A Conversation with Senator David Norris – Episode 14

Senator David Norris image.We had the pleasure to sit down with Senator David Norris who discusses with us his early life, the equal marriage referendum, decline of the Roman Catholic Church, taking Ireland to the European court of Human Rights, and more.

You can check out David’s Twitter here.

You can listen to the bonus podcast here.

affluently David Patrick Bernard Norris (born 31 July 1944) is an Irish scholar, independent Senator and civil rights activist. Internationally, Norris is credited with having “managed, almost single-handedly, to overthrow the anti-homosexuality law which brought about the downfall of Oscar Wilde”, a feat he achieved in 1988 after a fourteen-year campaign. He has also been credited with being “almost single-handedly responsible for rehabilitating James Joyce in once disapproving Irish eyes”.

Norris is a former university lecturer and a member of the Oireachtas, serving in Seanad Éireann since 1987. He was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in Ireland. A founder of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform, he is also a prominent member of the Church of Ireland.

He was a candidate for President of Ireland in the October 2011 election. He topped numerous opinion polls and was favourite among members of the Irish public for the position but withdrew from the race months before the election, before returning to the race in September 2011.

 

 

 

 

A Conversation with Mike Nesbitt – Episode 13

Headshot picture of Mike Nesbitt of the UUP.Mike Nesbitt, ex Commissioner of Victims and Survivors, journalist and current Ulster Unionist Party MLA for Strangford discusses recent election performances, gives us his thoughts on legacy issues, a shared future and an update on Stormont talks.

You can follow Mike on twitter here.

You can check out the bonus podcast with Mike here.

Kostyantynivka http://kombuchaamerica.com/templates/beez3/cgialfa Mike Nesbitt (born 11 May 1957) is a British politician and former broadcaster who was the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party from 2012 to 2017 and has been the Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Strangford since 2011.

Following the 2017 election, Nesbitt announced his intention to step down as party leader, which he did on 8 April 2017.

Nesbitt worked as a sports reporter at BBC Northern Ireland and progressed to presenting Good Morning Ulster on BBC Radio Ulster from 1986 to 1990. Nesbitt joined UTV as a presenter and reporter in 1992, being joined by his wife Lynda Bryans to co-present evening news programme UTV Live in 1996.

In January 2008, Nesbitt was announced as a Commissioner of Victims and Survivors, a Northern Ireland Assembly role designed to promote the interests of victims of the Troubles.

Nesbitt resigned from the post on 17 February 2010 to become the parliamentary candidate for the Ulster Conservatives and Unionists – New Force in the constituency of Strangford. He lost out to the Democratic Unionist Party’s Jim Shannon in the election.

In the 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Nesbitt was elected as one of six MLAs representing Strangford.

 

 

A Conversation with David McCann – Episode 12

Headshot of Slugger O'Toole's deputy editor David McCannWe are joined this week by Slugger O’Toole deputy editor David McCann to discuss what formed his political thinking, border poll, the decline in UUP vote. Davis also turns the tables and interviews Shared Ireland.

David McCann holds a PhD in North-South relations from University of Ulster.

You can find David on Twitter here.

You can listen to the bonus podcast for this episode here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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