CountryWide

Countrywide Full Episode 28/03/2026

Duration:00:46:23

Pond Life

Regan Hutchins reports from a greenway outside Clonakilty Co Cork on how digging three ponds saved the local newt population from being trodden on or ridden over.

Duration:00:08:09

Cullahill Mountain

The Heritage Council runs a Heritage in Schools scheme giving pupils a chance to experience farm life. Della Kilroy went on Vincent O’Sullivan’s tour of his farm with the pupils of Cullahill National School, Co Laois.

Duration:00:07:05

Nature Restoration Plan

Farmers and environmentalists have agreed an ambitious plan to restore nature. The only open question now is will government give it the funding it needs.

Duration:00:22:11

Lambing

A sleepless time of year for sheep farmers, made easier on many farms by taking on students to help. UCD Ag Science students Aoife O’Brien and Sarah Ronayne were in the middle of a difficult breach birth when Suzanne Campbell arrived on Patrick Nuttal’s farm in Wicklow.

Duration:00:07:44

Mountain Meitheal

Treasa Bhreathnach joined Mountain Meitheal West, in the Galway Clare area a few weeks ago, while they were out clearing hazel from the trails on the Carren Loop in County Clare.

Duration:00:07:38

Horticulture

Following the news of the collapse of carrot producers Hughes in Kilkenny last week, Philip talks to another horticulturalist, Kenneth Keavey of Green Earth Organics in Co. Galway about the issues facing procuders like him and possible solutions.

Duration:00:09:47

Livestock Boat to Israel

This week, an Israeli registered Livestock carrier left Ireland heading to Israel, with a large shipment of calves on board. But with the port of Haifa under threat in the current Middle East conflict, it's unclear whether the ship will be able to land and unload these animals. Philip talks to journalist Lilach Laila Ben David in Haifa.

Duration:00:06:41

Search and Rescue Dogs in Kerry

Lorna Siggins attends a demonstration of the search and rescue dogs of the Kerry Mountain Rescue Team in Killarney.

Duration:00:06:01

Impact of Energy Crisis on Farmers

In the current oil crisis, which the International Energy Agency this week called the ‘worst in history’, fluctuating prices on fuel and fertiliser will have a severe impact on farmers. Philip meets farmers and contractors at the forefront of this, including one farmer who has found a way to function without using chemical fertilisers.

Duration:00:15:31

Female Farrier

Women are very visible throughout the bloodstock and racing industries, except in on role. There are only four female farriers in the country. Suzanne Campbell meets Abby O’Donnell who is training to become the fifth.

Duration:00:07:22

TB – Learning from others

Unlike Ireland New Zealand has nearly entirely eradicated Bovine TB. Kiwi veterinary epidemiologist, Dallas New, visited Ireland recently. Back at home she reflects on what we could do differently.

Duration:00:07:50

Female Farmer Roundtable

Should we even be using the term female farmer in 2026? Is it naive to not recognise that more women farmers fall by the wayside than men? How a female perspective makes farms more productive, profitable and safe. Aileen Sheahan, Dairy farmer. Ciara Stanley, Beef farmer. Ailbhe Gerrard, mixed farmer.

Duration:00:19:45

Female Farm Ambassador

Agriculture minister, Martin Heydon, announced Carina Roseingrave as Ireland’s Female Farming Ambassador for the International Year Of The Woman Farmer. We visited her on her farm in Crusheen, Co Clare.

Duration:00:09:03

Countrywide Full Episode 07/03/2026

Countrywide Full Episode 07/03/2026

Duration:00:47:13

Lazy Beds

Farming in peaty soils is challenging. But not so for horticulture. In Connemara Aongus O’Coistealbha has embraced the Lazy Beds growing system developed by our ancestors, which is anything but lazy as Lorna Siggins reports.

Duration:00:05:46

Up in Smoke?

26 years ago, a team of archaeologists followed in the wake of Bord Na Mona’s peat harvesting machinery to rescue artefacts revealed by the milling. It raises the possibility of bog bodies having being burned in our peat fired power stations.

Duration:00:05:00

Lemanaghan Bog

Lemanaghan Bog in Offaly, or Manchán’s bog, has been earmarked by Bord Na Mona and SSE Renewables as a site for turbines. Locals like Ciara Egan would prefer if it hadn’t. She tells Philip about the relationship the local people have with the land there.

Duration:00:07:55

Artists and our Wetlands

Della Kilroy meets artist Annie Holland on Abbeyleix Bog to hear about her work which is inspired by the landscape there. Annie is one of 19 artists identified by The Community Wetlands Forum as someone whose work encourages people to look afresh at their local bogs.

Duration:00:05:43

Thinking like a Mountain