Episode 50: The End of the Beginning

Belfast's streets erupt into bloodshed with 30 dead in the space of 5 days. Historian Éamon Phoenix tells Tara and Declan how his grandfather survived World War I only to come close to being killed in the sectarian violence blighting the city. Please be advised that some listener ... Show More

Treaty talks are reaching a critical point in London. In Belfast, Tara and Declan delve into the past at the Linenhall Library, while in Cork listener Robert Bogue has been learning about his grandfather's time in the Irish police. Meanwhile, Declan's hungry... 

Amid death and violence across the island of Ireland at this time, one incident stands out. The McMahon family is targeted one night by a gang believed to have been made up of RIC men, led by DI John Nixon. Tara and Declan hear how the Cavan man came to be linked to a number of k ... Show More

Mark & guests discuss Northern Ireland's electoral pacts of the past and present. 

<p>We've made it! This is the final episode in the War of Independence series. The episode begins as Michael Collins and an Irish negotiating team lock horns with Lloyd George and Winston Churchill in London. When a controversial treaty is agreed we return to Dublin to see how it ... Show More

What were the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed in December 1921, following negotiations between the UK and Sinn Féin? How was it received by the Irish people? What was the process by which it was agreed between Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Michael Collins, and Arthur G ... Show More

This episode takes you on a journey through the actual closing of the deal. 

How was a deal finally agreed to get power sharing back in Northern Ireland? Is Rishi Sunak focusing too much on his media appearances? Why has Kim Jong Un said unification with the South is no longer possible? Join Rory and Alastair as they answer all these questions and more o ... Show More

In 1998, the political parties in Northern Ireland reached a peace agreement that ended decades of war. But the Good Friday Agreement, as it became known, was only reached after days of frantic last-minute negotiations. In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Paul Murphy, the junior min ... Show More

The Democratic Unionist Party has agreed to end its boycott of Northern Ireland's power-sharing assembly, concluding two years of post-Brexit paralysis. Our reporter Olivia Fletcher joins us from Belfast on the latest deliberations. Plus: Reg Empey, former leader of the Ulster Un ... Show More

The seismic Good Friday Agreement brought Northern Ireland's long period of violence to an end. It set out fundamental rights for the people of Northern Ireland about identity and citizenship. It set out in law that people from both Catholic and Protestant communities had equal r ... Show More

<p>In 1215 at Runnymede (doo dah, doo dah) the nobles and the king agreed to end a rebellion against the power of the English throne. While the treaty that emerged contained all sorts of arcane Medieval details, it also contained the seeds of Western liberty and civil rights.</p> ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1691 peace treaty that ended the Williamite War in Ireland, between supporters of the deposed King James II and the forces of William III and his allies. It followed the battles at Aughrim and the Boyne and sieges at Limerick, and led to the di ... Show More