The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland leader Naomi Long grew up in a staunchly unionist east Belfast community, but as a centrist politician she has led her party to become the third largest in Northern Ireland.
Long qualified as a civil engineer and had never planned to get into politics - she thought it tedious and grim - but she knew the bitterness and hatred that infected society had to change, and her problem-solving engineering instincts kicked in.
In this week’s episode of The Irish Times Women’s Podcast, she speaks to Kathy Sheridan about the death threats and abuse she has endured over the past twenty years, and shares some of her best put-downs for men seeking to ‘put her in her place.’
Long also speaks about her matriarchal upbringing, her struggle with endometriosis, her faith and her primary school teacher’s appearance in Derry Girls.
