is with a West Cork environmentalist who is leading a national campaign to curb the single use plastic pollution that's generated from disposable period products. And Abi O'Callaghan Platt, from Courtmacsherry, also shares some tips on how to make your Christmas a green one. She chats to Southern Star Life & Community Editor Emma Connolly. PLUS News editor, Siobha...

This week’s podcast is a wide-ranging interview with the Chief Supt of the Cork West garda division, Caheragh native Con Cadogan. We talk about policing during Covid, a drop in burglaries but a rise in domestic violence crimes, the new technology that the division is piloting, the huge increase in drug detections, and the big plans for the division coming down the tracks. We also have music from t...

On this week's podcast, Niall O'Driscoll talks to Dublin-born, New York City-based guitarist Gerry Leonard about his work with David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, Roger Waters, Laurie Anderson, and more. Gerry is no stranger to West Cork, and some of his music, released under the moniker 'Spooky Ghost', has recently been used as part of a meditation project hosted by the mental health services at Skibberee...

This week’s podcast is a special on supporting local businesses. As we settle into Level 5, many businesses face an uncertain future. But organisations across West Cork have launched initiatives to help the public engage with their local shopkeepers and companies, in a bid to keep sales ticking over, either online or by phone. Today we chat to the chairpersons of two of these organisations to see...

This week’s interview is with Fine Gael MEP Deirdre Clune. Deirdre was first elected to Europe for the Ireland South constituency, in 2014, after a political career which had already spanned stints in both Dail and Seanad Eireann. After last year’s European Elections, and a long count in Cork city, she got the fifth and final seat. What’s more, this seat was known as the ‘Brexit’ seat because it o...

On this week's podcast we're joined by director Michael McCormack whose new film about the life of West Cork singer/songwriter Fergus O'Farrell hits cinemas in November. From Schull, Fergus was the charismatic voice of Interference, one of the most compelling and influential bands to emerge from the Irish music scene in the 1990s. Despite being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at a young age,  Fe...

Cúil Aodha singer and producer Iarla Ó Lionáird is this week's guest. Ó Lionáird is a former member of the hugely successful Afro Celt Sound System while in more recent years he has been a member of the traditional/folk supergroup The Gloaming. He spoke at length to Southern Star Creative Manager Niall O'Driscoll about growing up in Cúil Aodha, his varied career and making music from his home near...

This week’s interview is with Skibbereen man Brendan McCarthy. It is now a year since SOS, the ‘Save Our Skibbereen’ group, was successful in its bid to halt the construction of a plastics factory in the town. News editor Siobhan Cronin chats to Brendan, a campaigner, a teacher and chair of the local arts festival, about the SOS campaign, some interesting environmental plans for the town, and how...

This week’s podcast interview is with Ballinhassing woman and sports broadcaster, RTÉ’s Jacqui Hurley. Jacqui has just published her first book aimed at children, and teaching them about the importance of equality in Sport. It’s called Girls Play Too and she speaks to Emma Connolly about writing, family life during lockdown and her passion for all things sporty. They also touch on her career begin...

On today's podcast news editor Siobhan Cronin is joined by Clonakilty writer Louise O'Neill. The award-winning author of Asking For It chats about her decision to base herself at home, the plot of her new novel After The Silence, which is based on a murder on a fictional West Cork island, and how she has been spending her time in Clonakilty during the worst days of Covid. Siobhan also reviews this...

This week our featured interview is with former Fine Gael TD Jim Daly. A former schoolteacher, publican and politician, Mr Daly has recently taken up a new role as an advocate for the homecare sector. He speaks to news editor Siobhan Cronin about political life, #GolfGate, the future for the major parties and enjoying more family time. This week's music is the choice of our digitial manager and po...

This week our featured interview is with former Sinn Féin Cllr, since independent, Paul Hayes. It's been quite the year for the Courtmacsherry native. Not only did he leave Sinn Fein after being a member of the party for nearly 25 years, but like so many others, he lost his job in the pandemic. Volunteering at a funeral home at the height of the Covid crisis gave him a new perspective on life as h...

This week’s interview is with Skibbereen man Patrick Murphy, the outspoken chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation. This is a very challenging time for the industry, dealing with Covid, Brexit coming fast down the tracks, and general fears for the future of the industry. News editor Siobhan Cronin spoke to Patrick to hear his ‘take’ on these issues and why he believ...

On this week's podcast we're joined by a giant of Irish traditional music, Martin Hayes. Martin is a world-renowned fiddle player and artistic director of the Masters of Tradition Festival in Bantry and he chats to Niall O'Driscoll about new plans for this year's festival on the back of the coronavirus pandemic. He also treats us to a very special rendition of Finbarr Dwyer's classic 'Beare Island...

Percy Ludgate, a Skibbereen man born in 1883, is believed to have invented one of the world’s first computers. And in his honour, three years ago, the Ludgate digital hub was born at the former Field’s bakery in Skibbereen. This 1GB hub of activity is supported by Vodafone and SIRO in a joint venture and local woman Grainne O’Keeffe is the hub’s newly- appointed CEO. She spoke to Siobhan Cronin ab...

On this week's podcast Siobhan Cronin chats to sea swimmer Steve Remond who was the first person to complete the Seven Oceans challenge and just over a week ago he became the first person to swim to the Fastnet and back. Although he always praises his backroom team and family for encouraging him, there is no doubt he is one of the world’s most determined and successful sea swimmers. He chats to us...