Education Nation

This week State of the Nation speaks with Stella O’Malley, Irish psychotherapist and author, and is the founder of Genspect, an international organisation includes professionals, trans people, detransitioners, and parent groups who work together to advocate for a non-medicalised approach to gender diversity. We ask what is the Cass Report and what happens to a person when you stop their sexual development in early puberty and why its yet another medical scandal that God Complex doctors have allowed to happen.

Michael Kelly is joined by David Quinn and Cormac Lucy, economics columnist with The Sunday Times and an independent candidate for Blackrock local area in the local elections to be held in June.

March was a hell of a month in Irish politics, but the most significant event for the people of this island passed by almost unremarked. Overshadowed by Varadkar’s resignation and the referendum results, the recommendation from the Oireachtas Committee that Ireland legalise assisting dying may prove to be a decisive moment.Michael and Wendy are on hand to dive into exactly why certain Irish politicians are so keen on hurrying up the final moments, even when Irish medical opinion is firmly against them. They also look at some of the horrific stories that have come out of jurisdictions that have legalised assisted suicide, like Canada, where the number of people using ‘Medical Assistance in Dying’ jumped 30% last year and the government there wants to open it up to people with mental illnesses.Michael notes that while those at the end of life deserve the very best palliative care available, many fear that the push for assisted suicide is driven by more economic factors. The highly connected British journalist and former Tory MP Matthew Paris revealed as much last weekend when he said that “we simply cannot afford extreme senescence or desperate infirmity for as many such individuals as our society is producing.”Campaigner Eilís Mulroy joins the team to discuss the dangerous consequences if the Irish equivalents of Paris get their way. For one of the few government ministers to support assisted suicide the last time it came up for a vote, was none other than our Taoiseach-to-be, Simon Harris.Whatever happens with Assisted Suicide in Ireland, you’ll find the real story right here, on State of the Nation. If you know someone who is affected by these issues, please spread the word, and forward them this episode.

Journalist and former Fine Gael diehard Sarah Carey outlines how the party previously entrenched in her family's heritage has become completely unrecognisable under successive leaderships.

In this episode of The State of the Nation, Michael Kelly and David Quinn speak to secretary of the National Union of Journalists Séamus Dooley about the major changes he has witnessed in the media landscape over the years, the lack of diversity of opinion in the media causing alienation for some people, and whether RTÉ is worth the licence fee.

In the latest episode of State of the Nation, Michael Kelly and Wendy Grace discuss the results of the Family and Care referendums with Independent Senator Rónán Mullen. The consensus is that the Govt, after receiving a resounding ‘No’ from the general public, is now more concerned with saving face and ‘explaining away’ the results than understanding the reasoning and sentiment behind the voting decision.