Nervous State returns, with our special episode on the state of Irish labour politics in 2022.

The 1990 Industrial Relations Act is the most important piece of legislation that you've never heard of, and defines why Irish trade unionism is in the state it's in. Patrick McCusker spoke to Jimmy Doran of Trade Union Left Forum about how this came about, and what is to be done.

The Debenham's strike lasted for 406 days, and was the longest running picket in Irish history. Patrick McCusker caught up with two strikers to hear the story of the strike, to find out where things are at now, how Mandate failed them, and what the legacy of the strike could be going forward.

James O'Toole recently published a new manifesto for the Labour movement, entitled "The Return of Class War Trade Unionism". Lucas Spiro met him to discuss the contents of this, the weakness of the Irish labour party and why a return to class war trade unionism is crucial to addressing the problems of today.

Bígí linn!

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Nervous State returns, with an hour-long special on Irish neutrality in theory and practice from 3-4pm this Sunday.

The tragic recent events in Ukraine have shook the political landscape across Europe, and brought us closer to a major land war across the continent than at any time since the end of the wars that ravaged the Balkans in the 1990s. Whilst Ireland is far from the frontline of the conflict, we can’t help but to be affected by it, be it by housing thousands of Ukrainian refugees or facing rising fuel prices as a result of disruptions.

Another, less immediate way in which we have been affected by this war is that voices calling for Ireland to abandon neutrality and join NATO have become prominent in our media and politics, with debates on the future of Irish neutrality becoming a fixture on the airwaves and in newspapers. For perhaps the first time since the outbreak of the second world war, the future of Irish neutrality going forward has come under serious question.

We’ll be considering the case for and against Irish neutrality, as well as just why the question has become so prominent in recent months. We’ll be discussing this with Dr Ben Tonra, Professor of International Relations at UCD, Roger Cole of Peace and Neutrality Alliance Ireland, Paulie Doyle, author of the recent article “The War On Ireland’s Neutrality” in Tribune Magazine and John Dolan, author and co-host of the Radio War Nerd podcast.

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Welcome to Nervous State's first show of 2022.

Patrick McCusker will be talking to Dr. Harun Šiljak, lecturer in Electrical Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, about his recent article “Opening This Article Voids Warranty”, and just why the right to repair is about so much more than having to replace your phone every time you drop it.

2022 marks the centenary of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and the subsequent Irish Civil War. However, far too many people’s knowledge of the Civil War consists of a vague idea of a Collins - De Valera rivalry derived from the film Michael Collins, that the Four Courts were burned and that it’s the basis for the Fianna Fáil - Fine Gael rivalry. Chris Beausang got in touch with Dr Ferghal Mac Bloscaidh, Senior Lecturer in History at St. Mary’s University College Belfast and the author of a number of important books, including Tyrone: the Irish Revolution, 1912-1923 and Dr Kerron Ó Luain, Irish Research Council Fellow at DCU.

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Nervous State returns, with the first of our two-part special on the housing crisis.

The housing crisis affects all strands of society but it proves a serious challenge for third level students this year. Many students deferred their place to this September meaning admission numbers are higher than usual and, as students return to campus after a year and a half, finding a place to stay is more difficult than ever.

This mess impacts both Irish and international students – Caitriona Devery talked to Rachel McCartney of Waterford IT Student’s Union about how bad it’s gotten outside Dublin, and Martin Leen talked to Lazslo Molfinari about how the crisis is affecting international students.

The term "vulture fund" is often associated with the housing crisis, but what does it actually mean and how have these funds changed the economics of the housing landscape in Ireland? Patrick McCusker caught up with Thomas Varghese, who is facing eviction from his home in Lucan, to talk about his experiences. He'll also be talking to Enda McHugh, Membership Officer for Community Action Tenants Union, and Michael Byrne, Lecturer at UCD's School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice to talk about how Ireland has become especially attractive to vulture funds, and their lasting impact on Ireland’s housing market.

Some inspiring housing news comes out of Germany in the wake of their recent election. On 26 September, voters in Berlin were faced with an historic referendum aimed at addressing the city’s housing crisis. In a city where more than 80 percent of people are renters, the local crisis is sometimes known by the term “rent madness,” or Mietenwahnsinn. The referendum was the latest high-point of the Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen and Co. campaign, formed to force large corporate landlords to sell their portfolios to the government. The referendum passed with around 59 percent of voters backing the measure to expropriate corporate owned private property in the interest of the public good. Nervous State spoke with a housing activist based in Berlin, to learn more about this campaign’s historic victory, the political and social context of Berlin’s housing movement, and the complex, uncertain future of the referendum result.

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Nervous State returns to the the airwaves this Sunday 25 July, 3-4pm for a bumper issue with some very interesting interviewees as detailed below. We are going on our Nervous State collective holiday in August so there will be no show next month. We’ll be returning refreshed and reinvigorated in September.

Natalia Beylis interview by Martin Leen

Natalia Beylis’s latest piece of music ‘Invaded by Fireflies’, released on Cafe OTO is an amazing piece of music Based upon recordings of friends describing beautiful places, this mesmerising piece feels like an psychogeographic journey through unidentified terrain. Described in the Quietus as an exploration of how sight, hearing and place can come together through language; to think about how words spoken and listened to can be a very visual medium. Walking around listening to this piece of music and to the voices of strangers feels very intimate. Martin Leen chats to Natalia about the piece above, about how we can all hone our listening ears, the influence of her home in Leitrim on her work and the excitement of playing live gigs again. You can buy the piece through Cafe OTO.

Language shift in the Gaeltacht by Patrick McCusker

The summer of 2021 marks the second year of “staycations”, with holiday makers having been forced to stay in Ireland due to the pandemic. The Gaeltacht communities in Donegal, Connemara and Kerry have seen a particularly large influx - demand for accomodation in Gweedore was such that holiday homes were being let for as much as 800 euro a week in June. Tourism has become integral to the local economies, for better and for worse. What impact has this had on local communities and their distinctive cultures? Patrick McCusker talked to sociolinguist Ben Ó Ceallaigh, teacher and author Katie McGreal and activist Sam Ó Fearraigh of Misneach Thír Chonaill to find out

Annex on their Venice Biennale installation Entanglement by Ali Morris, Tommy Gavin and Caitriona Devery

As our everyday lives become increasingly entangled with data technologies and their assemblages, our routines are shifting to ever more virtual forms of exchange. And while most of us perceive the virtual world as an ethereal formless entity, it is anything but.

Annex is the collective behind Ireland’s pavilion at the 17th Architecture Biennale in Venice, which this year is framed by the question ‘How will we live together?’. With their installation Entanglement, they argue that the digital is material. It is not an ethereal and abstract space but has distinct material and environmental footprints that compel us to reevaluate the utopian fantasy of digital communication and to reflect on how we live together through data infrastructure, today and into the future. We sat down with Annex members Clare Lyster and Donal Lally to discuss Entanglement.

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Nervous State is back, with more crucial dispatches from the nether zone that is 2021.

We’ll be starting with our usual round-up with the Dublin Inquirer. Tommy Gavin’ll be checking in with Lois Kapila to discuss efforts to map institutional landlords in Dublin, and explore just how the changing nature of landlords matters to developments in the city.

Dublin’s social and cultural life was dealt a blow with the closure of Jigsaw recently. Jigsaw (previously known as Seomra Spraoi) was a home to far too many groups down the years, including Dublin Digital Radio, and provided a unique space for social and cultural organising. Patrick McCusker caught up with Barry Semple, manager of Jigsaw, Andrew Flood, who was involved in setting up the space, and Michelle Connolly of CATU to discuss the importance of Jigsaw as a space, and what the prospects for these spaces are going forward.

Deirdre O’Mahony is a visual artist whose practice is informed by deep interest in rural sustainability, farming, food security and rural/urban relationships. For more than two decades she has investigated the political ecology of rural places through public engagement, art and writing. Caitriona Devery talks to her about her new project Sustainment Experiments, which consider what action/s can be taken in the face of ecological and climate crises. It starts with the idea of ‘Sustainment’ put forward by design theorist Tony Fry as an equivalent movement to the Enlightenment in its capacity to transform systems of thought and behaviours. Framed by this concept, Deirdre is working with farmers, scientists and food producers to use institutional and non-institutional public spaces to unpack issues around food production, climate change and biodiversity loss through soil health and soil remediation.

Bigí linn!

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