Personal Politics

Interview with Irish Language Commissioner Pól Deeds

In this episode, Ursula interviews the recently appointed Irish Language Commissioner Pól Deeds. They discuss his plans for the role, the challenges he anticipates facing and how he plans to handle them. 
 
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Supreme Court ruling on religious education & taking a look at the budget

Ursula is joined by Aoife as they discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling on the teaching of religious education in schools, and they also take a look at the recent budget announcements, asking how politicians at Stormont can make ends meet when the numbers don't add up. 

Ursula & Aoife: Invitations accepted and declined, the DUP's recent actions

On this episode Ursula and Aoife discuss the Presidential inauguration of Catherine Connolly and the deputy First Minister Emma Little Pengelly's declining of the invitation and the DUP's failure to send anyone in her place. They also discuss DUP Ministr of Education Paul Givan's recent fact-finding trip to Israel and the fallout this has caused, including motions of no confidence in the Minister. They ask whether these recent actions are showing a lack of commitment to power sharing and what can be done to change this. 

Landslide victory, spoiled votes, and future elections.

In this episode Ursula and Aoife discuss Catherine Connolly's landslide win in the Presidential election, the spoiled votes issue, and the campaign for extending the vote in Presidential elections to Irish citizens in the north and abroad.  

Interview with Jemma Dolan MLA

In this episode, Ursula Savage interviews Jemma Dolan, Sinn Féin MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone. They chat about Jemma's early career before becoming an elected politician, her priorities in the job as MLA, and why she believes a united Ireland would address many of the difficulties faced by border communities.

The Presidential Election: The campaign so far

Ursula Savage is joined by co-host Aoife Clements for an overview of the Irish Presidential campaign to date, looking at the differences between the Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys campaigns, and asking why anyone would put themselves forward for the role in the first place. 
Aoife also shares information about a new community based programme being run by 50:50NI, aimed at educating women about politics so that they can cast their votes with confidence. More information on the programme can be found here: https://5050ni.com/training-and-events/ 

Interview: Robbie Butler MLA, Deputy Leader of the UUP

In this episode we have an interview with Robbie Butler, MLA for Lagan Valley and Deputy Leader of the UUP. 
During our conversation, Robbie chats about faith, fostering and the future. 
We discuss how Robbie first became involved in elected politics, his varied career before then, his hopes for the UUP going forward and plenty more besides. 

Co-host episode: Presidential possibilities & interpretation of gender in legislation

Personal Politics is growing! In this episode host Ursula Savage is joined by Aoife Clements, founder of 50:50NI, as her co-host as they discuss some current political issues of the day. 
With the Irish Presidential Election coming up, Ursula and Aoife discuss the potential candidates for the November poll, the nature of the role of President and why this campaign is guaranteed to be an interesting one. 
Following this Aoife leads the discussion on the recent Supreme Court decision on the interpretation of gender in equality legislation and they discuss where the motivations for the case came from and what it could mean for the wider gender discussion. 
Subscribe and stay tuned for more one-on-one interviews with political figures and more joint episodes taking a broader look at the political landscape. 

Aoife Clements, Founder of 50:50 NI

Today's guest is Aoife Clements, PhD student and founder of the 50:50 NI organisation which works to encourage more women to get involved in politics. We discussed everything from why we have so few women in political life, how to change that and why that is for the better, and what she thinks of gender quotas.
 
You can find more information on the work of 50:50 here: https://5050ni.com/ 
 

David Mc Cann, Deputy Editor, Commentator & Lecturer

In this week's episode, I chat with Dr David McCann, Deputy Editor of Slugger O'Toole, political commentator and lecturer. 
We discussed his early memories of politics, why he finds the field so interesting and which politicians are best at standing out from the crowd at a time when politicians are under scrutiny more than ever.