CountryWide

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.

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.

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.

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’.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Countrywide Full Episode 18/04/2026

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.

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.

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.

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.

Fermanagh farmer Roger Corrigan takes Philip around his farm in the middle of lambing season, explaining that 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's farm. Read here by Susannah De Wrixon.

Countrywide Full Episode 11/04/2026

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.

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'.

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.

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.

Countrywide Full Episode 04/04/2026

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Countrywide Full Episode 28/03/2026

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.

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

This week, an Israeli registered Livestock carrier left Ireland heading to Israel, with a large shipment of cattle 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

At Carbury bog in Kildare, a local community group has cracked the problem of simultaneously protecting nature while allowing people who can’t afford not to – to keep cutting turf to heat their homes. Philip meets Ciara Duggan, Chair of Carbury Bogs.

Janet Heeran in Cork on the many days of rain this year. Featuring the track ‘Light Rain Blues’ by Sam Amidon. (For copyright reasons the full track used in the background of this piece cannot be made available in the podcast)

Professor John Feehan, Geologist and Botanist, argues that the rewetting of bogs may prove to be a major missed opportunity for nature, and that we need to adjust our timeframes to think like mountains.

Della Kilroy meets artist Annie Holland on Abbeyleix Bog to hear about her work which is inspired by the landscape there. Annie is one of 19 artists identified by The Community Wetlands Forum as someone whose work encourages people to look afresh at their local bogs.

Lemanaghan Bog in Offaly, or Manchán’s bog, has been earmarked by Bord Na Mona and SSE Renewables as a site for turbines. Locals like Ciara Egan would prefer if it hadn’t. She tells Philip about the relationship the local people have with the land there.