Nationwide – Week 19
Monday 9 May
Senator Eileen Flynn – Power in Participation
Senator Eileen Flynn became the first member of the Traveller Community to address the Dáil in March of this year. On Nationwide, Bláthnaid spends the day with Eileen in her new homeplace of Ardara County Donegal where she lives with her husband Liam Whyte and her two daughters.
In the interview, Eileens speaks candidly about growing up in Labre Park Ballyfermot, being a young Traveller girl, her pride in her parents and her community. Eileen talks to Bláthnaid about her realisation at a very young age that she was treated differently by some in society, about an accident which still impacts her today and about her mother’s death at a young age. She speaks about her mother’s activism and her father’s passion for politics and the GAA. Eileen reflects on not feeling like she belonged in education and how that is a huge hurdle for Traveller women.
Also in the programme, Bláthnaid meets Lee Anna Ward and Bridget Kelly who are both studying degrees in NUI Galway after attaining their Diplomas. They both left school at a very young age and with the Power in Participation programme instigated by Galway Traveller Movement (GTM) and Community Action Network (CAN)
Please note – there is a preview copy of Eileen’s interview available. Please email: sarah.neville@rte.ie
WEDNESDAY 11TH MAY
This evening, Nationwide meets two sisters whose inspirational stories of courage in the face of an eating disorder will give hope to those struggling to overcome similar conditions. Plus, on this Coeliac Week, Helen McInerney meets those who live with the condition.
FRIDAY 13TH MAY
BEALTAINE STORIES
Nationwide meets people who are working on creative projects beyond retirement age. In Donegal we meet a couple whose art and print gallery has survived the pandemic and is going from strength to strength and in Westmeath, we visit a creative writer who self publishes her own children’s picture books which she also illustrates.