Show Notes
In 2018, Holly Cairns was 28 years old and had voted once in her life. In the five years since, she's been elected to Cork County Council, then to Dáil Eireann and in the last twelve months has become leader of the Social Democrats.
Earlier this year, having previously been vocal about the targeted, sexualised abuse she and other female TDs are regularly subjected to, Holly spoke for the first time about that abuse - normally faceless and online - escalating into a real-world situation where a man began showing up at her home in West Cork.
She speaks to Richie from her family farm about how that experience changed the way she lives day to day, why she decided that talking about abuse to journalists anonymously stopped making sense, and the dilemma she faces as the leader of a political party about when to be open and when to keep quiet.
Episode is brought to you by NOW and is a Second Captains production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Episode with Richie Sadlier
With the war in Ukraine and the ongoing genocide in Gaza dominating the news agenda, Richie is joined for the final show of the series by BBC special correspondent and veteran war reporter, Fergal Keane.
As we may have mentioned once or twice on social media this week, joining Richie on today's show is a very old friend and an up and coming League of Ireland manager by the name of Damien Duff.
A message for listeners: today's show includes discussions of themes that some people may find distressing from the outset and throughout, including sexual violence, sexual abuse and the sex trade.
Nine months ago, Pat Sheedy walked out of prison after spending more than two and a half years locked up for trying to fund his decades-long gambling addiction through various scams.
This week on Episode we're taking a mid-series break but fear not, Richie and Killian will be back on the road next week when we'll be bringing you another brilliant conversation.