365 episodes
Best Of Belfast: Northern Ireland's #1 Interview Podcast Matthew Thompson
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- Society & Culture
Northern Ireland has a better story to tell — one that goes beyond bombs, bullets and a sunken ship.
You are part of this story.
With 300+ conversations featuring some of the incredible people who call this place home, our weekly show gives you the chance to get away from the clickbait and connect with the amazing things happening in Belfast.
Previous guests include NASA Scientists, Billion-Dollar CEOs, 91-year-old park-runners, Oscar-winning directors, Olympic Gold medalists, Bitcoin Auctioneers, Tim Burton's puppet-maker and a guy who built an aeroplane in his garage.
Well-known voices include Snow Patrol, Foy Vance, Julian Simmons, May McFettridge, Zoe Salmon, Andrew Trimble, The Dead Rabbit, Michael Deane, The Priests, Two Door Cinema Club, Oliver Jeffers, Pete Snodden, Colin Geddis, Mary Peters, Rebecca McKinney and May Blood — the millworker who became a peer in the House Of Lords.
Check it out!
https://bestofbelfast.org/
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Changing the world one beer at a time | Alan Mahon, Brewgooder
Alan Mahon is the Belfast-born Founder and CEO of Brewgooder, an impact beer brand, B Corp, and the fastest-growing independent UK beer brand of 2023.
In this episode, we talk about:
Meeting George Clooney & Leonardo Dicaprio
Leaving his "three mums” behind to move to Scotland
The tension between doing good and making money
How getting a parasite in Nepal led to him starting his business
The power of pub culture and its impact on relationships
Using business as a vehicle to change the world
Not compromising on quality just because you're "doing good”
Why he moved back to Northern Ireland after so many years
And advice he'd give to an 18-year-old version of himself
Check it out!
https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/alan-mahon-brewgooder -
Marty Neill on Tiny Rooms, Video Games & “Figuring It Out”
Marty Neill is the founder of AirPOS. He’s also an ex-music journalist and avid retro gamer.
In this episode, we talk about:
Leaving school illegally at 15-years-old
Building and selling video games as a kid on his Spectrum + 2
How all the best things in his life have come from “tiny rooms”
Why you should never fall in love with your business
Ideas being the “real currency”
How COVID both destroyed and transformed his business
Why your business will never love you back
The huge opportunities that exist in Belfast
And the new Retro Arcade opening in Belfast later this year
Check it out.
https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/marty-neill-airpos -
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir on Blackbirds, Boyhood & The Future of Media
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir is the publisher of the Andersonstown News in Belfast and the Irish Echo in New York.
In this episode, we talk about:
Why he has a blackbird on his business card
How he was able to buy a business with no money
The future of the newspaper industry
Growing up in Andytown during the sixties
Challenges facing the media sector
The symbiotic relationship between Ireland/America
Life lessons from a Buddhist Chaplain
And dealing with the chaos of modern life
Check it out.
https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/mairtin-o-muilleoir-andersonstown-news -
Patrick Treacy on Pioneering Aesthetic Medicine, Treating Michael Jackson & Witnessing History
Patrick Treacy is a pioneer in Aesthetic Medicine. Throughout his incredible career, he’s won countless awards, trained thousands of doctors and trail-blazed new protocols used around the world today.
In this episode, we talk about:
Smuggling cars across the German border to pay for med school
Being arrested in Iraq under suspected espionage
How being from Ireland quite literally saved his life
His phone call with Nelson Mandela
Treating Michael Jackson and the subsequent friendship that ensued
How he wants to spend the next few decades
And advice he’d give to his 18-year-old self
Check it out!
https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/patrick-treacy-aesthetic-medicine -
Meat Merchant Peter Hannan on Quality, Attention To Detail & “Chance Encounters”
Peter Hannan is a Meat Merchant who supplies 400+ restaurants throughout Ireland, the UK and Europe, including some of the biggest names in the industry.
In this episode, we talk about:
How he started out in the meat business
(Aka, butchering lambs for his mum's mate's freezer as a boy)
Moving to America at 19-years-old to learn from the masters of his industry
Becoming the highest-paid executive in Ireland by the age of 22
Setting up his own business
The decision to focus on quality rather than quantity
Why attention to detail is the most crucial thing in business
Buying 5 tonnes of salt from Pakistan
How one smoke break changed his business forever
And advice he'd give to his 18-year-old self
Check it out.
https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/peter-hannan-meat-merchant
Hannan Meats: https://www.hannanmeats.com/ -
Iain Percy on Olympic Success, Electric Ferries & Maritime Decarbonisation
Iain Percy is the founder of Artemis Technologies and a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist.
In this episode, we talk about:
How he fell in love with the water
His work with professional sailing teams around the world
Building the world's first electric workboat and electric passenger ferry
The pros/cons of bringing an Olympic mindset to business
Limiting time vs limiting the scope of projects
Why he decided to base the business in Belfast
The necessity for green technology to make sense financially
His vision for maritime decarbonisation
And his dream of opening up a commuter ferry service to Belfast
Check it out.
https://bestofbelfast.org/stories/iain-percy-artemis-technologies