There’s a lot of admirable aspirations in the Fianna Fail/Fine Gael/Green Party PfG. But it also promises of 7 commissions, 6 task forces, 4 committees,

It was a great pleasure to be joined in the tortoise shack by author, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Islam, proud Glaswegian, adopted Corkonian and always

As anti-racism protests continue around the world the “tone police” are desperately trying to reassert and protect the old power structures. To discuss this we

Martin and Caroline were joined in the #TortoiseShack by Liam Herrick, Executive Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. The ICCL has issued a

Watching the sustained attacks on the Black Lives Matter protests in the US by both an increasingly militaristic police and an increasingly incoherent Divider in

The murder of George Floyd by a police officer has sparked protests across America and indeed the world. The actions of the Divider in Chief,

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown have affected children in ways that we don’t even yet understand. This is particularly the case for vulnerable children

The “we’re all in this together” mood music from government changed very quickly and the old economic orthodoxy has looked to reassert itself. Our guest

As Spain enters Phase 1 of lifting what was previously one of the most restrictive Covid-19 lockdowns, we go back to Madrid to speak with

How long can a caretaker government limp on for? What happens when the money runs out? Is it even possible to have an election under

In what was the 300th episode of the Echo Chamber, we were joined by actor, writer, comedian (available for voice-work) and good friend of the

It was an absolute pleasure to sit down and chat with human rights lawyer, activist, advocate and TED talk speaker, Simone George. We discuss #StandForTruth

Every year Social Justice Ireland submit an alternative budget that aims to tackle inequality, protect our most vulnerable and build a better society through a

As part of our Live in Lockdown series we sat down with actor, writer, poet and friend of the pod, Emmet Kirwan, for a conversation

Across the globe countries are trying to plot their way out of the Covid-19 lockdown. So we went back to Portugal to speak with friend

From the Trump impeachment to the Harvey Weinstein cases, the role of whistleblowers has been crucial in the uncovering of malfeasance and criminality. In both

Tony was joined by immigration and human rights solicitor, Wendy Lyon to discuss Ireland’s immigration system and the struggle to get access to justice for

While Martin is off sunning himself (in hospital), Tony talked with campaigning journalist and climate activist, John Gibbons about the price the Green Party must

How can you stay home during the Covid-19 pandemic if you have nothing to eat? Our guest is Head of International Advocacy at Concern Worldwide,

On Wednesday Sinn Féin Leader, Mary Lou McDonald, joined us and an audience of Tortoise Shack members for a live podcast. We discuss the health

Just before the world ground to a halt and everything became about Covid-19, we were joined on the phone by lecturer in energy systems engineering

It was a great pleasure to be joined via zoom by Country Programme Manager in Malawi with Irish Rule of Law, Seona Dillon McLoughlin, to

In this short podcast recorded at the New Public Housing conference in NUI Maynooth, the Accommodation Policy Officer with the Irish Traveller Movement, Emily Murtagh,

Associate Professor of Economics at UL, Stephen Kinsella joined us to discuss the “economics” of the Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil framework document, the EU’s actions in

If you are 65+ in Ireland and need help with your tech issues with smartphones, tablets, laptops then covid19tech.ie can help you. We were delighted

From where we sit it looks like Donald Trump is ramping up his war on criticism of his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, rather than

Ireland already had a housing and homelessness emergency before the Covid-19 pandemic. While the emergency response has received near universal acclaim we’d seen the number

As part of our ongoing look into the impacts of Covid-19 and our #NoGoingBack series we chatted with infectious diseases specialist and internal medicine physician,

As Ireland battles with the ‘we are all in this together or are we?’ nonsense of holiday homes and street parties, we decided to look

Where to even begin! The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is in ICU, the Labour Party have a new leader in Keir Stamer and the

We were joined by Fin Dwyer of the Irish History Podcast to look back and see if there are lessons from history that we can

We decided to have a short catch-up on events. It got a bit heated. We chat about the Covid-19 clusters in nursing homes and Direct

We are delighted to be joined from Australia by Cavan woman, Laura Rahill, to tell us about the experience of Covid-19 on the other side

Martin asked me to wake him at 8:30am for a podcast. So I did. These are the results. I’m not sorry. He’s not sorry. But

It is a troubling time. But we chatted to one of our absolute favourite people, Saoirse McHugh, about some of the good things that could

In a break from our Covid-19 coverage, writer, activist, teacher and worker with social movements, Laurence Cox, joins us in the tortoise shack to talk

We are joined by Tallaght University Hospital Consultant and proud Cork man, Dr Anthony O’Connor, to chat about pushing back against Covid-19. Anthony tells us

We are joined in The Tortoise Shack by trade unionist, activist and loving son, Brendan Ogle. Brendan was due to do this interview last Saturday,

On the 4th of March, Samantha Kelly (@tweetinggoddess) used the hashtag #selfisolation on Twitter, asking her followers to bear in mind their elderly and vulnerable

The Covid-19 crisis has seen countries close their borders and limit people going outside except for essentials. We are joined from Madrid by Professor Joe

The Taoiseach made what many are calling the defining speech of his career last night, and while it was reassuring, we ask what meat we

As the numbers continue to climb, the message is not to panic. Testing is ramping up and contact tracing will follow. We’re joined by Lisbon

As the EU begins to takes extraordinary steps to slow the spread of Covid-19, we discuss events of the day at home and across the

With the news that pubs are to close and of an additional 40 confirmed cases, we discuss where this is going and what additional steps

Today the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 seen their highest rise so far in Ireland, with 39 new cases and sadly a second person

The WHO have no declared Covid-19 a Global Pandemic. A woman has sadly died in the east of Ireland from the disease and there are

We are in unprecedented territory as Covid-19 spreads across the globe and Italy has locked down 60 million people. In Ireland the government have announced

Martin, whether he likes to admit it or not, is high risk when it comes to the Covid-19 outbreak and he feels strongly that not

We all love a good story and award winning director, filmmaker and sleep deprived daddy, Ross Whitaker, knows how to tell them. From the Shane

Workers in the hospitality sector experience bullying, verbal and physical abuse and sexual harassment at levels that should shame us all. But given that many

In a very special podcast Chris Gray, tells us about the traumatic experience in his former role as a Facebook moderator. Chris outlines the process

We gotta talk about last night… Martin brings us his insights into the Sinn Féin meeting in Liberty Hall and what was in essence a

Could Coronavirus be the impetus for a National Unity Government? Martin thinks it should be. We discuss this crisis, the Sinn Féin public meetings and

We are delighted to be joined in the tortoise shack by student Jacob Woolf for a broad conversation on antisemitism, recognising it, the conspiracy theories

While we were all losing our minds over the General Election, our guest in The Tortoise Shack, CEO of Vizlegal, Co-founder of Right to Know

During the election we heard various politician’s say they were committed to the failed drug policies of the past. Our guests in The Tortoise Shack

This is when it starts to get interesting. The numbers don’t suit anybody, but the majority know that they don’t want a government of Fianna

A bit different today. We go through some of the marginal seats and call on you to transfer to the Left candidate in order to

In our second podcast of the day we talk about why the teacher’s strike, the early childhood educators march and a bed beside a toilet

This day next week we vote and while the opinion polls are encouraging they won’t matter unless we all get out and fill out that

Votes for sale! Votes for sale! Get ’em while they’re cheap! The promises of better everything and tax cuts for all abound. We discuss what

As the campaign reaches ‘make your mind up time’ we are seeing some elements of the media who, in our opinion, have questions to answer.

If this is indeed what the “serious” pundits call “moving week”, then Fine Gael are moving down at a rate of knots. We talk about

“Nobody reads manifestos”, well here in the #Tortoiseshack we do to save you the bother. The Fine Gael and Fianna Fail manifestos dropped on the

The “debate” passed off in an uninspiring 0 – 0 draw and the only talking points were the Taoiseach’s discomfort around his drug taking past

It’s always hard to imagine something that hasn’t been done before. So while it’s understandable that people are defending Virgin Media TV’s (and RTE’s) decision

The latest opinion poll shows less than the margin of error separating Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin. While it’s only a poll, the

The Sunday Times poll was a bombshell. It rattled Fine Gael, RTE and anyone else who wants this campaign to be a strict FF/FG battle.

While the campaign has failed to spark in terms of any noticeable political vision, external events are dominating the political news. With two shootings in

The campaign has started and with a man suffering life changing injuries while his tent was forcibly removed and a young woman tragically dying in

#GE2020 has kicked off and so has our coverage. We will be bringing you pods, interviews, analysis and more over the campaign. To start we

The controversy around the government’s now deferred plan to commemorate the RIC, DMP and by extension the Black and Tans, has captured the public imagination.

The Climate Crisis became the biggest movement for change in 2019. Our guest in The Tortoise Shack is a concerned parent who got engaged and

Hate speech, othering and “acceptable” racism is on the rise. We see so many examples of how it has gained and is gaining power across

Our guest in The Tortoise Shack in this very special (Echo Chamber & Disturbing the Peace crossover) podcast is educator, advocate, superstar and proud Finglas

When I was a young fella in town I knew about the Doctor who looked after the drug addicts. I used to see him going

The Government often hide their failures (is it failure or policy?) in housing by changing the language. Instead of new houses the say housing solutions.

It’s easy to just follow the news ticker as we scroll through our self-curated feeds. But our guest in The Tortoise Shack, short story and

While attention for the need for Climate Action has never been more “in” at the moment, we are struggling to find the means to tackle