Niall Breslin, better know as Bressie is popularly known as one of the judges/coaches on The Voice of Ireland. He came to fame as the front man and chief song writer in The Blizzards and after the band broke up released two albums as a solo artist. Before all this happened he became a professional rugby player with Leinster U21s. Of late Bressie has opened up about his struggles with extreme anxiety, panic attacks and depression. In his book Me and My Mate Jeffrey he gives an account of how he intentionally broke his own arm in a vain effort to get help for his mental health issues. He currently features in a documentary on RTE called Iron Mind with four others who use are dealing with mental health issues by using physical exercise to deal with these issues. I met Niall a few times through the Cronin brothers from Mullingar and we gigged together recently at The Electric Picnic.

Thomas Walsh is the singer and songwriter with the band Pugwash. Pugwash have released 6 studio albums the latest of which is Play Intimately (As If Among Friends). They have recently toured the States where they have released the compilation album A Rose In A Garden Of Weeds. Their fans include Jeff Lynne (ELO), Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys), Ray Davies (The Kinks) and Andy Partridge (XTC). Ray Davies and Andy Partridge guest on backing vocals on their latest album. Neil Hannon also guests on the album. Thomas and Neil have released two albums as the band The Duckworth Lewis Method. Both of these albums are ridiculously brilliant. The long and the short of it is Thomas Walsh is an extremely gifted songwriter and should be a national treasure. Also features in a live in-studio performance of 'Here'.

Ronan MacManus grew up in Twickenham, West London, His father Ross MacManus was a musician and trumpet player, with Joe Loss and his orchestra, (and also responsible for the music and vocals from the R. White’s Lemonade television commercial, “Secret Lemonade Drinker”). Needless to say, his father passed on the musical tradition, to all 5 of his sons.The eldest son, Declan (from his father’s first marriage), went on to become a well-known musician called Elvis Costello. Ronan is a singer/song writer with the bands Bible Code Sundays (who have recorded three albums) and The Brand New Zeros and has recorded a solo album called Strawberry Hill.

Michael Collins first came to prominence as an actor in the long running soap Glenroe. He has also starred in the films Man About Dog, King Of The Travellers and the award winning Pavee Lackeen and written/performed three one man plays dealing with the Traveller's experience in Ireland. I met Michael Collins first on the set of the comedy series Killinascully quite a few years ago but hadn't seen him again until recently when we coincidentally ended up working on two different projects together. During that time we have been on a few long car journeys together and had some in-depth conversations covering much of the ground we cover on this podcast. Following the recent tragic event in Carrickmines, in which ten people from two families died in a fire, and the ensuing reaction from some people, we discussed the fraught relationship between Irish Travellers and the majority of Irish settled people. It's a great chat.