Armagh I Podcast

Cathy Brady – Award-winning Newry film maker lights up silver screen with Wildfire

You know when you’re watching a film in a cinema theatre and you could hear a pin drop from start to finish, that your time is well spent.
That’s what it felt like at a screening in Belfast of Cathy Brady’s debut feature film ‘Wildfire’ ahead of its release on September 3.
The Newry writer and director won Best Director for ‘Wildfire’ at this year’s Irish Film and Television Awards and both of her leading actresses Nora-Jane Noone and the late Nika McGuigan were nominated for Best Actress.
Nika, who tragically died of cancer in 2019, after the film was made, won the award, accepted on her behalf by her father, boxing legend, Barry McGuigan.
The critical success of the film has been a roller-coaster of emotions for Cathy and the rest of the cast and crew. They are excited and delighted that audiences are connecting with the film, yet Nika’s absence is sorely felt. At the same time, having had some space to grieve during lockdown – with all red carpet events virtual - they are ready to celebrate the film and to keep Nika’s memory alive by allowing her talent and hard work to be recognised.
For this week’s podcast Cathy took time out of her hectic schedule to chat with Armagh I over zoom and tell us all about the making of the film, the respect and admiration she has for Nora-Jane and Nika and how her own career evolved from fine art to making movies.

Gemma Winchester – Omniplex Manager stuck a pin in the map and it landed on Armagh

Gemma Winchester was born and raised in Singapore until she was 15-years-old and then she moved to Australia – although most of her 15 years there was spent travelling the world by sea or air. 
But two things brought the newly-appointed general manager of Armagh Omniplex to our shores - one sad, the other happy. 
Gemma’s younger brother has Down’s Syndrome. He lived with their mother in Bournemouth and because of his condition they discovered he wasn’t allowed to move to Australia to join the rest of the family. 
Rightly outraged, Gemma decided to leave Oz and move somewhere in the UK so the family could be together. She stuck a pin in a map and it landed on Armagh. 
For this week’s podcast, Gemma tells us all about her jam-packed life...

How loss of youngster sibling led three sisters to set up Sibling Grief Club

Sibling Grief Club was launched in July of this year by three sisters grieving the death of their youngest sibling.
Triona McNabb sadly passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in hospital on February 27, 2017. 
She left behind a legacy of love, but also a family bereaved and desperate for support as they tried to navigate unchartered waters 
Triona’s three older sisters, Maeveen, Edel and Cathy quickly discovered that there was little or no support specifically for grieving adult siblings, who are often termed as the ‘forgotten mourners’. 
For this week’s podcast, Maeveen talks lovingly about her sister Triona and her kind and caring nature. She recalls the debilitating quagmire of feelings she has gone through since Triona’s death, and Maeveen tells us all about Sibling Grief Club and how she hopes it helps other people like her and her sisters throughout their grief. 

An insight into the mind of record-breaking open water swimmer Jordan Leckey

For this week’s Armagh I podcast, we caught up with Jordan Leckey, outside the Discovery Centre in Lough Neagh where he trains regularly with the Lough Neagh Monster Dunkers. He told us all about his epic swim NI to Scotland, from exactly what it felt like the moment he dipped his toe into the water to face the long, gruelling journey ahead, to the perils he had to deal with in the freezing cold water, right to the finish line with the last kilometre feeling like the longest.
Jordan says he wanted nothing more than to give up in the first two hours, which he says were the hardest. He persevered however and once his body was numb to the cold and he tricked his mind into thinking about other things, all of his hard work, including building a swimming pool in his back garden to train in, got him to Scotland in record-breaking time.
Jordan’s support team, including his dad and some members of The Lough Neagh Monster Dunkers and the Infinity Channel Swimming group were immensely supportive. And with the achievement just starting to sink in and the adrenaline still running high they have convinced him to take his time before planning his next challenge – Jordan has plans however…

Cara Malone of Supporting Women Newry – 'protesters with dignity'

Supporting Women Newry does just what it says on the tin.
The group was set up around six months ago by seven local women, and since then it’s gathered an enormous amount of support from the public, health care staff and political parties alike. 
The purpose of the group is to, 'provide free access to health care without fear or intimidation'.
And yes – they support men too – but given their remit it’s most often women who require their help.
They came into being on the back of an awareness of a growing number of anti-abortion protesters harassing people who were trying to access services at John Mitchell Place clinic in Newry. 
These protestors displayed graphic posters along with disturbing and often frankly untrue banners and signs, protesting and blocking entrances, during the hours when abortion clinics operated - alongside all of the other family services in the clinic. 
The Southern Trust moved its services as a result but the protesters – diminished in size but not in voice – followed. 
Cara Malone is one of the committee members and founders of Supporting Women Newry and for this week’s podcast she explains how and why they operate. 

Tony Bagnall - sportsman, musician and scribe

If you take a spin out to Camlough Lake or Newry swimming pool you might run into this week’s podcast guest.
You might also read his name on one of the eight books he’s written about subjects ranging from local football histories and sporting heroes, the story of the showband era - 'Do You Come Here Often'-  the history of Derrybeg, plus the only book written on triathlons in Ireland, 'The Irish Triathlete'. 
His latest book –‘The History of Newry Celtic,’ was just launched to a full house in Nan Rice’s in Newry.
Tony Bagnall, - Journalist, musician and Ironman - knows his stuff about all of the above subjects. He was the first person to compete in an ironman from the Newry area, when he was 38. And he’s also the oldest man do complete that mighty feat at the age of 71. 
Tony is now 76 but he certainly doesn’t look it. He doesn’t do much running these days but he cycles or swims on a daily basis – not for the love of it mind you. "People confuse enjoyment with satisfaction," he says.
When he’s not keeping fit, Tony can usually be found putting pen to paper, or keeping his many Facebook followers entertained with his amusing and informative stories – mostly about the many characters from the area that he’s come across over the years.
Tony wears many hats. But the former welder, who took to writing in middle age and became Sports Editor of the Newry Democrat, is modest about his many achievements. He says he wasn’t a great musician or the best footballer, but he admits that he can write well.
Of all of the things the popular man local legend is, Tony is first and foremost a story-teller and for this week’s Armagh I podcast, he tells us all about his upbringing in Linen Hall Square as a ‘Barackovian’.
He talks about his bands, including the brilliantly named ‘Sons of Rest’ and their misadventures, including an ill-fated chance to appear on Hughie Green’s ‘Opportunity Knocks’, and how drummer Willie Reilly short-changed Newry menswear owner Kevin Russell who kitted the band out with the obligatory showband uniform.
He tells us some of the stories in his book on Junior Football, including how referee Mousie Fitzpatrick was sent off by the other referee in the same game, Jim McCardle – it’s complicated!
And how an insult in Newry is really an underhanded compliment!

Meet the Simpsons – TikTok sensations with over one million followers

If you ask most girls in their early teens who their favourite celebrities are, chances are there’ll be at least one TikToker on their list.
If you stick your head in their bedroom door on any given evening, you’ll probably see them either watching or emulating some TikTok clip from one of the names on their list. And there’s a good chance one of the accounts they follow will belong to the Simpson family.
If you want to see what the attraction is, go on the App and check out The Simpson family – so called lest they be confused with their famous namesakes.
By day Zoe and Eva Simpson are just ordinary schoolgirls attending Sacred Heart Grammar School in Newry, but once they exit the school gates and go home, they take on a whole new persona. It’s at home where they set up the camera to entertaintheir almost 1.2 million followers on the most popular social media platform on the planet.
It’s not that the girls are any different from all of the other teenagers who hang out in their bedrooms and make TikTok videos. Or that the Simpsons are any different from your average family. But on a platform that has countless creators screaming for attention, they seem to have found the secret to success.
Mark, Ali and their children Zoe (14), Eva (13) and Ella (8) opened a family account on TikTok just seven months ago and despite being taken down by the social media platform’s ‘Bots’ twice, their popularity continued to skyrocket and the number of followers they have continues to grow.
‘Relatable content,’ is the trick says Mark, who freely admits that he saw a gap in the TikTok market with very few family creators, and decided to tap in at the right time from a business perspective. If anyone knows how to build a successful business , Mark and Ali do.
The Mayobridge couple are Directors of the hugely successful SMS Platinum Group who own Air-tastic, Funky Monkeys and Captain Greens. Both are accountants and Mark says that it takes a lot of hard work and planning to make money from what from the outside looks like just a bit of fun.
The Simpsons’ content is refreshingly charming - funny, silly videos and situations any parent or teenager can relate to. Each of the family members has a role to play.
Eva is the actress, Zoe the editor, Mark and Ali do the analytical research and some content and Ella is in some of the videos with mum and dad -but mostly just looks adorable.
Mark says it’s the girls who make it work and that himself and Ali stand behind them, making the occasional appearances in some of the videos. But there’s a practical reason for that too. The girls can’t have their own account and go live until they’re 16 and going live helps to boost your following.
For this week’s podcast, Armagh I sat down with the Simpson family and they revealed the secrets behind their success.
They spoke about how their TikTok journey began, how they discover the best content, how they learned what works and what doesn’t, what being a household name means for the girls at school and where it all goes from here.

Jolly Bearded Promotions' Seb Akehurst takes his toy story to infinity and beyond

Seb has created an exhibition, both clever and imaginative, but also at times seemingly at odds with the innocence of toys. Upstairs in the gallery, a darker space awaits, with toys represented in wartime scenarios with recreations of iconic photographs and movie scenes from black and white D-Day battle scenes, moving to colour with the Vietnam War and the Middle Eastern conflicts.
In his final year at the University of Ulster in 2014 studying Interactive Media Arts, Seb focussed on War Photography.
Frank Capa, Roger Fenton and Matthew Brady became major influences on his work – particularly how their photographs were used as propaganda tools.