Mná na hÉireann

Mná na hÉireann - Imelda Phillips

Mná na hÉireann podcast with BBC journalist Ciara Riordan. Women of Ireland. Celebrating Irish women at home and abroad. This week’s guest is former Irish international long jumper Imelda Phillips. Originally from Cork and now living in Swansea, Wales, Imelda has spent more than 15 years working in high-performance sport, supporting athletes through some of the most significant moments of their careers from balancing dual careers and overcoming injury to preparing for retirement and life beyond elite competition. Drawing on her own experience as an international athlete, Imelda founded Arete Sport, a consultancy dedicated to helping athletes, teams and organisations thrive. She also serves as Athlete Engagement Manager at Switch the Play Foundation, the UK’s only charity dedicated to supporting elite athletes as they transition out of sport. Imelda holds both a BSc and MSc in Sport & Exercise Science, is a qualified Performance Lifestyle Advisor, and has specialist training in safeguarding and mental health. She is currently taking part in the Fearless Women in Sport Leadership Programme, run by the Women’s Sport Collective — a global community supporting women across all levels of sport. A proud Irish woman, wife, mother and dog lover, Imelda is happiest outdoors, watching sport, or being thoroughly outnumbered by her two golden retrievers. www.mnanaheireann.ie www.ciarariordan.com

Mná na hÉireann - Sasha Hamrogue

Mná na hÉireann podcast with BBC journalist Ciara Riordan. Women of Ireland. Celebrating Irish women at home and abroad. This week’s guest Sasha Hamrogue was born in America to Irish parents and lives in Kildare. Sasha is an accomplished digital director and powerhouse in the Irish media landscape. She serves as the Digital Director at Onic, overseeing digital strategy and growth for seven Onic radio stations, the Onic Originals podcast network and talkSPORT Ireland. The seven primary radio stations within the Onic network that she oversees as digital director are: FM104 in Dublin, Dublin's Q102, Cork's 96FM, C103, Live95 in Limerick, Louth and Meath’s LMFM, and U105 based in Belfast and serves Northern Ireland. Not only that she is also an accomplished writer, having written for The Guardian, the Irish Independent, Rolling Stone and more. Passionate about building digital communities, Sasha is also founder of the 'Mamas Working 9-5 and Beyond' an online group supporting women balancing work and home life. And she’s also the former co-host of the Grief Encounters podcast. www.mnanaheireann.ie www.ciarariordan.com

Mná na hÉireann - Carina Roseingrave

Mná na hÉireann - Celebrating Irish women at home and abroad. BBC Journalist and presenter Ciara Riordan interviews one Irish woman per episode. Three defining moments, what being an Irish woman means to them, Irish women they look up to, best advice they got from an Irish woman, their favourite Irish saying, and a quick-fire at the end Taytos or King crisps, Lyons or Barrys tea. Carina Roseingrave is a full-time farmer, entrepreneur, who was recently named the Department of Agriculture’s WomanFarmer Ambassador for the International Year of the Woman Farmer. Carina farms at the foothills of the Burren, alongside her brother Gerry, where they run a thriving mixed farm with dairy, beef and pedigree suckler cattle. When Covid and the pandemic hit, she ventured into growing an egg business - Burren View Farm eggs. She credits the ACORNS programme which helps early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland for supporting her and providing her with the assistance she needed to start running her farm like a business. Carina also stars in the new film ‘Voices of IrishFarmers: A love story’. She was a member of the Clare team that won the All-Ireland Junior Camogie Championship in 2008, scoring a goal in the final. She was a Camogie All Stars "Young Player of the Year" award winner in the same year.   She is from Co. Clare and lives in Co. Clare. www.mnanaheireann.ie www.ciarariordan.com

Mná na hÉireann - Donna Gartland

Mná na hÉireann - Women of Ireland: This podcast celebrates Irish women at home and abroad. BBC Journalist and presenter Ciara Riordan interviews one Irish woman per episode. Three defining moments, what being an Irish woman means to them, Irish women they look up to, best advice they got from an Irish woman, their favourite Irish saying, and a quick-fire at the end Taytos or King crisps, Lyons or Barrys tea. This week's guest is Donna Gartland, CEO of Dublin's Energy Agency – Codema. Codema is a not-for-profit social enterprise and was established in 1997. Its mission is to accelerate the low-carbon transition in an innovative and inclusive way. Her journey to CEO was not a straight line - she tried art college first, then did an Arts Degree at UCD, then qualified as an electricianbefore returning to college to study engineering at TU Dublin. She then moved to Denmark to complete a master’sdegree in Energy planning and management. She returned to Dublin and started as an intern at Codema before working her way up to CEO.  She has won several awards for her leadership and is currently shortlisted for the EU Women in Energy Award 2026, with the winner decided by public vote in June. She is from Dublin, and lives in Dublin. www.mnanaheireann.ie www.ciarariordan.com

Mná na hÉireann - Kiera Dignam

Mná na hÉireann - Celebrating Irish women at home and abroad. BBC Journalist and presenter Ciara Riordan interviews one Irish woman per episode. Three defining moments, what being an Irish woman means to them, Irish women they look up to, best advice they got from an Irish woman, their favourite Irish saying, and a quick-fire at the end Taytos or King crisps, Lyons or Barrys tea. This week's guest Kiera Dignam is a female vocalist and songwriter who has performed on stages since the age of 13. She has performed in Ireland’s top musical venues and accompanied some of the biggest names in the Irish music industry such as Christy Dignam (her dad), Imelda May, Paul Casey and Damian Dempsey. Her debut album “Nepo baby” which was released in late2023 went straight to number 2 in the charts and led to sell out shows. Kiera is from Dublin and lives in Dublin. www.mnanaheireann.ie www.ciarariordan.com