Left Bank

Ciara sits down with filmmaker and political activist, Grace Dyas, and comedian and performer, Willa White, for a wide-ranging discussion of class inequality in Irish society and how socially engaged art can help bring about political change.

Ciara is joined by Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer, hosts of the award-winning podcast, The Europeans. Their podcast focuses on political, cultural, and current affairs stories from across the continent. In this episode they give a preview of the upcoming European Elections: the good, the bad, and the far-right.

On the eve of the Local and European elections, Ciara speaks to the Social Democrats' leader, Holly Cairns. The pair discuss the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza, left-wing politics in rural Ireland, and the party's ambitions for the future.

Ciara is joined by the Social Democrats TD for Dublin Bay North, Cian O’Callaghan. Cian is the Deputy leader of the Social Democrats and the party’s Spokesperson on Housing. The Pair discuss the policies needed to solve Ireland’s housing disaster and what the future holds for the Social Democrats as we face into a busy election period.

May Day, or International Workers’ Day, is one of the biggest days in the Social Democratic calendar. The Left Bank marked May Day with an event in Dublin’s Teacher’s Club. Speakers included: Dr Laura Bambrick - Head of Social Policy and Employment Affairs at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions Jesslyn Henry - Social Democrats local election candidate in Whitehall-Artane Gary Gannon – TD for Dublin Central The party’s three European election candidates – Sinéad Gibney, Susan Doyle, and Dr Rory Hearne. We caught up with all of these speakers to give our listeners a flavour of what the event was like.

Ciara catches up with economist, writer, and political activist, Grace Blakeley to talk about her new book Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts, and the Death of Freedom. Grace is the former economics commentator at the New Statesman and currently a staff writer at Tribune. The pair discuss the power of multinational corporations, the state of the UK Labour Party, and whether we are truly free under capitalism.

Hello and welcome to an exciting new podcast called ‘Left Bank’. As we always say, most Irish people are naturally social democrats – they just don’t know it yet – so here’s a podcast that covers all your topical political questions. Featuring interesting guests and lively debate, Left Bank will spotlight the key issues you want addressed - so join me, your host Ciara, as we learn more about social democracy together. Left Bank is coming soon to a podcast platform near you