Clare Byrne

Our broadcast assistant is Anne-Marie Kane.

The Clare Byrne Show.

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Conversation that counts.

Now, last night, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Motley, officially opened the nation's embassy on Bagot Street in Dublin.

Ireland's links with this Caribbean nation run deep, with thousands of our forefathers being forcibly sent to Barbados 400 years ago to serve as indentured servants.

Writer, academic and filmmaker, Professor Brianna Nick-Diarmida joins me now to tell us the story of the Irish in Barbados.

Good morning to you.

You're very welcome to the programme.

Good morning, Clare.

Thank you so much.

So we are going back 400 years ago.

How was this link established and what happened?

So they did that willingly, some of them, Brianna, is that right?

And the difference was, sorry to interrupt you, it's slightly on the line, but I'm just keen to know the difference.

So the Africans were enslaved, the Irish were indentured servants.

So at the end of their seven to ten years, what did they get in return for their work?

So clearly there has to be a legacy of these people to this day in Barbados.

Recently, Thomas Gould, the Sinn Féin TD, there was a clip of him which went viral in Barbados over the last few weeks because they heard his accent and they said, is he from here?