Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien story is the brand new documentary by Irish filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea. It’s a portrait of one of Ireland’s finest writers, featuring extracts from O’Briens journals, contributions from the likes of Gabriel Byrne and Anne Enright and a remarkable final interview with O'Brien shortly before her death aged 93 last year. In this episode, O’Shea tells Kathy Sheridan about the late-writer’s extraordinary life and legacy and how the film came about after a chance encounter at a wedding. But first, Irish Times podcast producer Suzanne Brennan is here to discuss some of the biggest stories from the week including a review into maternity services at Portiuncula Hospital in Galway, why Caroline Kennedy made a last minute plea to the US Senate this week and how the gender balance row in government has intensified in recent days. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.