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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brandon O'Connor is a 19 year-old from Donaghmede with an extraordinary story. He founded Dublin Homeless Awareness - a group which provides food, medical supplies and first responder services to those sleeping rough on the city’s streets.

Brandon shares his personal story which spurred him to set up the organisation and how he feels COVID-19 has impacted homelessness in Dublin.

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Earlier this summer sisters Maeve and Blaithin embarked on an ambitious project in Cavan town. With the pandemic having made changes to their working schedules, they decided to set up a shop - The Eco Shack. But this isn’t any type of shop - it’s the first of its kind in Cavan.

Maeve and Blaithin share their inspiration for launching their sustainable business and discuss what the past month has been like as first-time shopkeepers.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The work of the arts sector has been significantly hindered by the restrictions imposed during the pandemic. Musicians, artists, actors and others in the creative industries have faced a cut to their income and fewer opportunities to hone their craft.

Last summer David Reid founded the organisation Minding Creative Minds, looking out for those in the arts sector providing mentorship, mental health and career support. We discuss the kinds of challenges faced by creatives and how his organisation helps.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Harry was a student in University College Cork throughout the pandemic and has been vocal in speaking up about issues facing young people over the past 16 months. He shares the challenges he faced and how he feels young people were unfairly blamed for being responsible for the spread of the virus.

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In Transition Year of secondary school, Dublin student Kevin Owens launched his own shoe cleaning business - SneakerCleaner. Kevin now studying Visual Communications in college, didn’t waste a second of lockdown. He invested his free time in SneakerCleaner. They opened a location on Harcourt Street in Dublin and he has plans to expand around Ireland.

He discusses his business journey and shares his experience of being a college student over the past year.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RuthAnne Cunningham is a singer-songwriter from Dublin who has penned songs for Britney Spears, Niall Horan and John Legend. In lockdown she embarked on a different project. Bringing together nearly 40 of Ireland’s top female musicians, RuthAnne created Irish Women in Harmony. Their charity single which covered The Cranberries song ‘Dreams’ raised over a quarter of a million euro for Safe Ireland and made Irish music history.

RuthAnne speaks about assembling a song without a proper studio, the music that got her through lockdown and the importance of collaboration between Irish women musicians.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Covid Lives is a podcast series that looks at Irish lives during this extraordinary time in history. The 16 part series will see host Gavin Dowd speaking with people all across the country who have unique and meaningful stories to tell about their lives during the Covid pandemic. Whether it involved looking out for others, starting something new or just finding ways to remain positive amidst the doom and gloom. 

In the first episode, Gavin speaks to Lena Tice, a player on the Irish Women's Hockey Team. She discusses how the team coped since the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed. Looking ahead at this summer's Olympics Games, she reveals which teams Ireland is most looking forward to taking on. And reflecting on the past year, Lena talks about the things she has used to distract herself from the constant stream of Covid-related news.

Produced by Wireless

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin addressed the nation on Friday evening after clusters in Kildare Laois and Offaly saw measures put in place to try and prohibit further infection in the regions. The Irish Sun’s Adam Higgins brings all the latest news around what Ireland’s first localised lockdowns mean for the region, as well as whether the working conditions for those working in meat processing plants associated with the lockdowns were a cause for concern.

Also, in a busy week of COVID related news around Ireland, the government also made a decision on Tuesday to once again pause any further movement into Phase Four of the Roadmap To Reopening. Finn McRedmond, a London based  Irish Times writer, joins host Ian Doyle to discuss what Ireland might be able to learn from how British pubs have been operating during the pandemic. 

Produced by UrbanMedia

Hosted by Ian Doyle

Music by Psykick

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Thursday night's press conference from The Department of Health in Dublin was one of the more memorable encounters of recent, as Ireland saw its largest spike in cases for a number of weeks, with worrying clusters developing in various work settings as well as a Direct Provision Center. With all eyes on August 10th, knowing that a further pause of the lockdown roadmap is very much possible, Ireland’s precarious position over the past few weeks continues as uncertainty grows over a second wave growing speed. 

This week's podcast dives into why some sectors and professions are not only more inclined to catch COVID-19, but also likely to be more vulnerable to the worst outcomes of the virus if infected. Dr Brendan Walsh is a Research Officer for the ESRI and authored a new report looking at how some essential workers are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Host Ian Doyle speaks to him about how they were able to use labour force survey data, to see where people living with chronic conditions are most likely to work in Ireland. 

Also in the podcast, with many Irish cities fast tracking new policies and public infrastructure to “COVID proof” their urban areas, The Irish Independent’s Ralph Riegel discusses how COVID-19 has sped up the transformation of some Irish City Centers by as much as a decade.

Produced by UrbanMedia

Hosted by Ian Doyle

Music by Psykick

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Episode 37 of Viral: COVID-19 looks at the effects the pandemic has had on children and young people as well as the ins and outs of the July stimulus package published the Irish government this week, which includes €7 billion worth of economic incentives for businesses and workers. Paul O'Donoghue fromThe Times, Ireland Edition joins host Ian Doyle for a thorough run-through of everything you need to know about how the package will affect Ireland over the next 9 months. 

Emer Smyth who is a Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute joins later in the podcast to discuss a report published by the ESRI and The Department of Children and Youth Affairs looking into the effects of the pandemic restrictions on children and young people. Many of the results highlighted just how difficult these past few months have been, particularly for those in disadvantaged or vulnerable living surroundings.

Produced by UrbanMedia

Hosted by Ian Doyle

Music by Psykick

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On Wednesday evening Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced the government's decision to stall its current position on the Irish roadmap out of lockdown until August 10th at earliest. The decision did not come as much of a surprise, as in recent days Ireland has seen a worrying trend of increased cases and clusters form around the country. From the outset of the roadmap it was made clear that it was a “living document”, and now the possibility of regressing towards a more confined society is becoming more of a potential each day. 

The initial weeks of Ireland’s full lockdown go down in history. It is something that was unprecedented in everyone's own lifetime, but now having had the experience first time around, there are many things that could have been carried out differently. Today’s episode addresses just this, as host Ian Doyle looks at the ethics of lockdown with Dr Andrea Mulligan, Assistant Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin. Andrea wrote an article focused on the community's role during a pandemic, and she discusses some of the paradoxes between health officials acting fast, having a genuine two way dialogue with the public health advice.

Later in the podcast Professor Ivan Perry, Head of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College Cork discusses what it means to be a zero COVID island, and why Ireland’s current strategy might leave us feeling the worst of both worlds. 

Produced by UrbanMedia

Hosted by Ian Doyle

Music by Psykick

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