CountryWide
RTE Ireland
The CountryWide team feature the events, people and happenings that bring colour and life to communities, towns and villages across Ireland. Listen live Saturdays at 8am on RTÉ Radio 1.
Location:
Dublin, Ireland
Networks:
RTE Ireland
Description:
The CountryWide team feature the events, people and happenings that bring colour and life to communities, towns and villages across Ireland. Listen live Saturdays at 8am on RTÉ Radio 1.
Twitter:
@RTECountryWide
Language:
English
Contact:
RTÉ Donnybrook Dublin 4 01 208 3111
Website:
http://www.rte.ie/
Email:
countrywide@rte.ie
Episodes
Countrywide Full Episode 31/01/2026
1/31/2026
Countrywide Full Episode 31/01/2026
Duration:00:45:08
Why are modern tractors so big?
1/31/2026
Charles Hutchenson from Armstrong Machinery answers the question frequently asked by Countrywide’s listeners.
Duration:00:05:19
Richard Lovell Edgeworth
1/31/2026
In the 18th century, the father of the author Maria Edgeworth from Longford was the inventor of many agri-mechanical innovations still in use today.
Duration:00:05:55
Tractor collector Kieran Geoghegan
1/31/2026
The 91-year old farmer from Westmeath still gets out on his Massey Ferguson 165 every day to do jobs around the yard.
Duration:00:07:55
Safety around farm machinery
1/31/2026
40% of workplace fatalities happen on farms. Half of those involve machinery. Suzanne Campbell accompanies a HSA inspector doing a farm safety audit.
Duration:00:06:50
Seamus O’Rourke: Leaning On Gates
1/31/2026
An excerpt from Seamus’s memoir Leaning On Gates about what “innovating” with tractors in the eighties.
Duration:00:04:17
Farm Machinery Sector
1/31/2026
Ireland’s farm machinery sector is an unsung economic dynamo, creating nearly as much wealth as the tourist industry and a value to the economy of almost €5bn. Simon Cross from Cross Agri-Engineering in Kildare; Michael Farrelly, CEO of the FTMTA.
Duration:00:11:55
Inshore trawling ban
1/24/2026
Owners of large vessels are going to court to have the ban overturned, meanwhile owners of small vessels support it. Lorna Siggins with Donegal trawlerman John Menarry. Dr Simon Berrow assesses if it will conserve fish stocks or not.
Duration:00:12:13
Not so stupid cows
1/24/2026
Austrian dairy cow Veronika has taught herself how to use a tool. The scientists who studied her say that bovine intelligence needs to be reappraised.
Duration:00:11:19
Price of a pint
1/24/2026
As the price of a pint rises above €10 in some places, how much of that do barley growers get? David Walsh-Kemmis, Ballykilcavan Brewery discusses.
Duration:00:20:54
Boat building
1/17/2026
Lorna Siggins reports from Greencastle Boatyard in Donegal on the restoration of a uniquely Irish-Scandi vessel.
Duration:00:06:46
Early bloomers
1/17/2026
The third warmest year on record has caused many plants to bloom in the depths of winter according to the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.
Duration:00:03:36
Fostering the future
1/17/2026
Della Kilroy reports on farmers Ned and Kate Sullivan who have fostered up to twenty children in as many years.
Duration:00:06:34
Mad Yolk Farm
1/17/2026
With the pressure on farms to diversify, Suzanne Campbell reports from one farm business with everything from trees to saunas.
Duration:00:07:58
Mercosur political impact
1/17/2026
Pat O’Toole, Political Editor of the Farmers Journal and RTÉ’s Europe Editor, Tony Connelly, on the consequences of the trade deal.
Duration:00:06:50
Mercosur public health fears
1/17/2026
The former head of the Food Safety Authority, Prof Alan Reilly, on whether the inspection system can keep adulterated meat out of Europe.
Duration:00:05:17
Mercosur Protest
1/17/2026
Beef and Tillage farmer John Keogh assesses how the trade deal will impact his business in Co Carlow
Duration:00:06:56
BVD Eradication
1/10/2026
Robert and Valerie Hovendon came down with Bovine Viral Diarrhea in 2025. Patrick Donohue from Animal Health Ireland explains why theirs might be among the last herds to be impacted.
Duration:00:06:55
Local Link Buses
1/10/2026
Regan Hutchins travels on a Local Link bus from Bantry to Skibbereen to see why the service is about more than just getting from A to B.
Duration:00:07:30
Laura Burke retires from the EPA
1/10/2026
The outgoing director assesses the state of the Irish environment, our commitment to preserving it and the performance of the agency on her watch.
Duration:00:11:52