Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning

Dara Molloy was ordained a priest but it was a trip to the Aran Islands that changed his life. He talks to Dion about leaving the priesthood, becoming a Celtic monk and why the world needs the spirituality of the Celtic way rather than the guilt imposed by the church that colonised Ireland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why does Andy Burnham talk differently about a border poll in Northern Ireland than when he talks about Scotland?
Is he adopting a different tone and if so, why?
On Free State Joe and Dion wonder what reconciliation means and if it should stand in the way of a border poll? If we were to avoid division would we have any election at all? Is there a difference between a routine democratic election and a referendum on subjects that might be divisive? Is the opportunity of bringing real democracy to the north of Ireland the most important consideration in bringing a border poll?
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When the Tory grandee David Davis stood up in the House of Commons and said there were ‘IRA lawyers’ who were ‘more interested in drama than justice’, there was an understandable response.
In 1988 a Tory minister had said that some solicitors in the north were sympathetic to the cause of the IRA. Three weeks later Pat Finucane was murdered in front of his family.
On Free State we ask why there is a certain type of politician who persists with these dangerous and inaccurate terms. We look at what Davis said and why it matters in a world still fraught with danger.
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In 2006, Elif Shafak was charged with 'insulting Turkishness' because of words uttered by a fictional character in one of her novels. She had been born to Turkish parents in France and grew up in Ankara but now she lives in London. On Free State today, Turkey's most widely read woman writer talks to Dion about exile, the age of anxiety and reaching out for home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Arsenal announced they were cutting 60 jobs at the home of the Premier League champions, the manager Mikel Arteta said he had been told it was to "achieve the success we want to create".
With the help of management consultants, Arsenal identified savings while simultaneously awarding Arteta a new contract worth £20 million a season.
On Free State today we look at what this story of a sporting club tells us about capitalism and inequality. Dion and Joe look at how sport was sold as everything else was sold and they wonder what happens next. Sport has been sold not just to the highest bidder but to those who believe in a version of society which is the opposite of community. What will be next?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.