The proud possessor of three masters degrees and two doctorates, Michael Flavin is a Reader in Global Education in the African Leadership Centre at King’s College London. He is the author of two books on technology enhanced learning, two on nineteenth-century literature, and two novels. The first of these, One Small Step, tells the tale of a Birmin…

John Merrigan and Danielle Morgan – aka fatdan productions – take a break between rehearsals to tell us about their lives, their love and their latest play (with music): “Brendan, Son Of Dublin.” Theirs is a journey that takes us from Dublin and Tipperary to London and Liverpool via Dubai, from working a life surrounded by books and theatre to the …

London-born artist Emma O’Rourke uses her own personal archive – and those of other people and institutions – to negotiate that most Irish of concerns: memory and remembrance. Whether sourcing family photos, the recollections of strangers or museum artefacts, her abstractions are both warm and bold. We talk about the effects of interpreting memory …

Declan McSweeney has over twenty five years experience as a local correspondent and writer on either side of the water. As a journalist with the Offaly Express he covered the disappearance – still unsolved – of Fiona Pender, before working both with the Romford Recorder and as a freelance columnist across England. He tells of the changes in regiona…

Journalist, Media Consultant, Producer and Podcaster, Mick Ord is a legend among the broadcast press of Merseyside. A former head of BBC Radio Merseyside, he has covered such events as Heysel, Hillsborough, the Warrington bomb and Liverpool’s successful bid for Capital of Culture. He was NUJ Regional Journalist of the Year in 1990 for his……

Singer songwriter and family historian Ronan MacManus is the son of Ross and brother of Declan (aka Elvis Costello) but more importantly is something of a legend among the Diaspora of London and the South East, with his band Bible Code Sundays and their anthem Maybe It’s Because I’m An Irish Londoner. We talk family……

Actor, writer, director, mentor, spiritual advisor, activist…the list of Chia Phoenix’s roles in life goes on and on. In her own words, she is a “Jack of All Trades, Master of All”. She brings a new and vital perspective to our podcasts as we talk about the historical and linguistic connections between the Caribbean and……

Bass player with the original line-up of Public Image Limited, alongside John Lydon and Keith Levene, John Wardle – dubbed “Jah Wobble” by Sid Vicious -went on to front Invaders Of The Heart, worked on the London Underground during lean years and returned to music to work with – amongst others – Brian Eno, Delores……

The only Irish Traveller to found and head a Gypsy And Traveller Exchange, Josephine (“Josie”) O’Driscoll talks visits to holocaust sites in Krakow, education, family and her hopes for community ownership among Gypsies, Romani and Travellers. Plus John Lee of Irish Stew Podcast raises author Peter Quinn onto The Plastic Pedestal…

A journey across the Atlantic to meet two podcasting contemporaries making their own aural journeys across the Global Irish community. John Lee and Martin Nutty have just marked their half-century of interviews and to celebrate, we talk the difference between the diasporas in the UK and the US, the Connemara Patch, Kennedy, stereotypes and voices.……

Star of “Blood Brothers”, Chrissy Rogers in “Brookside” and – would you believe – Mrs Devaney in Jimmy McGovern’s “Broken”, Eithne Browne discusses memories of Mayo, her Master Mariner father and singer mother, changes in Liverpool and strange Irish coincidences. Plus Patrick Osborne raises James (“Big Jim”) Larkin onto The Plastic Pedestal https:/…

Poet, playwright, novelist, horticulturalist, referee and self-proclaimed spoofer, Patrick Osborne talks family, 70s telly in Dublin, local football teams and the best of British and Irish cultures. All the while managing to slip an occasional reference to his debut novel "Baxter's Boys" - a mix of The Snapper, Fever Pitch and Shameless - into the …

Born in Ennis, Co. Clare, Bernárd Lynch was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest in 1971. He founded the AIDS Ministry in New York in 1982, faced down the persecution of his own church and finally married the man of his dreams, Billy, in 2017. He has been honoured by both the City of New York and the President of Ireland, and now he honours us. Plus…

Co-founder of the Dimple Discs label - alongside the similarly named Damien O'Neill (he of The Undertones), Brian O'Neill has a roster of mostly Irish and Irish Diaspora artists including Derry's finest plus Sack, Eileen Gogan, Keeley, Jah Wobble and Telefis and many others. We talk music, Dublin of the 60s, Swastika Laundries, Sinn Fein picnics, T…

Designer Warren Reilly is a rising star in the world of textiles and fashion. A queer, gender-fluid artist of Irish and Afro-Caribbean heritage, his work examines the intersections of identity, taking particular inspiration from the 18th Century. He has been creative director of Fashioning Our History, a headliner for the Queer Georgian Social Seas…

A tale of remembrance fighting against amnesia, Margaret Urwin works with Justice For The Forgotten, a campaign seeking to find the truth behind the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and other similar atrocities that took place on Irish soil during The Troubles of the 1970s and 80s. It is a tale as often overlooked in Ireland as it is in England and sheds a…

An Irish Traveller with an MA in Education, Chelsea McDonagh is also an academic, a creative, a sportswoman, a loving granddaughter, daughter and aunt, a voracious reader, an intellectual powerhouse and one of the most incredible people we've had the privilege to interview.The Plastic Podcasts

In a special one-off podcast for St Patrick’s Day 2022, we interview Jack Byrne, Liverpool-Irish author of The Liverpool Mysteries. “Across The Water“, the second part of this trilogy and sequel to “Under The Bridge” is published by Northodox Press today and sees Vinnie and Anne journeying to Ireland to discover the truth nature of……

Born in Waterford, and having moved to London at the age of 19, along with the rest of his family, Tony Frisby is a poet, raconteur and delight. His latest collection “A Boreen In Waterford” takes us from ancient Irish history to a childhood in Tramore and walks across the Sussex Downs, then back again. Seventh in a selection of six episodes for ou…

Born to an Irish Traveller family in Manchester, Chris McDonagh is the founder of Travellers Against Racism as well as Campaigns Officer for Brighton-based charity FFT (Friends, Families, Travellers). We talk about Channel 4 documentaries, the public perception of Travellers, the notion of being “settled” and his hopes for the future. Meanwhile Lor…

Jessica Cecilia Anna Maria Martin (to give her full baptismal name) is a writer, actor, singer, impressionist and illustrator. She was one of the voices of the original Spitting Image, a punk werewolf to Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor Who and spent two years starring in the West End in Me And My Girl. She has of late become an accomplished illustrator of…

Born “the only black person in Ireland” in a small Tipperary town, Lorraine Maher has gone on to be a consultant, educator, trainer, creative and project manager. A director of Project 507 and Education Manager of Clean Break Theatre, she is also the founder of I Am Irish, which in five years has gone from photography exhibition to international su…

Dublin-based artist, photographer, film-maker and documentarian Ruth McHugh tells of her forthcoming project looking at the curious history of Liverpool Metropolitan Catholic Cathedral. Plus the mystery of “her grandfather’s Caravaggio” and the last days of the Ballymun towers. Meanwhile Anthony Ekundayo Lennon pays tribute to great-great-great-gre…

Geraldine Judge (aka Geraldine Moloney Judge) is an outreach worker with Irish Community Care in Liverpool, as well as a writer and actor (the aka is her stage name). Born in Southampton, raised in Dublin and now a resident of Merseyside, she has encountered bigotry on either side of the Irish Sea – too English for some, too Irish for others – but …

Born to white Irish parents in West London, but with the colouring and facial features of a mixed race child, Anthony’s appearance led to family strife, police harassment, and – eventually – accusations of “passing” as black in order to gain Arts Council funds. The subsequent media and Twitter storm – along with Anthony’s lifelong struggle to be ac…

Pauline Nevins is the author of Fudge, The Downs and Ups of a Bi-Racial, Half-Irish, British War Baby. Born the only mixed race child in a family of eight white children, hers is a story of family secrets, revelations and reunions. Raised in Wellingborough, and now a resident of California,. Pauline’s story has been featured in two exhibitions orga…

Jo Neary is an actor, writer, comedian, artist, puppeteer, singer…the list goes on. Nominated for a Perrier Award in 2004, she is arguably best known as Judith in the BBC series “Ideal”, starring Johnny Vegas. Born in Coventry, but raised in Cornwall, to an Irish father and Welsh mother, she talks accents, growing up below the poverty line, going u…

Writer, journalist, editor and PR guru, Adrian Lunney graduated in English at Cambridge and was EMAP’s feature writer of the year in 1991. He now runs Adrian Lunney PR. Born to Northern Irish parents in West London in 1960, Adrian’s story covers the rise of The Troubles on both sides of the water as well as left wing activism, the Catholic Church, …

Patrick Gaul, Angela Billing and Niall Gibney of Liverpool Irish Centre talk about facing the challenges of Covid and staging virtual performances as well as the shopping lists you can fill at their Irish Shop. They also discuss the history of both city and centre, the question of being Irish, English or Liverpudlian, the centre’s role in the wider…

Maureen (“Mo”) O’Connell and Mary Tynan are actor-writer-directors who went from Ireland to England for professional reasons and who both returned to Dublin and Galway respectively in 2015/2016. Mo is an award-winning film maker whose feature “Spa Weekend” is currently being feted with awards wherever it goes. She is also the founder of the Dublin …

Dr Laurence Cox is an associate professor of sociology at the National University of Ireland in Maynooth. He is also one of the three authors of “The Irish Buddhist”, the story of U Dhammaloka and his clashes with the British Empire in the early 20th century. We talk about Dhammaloka (born Laurence Carroll in Dublin, or so we think), Buddhism among…

Nathan Mannion is the senior curator at EPIC, which stands proudly on Custom House Quay in Dublin. Founded by Neville Isdell in 2016, EPIC tells the story of Ireland’s emigrant people throughout the ages. IOT’s been visited by some 750,000 people in its first four years and was voted Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction for an unprecedented two year…

One of the country’s leading stand-ups, Zoe Lyons tones’ have been heard on everything from Clive Anderson’s Chat Show to Just A Minute. A fixture on the comedy circuit, her 2007 debut show “Fight or Flight” saw her nominated as Best Newcomer at Edinburgh Fringe. A second generation member of the diaspora, she recorded a personal documentary series…

Rosemary is the founder and former CEO of AMRI, the Association of Mixed Race Irish, a campaign and support group with members in Britain, Ireland, the US and China. Born in Ireland to a white mother and Ghanaian father, her childhood was a series of foster homes and industrial schools. After moving to London at the age of 20, she gained a Masters …

Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu is, in her own words, “a black British woman of Irish-Nigerian heritage, thank you very much”. She is an activist, health care administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at University of West London, where she created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice. Her memoir, “MIxed Blessings From A C…

Journalist and writer Sheron Boyle – along with chairman Liam Thompson and manager Tommy McLoughlin – share stories of Leeds Irish Centre and talk about what it’s meant, not just to the diaspora but to the whole of the community, as it marks its golden anniversary with a book. Tales of Gabby Logan, Chris Moyles and Oasis abound – along with the fin…

Poet and performer SuAndi, OBE, is a third-generation member of the diaspora with a grandmother from Wicklow and a Nigerian father. She is the freelance Cultural Director of the National Black Arts Alliance, has been awarded honorary degrees by Lancaster University and Manchester Metropolitan University and a Lifetime Award by Manchester BME Networ…

A pleasure: a genuine pleasure and privilege to talk to the poet and author of “Famished”. In the usual freewheeling Plastic Podcast style we get to talk about voices and finding your own, about Covid and The Potato Famine, about America and Northern Ireland. Plus a genuinely beautiful idea. All of this and Tony Murray goes rogue with The Plastic P…

A truly marvellous chat with the charming and thoughtful Tony Murray. Director of the Irish Writers in London Summer School and curator of the Archive of the Irish in Britain. We talk punk, walking the streets during lockdown and the nature of the London Irish. Plus Niamh Lear raises Samantha Barry onto The Plastic Pedestal…

After a week away we’re back in full flow with Niamh Lear, whose current PhD thesis at Newcastle University studies the curious phenomenon of “Passport Paddies.” Reviving the spirit of the salon, we talk geography, history and Boyzone, plus our unexpected family connection. Also, Jess Moriarty places the legend that is Edna O’Brien on The Plastic P…

The full plastic of our interview with Jess Moriarty, writer and academic. We talk writing courses, grandmothers, Brexit, Covid, seeing her dad literally play God. Oh, and witches… Plus Craig Jordan-Baker raises Moy McCrory onto the Plastic Pedestal…The Plastic Podcasts

The Plastic Podcasts

The Plastic Podcasts

Actor Paul Moriarty has been a constant in our lives, whether with The Gentle Touch, Ashes To Ashes, Pride and Prejudice or as George Palmer in EastEnders. He has also had a distinguished theatre career, working with Caryl Churchill, Alan Bennett, Peter Brook and Lindsay Anderson, to name just four. Not bad for a boy from County Kilburn… Plus Bridg…

Journalist, novelist and teacher, Bridget Whelan’s career took her from Catholic weekly The Universe to working with Paul Foot on The Daily Mirror and beyond. It’s a fascinating story and in it we discuss changes not only for the Irish in Britain but also in the role of newspapers in this country, as well as the courtship of her parents in postwar …

The daughter of Brian and the niece of Brendan, Janet Behan is a playwright, actress and seaside gardener. She’s also thoughtful, funny and occasionally potty mouthed*. We talk Brendan and the IRA, Brian and the Communist Party, republicanism, booze and fame, typecasting, women writing in their sixties and her plays “Brendan At The Chelsea”, “Why S…

Trade union activist, campaigner, playwright and performer, Paddy O’Keeffe has worn a number of hats since arriving in England in 1964. This is the full bells and whistles podcast, and is a fascinating talk with a man blessed with optimism and humanity. Plus, John O’Donoghue raises Brian Behan onto The Plastic Pedestal…

Poet, author, publisher, academic. We’re proud to have John as our first interviewee. This is the podcast with all the bells and whistles. In it, John discusses literature and depression, the London Irish and winding your neck in, and lock-down eyebrows. Featuring our first ever Plastic Pedestal (not to be found on the mini-casts). John’s award-win…