The Uneducated PT Podcast - Ep 132 — Racist Ireland? How Media Manipulation Fuels Division — Tayem Mercer Speaks

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

In Episode 132, we sit down with Tayem Mercer, a powerful and thoughtful voice in Ireland’s cultural conversation. From growing up in Congo to building a life in Tallaght, Tayem brings honesty, depth and a fearless willingness to challenge mainstream narratives — especially around racism, identity and media manipulation. We talk about his early life in Congo, moving to Ireland in 2001, learning the language, finding his place, and how Tallaght shaped both his personality and his outlook on Irish life. Tayem shares why he believes Irish people aren’t naturally racist, and how online outrage, media framing and political agendas often distort reality and fuel division. We dive into the difference between race, culture and integration, how attitudes have shifted over the years, and how to tell genuine racism from general frustration about immigration. Tayem unpacks the modern obsession with victimhood, why the “oppressed narrative” is so seductive and dangerous, and how gratitude and personal responsibility changed his own life. We get into the Citywest protests, immigration policy, and the role he plays as a Black Irish Christian in a conversation that’s becoming more polarised by the day. Tayem also opens up about his faith, the rise of secular unhappiness, and why global Christian persecution — especially in Nigeria — receives so little attention compared to other conflicts. From the damage porn is doing to young men, to purpose, divorce, and why so many men feel lost, Tayem offers grounded, hard-earned advice. He also talks about his experience on “Dinner with the Enemy”, what it taught him about conflict, listening, and why people today struggle so much with opposing viewpoints. We wrap up with Tayem’s message to Ireland right now — and where people can follow his work. Raw, challenging, hopeful and full of clarity. This episode pulls no punches. Enjoy.

Hello and welcome to the uneducated PT podcast with me, your host, Carlo Rourke. The goal of this podcast is to bring on interest and knowledgeable people from all walks of life, learn a little something from each conversation and for you, the listener, just learn something from each episode. So don't forget to subscribe to the channel, press the box below, show some support, and I'll see you on the next episode. Okay, welcome back to the uneducated PT podcast with your host, Carlo Rourke. We have a very special guest on today.

Time, and before we get started, just for anyone who doesn't know who you are, A lot of people in Ireland now know here are. We also have an American and a Canadian audience as well. So, can you just introduce yourself a little bit? Brief introduction. Hi everyone, my name is Tyam Mercer. I am 32 years old. Recently featured on dinner with the enemy.

And I speak about many things amongst motivation, life. I work in sales. I've been working in sales for a long time. And personal development, mentorship programs and stuff like that. I've done throughout the year so a little bit about me overall I'm a motivational speaker that's the best way I can

summarize myself brilliant all right and we're going to get into all that I'm going to want to talk to you about leadership I want to talk to you about men's struggles I want to talk to you about your fate and all that stuff and how that's shaped you

I suppose what I do want to do is I want to kind of build a little bit of background with this so maybe even could you just start off by telling the listeners a little bit about you know obviously you're from the Congo originally Can you tell the listeners a little bit about your earliest memories of there before moving to Ireland?

Absolutely, yeah. So I moved to Ireland when I was eight years old. I left Congo quite early. Growing up in Congo, look, it was predominantly. My mum left Congo when I was four years old. So she left to come to Ireland. So she left before you? She left before me, yeah.

So I remember the day she left. It's one of the vivid images that I have of my childhood was my mum. leaving and I could feel that sort of attachment from her right and as a kid I didn't react to it but later on if we get into it yeah it came back then when I started going to therapy to kind of understand why certain things affected me like I hit with depression at a certain stage of life and all of those things played a factor but yeah growing up in Congo was you know it was me my dad my brother mainly me and my brother because my dad had to go to work to try and make

money yeah he'd work full-time wasn't making a lot of money right and still a similar situation in Congo right now you can work jeez just you can work 60 hours a week and you'd come out at best with 150 quid at the end of the month right so it was tough but my dad had got to work so it was predominantly me and my brother yeah my brother sacrificed his childhood to raise me essentially he's four years older than me yeah so you can imagine an eight-year-old looking after a four-year-old right so most of his life was that and it was me and him from day from the morning till the evening when my dad gets home so you know like it was it was tough it was

It was tough on my brother, it was tough on me. It was tough growing up because there's a lot of war going on in Congo at the time. So my dad, you know, the anxiety levels that he would have went through, I can only imagine now as I talk to him. But it wasn't great, we didn't, you know, we didn't have much, but again, when you grow up not having a lot, that's just it's your normal, right? So as a kid, you don't see that and you just get on with it. But it was definitely, like, we'd see tanks and stuff like dad driving through the roads.

We'd see soldiers and we think it's, you know, you wouldn't understand it. I'm a kid. It just looks fun. But it's a reality that there was civil war going on. There's wars in different places. There was curfews and things like that by rebel groups in Congo. So different times, and I told this story on another podcast where we went to markets, right? And on the markets, like you'd have market stalls like a table like this, a little bit wider.

And we'd have to hide underneath when the rebel soldiers come because they take kids, right? And they take kids, predominantly male kids. And they'd recruit you. And yeah, your life would be very different. Right, so there were some worrying times and things like that happened and then my father, you know, I was used to talk to my mom, my mom was more so worried about getting us out of the country. So finally, she, you know, she worked here, found the means to obviously get us out of the country and get us over to Ireland. And then we moved to Ireland. In 2001, I came to Ireland then.

What age were you then? I was eight when I arrived here. Yeah. And did you speak English at the time? No, I didn't speak English at all. We went into school, I spoke, Portuguese and Ligua. Lingala and French. Okay.

So I three languages. Are they all three languages spoken in the Congo? French and Lingala would be. Portuguese in different, maybe different places. But my mum just thought it would be a valuable thing for us to learn. So we ended up learning that I think six months before I moved here. But you know what? It was great.

When I came here, it was cold. Do you remember the first day that you... I do, yeah. I remember the airport, right? Because when we got to the airport, right? airport that's how long I haven't seen my mom I went and hugged another woman and called her my mom really wow I ran to another woman and I was like mom and she was like I'm not your mom that's your mom right because it was one of my auntie she was in Ireland at the time then by that time that's it

because I haven't seen her in so long that that's what I thought so then I went to my mom then and then I just remember driving all the way home from Dublin airport all the way to tallah all the way to Springfield and it was cold it was very cold Very cold and have you been back to the congo since I haven't my mother has on a couple of occasions I haven't I just you know what life never really presented me with the time to do so I've always been busy with different things and different life events have happened right when I was early on because my mom spent like I think was 15 years here before she went back yeah and when I got my first job I made it like I said you know what I'm gonna work hard to save up money and we got her that as a present for me my brother was to send her home she could see her mum and stuff like that before she passed away.

But I'm planning to, I'm planning to. Maybe in the next couple of months, in the next year, I definitely have to. Tell me a little bit about early years of, so it was 2001 when you got to Tala. Tell me about then grown up in Tala. From one, from one, whartorn country. To another, yeah. Do you know what? Tala's a lovely place, by the way.

You know what it is, it is. But Tala was rough back then. Incredibly, yeah. Incredibly. but you know what it was just you know it's a type of neighborhood right tall it's still like you get tough character it's tough people right really tough people and really strong character people yeah and that's what it was and it's embedded in kids as a childhood so when i came here like there was elements where you know you'd fight like you'd fight often like fighting skills you know what i mean

at least once a year i'd have a fight that i'd be suspended over all the way till i got into first year right but it was like that i had a group of friends right my first friend was a ginger lad Marcus my best mate till this day my mom loves him right if he comes to my house my mom would make him food before she loves the kid because he was deadlies the first kid that met me came yeah to my house you knew that we were the new kid in the area made friends with me i couldn't speak english but he was talking to my mom to talk to me and he asked it was i allowed to go to his house and play play play station right and this is like this is what you get in neighborhood when you when i came here that's what i got like you know a random kid that

doesn't know me is offered me to go to his house to play play play play station yeah and we went we became mates and then I learned English very quickly yeah so that helped in school I had like a I suppose it's an SNA that was helping me learning yes yeah yeah yeah lovely woman I can't remember her name but she was a lovely woman because I started in third class in St. Marks and so I learned English quickly I had mates you know what I mean I got friends with a lot of the Irish lads around the area very quickly so did my older brother he was really good at sports so here when you're good at sports everyone wants to be a mate yeah yeah so he done well on dad and then

I was the little chubby kid that just played PlayStation with my ginger me. So it was that. And then, look, I experienced racism. We experienced, you know, different members, right? Because back then and Todd, there was a lot of, like, members of the traveling community around, right? And traveler kids, like, they're a little bit more. Back then, they were a little bit more violent, right? A little bit more aggressive.

Yeah, we're from Bray, we know. So you'd get into fights and stuff like that. And so, look, as I look back now, some of the fights were dangerous, because it's getting chased with knives across the field. But you don't know any different back then when you're a kid. It's just the norm. You pick up a weapon as well and you go out somebody as well, right? And that's the way it was.

But they never really got out of hand from me. Like my cousin and stuff got attacked at certain places. You got attacked with baseball with golf clubs actually by like a group of five lads. Yeah. But then, like it was Irish kids around their neighborhood, the Irish lads that we knew that went to defend them against the other lads. You know what I mean? So it was that.

like we integrated and we experienced racism different to what is here now like back then it was it was different you know what i mean like you'd have yeah it was just it was a lot worse back then and not only for us but other families around that we hear stories about yeah people's houses getting broken into lit on fire people getting stabbed there was a lot of that there were certain areas that you could walk through with jobstown growing up there was like i think it's the jobstown river yeah like we couldn't walk by that we walk by that couple of times and you'd get chased you know of me by lads and stuff like that but it was just ignorance it was people seeing a new face a new target to bully that's all it was yeah yeah new target to bully the way I look at it because when

you look at it that's all it was now people don't do that yeah they they notice that you're different and they'll that that's the first thing that they're going to say when they want to insult you essentially of course and I say it to people because you know somebody as you get older right you have to conceptualize things a little bit different yeah I try not to just look at what was done to me but I try to look at why was it done to me and when you do with that when you take yourself out of the equation because that's the only way I can find a solution to something yeah right is by looking at it objectively and when I do that I look at it why did I do that it was ignorant because the ginger kid got bullied similar to me other kids got bullied the fat kid got bullied

yeah yeah in school people find the target the bully based on whatever was different whatever it was if you're in the short kid you're going to be called short if you're tall kid you're going to be called the lanky prick if you're what all kids get through There's all, look, there is bullying and it's wrong, but that's, everybody gets bullied. Some people get bullied for different things. That's skill. I don't know what it is about it, but kids just do that. Some kids have their own insecurities, their own problems.

And the best way for them to feed that is by them being the bully first, so nobody bullies them. And that's the way it was. I look at it this way, the best way I'll say, because I'm really, I'm arriving at a point where for me to describe something as racism, it has to be completely extreme and preventing me from moving forward. Right? And something like bullying is not going to prevent me from moving forward, right? And it didn't then, it's never going to do that for me now. So I wouldn't describe that as racism.

I describe it as bullying and discrimination. Do you think this is where your views in terms of, obviously you've been very vocal that Irish people aren't racist? Do you think this comes from having a childhood where, okay, you had to have resilience, you have thick skin. So then it seems like, okay, Even though things were probably a lot worse back then, we're actually having more of a conversation around race these days.

Absolutely. Even if it's, even if it might not necessarily be the same extreme level as what we've seen in the 2000s. Let me put it to you this way, right? And I'll put it to you in the most blunt way I can. You've a company or you've a business, right? If you call me black or you racially abused me now, you'd be out of business the next day.

You'd be cancelled, yeah, straight away. Back in 2001, you wouldn't have been. Nothing would have happened. That was acceptable, right? And the other side of it, what people are calling racism now. And I know the most controversial part is what I said on the TV show. What people are calling is racism now compared to what we endured in 2001. You know, you've got to understand some people that are speaking about it now,

they're speaking from a place of privilege. And the privilege is other people have to suffer real racism, real oppression, real abuse in order for you to be in the position that you're in that if somebody abuses you, that works in a certain place, and you know where they are, they can lose their job. We didn't have that luxury back then, right? So people speaking from a position of privilege,

and that's why I say to people, when you generalize, and this is one of the things I actually wanted to get a point on this, we have to be specific. And I want to put this question to anybody watching this podcast. When you say Ireland is a racist country,

let's define what a race country is firstly. Let's go by that definition first, right? By what means or standard do you lay, do you categorize a country as a racist country? I suppose a racist country would be you not being able to have the same opportunities as someone who is white, maybe not like getting refused to work or, you know, not being able to vote, all these kind of things. Okay, right. Yeah.

So the position black people and foreign people are in this country, we can vote. Yeah. More of us are employed now than we were in 2001. Yeah. We're getting into better positions. Yeah. More people are getting into senior positions than there was before. There's more representation.

Yeah. I just got featured on a national TV show which back in 2001 there weren't many black people on national TV shows like that there's predominantly all Irish people all white faces I don't like using colours either lately but we have to unfortunately right

so how can you then label this country as a racist country when you have all of the when we can mill forward now the issue people want to say well you're you're not acknowledging racism no that's not the case there is racism but let's be specific Right? Let's be really specific because it's dangerous language that prevents the individual who's

using it from moving forward. That's my biggest thing I said to black people. How am I, like after everything I've endured, am I going to allow a little piece of negativity affect all of the pieces of positivity that there is? And that's the position Ireland is in. Do you think a lot of it comes from a side of the country that are almost weaponising racism to create their own virtue rather than actually helping black Irish people. It's people who don't understand what it takes to be successful, right?

And the reason I say that, because when you study the lives of great people, the reason I arrive their convictions I'm not, I studied the lives of great people. And great people are the people that no matter what challenge they face, they don't cry wolf about it, they don't become a victim and they understand that. Irrespective of this, in order for me to succeed, staying a victim won't help. Where do you think that victim mentality has come from in this country? Because it feels like it's more prevalent than ever. Media, right?

Media has been a great tool in this country for such things. Do you think the media are trying to create outrage on purpose because it gets clicks and it gets attention and attention is a currency in this day and age? Of course, because they have been, right? The most important, the most viewed clips that I've talked about are around the subject of racism, around the subject of the vision,

around the subject of immigration. These are the things that are trending. racism cells, sex cells, controversy cells and these are the things that they need in terms of the key viewers engaged. The detriment of people that are buying into that narrative, the media is not highlighting racism for the benefit of black people.

Right? That's not for the benefit of black people. What's in the benefit of black people is to be in a society where they're integrated with people within that country and they get along well with those people. What the media's message does is putting fear in black people

to stay where they are, stay in our own corner, stay by ourselves, and we cannot advance doing that. And the reason we can't, this is a foreign man's land. In order for you to succeed in a foreign man's land, you have to understand the way of the land. The only way you understand the way of the land is by spending time with the people of the land. It's by integrating with the people of the land.

Then you get a bigger picture. Then you get a bigger understanding. In fact, it makes you a better person. Yeah. Me learning values from Irish people has made me a better person. Me learning values from Nigerians has made me more ambitious and harder working. Me learning values coming from a Congolese person,

taking the good makes me better. So the more we know different communities, it makes us whole. And that's the danger of the ideology that's being peddled. And the government are using it to their benefit. And that's what bothers me the most. Yeah, do you think it's crippling people then in regards to... Like, I remember it was Morgan Freeman had a brilliant quote.

It was like, someone was asking him about racism that he's experienced. And he goes, if you want to stop racism, stop talking about it. And I thought that was brilliant. And it's like, because like, I find it, I know we're talking about it now on a podcast, but I find it such a dumb thing to continue to be having a conversation about. Of course. And the fact that we're speaking about it more than ever before, it's just, it kind of blows my mind. And I know, like, it's almost like, well, I can't say that because then someone will have

a personal experience of them, you know, experience in racism, and then the argument just gets shut down and the nuances. It depends on the viewpoint by which you're saying it on, right? And this is what people have to understand. And the way I just look at it, look, I used to have that mentality, right? Not so long ago. I used to think that same way and be like, yeah, this is a racist country. And I used to think, like, you know, yeah, there is like this unconscious bias.

You know, white people will always have this unconscious bias. Black people have unconscious bias. It's a natural thing. Yeah, everyone does it. I will have a bias towards my own. That's a natural thing until I'm aware of it. But most people are not aware of it, right? And it's not necessarily something you criminalize somebody over,

you put the blame on them. But the other side of it is, in this life, you're going to face hardship, like it or not, right? Whether it's for your skin tone, whether it's for being small, whether it's for being fat,

whether it's for being Irish, whether it's for being this. Look across the world. Look at all the people that have, I don't look at the people that have failed. I look at the people that have succeeded. And I look at what mentality do they have? How do they overcome what they have overcame?

Everybody has their challenges. I am the person I am today, Because at a certain stage, I felt like I needed to perform harder than a white person to get in that opportunity. But you know what that did for me? It gave me more resiliency, a higher level of intelligence. It made me improve. If I stayed as a victim, I would have had all my excuses. And this is what most people have.

I could sit at home all day and say, Ireland is racist and all of these things. I have all of that. And I have that. I'm not a stronger person. I'm not a better person. You might feel better in the moment, but it doesn't put you in a better situation going forward. It's a slowly, you know, victim mentality, it is a slow deterioration of your potential power as an individual of every opportunity for you to grow and it limits you in ways you cannot possibly imagine.

That's why I don't want to acknowledge it. That's why I don't want to have the conversation about, okay, let's just talk about racism. And I put this to people and I put it to the audience, right? Because I said the simple solution on my side, the racism was unity. And the way we unite is by me putting my issues aside for us and looking at, the position in Ireland, this is the best chance for people to stop racism in Ireland, I think, if they say there is, right?

If they say the country's a racist country, this is the best time we're in now to stop racism. Do you know how? Put your feelings aside, listen to the concerns of the Irish people. Show them that we care, show them that we want to support you in the times that you're going through difficulty

because you've supported us. And what the Irish people would look at, these people are in our country because they care about our country and they care about us and they're thankful that we have helped them because the Irish have helped us. Prime example I'll just give to people.

Because a lot of people keep coming at these silly conversations. Oh, but the protests, this, that, and the other. When the protests happened about Black Lives Matter, how many Irish people took to the streets of Ireland during lockdown? How many? Over 200,000 people were on those streets. The majority were Irish, enraged, holding banners. What they were saying is we don't want to see black people get killed anymore. That's wrong, right? Slavery is wrong.

That's what Irish people said. The news, all of that, they portrayed all of that because it was black and white. They couldn't then push their narrative about, oh, it's only black people out there, Ireland's a racist country. No, they supported it. Irish people did that. They left their homes at a time where we were deceived about COVID. They put their own health at risk to stand alongside you because what happened was an atrocity was a disgrace. But Irish people did that. So where's our concern in the same matter?

Where is, you know, how can you then look at something like that and have such a short-term memory and then go to the position to label this country as entirely racist? It doesn't make sense. Do you think then, all right, for let's say people who do, deem Ireland as a racist country, are they just taking an individual experience that they might have had and holding on to that rather than trying to look at things from a collective experience of all? Because you often talk about, you know, Ireland's not a racist country, 80% or 90% of the interactions I've had with Irish people have always been positive. And then it's very

easy then if you have a negative interaction and then to completely forget about all the positive things that's happened. Well, that's the world we live in. We live in that type of world and we're that way through society right that we we highlight the bad that people do and we overlook right and that goes across even to give you a simpler example most friendships end because oh this time my friend disrespected me oh this time he done something I can't forgive but we forget all of the other hundred times that friend gave you support they were there for you all the time that's what's happening now yeah that's the the victim and ungrateful mentality that people

have and if people want to be honest right because people don't like the truth I I like to look at myself. I ask myself tough questions away from people. Yeah, I really do. And I ask myself, are you grateful? Are you actually grateful? In the things that you're saying, how does that look when people have helped you?

And it was a friend of mine that reached out to me. Because during that Black Lives Matter situation, I posted something online and I posted, and I remember I posted, obviously I'd done the whole black my screen thing like everybody else was doing, and I posted something, you know, talking about, yeah, the times that the police abused me, And I said, you know, I was walking down the road one time and a police drove by and they called me a monkey basically in a garter van, right? And they drove by. And I remember talking to all those experiences and I said, yeah, white people don't understand their experiences, right? Ireland is a racist country. Those were my statements. And a friend of mine messaged me. And he said, bro, how can you say that? I went to school with you. I never racially abused you. We supported you. We even fought for you. And I know other lads that when there was a problem, they came to fight for you.

Right. And my best friend even text me and he said, we went to college together. I helped you pass first year and second year Like our families know each other. I never did that to you. Yeah, and then I had to sit down and think about it and that's where you collectively look at all the good experiences and you know what? There's two people. I really want to give a shout out two great Irishmen, right? Incredible Irishmen. There's periods in my life where my father wasn't there My mother and father separated, right? So I had no father figure, no real guidance. My brother was my father but at the same time he He needed a father himself. And there's two really important people that stepped up to the plate that time, right? There's a man who I met him randomly.

Paul McMahon, he's a man from Tala, great man, macker. And I went to play football for his team, right? And this man always looked after me, even after I left his team. Like I remember one time he called me, took me out for lunch, you know, he had his own business. He's millionaires, right? Took me out for lunch and things.

And I asked him, I said, why do you help me? Like, I haven't done anything for you. Like, why are you helping me? You take me out for lunch and I'm like, why? And he said to me, because you're not an idiot. He said, you're not an idiot and I just want to see you succeed. Even today, the positions that I'm in, he's helped me tremendously. He's put me in incredible positions and I owe my huge debt of gratitude, right?

Another man, Peter Flood, done the same. He calls my older brother, his son, right, supported us outside and inside football with personal stuff that we had going on, right? These are important people and that's when I realized, like, stop being an idiot, right? Look at this situation properly. The position you're in in your life is a life-changed position. you've done that the country you're in is it your country no have you been

welcomed yes you have education who gave with you irish teachers right I suppose when you're speaking like that the first thing that's coming to my mind is okay you're looking at it from a logical standpoint and I think

that's probably the big clash between both sides at the moment is that some are trying to look at it from a logical standpoint and somewhere looking at from an emotional standpoint and sometimes the logical standpoint says it in a way that triggers the emotional

and emotion in people as well look I'm one thing I'll tell people I couldn't care you react emotionally yeah that's again what should put it here life doesn't care yeah you're gonna face your problems

you become a victim you'll become a casualty life will make you a casualty and the other side I'm just gonna look at a higher level because some people said it to me right and I understand most people don't understand what they carry yeah right even for somebody to call me black and me to be offended by that but deep down within me I carry and every person carries this within them right they carry a divine spark you carry a divine nature in you has no color

tell me the color of your soul tell me the color of my soul and I'll accept you calling me whatever that color is yeah you can't you can't do that but that's the real me yeah that's the substance that's the real value that you have it's your soul and that's the character and the content of a man it's not your skin this is minor this is this is clothes for that thing in you so I carry something like that and you're telling me then I should be offended by

somebody calling me a skin I suppose a lot of that has to do then with like for you to not get offended or not react emotionally the individual has to do a lot of work on themselves and something you spoke about theirs is obviously people

would evict the mindset and then another thing that I wrote down there is gratitude do you think that is the antidote to someone with a victim mindset is to try and look at things through a lens of gratitude to move forward of course yeah because if you're ever stuck in a rut right or if you're ever in a bad situation the best way to get out of it I think is to be grateful for the little that you have yeah and then you'll be given more yeah right and it comes from a spiritual concept as well most people when they go to pray to God the best thing to do is just be grateful in the

presence of God the more you're grateful for the more you'll be given and in the presence of people is the same. If anybody can look at my situation, all I have done was, if you really look at what I've said, all I have said is thank you, Ireland, for what you've done for me. Yeah, literally, yeah. Thank you Irish people for what you've done for me. And you know, some Irish

people have sent me audios crying. That's how deep gratitude goes to people. Well, I think a lot of Irish people feel like they've been lambasted by the media and saying that you're a racist, you hate these people, and because they're having concerns about the way that the country is going and you know like I say a lot of

people just feel that is an unfair you know slur that is being put on them and then when someone like you stands up and says hold on you know this isn't actually what's going on and it's like all right someone's actually voicing voice and what how we feel it's bullying I hate bullying I hate bullying on either side and there are people are being bullied that's what I saw yeah I saw people being bullied, being bullied by the media, being bullied by the government, being insulted. To the point that they're saying, your own flag is a symbol of racism. Are you crazy?

It's an Irish country. Come on. Can you tell me a little bit about your experience? I know you went to the peaceful protest in City West. Can you tell me your experience on the ground there? Unbelievable. Really? Unbelievable.

Yeah. Right? And it was unbelievably painful. What do you mean by that? I could feel the concerns of the mothers, the concerns of the children. That's all you could see there. were mothers that were scared children that could feel the fear in their mothers

and they were standing there I actually brought a friend of mine right because the day before I went the first day and I was telling people go to these protests nobody's gonna attack you don't no no no they will you're lying all of that right so I went there the first day and I was there I spoke to some people some people came look thank you for coming and all of that

and I was like jeez that's just here to see what's going on but then the second day I brought a friend of mine right now text them and he actually got there before me so when he drove by he called me he goes bro are you sure like all I see is white people there and Irish flags everywhere and he was scared right and I said look relax

I'm coming and I met him at one of the areas he parked and it was myself and Katnawland yeah Katnolet and Kat went up to him and she gave him a hug and he was like relax he was scared when we walked over right what he was met with was mothers

going to him and saying thank you for coming here and shown support we're not race Yeah. She said, we're not racist. I'm genuinely here because I'm concerned about my kids. I'm concerned about the future of my kids. It's not safe around here. People are coming out here. They're drinking all the time. Like, we're having so many different things go wrong. A friend of mine, and he was African lives around the corner. His kids' bikes were stolen from people that were in there. And he got a ring doorbell and he could see it. Right. So when he was there and he realized it, geez, like, this is about unity. This is what people are afraid of. And there was one of the organizers there, her husband, is actually, uh, is black, our partner is black. And he was there as well, he said the same thing. He said, look, the situation's going on is wrong. You know what I mean? Like, something needs to be done about it

because it's making all the other migrants look bad. It's putting a stain on every other migrant that's in here doing the right thing. And that's the dangers of what that IPA center stuff is doing. It's the anti-social behavior because the people don't know the lay of this land. So some of the crimes they're committing

and they probably think it's a normal thing. I drove by that same place before, right? In the middle and broad daylight. and I saw a man peeing in the middle of the road in broad daylight and there's kids walking behind it I had to beep and say look come on man what are you doing and he's like oh I'm sorry I'm saying bro you can't do that here is this is this where people are going wrong

in terms of they're looking at it from the lens of race when they should be looking at it from the lens of integration culture all them things well look your nationalist movements I think they've done a lot of damage and I said it before on my own personal podcast and said their approach was wrong what they should have done

was go if you're gonna go outside those iPad centers talk to them let them know look this is how things operate here this is not good for you it's not good for us are you happy with living

in there the way you're living and those people would have told you no it's like a prison some of them are losing their mind in there this is the thing the public don't know and I know because I have conversations with people that are there

that come from Congo yeah right some people are crazy there's levels of violence that are going on in there so it's not good It's a toxic environment, but that's... It's not good for anyone. When you cage people in, this is what happens.

So the approach I said was talk to them and tell them, you should be coming frontline with us. But they took the wrong approach because some people went there, they were filming them, some people were abusing them. Some people did that. It done more damage because it gave the government an out. That's what I said even before it happened, that hopefully it's a peaceful protest

because just one bit of violence or antisocial behavior, that's what's going to be straight. on RTage. Yeah, and that's what was. Yeah. And that's what was, right? And so many other rumors were spread that black people got attacked. No person got attacked. I know people from the area, Talas, yeah? And they don't do things like that. Yeah. If people lose it like that, they're protesting towards the iPass and it towards the individual that did that because it's a horrific thing. Yeah. You don't touch children in this area. In Ireland, when a kid is touched, whether it's by an Irish person or anybody, there's always outrage. People don't like

that. Yeah. Children are the pride of this country. Women and children are the pride of this country and it's a no-go area. Whether it's a black person who does it or an Irish person who's, I've always seen it called out, right? It's always been and that's the way it is in this country and people have to understand that. It's just it's unfortunate the approach the nationalist party have done and I'm saying it to people and I keep saying it. Yeah. Like if you're a work class market, the reason I go is because I work, I pay taxes. Cost of living is too much for me. Yeah. Trying to get a house is too much. I'm after getting a new apartment. I had to pay extortionate amount to get it, right? In a short space of time. Yeah.

Because they told me, well, if you don't pay today, the apartment is gone. And I'm like, but I don't get paid until the end of the month. And the apartment I was looking at, by the end of the day, when I reached back out to them, when I actually raised the money, they told me it's gone. So luckily, I ended up finding another one.

But, you know, so under those circumstances, like, it's difficult for everybody. I've got, look, I've got kids. And to be honest, do I think there's a future for them in here where they can own property and things like that? I don't think so. And that's the reality for every Irish children. That's the reality for everybody.

Healthcare is a joke. hospital appointments are ridiculous right if you're waiting for public public health care it's a long situation for you and it's been like that for years so these are the things that I'm unhappy about because I'm a working class migrant in this country

I'm contributing I want to build my future here but the opportunities are not there and they are being given to other people that came in on a carpet and that's the reality because when you talk to the people they'll tell you what they're getting when you see what the Ukrainians got it tells you everything

they got beyond the Rolls-Royce treatment Whether you say it's funded by the EU or whatever, it doesn't matter. What about your people? Why are your people left aside for other people to get priority treatment? I suppose it's an easy outlet for the government to be like, you know, look at this, this is racism because it avoids them having all them conversations that you just spoke about. Well, you know what? And what bothers me because it's a horrible game to play, right?

It's a horrible game to play. It's detrimental. I think the sole goal of a government, right, or anybody who's being tasked with the responsibility you're looking after people is create environments where your people thrive yeah create environments for people to succeed you don't you don't give them crutches right you don't cripple them early on and the situations they've paid it's crippling everybody it's crippling everybody even those that look Ireland is losing its best right yeah and it's not getting the best no that's the other side many people that are talented in this country are going abroad

because financially it's not beneficial right if you're a successful business owner it's not really beneficial for you to be here right now and that's what Ireland is chasing away and so you know I know so many I spoke to a couple of friends of mine that are in Australia they're doing well for themselves and things like that they don't want to come back here to say why would I come back yeah what's there for me to do like even if I came back and I wanted to give back to my country like financially it wouldn't make sense for me I'd be crippling myself and I don't even think I can help those people that I want to help yeah you know what uh where do you see a role as a black Irish in this society

because I know you speak a lot about your faith on social media which is very refreshing do you think well actually just tell me a little bit about how you came to your faith first

is this something that has always been or is this something that I grew up in a family that always prayed yeah right my family always believes in God but growing up as a kid I didn't really

when I moved here we weren't really going to church and things like that like Sundays I play football yeah right and I'm like you know what my parents and I thanked them for that because they were

they were integrated like my mum was integrated like my mom was integrated and she knew it was important for us to play sports make friends yeah and things like that so sundays we went um didn't really go to church much like that growing up when i turned 18 life kind of took a bit of a turn yeah uh when my mom and dad separated it was a bit of a confusing time because it was like a week before i turned 18 i lost a relationship i was in my mom and dad separated yeah i got my leaving search results they weren't great he didn't do well in skill no not at all um and so I've done well in subjects I like, like, English and Matt's. English, Matt's, Irish history I liked. Done well and that, the rest, it couldn't care. So it was that situation, and then, you know, I got to a position where I contemplated suicide

and I was going to take my own life one night. I went to Houston Station. Yeah. And I was going to jump off the bridge at Houston Station in the middle of the night because I was waking up every day, just misery, there's nothing happening for you. You're sleeping away days after day after day. And at that age, I'm looking at, geez, like the future's done.

Yeah, yeah. That's the way I looked at it. And I couldn't make sense of it because we were struggling. When my dad left, my mom were left in severe poverty, right? And there were periods where, like, every morning you wake up, you're hearing the electricity going off.

And my mom doesn't know where she's gonna get money from. She's got none, right? She had a lot of financial burdens, a lot of financial problems. And she had a little bit of money just to buy food for my little brother. Because he was a little kid, so you gotta buy milk for him and stuff like that,

just a baby. And so more times he'd be looking, after and me and my brother would probably go to our friends or whatever you know what i mean or later on when my uncle would come by give my mom some money and things like that so made it tough and just that dynamic was horrible and i couldn't do anything i felt helpless because like what am i going to do i don't have any education i can't get a job yeah you're 18 i'm 18 all other things aren't working so i contemplated that but thankfully i didn't do it something kept me back and it was just that image of what my brother would go through and my mom after me not being here and there was a voice in my head that's

telling me like do it like this is the only solution and I didn't and then I went back and one day we were sitting at home my mom invited somebody to pray he came to our house to pray and we I didn't want anything to do with God then because I'm like where's this stupid God you all pray to like you pray to God my mom you're waking up early in the morning I don't need crying praying to God throughout the day I can hear a crying in the room upstairs where's this God why is he letting innocent kids suffer like this why is he let my little brother be in a position that he has nothing to eat and you keep crying to this silly God. That was my viewpoint.

Me and my brother wanted nothing to do. And the man came in and he sat there, but he could see me weren't interesting. We were pissed off. His presence pissed us off. And he said, your mum asked me to pray for you, but God is telling me to tell you something different. And he said, God is telling me to let you know that he believes in you. And when he said those words, it was like, my heart was in so much pain that that was the only thing that, like it felt like somebody hugged me in that moment by those words.

And I started crying. My brother started crying because it's like, you kind of knew there's more to you but it's not happening so the fact that somebody else can acknowledge that is a powerful thing right so a little bit of motivation goes a long way for people

words of encouragement that's where I was trying to encourage people daily a little bit of encouragement can change somebody's life in a way you cannot possibly imagine and then the last thing he said to me he said you have something that this country needs those are the words he said to me you guys have something that this country needs

that was 18 I'm 32 now right long time ago And those were the words he said to me. So you're looking at nearly 20 years later, or yeah, about 12, 12 odd years later. And when I sit now, and I only deeped it to the other day, it's like, yeah, he wasn't lying. So that was the word of God.

And then things began to change instead of going to church and praying more. But now I've also, I've had different encounters with God that I've understood what I say to people, and this is why I say you carry the divine spark in you. The presence of God is in you. The voice of God walks with every single individual. Some people can't hear him.

because they've allowed the external world to tell them they look for it in the external world so that voice becomes quiet right and you can't hear it no more because you've killed it by trying to find yourself in the world and all of these other stuff that the media does all of these distractions even with immigration racism

all of these other distractions that keep you focusing on the real person the real power you have and God with you so I got to a position where I've had some incredibly powerful visions and I just I trusted myself more and God more and that intuitive voice more so I'm not I say this to

people I'm not religious as people would say I'm not a your church going Christian right if you say but rather than a deeper faith yeah I get my information directly from God I don't need anybody else I don't need to stand there for another man to tell me what God can tell me directly and when you trust him only and lean on him he gives you every answer you can possibly have In terms of, let's say, even going back to when you're 18 and you have that conversation and it's like you don't need someone to pray for you, but you know, someone who says that they believe in you. So I think a lot of young boys probably who do suffer with mental health or do they feel aimless, they feel hopeless. And I think that's a mistake of society we make is that, you know, we try to, not that I'm saying, like there's the narrative like boys just need to open up.

And like, okay, that's fine and stuff like that. But also boys need to feel capable and they need to feel strong and they need to feel like, you know, they have control over their own destiny. And I think that's a message we miss in society when we talk to young boys. Absolutely. It comes down to that whole victimhood.

Yeah. It comes down to masculinity. Yeah. And boys understanding, making boys competent and capable, strengthening them. Yeah. Preparing them for the real world. It's going to be hard.

Yeah. You have to become harder. Yeah. Than that situation. Right. and I always say it because obviously the mental health conversation has to be had. Cry if you will, complain if you will, let it all out, but you have to keep moving. This is the life of a man, right?

So it's not to make, again, my view is it's not to make kids weaker. It's to make them stronger and prepared for the war that's about to come their way because they will have it. It's inevitable. That's one thing we're guaranteed as men is hardship. You're guaranteed that you're going to face trials and tribulation. The purpose of them, and this is where people lack, this is what you have to teach kids. The purpose of it is to make you stronger. Over the past three, the course of my life, I said this to somebody last time and I said everything I've been through.

If I was told that's what I need to go through to become who I am at the start, I would have said no. I don't want to, right? It's been painful. It's been emotionally tough. It's been spiritually tough. I've been on the brink of taking my life. Numerous occasions. It's brought me to depression.

At my highest moments in my life where I thought I won everything, it brought me back down very quickly. but if it did not happen I'm not who I am right I don't like them didn't enjoy them but they were necessary for me to be who I am and this is what men need to understand this is what young kids need to understand

so instead of when they go through their difficulties and I've dealt with kids that are going through depression and mental health right we talk about it express to me where your concerns are from and then we find a solution to move forward I also have to tell you the truth that these things are happening to you because they need to make you stronger

like it or not, learn to endure it, learn to master it, and it'll make you better. And that's the message that everybody needs to have. The issue you face, and my message is predominantly to men, especially every type of man out there, right? Even falling back to a little bit back on our conversation, but I think it's relative, to black men, I say it to them, everything you've been through

was to strengthen you, don't be a victim. If you become a victim, life will make you the casualty, right? Life is gonna run you over, so I don't care. Yeah, racism is, okay, no problem. Yeah, you experienced, okay, so what? Now what? What's your solution? And I ask people, I ask you honest,

what's your solution to racism? Nobody can give me an answer, right? From an individual perspective, okay, you've faced all of that. Now what? Do something about it. Move forward with it. Become somebody. Even for Irish people, I think this is an important message.

I really think it is because the reason Arnold is in the position it's in, because many Irish men took a back seat. Yeah. They sat back waiting for the politicians today. waiting for somebody else to do it. Things that they could have fixed within their own communities, they allow people to do it.

That's not the Irish spirit. That's not the fighting Irish spirit. Give the government more power, let them do it rather. That's not the spirit that brought this country feed. I mean, you think Michael Collins and all of them sat back and they were victims? They weren't.

They had a fighter spirit in them and they decided, we are more than this and we won't settle for this situation. Same thing for black people, I say. What do you think? Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, they were victims. They knew racism was there, but they also knew who was dealing the racism.

They addressed it with the people that were at the forefront of the racism but they were never victims they didn't portray themselves as victims and what we have now with social media victims that's what we have because if you go on social media and say well Ireland is racist

and I've been racially abused and you tell a racist story what's the views Yeah well that's what I was about to say To be a victim now is It's currency Of course because it plays on I think it plays on dopamine chemicals

It also plays on emotional chemicals in different people Because look naturally when somebody's hard done by because we're loving people will want to support them. That's what people do. And people are playing on that. That's what bothers me. Real people that have gone through real racism. We didn't come out of the end of it as victims. Right? You don't come out the end of it. I know and I was speaking to a friend of mine who's a UFC fighter. And he talked to me and he said, yeah, but bro, do you don't think what you're talking about, like about racism? Like my family got

attacked when we were getting older. My sisters got attacked. He said that to me, right? But I'm looking at him. I'm like, you're a machine. Like the size of you. And And then you took up fighting, why? And he said it, he said, I took up fighting so people would stop bullying me. So racism done you, a great service. It was the fire that you needed to become something stronger and better.

Thank it. Don't cry about it, thank it and appreciate it. Whatever darkness is thrown your way, whatever hardship is thrown your way, thank it. I've been done very, very badly over the past couple of years, very badly. I've been betrayed by certain people that I dedicated an unhealthy amount of my life too.

Yeah, right? But you know what, at the end of it, I am thankful. I used to have anger towards them, but over the past six months, the progress I've made, they fueled something in me. What they did to me fueled the fire in me. I had two choices. I become a victim and I can complain about what they did to me

because it's wrong, incredibly wrong, or I can make something to myself that they can no longer overlook me, right? Certain people laugh at me, but now you can't overlook me. I'm everywhere you look. it goes it's essentially cognitive

reframing isn't it's looking at you like whatever the situation is is going to be the situation you can't change it but you can change your perspective on it you can change your outlook on it and like that goes back to what you just said it's like if you can focus on gratitude rather than being a victim

that's probably going to be the field to push you forward rather than stay stuck in the in the river viewpoint is important I used to tell this story when I was old because I read it in a book I read a lot and I people if you read you'll understand do you think do you think that kind of reading and self-development has because like you said you said that like a couple of years ago you would have had that perspective of being a victim do you

think that's something like developing true education do you think that's that's helped change your perspective I think so yeah I think more more schools should include like person developed work for kids teaching them life skills emotional skills and I don't think schools have it but any parent in my view If you've a kid that is at the age of reading, start embedding them in reading like personal development books. It's important. My nephew's 12.

If you speak to this kid, his mindset is different, right? But it's also what he sees me do, what he sees his father do. He sees his dad working out every day. He sees me and his dad when we go to the gym. He sees how hard we push. Right, he comes to watch us play football. He sees that. But when he's at home, he sees his father reading.

Yeah. Right. When his uncle's over at the house, he sees his uncle reading. Yeah. right so then he gets curious and that's how it started he got curious and he said can i take one of your books one i was yeah go ahead and he picked up a book i've got a book it's called the motivation manifesto and he went to his dad he said can i borrow one of your books and he said yeah and he took a book and it was how to stop worrying and start living imagine a 10 year old reading something like that

right and now his mindset is different his performance in sports is different he he understands he's at a position where all he knows is we win in this family that's what he knows i'm a winner all i do is win whenever he's come to me with a problem that oh look, because when he was younger he was getting bullied in skill and there was a kid that kicked him in the groin a couple of times and he came crying and their mom said to me

oh Tristan got beat up in skill today and I said what happened or some kid kicked him in the groin and me and his dad's down and said the next time that happens teach that kid a lesson it's not to promote violence but I need to teach him to defend himself I said don't ever let somebody do that to you

I said did you tell your teacher yes what did your teacher do oh they said they talked to him but the kids have to do it again. So I told him the third time, make sure he doesn't do it again. Yeah. Right?

And the kid tried it and you know what I mean? He disciplined them. And I think other people want to prove of that. But again, there comes a point where if I thought, like the people that won't, not everybody, and I tell him this, like, I'm not always going to be there. Your dad's not always going to be here.

You need to learn how to protect yourself sometimes. And some people learn things differently. Do you think, okay, because we can see in this society now that, you know, everyone gets very, emotionally upset over even the smallest things it's because a lot of children now probably didn't grow up with the building the resilience that a lot of people had to on the playground or in skill i agree yeah yeah i agree because and i think it's a it's a great quote where it says one generation will build it another will destroy it right because the generation building it has all the strength it took to build the

foundation because i noticed that in like the gen z era is that they they react like if you say something their reactions are they've no emotional control and it must like when you're speaking about stories like that you're bullied on the playground or you're bullied in skill and you have to stand up for yourself like that teaches a kid's

resilience that will stand to them later in life absolutely yeah well if all he knows is to report it to somebody else what happens when nobody's there yeah what happens when nobody's there he's bullied yeah that's just simple and this is the reality what I say to be we don't live in a perfect world even people saying oh well

there shouldn't be racist or this and that I spoke to a cousin of mine and said become competent said if you're competent people don't do that I've never been in a working environment where people disrespected me racially because they couldn't because I can handle myself competently

we're going to have a very stern conversation I've had places where people have said something I didn't like and I addressed it and I'll tell them what you said I'm not happy with that and I'm not going to back down until you either stop doing it

or you apologise and that's where people have to get at and you can't I just I don't have the victim mentality because I know how dangerous it is. Makes you weaker and you're not weak. Nobody is weak. Speaking of hard conversations, obviously, a lot of conversations are on social media now

so people can say what they want or they can, you know, they don't have to deal with it in the same way as a confrontational sit down with someone. So obviously you were on dining with the enemy. Tell me a little bit about that experience. It was a great experience. You know what? I loved it. I enjoy it's a great idea by the way it is a great idea because it is like what this

society essentially is right now everyone has their opinions everyone's extremely divided and like can you sit across the table with someone and have a conversation on them and controversial views yeah yeah it was good look and at certain times it got heated people challenged me on certain things but I was able to keep composure because why why do you think you were able to keep composure what's the best way I can frame this when you're dealing with people that so when I got in there I read the room yeah right I read the room

I wasn't the first to speak right even when we were standing outside greeting each other so you get a feel where everybody's at yeah how they interact did you know what other people's views were before you got in there I knew Ben's views yeah of course yeah I didn't know anybody else's views there I knew Ben's views because I've watched a couple of this stuff on Grip

and I thought it was actually good. You speak from logic and I like to think logically as well so we agree on certain things. Everybody else I didn't know but then when you're sitting there again this is what I say to people become competent so you don't react emotional

so you can actually deal logically in situations and I was just able to do that right? I'm able to express my mind in a better way than other people and I also have too much personal understanding of me that I can't be dragged out or baited into a conversation

that I don't need to have or say the thing that I don't necessarily believe in because of somebody else. The reason other people lost that conversation with me at the table is because they reacted emotionally. When emotion comes in, logic goes out the window, right? And when you play sports, it's that. I've been in high pressure situations. I was going to say, I'm sure sport also has a lot to do with we're building that kind of emotional control and resilience because you're dealing with failure all the time. I've been in high pressure situations and I've lost a lot in life. This is the thing. I've failed a lot in life. I've been in a lot of high pressure. situations right from a sports when you've got a hundred people standing there watching his play the rivalry crumlin against Bluebell like it's one of the biggest derbies in the country at amateur level for a long time when you're involved in those situations in life in work right you're in high-pressure

situations I deal with a lot of like directors and stuff like that I've always done for a huge part of my career you're dealing with intense conversations where you can't bullshit essentially yeah right you need to know your stuff so when I do that enough and you go into that situation and look I just had a little bit more experience to some of the people there in different, I've exposed myself to different conversations

and different situations and I had a more well-rounded view right so especially around the topic of immigration and Ireland I the reason I can say what I can say I've easily spent time

with over 200 Irish people easily right I've Irish friends I spend a lot of time meeting people I spent a lot of time meeting people Nigerians, Congolini different people I've done that

because I understood that to know more is to know yourself and the best way for me to do that I spend time people so a lot of things I'm saying is because I know the people yeah and the reason where people are talking from a position of just emotion and you're making up situations because you haven't experienced it or you haven't actually gone you don't know the people because you haven't sat with them well I think that's an important point is that a lot of us live in our echo chambers yes and if we live in our echo chambers you're only going to get and this like everyone has an echo chamber like regardless of whether you

you think you're nuanced in your opinion or not we're all inclined to you know follow different parts of the algorithm online but if you're only following your own echo chamber and you never look to understand the different perspective you're never going to be able to develop your opinion of course what you know is where you're at where you are yeah right what you don't know what can take you to the next level yeah that's the way I look at the more information you have the more you see my dad actually told me this and in one time he gave advice he said put your hand beside your face and I put my hand

here and he said can you see the other side and I said no he goes that's how you're living life right now and he said if you get more information what tends to happen is this hand begins to open up and then all of a sudden I can see more yeah so that's what he said to me know a little bit about everything and I think it's important for anybody it's just nice to know a little bit about everything because even in conversations where you're talking to people I know a bit about this I know a bit about that yeah I'm not just speaking like because of what I think because what I think is based on what I know and ultimately that's wrong but I also approach conversations from a perspective of look

I'm going to share my opinion but I'm opening to listening because I could be wrong you might give me something new well that's what I was going to ask you about as well do you think that was some of the conversations that people were having they were having the conversation

to prove that they were right rather than understand the person across the table because I think that happens a lot on I know myself I can fall for that as well it's like someone says an opinion and I'm thinking to myself oh no I know you're wrong so now I'm going to prove that you're wrong

rather than come at it from a place of understanding I think we fall into that trap It doesn't. That definitely, definitely happened. Some people try to impose their views upon me. And you need to see it my way. Yeah. But humility, right? Humility.

And I always tell people the best way to criticize, the best criticism is to yourself. It makes you better. I have this thing, you know, I fall victim to it sometimes that you criticize people or you judge somebody, but often before I do, I was trying to understand. What about me?

Let me look at it from my side first. Let me look at my own flaws first. You have to be humble. enough and humble yourself enough to be in a position that they think I might be wrong most people are not humble because they don't understand

so what's the best way to say this if you look at some of the well-rounded people right and people that do well in life they understand what it takes to be that they understand the type of mentality I need to have the type of person I need to be

I need to be a humble person I need to be somebody who's honest I need to be somebody who's reflective I need to be somebody who's respectful The people who don't know that, right? So success has its clues, failure has its clues. The people that are not succeeding, and I personally think they won't succeed unless they change their ways,

are people that think the way I am is perfect. The way I am is that's it, right? I am who I am, like me or love me. And that's wrong. And somebody said this to me before. The best way to lose friends is to always speak your mind. Always speak your mind.

And there's people that, look, you get different categories in society and I think that's what the show was beautiful because you get to see different people yeah i suppose different archetypes of people and one of them is that that take me as i am right it's like in your face and i'm not willing to change and i won't compromise sounds good sounds protective makes you feel good detrimental in the long run yeah nobody will like you no right and that's so i have to be open and really try to and it's hard so what i do say it's not easy it's hard and i just i spent more time for myself personally yeah doing the harder things personally

and so I say it to people I do more work on myself than I do externally and I think that's the best work people can do right and it's hard because in life we think doing more makes you more progressive

but sometimes it's doing more on yourself which in return leaves you doing less out there but it makes you better I think personally for me I think it's working for me yeah I think I see it a lot in Irish society that a lot of people want to change the world but they won't start with themselves

or their community. And that changing itself is a hard one, right? Because then anybody watching this, sit there tonight and ask yourself, what things about me are not good? Well, it's easy to share all the atrocities that are going on in the world on social media because you can't change them.

No. And it's the same thing with the government. The government spends half its time talking about Gaza because they can't make any change there. What they can make change on is the homeless crisis, the health care system, the mental health system. But they won't talk about any of them things because that actually requires real action.

And this is the other side why when I say some of the things I say resignates with different people. I've actually been in those communities. I've been in the likes of the flats. I've got friends that are in the flats. I know the conditions that people are living in there. Your politicians are never there.

They don't know what the working class area is like. They don't go talk to the working class people. They don't live in those areas. They don't spend days in those areas. Driving through an area and living there are two different things yeah right going in and sitting down and talking with the people in those areas is different compared to and so what they look at and they're making decisions that's what i said you sit in an ivory tower yeah and you're making decisions for people down there

that you don't know you're like unless you unless you have starved right you won't know the feeling of your stomach rumbling the pain you don't know that in your mind all you can think about is food you don't know that pain right unless you've had heart break yeah unless you've been through depression unless you've had suicidal thoughts you can't counsel somebody who's had that because the counsel you might give them might come from a place of you just thinking what they need yeah whereas you knowing what people need yeah the difference between some of the things i think is because i've i asked god for certain things and i said right god i've lived my life right when i got to like 26 27 i had a great life right from 18 to 21 was

21 to 26 God bless me tremendously and when I arrived at that point I said you know what if I died today I'm good I'd actually say thank you for everything you've done for me because the goodness that I've seen I went to a position of my ultimate law to position that I deem was this was the most success I could get right now obviously I've achieved more since then but back then that for me showed me like wow so and then I said to go right well going forward then let me live a meaningful life right you've given me what I wanted let me let me me give something to you and something to the world. And so you put me through pain.

You put me through so many different experiences that at the time, I kind of knew that, yeah, this is what I asked for, because when you pray for rain, you've got to deal with the mud. So I had to deal with the mud before the rain came. But in all those experiences and everything

that I went through, I can connect with people differently. I can talk to somebody who's gone to depression because so have I. I can talk to somebody who's been financially in a difficult situation because so have I.

I can talk to the kids in the flats because I've been there with them. I've gone and hung out with them. I've talked to those kids. I can speak to the mother that's a single mother struggling to pay bills because I've sat around people like that.

I've talked to them. The government don't do that so they don't know the people. You've a government that doesn't know the Irish people. Yeah, that's why as a person you're not going to be able to resonate with people in that power

because... And they can't. Even what they say doesn't resonate with the people because you're not one of the people. Yeah. That's what Ireland has. It's got people in position

that's not one of them. Right? Now you might have, and this is what I ask people, what does it mean to be Irish? Because there was a bit of a debate. And I asked people, and I ask it again, what does it mean to be Irish? Because you're born here.

And a lot of people gave me different things. But at the deep root of it, I heard it's a love of the land, a love of your people, understanding of the sacrifices that, you know, of those whose blood were shed on all of the wars that were fought in this country, right? It's a deep, deep appreciation for human life. That's what it means to be Irish.

and you can only have a love of your fellow people if you're struggling with them if you're fighting with them if you're living like them unfortunately some of the people in power I've never had that luxury of being in those difficult situations

and I call it a luxury because it is you find the greatest people in somebody's working class community diamonds in the dirt do you think that would you agree that Ireland has become more of a secular country than a religious country or a country of faith do you think that has had a net negative

do you think it's gone do you think it's way too far yeah it did but it's coming back I think it's coming back more right I think that faith and that strength is coming back more than people and that's where I push a lot my message really tell people

I am where I am because of God the closer people come back to God the quicker Ireland can be fixed and I know some people I think well what is God going to do you'd be surprised right but the other side you got to understand why did it happen in the first place

yeah right why was that done People are saying the Catholic Church, but the priests that were put there were put there by the English. Those priests that did all of those atrocities, they were instructed to do those atrocities. Because they knew this will break their spirit.

This will break them from God. And when that armor is down, we can begin to inflict the damage that needs to be done. Right? So that's what the... Ireland has been systematically beaten down. That's the way I look at it.

Systematically beaten down by certain things that were done, certain votes that were passed. First of all, these people have a deep spirit of God. That's the rebellious nature because it was a fire of God. Michael Collins, I believe, had the fire of God within them. That's what pushed them to do the things he'd done. That's what all of those people that died for this country

they had the fire of God in them, right? They might have lived lives, we don't know how they lived their personal lives, but the love of God was in them. And that's what gave them the fire to do the things they did. So they knew once we killed these people, what was fueling them? And one thing people got to understand, in war,

the side that wins, no matter how they win, right? Or even the that loses, they understand and they do deep research on the people they had a war with. So they know more information than the average people do. And so they look at long term, 20 years, 40 years, how do we dominate these people? And for me, I think taking that out of the Irish people was one of them, amongst many other things, your own personal language not being valued. Yeah. And then, you know, other things coming in.

Yeah, well that's what I thought. I think it leaves a vacuum to be filled. And I think it's being filled with a lot of activism, whether that activism has been a net positive or not, I don't know. I think it's negative. Yeah, I think so too. I think it's incredibly, it's been incredibly negative. I understand, look, I understand diversity and all these things and I say it. I even say to people, look, people keep telling me you should run in politics, but say, look, personally, right, and if God tells me that's what I need to do, I would do it, but personally, and I've said it has to be, this is an Irish country, it has to be an Irish leader, has to be Irish people leading, right? But now, It's hard to find the Irish people that have the love of Ireland in them

and they have the competency and the intellect and they're allowing God to lead them. You're not getting people that are being led by God. You're getting people that are led by their own selfish ambitions, which it seems good, it seems righteous, but in the long term, it's not going to be that. So it's hard. And every country, and I say it for Ireland,

but Congo needs to be led by a Congo person, right? All due to the country need to be led by their own because you'll know, like you've the deep, you've all so many more ties to your country than anybody else you've lineage heritage all of that right in you and that's important I think Ireland needs to be Irish

England needs to be English Congo needs to be Congolese Nigeria needs to be Nigerian because when we go to those different places we need to enjoy those cultures experience it learn and it makes us better but how are you going to come to Ireland and you can experience every other country

but Ireland well that's it is that like it's the least diversity in the world because you're taking actually the diversity out of the countries in Europe by making everyone the same essentially. Of course, yeah. But it's tough and again, look I think Irish people have a lot of personal power. I said

it the other day when I went to a certain meeting. I said it to people, well, you're not relying on the government but you can organise community programmes yourselves. Yeah. Like you can get a group of 30 parents, 30 families and say, right, we're going to invest maybe 100 quid each or whatever the cost is to hire an Irish teacher on the weekend we're going to have Sunday school for our kids and they're going to learn

Irish history yeah right for all the kids in the neighborhood we're going to bring them in teach them Irish history teach the Irish culture nearly every community can do that yeah that's very true nearly every community can do that so before you run to the government this is this is people taking back your own personal power personally I've always said I I've never gone to the government to say oh well we need government funding for this stuff I've done my own personal programs right when I needed something done for my community around personal development and teaching people financially valued skills I talked to my brother and I said how can we do something and he said right this is what we're gonna need it's right so we're

gonna rent out a hotel what's that gonna cost us wait how much you're getting paid at the end of one X I have this can we put it together yeah we'll put it and we did that you self-funded yeah and we'd over a hundred kids come in some of those kids have been inspired to do great things now in this country that today they still reach out to me to like this is the position I'm in them fantastic right but we didn't need the government for that this is the issue people got to understand there's personal power we have and there's also stuff at a higher level that you need the government on yeah

Irish people can take back the culture of Ireland themselves. They can enrich the culture themselves. You create those programmes, you'd be surprised. Other cultures will want to come in and learn then. Other cultures who want their kids to come in and learn that. And you tell them, we're doing Sunday school, teaching Irish history, would your kids like to be involved and to learn about Irish history?

They'd love it. They'd love it. I wanted to touch on just before we finished off as well because you had that conversation on Dining with Enemy about porn and the effect it has on young men. Could you talk a little bit about that conversation that you had? Because I think it's important.

Absolutely. So my problem with porn, when I was a kid, at the age of eight, I was introduced to porn. I struggle with porn addiction. And what people got to understand about porn addiction, it destroys men's ability to focus. It kills ambition in young men. Distort your views on women, right? And I think that increases sexual abuse because people that drink alcohol, they have this perceived value of women that they see on the internet. So a girl walking down the road wearing a short skirt to you seems getting.

because you're not in the right frame of mind and you've all these weird desires but alcohol fuels that even more it fuels the devil in you um so that element i don't like because even for me growing up like a lot of relationships i i said it like the worst thing that happened to me was losing my virginity at a young age right because everything became about sex yeah right in most relationships i got in it was like how quick can we get to the sex and that's the reality for a lot of people so you don't necessarily love somebody then you just love the physical actions that we do And long term, when that breaks, then it breaks. And it also causes you personal problems.

But I didn't get to enjoy the fullness of those relationships as I look back now, right, because of things like that. And also, it's the shame, and this is the thing people don't talk about it. Every man, when they watch porn, it's not something you go out publicly and be like, yeah, I just watch porn today, you know what I mean? It's something that we're shamed of. And it's something that most people don't want to do. Sometimes we want to stop it.

But it's the control that it takes over a person, and that's what I find dangerous. Yeah. Right? See, somebody who's drug addicted. it. They don't want to do it. They want to stop. They know how dangerous it is. But the dopamine hits, the impact that it's overridden your systems.

And that's what porn does. Because there's times that I've been, you know, growing up and I've struggled with it. Now I'm much better with it. But it was a situation where it's like, I don't want to watch porn. Do you think, sorry to cut you off, cut you off there, do you think the fact that now in your late years you have much more to probably live for

in terms of ambition in terms of things going forward that that has also helped with you, you know, not being addicted to porn. Because if you think about young men who probably, like, like there's loads of research now that young boys are, you know, more sexless than ever. They're not getting into relationships. They're not dating in teens.

They're staying at home online. And it's like, you know, they're struggling in school. So, you know, they, if they have nothing to look forward to what's something that can give them comfort, sedate them essentially. and it's probably online porn. It is that, but so there's so many different reasons people go to porn. It's not only that, right? Even the most successful person can go to it.

And people have to understand their triggers. For me, it was a trigger of stress and rejection. Okay. Right? Stress and rejection, because when I was growing up, obviously, my mother leaving, it left an emptiness in my heart that I always want to fulfill. And as I was growing up, whenever I got into a stressful situation, it's like, where do I look for an escape?

And porn was my escape to stress. So it's a weird one, right? But I only discovered later on when I started, like, doing more psychological work on myself. So for some people it's different things So the position we're in now Is because it's so easily accessible Yeah

Right Why would I go and get rejected from that girl When I can experience the experience of sleeping With that girl on my phone Exactly and that also reduces resilience in kids as well That we were speaking about earlier It reduces that men are now afraid of rejection Which makes them less prone to success

Because in order for you to be successful You have to accept rejection Yeah And become comfortable with it They're not approaching women They're not talking to women anymore because they're afraid that rejection again it just comes down to well I can get a quicker here and then you've got things like Tinder Tinder is like I look at

things like Tinder or stuff like it's just a porn website for me personally it's a prostitution website that's the best way I can say it right most people disagree because most people go on Tinder look where guys we have conversation where they're men growing up you have conversation with your mates like people go on there so they can find a quick person to sleep with and most and it's become that way that some women on that is what I do the same thing yeah I'm not generalizing all of them but that's the way I've seen it evolved too.

So all of those things, it's just, it's not great. And again, spiritually, it's not good either. Spiritually porn opens doors, people don't understand. Well, it's definitely, it's left both, I think both sexes just deflated in terms of dating. Because I think there's a huge dynamic on Tinder where it's like, you know, lads will, will swipe a lot more than girls will. A girls will be a lot more choosy for certain biological reasons. And so you have a huge portion of women swiping for like 10% of the, you know, the good-looking lads. They're over six foot.

They look good. You know, they're high achieving. So then you have this like 10% of men who have all these options. And that's obviously not good for men either to be like, okay, I have all these women to pick from. So it creates this kind of the sort of thing where 80% of the men are at home watching porn playing Xbox, you know, sedating themselves. And then you have 10% that are, you know, running rampant. and then all women are like, oh, men are all scumbags because, exactly, it creates this distorted view

between the sexes. 100%. And you see that online as well, don't you? It's like, there's a huge, like, anger from men and women and women giving out about men, men giving out about women. Like, you see that even on, there's lots of different kinds podcasts,

bitching about men or pitching about women, then red pill or whatever it is. All of those things feel that. Even in relationships, cheating, like, the consumption of porn increases that, I think that percentage of somebody going out to cheat if they're highly involved in that right because there's times in relationship but things don't work out and now people are in a position well if it

doesn't work out I can go get all these options yeah yeah I'll come back to you yeah yeah you know what I mean so that's my detest around that pornography conversation it's also an industry that promotes a lot of sex trafficking yeah right a lot of sex trafficking a lot of sexual abuse a lot of child abuse yeah it's promoted within that industry so that's why on that show my stance with it I don't really like it right because again women are not objects that's my I understand that. Women are not objects. I understand the value of women. Yeah. As I get older, I learn that more and more and more and more. They're not objects. They're not

sexual objects. They have more power and beauty within them. That all of those things distracts the views of men towards women and vice versa. Yeah. Women towards men. We have a lot to offer. We have a lot of value in us. We, we, we are the prize in a lot of situations, but that world is giving people the wrong perceptions. And it's more detrimental than we can possibly imagine. And I know people will say, oh, it's been around a long time. Yeah, well, so has cocaine. It's not a good thing. Yeah, and because of AI and stuff like that, it's probably only going to get worse because it becomes more and more real. Well, it's more mainstream, easily accessible. It's promoted more. There's a lot of money going in behind it. Yeah. So those are

the dangers of it. Right. Even if you don't want to see it, you'll see it somehow. If your child has a smartphone, they don't want to see anything like that, eventually they will come across it and it will trigger things in their mind that pushes them towards you know reacting to that and it's tough it's tough because a lot of people battle with it and that's what bothers me because a lot of men because I speak about my stuff openly I like to be open right and this is my thing because some people like to be closed off but what we don't realize is if you have a public platform I think it's important to be transparent because you don't know what somebody else is going through and they just need somebody else to be brave enough to say it yeah so I'd say openly I've struggled

with porn it's been a difficult thing yeah and the best thing you can do is find a way to solve that and other men have reached out to me then and say yeah bro look i struggle with it as well other people have given me technique to say this is what i do this is how i deal with it and these are the problems that's caused me yeah because sometimes we don't know and hearing somebody else's story can give you an idea yeah maybe you're failing in a certain area of life because of that maybe you've a lack of focus because of that your energy is drained because you're consuming all of those things it's killing your ambitions and it's stopping you from progression but when you hear from somebody else it helps and that's why i like to be open about my good about my

as flawed as you know what I mean and it's tough I always say to people you may see me on social media and think this guy is this that and the other but you don't you know me you don't know my day to day and I said that's what I say to me don't like hold anybody to a high level don't hold me like some superstar or some statue I'm a normal person with normal problems with normal flaws like everybody else I'm just maybe working on mine a little bit better than other people or a little bit differently than other people but I've also had my problems and I try my best to say them out out in public. I try my best to say it on my platform. I've been broke before. I've bounced

back. You know what I mean? I've had difficulties. You know what I mean? I haven't been the perfect child to my mother, to my family. And I've learned from those things. And it's important. I think it's important to be transparent because somebody who's struggling may be looking at you thinking, wow, I could never be that because he's all at this. But they don't realize that. I was once you. I was once in the position you're at. And it's very easy for them to think that when they look at a social media curated life as well. Yeah. Yeah. Last question I have for you, in a divided Ireland, what message would you have for people? Understand you're being divided so you can be weakened, and the longer you play into that division, the weaker you become, and your country will not have a future.

As it stands right now, your children don't have a future. Potentially, you don't have a future within your own country. No matter what lies are told, that's the way it is. So the longer you play the game of division or you entertain the game of the division, the less of a future you have, the less of a future your children and your generation have. And if you like God, God never built people for division, right? So the best thing you can do, stop the division and stop sitting down. I think too many people have taken a back seat.

And you have to ask yourself, when all of this was happening, what did I do? And what can I do now? It's time for Irish people to start taking action. in positive ways towards making the change Ireland needs and it's time

for other communities in Ireland to be a part of that right because history will write it this is what happened this is who helped

this is who sat back and the Irish people will never forget the people who helped and they will always forget and there'll be no place for the people

that did not help that's my view finally if people want to keep up with the work that you do where can they find you they can find me

on social media Instagram TikTok Tyah Mercer YouTube as well. I'm working on a few things. I want to do more of my public speaking events. So personal development really teach people about personal power, but I prefer in-person events. So that's something that's being worked on right now. Hopefully I can get to do a tour maybe around Ireland and the different places and meet more people and do different things.

So that's being worked right now nearly finished. So that's sort of the goal for me. And look, people are always, I'm an easy person to reach to or to talk to. I do try my best to get back to people whenever I can, so yeah, they can find me there. Plymer, thank you very much. This has been the uneducated PD podcast. If you like conversations like this, make sure you're subscribed, and we'll see you on the next one. Thank you so much, man.

Thank you very much. Thanks for watching. If you like that episode and you want to see more content like this, make sure you're subscribed, and I'll see you on the next one.