St Patrick's Day and the joys of spring
The Lesley Riddoch Podcast
Lesley Riddoch and Fraser Thompson
4.6 • 274 Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2026
⏱️ 77 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this week's episode, Lesley and Fraser navigate a blustery start to the week. Lesley recounts her experience at the Irish Consul's celebration in Edinburgh, noting Ireland's cultural confidence.
The discussion turns to the "heating oil headache" facing off-grid Scots, with the UK government’s £35 support package being branded as woefully inadequate. We look to our Northern neighbours for solutions, analysing how district heating and hydro energy allow countries like Finland to maintain energy security while the UK remains tethered to volatile fossil fuel markets.
The mood shifts as we examine the continuing escalation in the Middle East. We discuss Donald Trump's "wasp's nest" approach to Iran, the tragic bombing of a girls’ school in Minab linked to outdated AI data, and the growing criticism of the BBC’s "sanitised" coverage of the conflict.
We discuss the count down to the election and the SNP’s campaign conference at the weekend with some headline grabbing announcments. Plus the news that ‘Your Party’ like the Alba Party, won’t be contesting the Holyrood elections.
Plus, we look at the potential for political upheaval in Hungary, the latest goings on surrounding Peter Mandelson’s departure, and Lesley’s whirlwind tour of Scotland with her Finland film screenings.
In this episode:
- St Patrick's Day Confidence: What Scotland can learn from the Irish approach to history and culture.
- The Heating Oil Crisis: Why £35 is a "hotchpotch" response to doubling energy bills for rural households.
- District Heating – Why Wait?: Analysing the Scandinavian model, where wasting industrial heat is against the law.
- Iran & The AI Failure: The devastating consequences of old data and the "distancing" language of modern warfare.
- BBC Under Fire: Ben Depeer’s critique of "if it bleeds, it leads" and the challenges of reporting from a bunker.
- The Mandelson Payoff: The "brazenness" of a £547,000 request following a reputational meltdown.
Links
Support the podcast with a monthly or annual subscription
https://lesleyriddoch.com/podcast/subscribe
Finland Film Screenings & Events
Check the latest dates for Lesley's screenings across Scotland.
https://lesleyriddoch.com/events
Metagama: An Atlantic Odyssey
https://www.facebook.com/p/Metagama-An-Atlantic-Odyssey-61557037868810/
17 March: Birks Cinema, Aberfeldy
18 March: Universal Hall, Findhorn
19 March: Community Hall, Kincraig
20 March: Macphail Centre, Ullapool
21 March: Stratherrick Public Hall, Gorthleck
22 March: Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Isle of Skye
24 March: Cultarlann Inbhir Nis, Inverness
25 March: Appin Village Hall, Argyll
26 March: The Tolbooth, Stirling
Tickets for village halls:
https://tickets-scotland.com/events.html...
Tickets for Macphail Centre:
https://tickets.highlifehighland.com/.../highlife.../2031529
Tickets for all other venues:
From venue box office & websites
'This acclaimed 5* live stage show tells the story of 1920s mass emigration from the Hebrides, featuring some of Scotland's top folk musicians and singers. The show has played to capacity audiences across the Highlands and Islands, Celtic Connections and HebCeltc Festival, with the current 2026 Scottish tour supported by Creative Scotland.''
''The quality of the music is astonishing. A MUST LISEN! *****'' Folk London magazine
''A story full of imense contemporary resonances. ****'' Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman
''Top drawer music.'' Gary West, piper and piping podcast presenter
''A night of exquisite music and storytelling. *****'' Inverness Courier
An ensemble of acclaimed musicians and singers will carry you aboard the Metagama, a journey that will take you to the lakes and plains of Canada, to 1920s Detroit and Prohibition, through the ebb and flow of fortunes on both sides of the Atlantic.
Join award-winning writer Donald S Murray, musician Liza Mulholland, actor and 7:84 Theatre founding player Dolina MacLennan, noted Gaelic singer John Joe Macneil, fiddler Charlie Mackerron of Capercaillie, singer-songwriter Willie Campbell, young up-and-coming cellist Juliette Lemoine, and visual artist Doug Robertson, in marking this historic event with an evening of music, song and story.
This five-star show toured to great acclaim and capacity audiences in the Highlands & Islands in 2023 and followed this with a sell-out concert at Celtic Connections 2024. This current tour in March 2026 has secured support from Creative Scotland,
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Well, thank goodness it is spring almost officially right round the corner with a little bit of a warm period because in real life it's all going very rind. |
| 0:11.8 | We're having to discuss whether or not there will be fuel rationing, heating oil rationing because of Donald Trump's war against Iran. |
| 0:25.2 | He's trying to cover his back by getting allies to send their warships to the Straits of Hormuz, where inevitably they face fire from Iran, |
| 0:31.6 | which is just a couple of miles away at the coast. Will anybody send their own people into |
| 0:36.9 | almost assured destruction? I would suspect not. |
| 0:40.9 | But we're having to sit and try and digest the world ructions that emerge from one man's |
| 0:47.9 | obsession with trying to score one over Iran. And of course, he's beginning to lose interest already. So we discuss |
| 0:56.1 | all of that. Will we end up facing oil rationing? And if so, how will we all deal with it? |
| 1:02.9 | We look as well at the conference recently at the weekend, the John Swinney SNP conference and a |
| 1:09.1 | couple of the policy issues that perked up there, childcare and land reform amongst them. And we look as well at the fall and fall of Peter Mandelson, which seems to have rather been obscured by much bigger fish to fry. Anyway, those are the headlines now for the podcast. |
| 1:25.6 | Well, hi folks and welcome to this week's Leslie Riddick podcast. |
| 1:30.2 | Unfortunately, we don't have our St. Patrick as a guest, but happy St Patrick's Day to everybody. |
| 1:35.4 | And happy St Patrick's Day to Paddy, if you're listening, the great Patrick Joyce. |
| 1:40.7 | Absolutely blowing a hula here. |
| 1:42.5 | We were slightly delayed in recording while I ran |
| 1:45.0 | round and collected all the cardboard and bottles that had spilled out of the recycling boxes |
| 1:49.2 | before the guys came to pick it up. But gloriously sunny. Can I just leap in for the St. Patrick's |
| 1:55.0 | thing? Because I was actually at a St. Patrick's Day, do the Irish consuls do in Edinburgh last night. It's funny actually how all these do's are the day before the actual day, because the Estonian one was the same. And I was sure that was because the Estonian ambassador was saving his big moment for the London gig. But I don't quite, you know, there's a lot of the Scottish government ministers speaking and everything, a lot of, you know, Irish playing. |
| 2:18.3 | But, you know, the thing was totally stunning. And actually, the main point of it was, Diageo sponsor this every year. And there's a, in the huge room of the assembly rooms, which they hire, which is absolutely full. I don't know what the capacity of that is, but I should actually know, because we've done this before for an event. And it was, I don't know, the capacity of that is, but I should actually know because we've done this before for an event. |
| 2:35.8 | And it was, I don't know, 500 people or something. So 500 people turn up, you know, on a pretty |
| 2:41.6 | dreary evening actually to celebrate St Patrick because there's Guinness on tap, right? |
| 2:46.6 | Yeah. And it's a very good quality of Guinness. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lesley Riddoch and Fraser Thompson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Lesley Riddoch and Fraser Thompson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.