RTÉ - CountryWide Podcast

Charles Hughes, sheep farmer in Co Mayo tells Philip all about the process of shearing sheep in the current hot climate we're experiencing. However, imagine being the farmer who has to pay for this knowing that in the current market the wool is to all intents and purposes worth nothing.

Today at Athenry Mart, President Connolly will be at the 6th national harvest of wool. It's a meitheal organised by the Galway Wool Co-op. There will be shearing and spinning demonstrations and examples of soft wool garments made from wool of Galway Sheep. Suzanne Campbell traveled to the farm of Blathnaid Gallagher, Co founder to find out more.

It costs farmers more to shear sheep than they get for wool, as we haven't scaled up uses for wool in Ireland. Now, in order to re-wet bogs and block drains, farmers have been making water repellent Irish sheep wool into logs and burying them in the drains. Sinead Grimes of the Dulra Project explains more.

On Hawthorn Hill Farm in North Roscommon, Keith Brennan has been shearing his sheep.

The Sheep Show podcast is a weekly podcast both presenters are sheep farmers, but the twist is they are brother and sister, and the double twist is he - Andrew - is farming in Longford and she – Jill - is farming 150 miles outside Melbourne in Australia. Comparing and contrasting farming here and there each week throws up lots of food for thought.

Countrywide Full Episode 18/07/2026

Ahead of Comhaltas Ceolteori Eireann's 75th anniversary, we had some of Ireland's best musicians in studio: Robert Harvey on Whistling and flute, Aoife Vaughan on Flute, Cathal O Duibhir Baoil on Concertina, and Daragh O Duibhir Baoil on guitar. The performed ‘Beautiful Fresh Morning' followed by two jigs (‘Grainne's Jig' and ‘Scatter the Mud).

We looked at challenges farmers are facing , dairy farmers in particular as they try to look after animals that were not designed for these temperatures and adapt to climate shifts. Vet Ryan Duffy works with Animal Health Ireland. He is a specialist in Heat Stress in Dairy Cows.

What does being well adapted to occasional blasts of this kind of heat look like? While simultaneously being adapted to increasing blasts of heavy rainfall? Philip spoke to farmer Michael Guinan in Rahan in Offaly to discuss the impact of ever changing weather.

Denis Drennan, president of the ICMSA discusses the impact that the ever changing climate is having on Ireland's agricultural sector.

For generations, the Farrell family has farmed Inis Cloithreann Island on Lough Ree, a tradition that stretches back more than 900 years. Today, Longford farmer and school principal Herbert Farrell carries on that legacy, making the one mile journey by boat several times a week to tend to his cattle on the 143-acre island farm. Della Kilroy reports

The Conroy family have been growing raspberries for 75 years pretty close to the foot of the Sugarloaf, and unlike most soft fruit producers in Ireland, they have been making it work outdoors all that time and not under glass or polytunnel, and the sunny weather has been a welcomed addition.

Countrywide Full Episode 11/07/26

The long-awaited Land Use Review said in clear words that the way we are using land does not safeguard water. And a few weeks ago, 43% of farms inspected for water quality compliance failed the test. Dairy farmers Gail and Bryan Daniels discuss their ways to try find a solution to the problem.

A Dáil Committee heard this week that the things farmers whose land is free draining are being advised to do will catch phosphate but won't stop nitrate from polluting rivers. Pat Dillon from the agricultural research agency Teagasc is an expert in nitrate leaching spoke to Philip on this morning's show.

The Blackwater River Fish Kill last August was the largest fish kill ever in Ireland, and the person or people were never found. This week, Timmy Dooley, Minister with responsibility for fisheries published a new set of protocols to address which investigative agency should do what from now on when there is a fish kill.

Professor Fiona Regan, Director of of DCU's Water Institute reacts to and discusses the protocols being outlined by Minister Dooley.

The amount of water we are taking out of our underground aquifers and rivers is increasingly an issue, but what happens when a well suddenly runs dry for 6 months, and then reappears? Betty O'Shea has devoted a considerable chunk of her life to tending to Father Moore's Well, and she tells us more.

Countrywide Full Episode 04/07/2026

Countrywide Full Episode 27/06/26

David Keohan, is a man on an archaeological quest to discover Ireland's ancient lifting stones and revive a sport and culture – Stone Lifting – that has almost been erased from the landscape entirely.

Lorna Siggins visits an all woman aerial circus production of the story of Grace O'Malley or Granuaile with the truly spectacular backdrop of the old pirate queen's stomping ground of Clew Bay.

A complicated problem we are facing in Farming is how to get younger people taking over the reins. Generational Renewal is the short hand. Our reporter Suzanne Campbell went in the company of some Nuffield Scholars to Cork to look at a shared farm.

On Countrywide we feature farmers who are trying to bypass the middlemen and sell their product directly to consumers. The big problem they all have in common is they either find themselves tied to a single farmer's market stall or strapped into a van doing deliveries. Step forward Cavan farmer Ben Tierney who runs ten egg vending machines.

National Parks and Wildlife Service has taken the precaution of appointing a warden to make sure visitors know how to tread softly on the Inishkea Islands. And Ella McSweeney took a rib out to Inishkea south and was joined by the person behind the idea, Irene O'Brien.

This morning we looked at what farming is like in countries affected by war and climate change; Sudan, Lebanon, Ukraine. Given what the agronomists, the supply chain experts, the supermarket buyers are now saying about the global food system being tested to breaking point, Philip asked former President of Ireland Mary Robinson was she concerned.

Keith Brennan, on Hawthorn Hill Farm in Roscommon, reflects on the power of Meitheal, and therefore found putting his back in to a shared job of work on a neighbour's land helpful.

Countrywide Full Episode 20/06/2026

The European Commission is not happy about what we haven't done to protect our bogs. They say we have failed to stop large scale commercial peat extraction. So Ireland is getting sued, again. While we have done a bad job protecting our raised bog networks, taking take peat away in the morning would mean we end a large part of Irish horticulture.

Looking at the bogs a bit more closely, where are we at in developing completely peat free alternative composts so that we can stop cutting up bogs to grow food? Teagasc, the agricultural research agency is in the middle of a lot of work in this area. Philip met with Dr Michael Gaffney to discuss further.

Swarming season is in full swing across the country. Queen bees are leaving their nests, allowing developing queens to inherit their thrones. There has been a long running campaign and draft legislation to ensure special protection for the wild Irish honeybee. Lorna Siggins reports.

'Making Farms Work for Women' is a pilot project that's looking at the reality of farming for women and at the challenges they face. Over the three year life of the project they'll be working with 60 women farmers in North Mayo. Treasa Breathnach reports.

Grass growth has been rampant in the last few weeks, with quite a few farms pushing into surplus. It's a time of year where that kind of growth means booleying can come into its own. A livestock management tradition where the cattle and the farmer's children headed for the hills away from parental supervision. Della Kilroy reports.

Ornithologist, Sean Ronayne, on how important Marine Protection Areas are for Seabirds and his passion for capturing bird sounds

Marine Biologist, Ben Harris, has scientific evidence that MPAs work.

Fisherman John Lynch talks to Suzanne Campbell about his reaction to MPA introduction.

Speakers at the Fair Seas Conference 2026 on MPAs: Minna Epps - IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), Belinda Bramley - UK marine protection expert, Grace Carr - Marine policy officer at the Irish Wildlife Trust).

Della Kilroy goes beachcombing in Bray with Marine Biologist, Mona McCrae and a group of school children as part of ‘Seashore Kids', which provides marine environmental education to children.

There isn't enough land in the country to do all the things we have set targets for. 17 months ago government received a report setting out what land uses needed to be prioritised. Where is it?

With a wind farm going up in the next field Michael Miley's farm outside Monasterevin is just one of thousands that would benefit from clear direction on Land Use.

Stakeholders from farmers to renewable energy call for the publication of the Land Use Review. Pat O'Toole, Political Editor, Irish Farmers Journal. Prof Mary Bourke, Geographer, TCD. Ronan Power, CEO Solar Ireland. Oonagh Duggan, Head of Policy, Birdwatch Ireland.

Ella McSweeney talks to locals in Roscommon who feel there is better environmental and cultural value to be had on their bog than the climate benefits that would come from a proposed wind farm.