The Wary Republic: Ireland and the Crisis of the UK Union with Naomi O'Leary

This week, the Breaking Britain Podcast will explore the often fraught relationship between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Over the past century interactions between both states have suffered from tensions over issues of territorial integrity and national sovereignty. With the legacy of decades of violence in Northern Ireland as a constant source of tension between both societies, the internal faultlines that risk pulling the UK Union apart have inevitably had an impact on politics and everyday life in Ireland.

To help us explore how worsening polarisation within the UK has affected its relationship with Ireland, this week we've been joined by Naomi O’Leary. As Europe Correspondent for the Irish Times and creator of The Irish Passport Podcast with Tim Mc Inerney, Naomi O'Leary has provided fascinating insights into how political and cultural change in Ireland has evolved over the last century.  Her award-winning 2016 documentary “Granite and Chalk” explored hidden aspects of Ireland's early twentieth century history, while her work as a former correspondent of POLITICO Europe, Reuters in Rome, and Agence France-Presse in London, focused on key issues shaping the future of the European Union. With such wide-ranging experience, Naomi O'Leary is ideally placed to provide a wider perspective on how the UK's own troubles are affecting its relationship with Ireland and its European partners.

The background music is by Through the City by Crowander, and the production for this podcast was by Daniel Mansfield.