Conor Faughnan’s Driving Life

Dr Ruth Freeman is Director of Science for Society at Research Ireland. A familiar voice to many, Ruth is a regular contributor to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk. She talks to Conor about the future of research, promoting STEM education, and making sure that scientific advancements are communicated clearly and effectively to all.          

Conor meets Dr Umar Al Qadri; Sunni Islamic Scholar and Chair of the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council. In Ireland for 20 years, he became a citizen when Michael D Higgins prompted him to and has since been a candidate in both the last European and General Elections. A well-known voice in Irish life, he sheds some light on what it is like to be Muslim in Ireland, his views on radicalisation and extremism, his work to promote integration and inclusion, and his own very deep faith.

Conor meets Transport & Climate Minister Darragh O’Brien. After 4 years in Housing, he’s now across all things Transport & Climate. We talk Metro, Planning, Michael O’Leary & Dublin Airport, Buses, and the future of the Road Safety Authority. He’s got plenty on his to do list. But he also has plenty of coffee on hand for his working morning in the Grand Hotel in Malahide, and he was good enough to take the time for a wide-ranging chat.

Fintan Drury once presented Morning Ireland, set up & then sold Drury Communications, set up a Sports Management company to represent global football & golf stars & brought the Ryder Cup to Ireland. He was also Chairman of Paddy Power and was on the board of Anglo Irish Bank in the run up to their collapse. He's written about that before but his latest book is about the situation in Gaza, called Catastrophe - Nakba II.  

A household name since her early teens, she has just published her new memoir ‘Caution to the Wind’; an account of her early years becoming one of Ireland’s new young voices, her wonderful but deeply controversial marriage to Tom Savage, a priest in the Ireland of the 70s, and on through their later successes and her own extraordinary career.