The story of Casement Park is a metaphor for post conflict Northern Ireland.

Once there was a dream about a shining stadium on a hill, a stadium which would benefit everyone in the north when it hosted matches at the European Championships in 2028.

Two years ago, that dream ended when the British government said they would not fund the cost of the stadium which had ‘risen dramatically’ during years of obstruction and resistance.

The benefit to all communities of Euro 2028 was gone but for some it mattered more that a GAA stadium would not be built.

On Free State we look at what the ongoing battle to build Casement tells us about Northern Ireland. Gordon Lyons, the minister responsible, says there is a ‘funding gap’. But is the real chasm something more fundamental?

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“Based on what I’ve seen, it was done by Iran.” When Donald Trump spoke on Air Force One about the bombing of a school in southern Iran, he was, of course, lying.

That is what Trump does but in the attack on Iran he has also tapped into the American fantasy about their righteousness that can only be fully displayed through military force.

When Stanley Kubrick made Dr Strangelove, he was fascinated by what he saw as ‘the delicate balance of terror’ that was part of the Cold War. To give his satire power he realised it needed ‘inspired lunacy’.

That inspired lunacy now drives Trump’s military strikes where satire is meaningless and death is what happens to other people.

On Free State, we look at how far America will go in Iran. What happens when Trump loses interest? What happens when Netanyahu wants something else?

Let us know what you think - info@freestatepodcast.com

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Professor Charles Knowles is a very smart man. He is a surgeon and clinical researcher. He is able to apply logic and reason to find solutions to most things. But logic and reason made no sense when it came to his own drinking.

On Free State today Charles Knowles explains why we drink and why we drink too much.

He talks to Dion about his own struggles and why there is a genetic reason for many people drinking.

They discuss the line of Kurt Vonnegut that ‘Alcoholics Anonymous is America’s greatest contribution to the 20th century’ and Charles explains why modern science agrees with Vonnegut.

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