The beauty, power and wonder of the sea as told by ex-fishermen, marine ecologists and environmental activists. In ‘Blue Carbon: A Sea Story’ Bairbre Flood takes to the sea with Colin Barnes, Cork Whale Watch, on an ethical whale and wildlife tour, and meets with marine biologist Shazia Waheed, lobster fisherman Kieran O’Shea, and volunteers with the Bantry Bay Protect Our Native Kelp...
Art and migration in Türkiye, Jordan and Ireland. Arthereistanbul is a community space, an art centre and place where artists can create in peace – listen to Omar Berakdar and artist and curator Sherin Zeraaty. In Jordan, Syrian illustrator and painter Haya Halaw is having her first solo exhibition show in Jacaranda Gallery in Amman. And finally in Cork, Ireland, meet...
In Ireland we’re more familiar with thinking of ourselves as the victims of history – which we were – than as active participants in colonialism. But it’s an uncomfortable fact that the Irish were also slave owners, slave traders, overseers and agents. We helped build the slave empire on behalf of Britain, France and other countries, and shared in the profits of this horrendous system over the...
The only Irish person recognised as Righteous Among the Nations for saving Jewish children during the Holocaust. A fascinating character for many reasons, her work during the Spanish Civil War and then in Rivesaltes Refugee Camp in the South of France are noteworthy even in themselves. But it’s for risking her life, rescuing Jewish refugees who were being sent to concentration camps that she’ll...
‘Against The Wire’ from Moria refugee camp, meets Mustapha, an interpreter with Medical Volunteers International; Jameela, a mother trying to bring up her children in the camp; Adrianna, a medic with Boat Refugee Foundation; Ahmad, a photographer with ReFocus Media Labs, and Baqir, a teenager seeking a new life of safety. We follow Irish nurse Elena Lydon who took a career break from her...
New Irish poets and editors from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India and South Africa give us an in-depth look at diversity in Irish writing and publishing. Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, Christie Kandiwa, Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan, Khanyo Dlamini and Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi read their poetry of love, migration, family – and share their own unique experiences of ‘home’. They reflect on the...
Njamba Koffi is a talented poet, musician and writer originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. When Njamba was 11, he and his family, like millions of others, had to flee the DRC. They stayed briefly in Tanzania, then in Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi until finally settling in Eswatini, where Njamba helped set up a youth group in the camp. His book, ‘Refugee, The Journey Much Desired’ is...
Mohamad Khalf has been teaching photography in Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan, for many years – instilling a love of learning and creative expression in his students Ali and Mohammed Nour Al-Babisi. They talk to Bairbre Flood about the photography exhibition Mohmamad Khalf organised in the camp, called ‘Ana Surie’ (‘I Am Syrian’) and why they are Syrian first – not refugees...
Mayyu Ali’s poetry book, ‘Exodus – Between Genocide and Me’ describes his experiences and his journey escaping to the relative safety of Coxs Bazaar refugee camp in Bangladesh. Around 700,000 Rohingya people fled in 2017, joining about 300,000 Rohingya men, women and children who had arrived after fleeing earlier waves of violence. Mayyu is one of the people who escaped in 2017. We talk...
Aryan Ashory is a hugely talented and inspiring young Afghan poet, filmmaker and human rights activist. She writes in four languages and her poetry was recently featured on PBS in America. She reads several of her poems, including ‘Hey Talib a Stain of Shame in Our History , ‘Don’t Kick Us Like a Ball’ and ‘Like a Black Ceiling Dark and Silent’ which explore, among other things, the way women are...