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Fintan Coll hails from Dunfanaghy Co.Donegal. In his early working life he worked as a salesman for Gallaghers of Creeslough before going on to sell things for himself. In 1994 he began Coll Cleaning, a successful business that is still going strong today. Fintan's business deals in the cleaning of sofas, mattresses, upholstery, hard floors and more. He explains how cleaning solutions have advanced as time has gone on. During my interview with Fintan, we also pay tribute to the late great Henry McMahon who passed away last week. A founding member of the legendary group, Big Tom and the Mainliners. We talk about the multiple talents Henry had musically, and look at some of the well known songs he wrote for so many singers in Irish Country Music. Support the show

Stephen Bennett Snr is an artist who was born in the East End of London, but moved to Ardara Co. Donegal in 1992 with his wife Bernie. I talk to Stephen about the transition of such a big move and how his talent for art opened many doors for him, including getting the opportunity to represent Ireland at the Florence Biennale. In Stephen's earlier years at school, he was diagnosed as dyslexic, which Stephen explains during the interview was a relief for him at the that time. Not only had he a talent for art, he also showed promise in soccer, which led him to getting a trial with Fulham. In the world of singing, Stephen talks about recording a CD which raised 18,000 euro for the Donegal Hospice after he experienced a cancer scare himself. His son Stephen Jnr is fastly growing a reputation for himself on the Irish Country Music scene as a talented singer/songwriter. We chat about all mentioned and more. I hope you enjoy the interview.  Support the show

Ciaran Gallen has ran Gifts and Cards shop on the lower main streeet Dungloe since 1993. Selling a wide range of different items. Be it for a birthday or any special occasion, kitchenware, DIY plus lots more. Ciaran originally from Co Tyrone tells me how the shop business runs in the family. I chat to him about his shop, his past times and much more.  Support the show

Donegal man Kieran McDermott began cycling around 2010 as he was seeking to take up a form of regular exercise. What he has done since then he could have never imagined at the outset. Just last year he was one of eight from Ireland to take part at Tour De France. Elsewhere he has competed on challenging routes from London to Brighton, the Isle Of Man and more, being very successful along the way. He also cycled from London to Paris in aid of the Donegal Hospice, raising over €3,000. I chat to Kieran about his amazing journey cycling over the last 16 years and he talks about his work as a plant operator.  Support the show

Bart Whelan is from Ardara Co.Donegal and well known throughout the county and beyond. A witty man with great character, with many interesting stories who has experienced so much from the various jobs/roles he has had down through the years. He spent 35 years working as a teacher, for the vast majority of that, he taught woodwork. In GAA circles he was chairman of his local club Ardara for a spell and would go on to become county secretary for 10 years too. Bart is also a fellow colleague of mine on Owenea FM radio where he hosts a programme called 'The History Corner'. As well as talking about all mentioned so far, Bart also recalls building his own house in the mid 70's. I hope you enjoy the interview.  Support the show

Helena Gallagher's career story so far is a great example of why I do podcasting. Having failed her leaving cert, her reaction could have been a negative one, however it was quite the opposite. It made the Arranmore native more determined to never experience that feeling again. After 17 years working experience at the BBC on production, Helena then went solo and decided to set up her own company HG Productions in 2009. With invaluable experience behind her, she has built up a successful business. Amongst her accolades she is a Gold International award winning documentary maker.  She has produced shows for TV and radio across Ireland and Scotland. Helena continues to come up with new ideas for documentaries, I talk to her about forming her own production company, her upcoming projects and much more.  Support the show

Michael English began his Country Music singing career in the late 90's. Since then the Kildare native has steadily built his reputation and today is one of biggest attractions in Irish Country Music. I talk to him at the opening weekend of the 58th Mary From Dungloe International Festival. Michael talks about his memories of his previous appearance at the festival. We talk about some of his biggest songs and the Castledermot star also mentions influences on his career when he was starting out.  Support the show

It's here. Episode 100. As it's a special milestone interview, I decided to go big. 18 guests featured. All guests are voluntarily involved in presenting shows with Owenea FM radio station who are based in Ardara Co. Donegal. A local community station who broadcast each weekend on Saturday and Sundays. Fittingly for this episode number, Owenea go out on 100.8FM across South West Donegal and can be heard throughout the world online at oweneafm.ie. I myself am glad to be a part of the Owenea team. Hosting a country music show there since August 2023. Its a radio station with something for all. Various genres played, chat shows on different topics which include looking at local events and sport.  I hope these interviews help in getting to know the DJs and Owenea FM's story better. Hope you enjoy it. Support the show

Anne Biddie hails from Fanad, Co. Donegal. A well known singer songwriter in Irish Country Music. To date she has released three albums, two of which are completely self penned. Her latest single 'Missing You' is a song with very personal meaning to Anne, as sadly in the last number of years, both her parents passed away. In the interview Anne talks about the song in detail.  Elsewhere in the interview I talk to Anne about how some of her other songs came about and she reflects on memories of growing up in Fanad.  Support the show

Tom Comack has decades of experience working as a broadcaster/commentator on radio. From Highland Radio since the early 90's, through the noughties etc to now occasionally being heard on Ocean FM. Tom has a great passion for GAA in particular, and down through the years has helped cover radio coverage on big matches across various levels and codes. He also had a long running weekly GAA programme on Highand Radio. During this interview I talk to Tom about some of his early radio experiences and we look ahead to the big matches this coming weekend in the All Ireland series as the group stage matches reach their conclusion. In particular we talk in depth about the huge clash in Dr Hyde Park this Sunday evening between Donegal and Mayo.  Support the show

Shunie Crampsey from Culdaff Co. Donegal is one of the finest singer songwriters in Irish Country Music. A man who has numerous albums released himself while also having many of the top Irish Country Music artists cover what he's penned down through the years. It's an extensive list which includes the likes of the late Big Tom, Daniel O'Donnell and his sister Margo, Mick Flavin and lots more. I talk to Shunie about his music career to date. Amongst that in the early 80's he joined the well known band, Brian Coll And The Buckaroos. The late Brian Coll was also great friends with Shunie and during our interview Shunie recalls fond memories of Brian. Elsewhere we look back at the stories behind some of Shunie's biggest songs and he speaks to me about his love of farming.  Support the show

Stephen Bennett Jnr from Ardara Co. Donegal is fastly making a name for himself in Irish Country Music as a young talented singer songwriter. Travelling to perform at gigs in his own county and is also taking to the stage across many venues throughout the country. The now 24 year old entered a Donegal's Got Talent competition in 2017, and came 2nd place with former X Factor judge Louis Walsh involved in assessing the talent. Stephen's singing career its fair to say took off from there and since then he has built up a fine repertoire of songs, the vast majority of them self penned.  He has a debut album coming out in the opening quarter of next year. I travelled to his home to chat to him about this new album plus much more including who he likes to listen to in music himself.  Support the show

John Joe McGinley first appeared on my podcast back in 2021, EP 43. This time around via a car journey,  we talk about similar topics as our previous interview but in a much updated way. Last time John Joe was a guest he had not long released his first book 'Irish Wise Guys', fast forward to today John Joe has 3 books available for purchase, and we talk about his new releases in depth along with his future plans for more book releases. On top of this I talk to John Joe about the great work he does campaigning for autism awareness, a great example of this is the website he and his wife contribute to autismdad.ie, where they try to help others from the knowledge gained from their own experiences. John Joe is also a huge Celtic FC fan. Last time out I asked him to name his all time Celtic XI, this time around he names his 5 biggest Celtic heros.  Support the show

PJ Murrihy from Co Clare is a singer songwriter well renound throughout Ireland and beyond for his talents in music. Along with being a performer himself, he has written so many songs down through the years which have been recorded by the biggest names in Irish Country Music, including Big Tom, Larry Cunningham, Daniel O'Donnell, Margo, Foster and Allen, Jimmy Buckley, Patrick Feeney and many more. I talk to PJ about the story behind how some of these songs came about plus finding out some of PJ's other passions in life.  Support the show

Michael Bonner hails from Glenties Co. Donegal. A singer songwriter with a number of songs released with more to come. Michael's attitude is one to be admired; in his early 20's he took to performing in bars and although it didn't turn out how he'd have liked, the experiences back then are now inspiring him to give it another go in his 40's. During my interview with him, he tells me of his plans in music, his inspirations and how his opening songs came about. I hope you enjoy the interview! Support the show