To lose a few pounds, Jim Clinton took to the treadmill as his 50th birthday approached. From there, he graduated to the first ParkRuns in Ireland. Having been biten by the bug, he went on to become the first person in Ireland to run 500 ParkRuns. Today, while acknowledging that he is no longer obsessed with his ParkRun record — others have overtaken him on the listings — he remains a tireless advocate for the individual benefits of running. A pacer at more SPAR Craic 10Ks then he might care to remember, Jim will be back in the fray this March 17.

Ahead of the 2026 SPAR Craic 10K, we speak with legends of the running scene in Belfast. Today, Davie Seaton, a former Chair of Athletics NI and the Belfast Marathon, recalls his formative experiences at Inst college and with the North Belfast Harriers. Davie, who has six decades-plus of activity in the world of running under his belt, was in at the very birth of the SPAR Craic 10K back in 2015.

Michael McAdam shares his epic journey in the world of movies with Máirtín Ó Muilleoir for the latest Lagan Stream podcast ahead of his guest appearance at the West Belfast Small Business Roundtable on 5 August. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

The Ratchoole native believes in dreams - even if they are the very stuff of movies. In fact, especially if they are the stuff of movies.

For his own fascination with the silver screen — he was certainly the only Ratchoole teen with a Super Eight cine recorder in 1973 — helped him dream beyond the peace walls and petrol bombs of seventies Belfast.

"Education didn't really do it for me," says Michael, who left school with a couple of CSEs. But what he lacked in academic certificates, he made up for with a work ethic inherited from his postman dad who would come home drenched mid-morning, his shift done, throw on a change of clothing and head out again to take on the run of faint-hearted (and dry) colleagues.

You can read more on the Belfast Media site.

Gail Cook, Director of Marketing for eFoiler® Vessels at Artemis chats with Máirtín Ó Muilleoir on the Lagan Stream Podcast. Veteran marketeer Gail will be the guest speaker at the West Belfast Small Business Roundtable on 24 June. Artemis is the most exciting company in Belfast today with the potential to make ship and boat building the catalyst for the revival of manufacturing in the city. Anyone who has seen the Artemis battery powered ferry in action — and it was given a glowing review the FT travel section just this weekend — has witnessed the sustainable future of maritime travel. The company's hallmark innovation is the patented Artemis eFoiler® propulsion system, which integrates a high-power electric drivetrain with an autonomously controlled hydrofoil. This design lifts the vessel's hull above water at speed, significantly reducing drag and enhancing energy efficiency. The eFoiler® system enables vessels to achieve up to 90% lower fuel costs compared to traditional ferries. Artemis will also be represented at the upcoming New York-New Belfast conference by co-founder David Tyler. Tickets for the Small Business breakfast Roundtable are available on Eventbrite.

Ahead of the April 2025 West Belfast Small Business Roundtable, guest speaker Emer Hinphey, a native of Dungiven, Co Derry and a Partner in AAB, joins Máirtín Ó Muilleoir for the Lagan Stream podcast. Emer was co-founder and CEO of Think People Consulting, an award-winning business consultancy specialising in People and Culture which was acquired by AAB in 2023.

"My childhood was played to the soundtrack of the Sunday Game and Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh ," she says. "My christening, family legend has it, was canceled a couple of times for hurling matches. That's just how it was but in retrospect what a great way that was to grow up."

A passionate camóg, Emer is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and sits on the committee of IOD, NI. She is a previous external member of the Central Procurement Department advisory commitment and board member of Ortus and Positive Life.

Dr. Hugh Cormican is one of our most highly-regarded business leaders. Now heading up health diagnostic company Cirdan, he was a co-founder of West Belfast-based digital camera company Andor which floated in 2004.

In this podcast, recorded ahead of his address to the West Belfast Small Business Roundtable on 25 March 2025 in An Chultúrlann, he tells how his decision to become a business founder was shaped by an Irish Development Authority official who told him — at the tender age of 16 — that he would be an entrepreneur.

Though one doubts that even that far-sighted civil servant could have predicted that one day Hugh would aim to make his company one of Ireland's few unicorns (a business with a value of £1bn or $1bn).

Born in West Belfast, physics grad Hugh spent his formative years in Newry, Co. Down returning to the city on the Lagan to go to Queen's. He's in business to save lives through improved and innovative healthcare solutions.

Where Andor was about helping researchers do better, Cirdan is about helping the sick get better.

Hugh was speaking with Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, director of the Belfast Media Group.

Bhunaigh Irial Mac Murchú Nemeton TV i 1994 - sular bunaíodh TnaG (TG4 ina dhiaidh sin) - le déanamh cinnte nach bhfágfaí Gaeltacht na nDéise ar cúl maidir le buntáistí na teilifíse nua de.

Agus é ag pleanáil do chaint bricfeasta i mBéal Feirste mar chuid de Seachtain na Gaeilge i Márta 2025, dearcann sé siar ar bhlianta tosaigh Nemeton TV agus tugann sé comhairle don té atá ag brath gnó nua a bhunú.

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir sa chathaoir, is i nGaeilge atá an comhrá seo.

Irial Mac Murchú, founder and director of leading Irish language broadcasting company Nemeton, will visit Belfast on 4 March 2025 to address the next West Belfast Small Business Roundtable in An Chultúrlann.

In a podcast released in the run-in to the Seachtain na Gaeilge event, the Waterford man describes how 'Gaeltacht na nDéise' effectively came back from the grave in the sixties — when just four or five families were raising their children through Irish — to the situation today where it is the only Gaeltacht in the country with a growing population.

This podcast is in Irish.