CountryWide

Whats in a birdsong?

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Ornithologist, Sean Ronayne, on how important Marine Protection Areas are for Seabirds and his passion for capturing bird sounds

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Fair Seas Conference panel

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Speakers at the Fair Seas Conference 2026 on MPAs: Minna Epps - IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), Belinda Bramley - UK marine protection expert, Grace Carr - Marine policy officer at the Irish Wildlife Trust).

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Do Marine Protected Areas work?

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Marine Biologist, Ben Harris, has scientific evidence that MPAs work.

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Seashore Kids: Getting children involved in marine protection

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Della Kilroy goes beachcombing in Bray with Marine Biologist, Mona McCrae and a group of school children as part of ‘Seashore Kids’, which provides marine environmental education to children.

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A fisherman's perspective on MPA's

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Fisherman John Lynch talks to Suzanne Campbell about his reaction to MPA introduction.

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Where is the Land Use Review

Sat, 30 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

There isn't enough land in the country to do all the things we have set targets for. 17 months ago government received a report setting out what land uses needed to be prioritised. Where is it?

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Cornafulla Bog competing land uses

Sat, 30 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Ella McSweeney talks to locals in Roscommon who feel there is better environmental and cultural value to be had on their bog than the climate benefits that would come from a proposed wind farm.

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Panel Discussion on Land Use

Sat, 30 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Stakeholders from farmers to renewable energy call for the publication of the Land Use Review. Pat O'Toole, Political Editor, Irish Farmers Journal. Prof Mary Bourke, Geographer, TCD. Ronan Power, CEO Solar Ireland. Oonagh Duggan, Head of Policy, Birdwatch Ireland.

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How much land will nature need to use

Sat, 30 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Jesmond Harding, author of the The Irish Butterfly Book, makes the case for conserving habitat for creatures like the Marsh Fritillary butterfly within a Land Use Plan.

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Impact of absence of Land Use Review

Sat, 30 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

With a wind farm going up in the next field Michael Miley's farm outside Monasterevin is just one of thousands that would benefit from clear direction on Land Use.

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What does food security look like?

Sat, 23 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip speaks with farmers Seamus Bradley in Ardclough, Co Kildare and John Keogh in Co Carlow to gauge their understanding. Later, food analyst Sinead Mowlds joined him in studio.

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Is Ireland more food secure than ever or are we still very vulnerable to external shocks?

Sat, 23 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Food historian, Mairtin Mac Con Iomaire discusses whether enough has changed since the Great Famine to guarantee access to food for all.

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Blinded by Whitethorn in Cork

Sat, 23 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

There’s enough hedgerow in Ireland to go around the equator 17 times and there’s a Whitethorn at the heart of every hedge. So lets pause for a moment in awe of the Whitethorn, with its dazzling display across our landscape right now, with Janet Heeran from her family farm in Co Cork.

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Could more adventurous fish choices make us more food secure?

Sat, 23 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Lorna Siggins jumped on board this conundrum and met Sean Doran, whose family runs a fish shop and restaurant in Howth, Co Dublin and master fishmonger Stefan Griesbach in Co Galway.

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Countrywide Full Episode 16/05/2026

Sat, 16 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Countrywide Full Episode 16/05/2026

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CAP Reform

Sat, 16 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

The prospect of cuts in the Common Agriculture Policy budget has ignited a debate about what constitutes an active farmer and whether supports should be removed or reduced from those deemed inactive. Chris Fox, a medium sized Irish dairy farmer in Co Wicklow and Daniel Buckley, a sheep farmer in Co Kerry, and Francie Gorman, President of the Irish Farmers Association discuss.

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The Mayfly

Sat, 16 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

“The fly is up!” a cry that means everything among anglers and one that is soon to be heard as the Mayfly season gets underway. Fisheries scientist, Ken Whelan, joined Sheila O'Callaghan along the banks of the Blackwater River near Virginia in Co Cavan, and Dr Samuel Fabian from the University of Oxford and his colleagues from Imperial College London reveal the science behind the Mayfly's dance in newly published research.

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Goat Soap

Sat, 16 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

What began with two pet goats has grown into an expanding goat’s milk soap business for Louise Bennett in County Westmeath. Now managing a growing herd of Anglo-Nubian goats, reporter Della Kilroy has discovered how Louise has been balancing the demands of a busy kidding season with the day-to-day running of her small business, turning fresh goat’s milk into handcrafted skincare products.

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An avian treat

Sat, 09 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Author of The Book Of Birds, Robert McFarlane and Cork-based ornithologist and field recordist, Seán Ronayne collaborate to bring you the exquisite sounds of birds and some interesting anecdotes and insights.

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Crunchy bog

Sat, 09 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

You know what walking on a bog should sound like but that's not what could be heard underfoot at Slieve Beagh following a wildfire last week. Ella McSweeney joined Philip Boucher Hayes to talk more.

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Swallows and bees

Sat, 09 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Suzanne Campbell reports on how a farmer in the midlands with a thriving organic oats business has made a determined effort to allow space for nature on his farm which has actually added to his bottom line.

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Restoring swans in Bray harbour

Sat, 09 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Lorna Siggins reports on recent removal of a beach area in Bray Harbour in County Wicklow which has had a significant impact on local swans.

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Hedge school

Sat, 09 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Poet Pat Boran joined Philip to recite a delightful poem dedicated to birds.

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Benjamin Thébaudeau, Geologist

Sat, 02 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip meets the Geopark’s official geologist Benjamin Thébaudeau for a walk at the Pigeon Hole, the cave in Cong. They talk about the formation of the landscape and how its people are connected to it.

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The Whileaways

Sat, 02 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Musical trio The Whileaways talk to Philip about making music in the landscape of the Geopark, and their hometown of Headford. Noriana Kennedy, Nicola Joyce and Noelie McDonnell play their song ‘You’ll Find Me There’.

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More from the Geopark Festival

Sat, 02 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Lorna Siggins meets local people attending the Geopark launch celebrations near the Owenriff River in Oughterard, including An Taisce Climate Ambassador Pat O’Brien, local ecologist Greg Forde and some music by harpist Nathalie Surina.

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The Field

Sat, 02 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip meets Susan Denny, owner of the field from the 1990 film ‘The Field’, only to find that a portion of iconic landscape has been washed away, due to climate change.

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Geopark Launch

Sat, 02 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Treasa Bhreathnach attends the celebrations at the launch of the newly UNESCO endorsed Geopark in Connemara, the Joyce Country and Western Lakes Geopark. Featuring Trish Walsh, Chair of the JCWL GeoEnterprise and Sinead Seoighe, Tourism Officer for the Geopark.

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Colm Gavin, Sheep Farmer

Sat, 02 May 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip meets uplands farmer Colm Gavin for a walk on his sheep farm on the banks of the Killary Fjord. They discuss what really makes a geopark special, as well as the challenges of mountainside farming, in the company of attention-seeking cuckoo.

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Forest schools

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Regan Hutchens visits a forest school Easter Camp near Donadea forest in Kildare to meet Forest School Leader Lucy Bell of Growing Wild, and an enthusiastic team of forest scholars.

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Sitka Book Row

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

A book promoting the Sitka Spruce tree caused some controversy this week after it was distributed to primary schools. Philip visits St Patrick’s National School Curtlestown, which is surrounded by both commercial and native woodland high up in the Wicklow Hills, to see how the book was received by teachers there.

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Forest songs

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Della Kilroy meets artists from a project called ‘Forest Songs’ — a collection of three love songs to the Dublin forests, written in collaboration with composer Tom Lane. The project creators are Cracking Light Productions, and the singer is Maeve Stone

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Boyne Rivers Trust

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip visits members of the Boyne Rivers Trust who are planting trees on their river banks to provide shade and help keep temperatures down, thus protecting the fish inside. Featuring Muireann Kerrane, Rosaleen Finnegan Gibbons and zoologist Sarah Austin.

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Gary Patterson – Agroforestry

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Treasa Bhreathnach visits the farm of Gary Patterson in Granlahan in County Roscommon, where he has introduced trees into a little over half of the pasture, for animal health, soil health and farmer health.

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Countrywide Full Episode 18/04/2026

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Countrywide Full Episode 18/04/2026

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Carraroe Community Garden

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Last weekend, Lorna Siggins visited Carraroe Community Garden, where residents of the nearby IPAS centre joined locals, including members of the Men's Shed and the arts group Gliogar, to plant vegetables in raised beds.

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Fendt battery tractor

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Fendt Salesman Philip Mattey in Northampton gives our Philip a virtual demonstration of a Fendt battery-powered tractor, which will be in showrooms in Ireland next month.

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Impact of government's relief package on contractors

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip visits a farm with contractor Irvin Rothwell, who is spreading slurry near Ferrycarrig in Co Wexford to find out what impact the government's recently announced relief package will mean for him.

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An Feirm Ground

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

An Feirm Ground is a farming initiative that received a national recognition for its impact on rural wellbeing. The initiative works with agriculture professionals, giving them the skills and confidence to engage with farmers who may be in distress.

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Fertiliser free farm

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Suzanne Campbell meets Brian Meredith and his father Keith, organic beef and tillage farmers in Co Laois, who have eliminated fossil fuel based, synthetic fertiliser from their farm.

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Should electric tractors be subsidised?

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

James Nix is an expert in the economics of heavy vehicles, working with the think tank Transport and Environment in Brussels.

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Hybrid and electric tractors from China

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip talks to Rob McNaughton, from Zoomlion, about hybrid and electric tractors that will be coming on the market from China.

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Countrywide Full Episode 11/04/2026

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Countrywide Full Episode 11/04/2026

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Fuel Protests affect Animal Feed Supplies

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip is joined by Barry Larkin, CEO of the Acorn group of feed suppliers to discuss the impact the protests are having on their supply lines, including impacts on animal welfare.

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Farmer potter collaboration

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Fermanagh farmer Roger Corrigan takes Philip around his farm in the middle of lambing season, explaining that the clay in some of his soil that is unsuitable for farming gets used by a local potter in her ceramics work. The poem ‘There will come Soft Rains’ by Sarah Teasdale echoes the sentiments of Roger on his farm. Read here by Susannah De Wrixon.

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Minister of State Christopher O’Sullivan

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Minister O’Sullivan offers some follow-up information on the issue of tangle netting, highlighted on the programme back in February, as well as analysis on the current national situation with fuel protests and government negotiations.

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Fuel Protests – Update from Cork

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip is joined by Southern Correspondent with the Irish Independent Ralph Riegel for the latest update from the Whitegate Refinery under blockade in Cork, including analysis of the difficulties presented by the geography and infrastructure of the area.

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Fuel Protests – Farm Organisation Leaders

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip is joined by Francie Gorman, President of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) and Denis Drennan, President of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) to discuss the ongoing negotiations with government as to address the fuel hardship being felt by farmers and how to bring an end to the protests.

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Countrywide Full Episode 04/04/2026

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Countrywide Full Episode 04/04/2026

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Angling on the Deele

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Della Kilroy meets angler Damien Devine on the River Deele, a tributary of the Foyle, where he is teaching a group of young people how to fish as well as about the importance of preserving biodiversity around the river.

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The River Foyle and Farming on Reclaimed Land

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip meets geographer and author Liam Campbell at Derry’s Peace Bridge to talk about the history of the River Foyle and what it means to the city of Derry. For a farmer’s perspective, he travels to the farm of Richard and Leona Kane, producers of Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil.

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Klondike by Neil Hegarty

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Writer Neil Hegarty reads an excerpt from his essay ‘Klondike’ which explores the watery geographies of the River Foyle. The essay appeared in a collection entitled ‘Impermanence’, published by the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, to reflect on one hundred years of partition in Ireland.

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Moville Pier

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Kathy Donaghy visits Moville Pier to find out about the history of emigration from that very point throughout the ages. With historian Seán Beattie and retired local GP Don McGinley. This segment also includes Don McGinley's live rendition of 'Moville along the Foyle'.

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The Loughs Agency

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Philip meets Dr Sarah McLean from The Loughs Agency, the body tasked with managing and protecting Lough Foyle, to talk about the significant wild native oyster population of the Lough.

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Countrywide Full Episode 28/03/2026

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Countrywide Full Episode 28/03/2026

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Nature Restoration Plan

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Farmers and environmentalists have agreed an ambitious plan to restore nature. The only open question now is will government give it the funding it needs.

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Lambing

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

A sleepless time of year for sheep farmers, made easier on many farms by taking on students to help. UCD Ag Science students Aoife O’Brien and Sarah Ronayne were in the middle of a difficult breach birth when Suzanne Campbell arrived on Patrick Nuttal’s farm in Wicklow.

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Cullahill Mountain

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

The Heritage Council runs a Heritage in Schools scheme giving pupils a chance to experience farm life. Della Kilroy went on Vincent O’Sullivan’s tour of his farm with the pupils of Cullahill National School, Co Laois.

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Pond Life

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Regan Hutchins reports from a greenway outside Clonakilty Co Cork on how digging three ponds saved the local newt population from being trodden on or ridden over.

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Horticulture

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Following the news of the collapse of carrot producers Hughes in Kilkenny last week, Philip talks to another horticulturalist, Kenneth Keavey of Green Earth Organics in Co. Galway about the issues facing procuders like him and possible solutions.

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Impact of Energy Crisis on Farmers

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

In the current oil crisis, which the International Energy Agency this week called the ‘worst in history’, fluctuating prices on fuel and fertiliser will have a severe impact on farmers. Philip meets farmers and contractors at the forefront of this, including one farmer who has found a way to function without using chemical fertilisers.

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Mountain Meitheal

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Treasa Bhreathnach joined Mountain Meitheal West, in the Galway Clare area a few weeks ago, while they were out clearing hazel from the trails on the Carren Loop in County Clare.

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Livestock Boat to Israel

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

This week, an Israeli registered Livestock carrier left Ireland heading to Israel, with a large shipment of calves on board. But with the port of Haifa under threat in the current Middle East conflict, it's unclear whether the ship will be able to land and unload these animals. Philip talks to journalist Lilach Laila Ben David in Haifa.

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Search and Rescue Dogs in Kerry

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Lorna Siggins attends a demonstration of the search and rescue dogs of the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team in Killarney.

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Female Farmer Roundtable

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Should we even be using the term female farmer in 2026? Is it naive to not recognise that more women farmers fall by the wayside than men? How a female perspective makes farms more productive, profitable and safe. Aileen Sheahan, Dairy farmer. Ciara Stanley, Beef farmer. Ailbhe Gerrard, mixed farmer.

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Female Farrier

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Women are very visible throughout the bloodstock and racing industries, except in on role. There are only four female farriers in the country. Suzanne Campbell meets Abby O’Donnell who is training to become the fifth.

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Female Farm Ambassador

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Agriculture minister, Martin Heydon, announced Carina Roseingrave as Ireland’s Female Farming Ambassador for the International Year Of The Woman Farmer. We visited her on her farm in Crusheen, Co Clare.

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TB – Learning from others

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Unlike Ireland New Zealand has nearly entirely eradicated Bovine TB. Kiwi veterinary epidemiologist, Dallas New, visited Ireland recently. Back at home she reflects on what we could do differently.

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Countrywide Full Episode 07/03/2026