''The Two Norries'' was a weekly

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

hosted by Timmy Long and James Leonard that focused on trauma,

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to use a drug or engage in a behavior that produces natural reward, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use can ...

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

systems, recovery and access to education. The podcast series was recorded and released between June 2020 and January 2024. The podcast in part resulted from Leonard's January 2020 interview on the Saturday night Tommy Tiernan Show broadcast on

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), Ireland's public service broadcaster. Its first channel was Telefís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RTÉ Television has added chan ...

. The podcast's title is an pun on 1980s comedy duo

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

; both hosts are from the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

suburbs in the Churchfield, Hollyhill and

Knocknaheeny Knocknaheeny () is a working class suburb of Cork city, Ireland. It is on a hill about 2 km north of the city centre. The area is mainly residential, consisting of many terraced council housing estates. Knocknaheeny contains Apple's Europe ...

areas of the north-side of

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

, and ''Norry'' is a colloquial, often derogatory, word for Cork city north-siders. ''The Two Norries'' podcast ended in January 2024.English, Eoin.
Two Norries hang up their headphones as podcast to end
. ''Irish Examiner'', 5 Jan 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2025

Origins and format

James Leonard made national headlines in January 2020 when, as a former

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

addict now holding a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

, he gave an extended interview with

Tommy Tiernan Tommy Tiernan (; born 16 June 1969) is an Irish comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his stand-up career, hosting '' The Tommy Tiernan Show'' (2017–present) and playing Gerry in the sitcom '' Derry Girls'' (2018–2022). Early l ...

on the national broadcaster channel

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

. The slot was widely and supportively commented upon by national media, to the extent that someone from the office of the Irish President

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...

contacted Leonard. Reflecting on the coverage, Leonard said despite being reluctant to appear, fearing he would be forever and thereafter branded as just an addict, he went ahead as he had "a feeling that my story would resonate with people, but I had no idea of the scale of it".McDonell, Cira.
The Two Norries: 'When those guards showed me compassion, it struck a chord with me'
". ''

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Republic of Ireland, Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork (city), Cork, though it is ...

'', 18 November 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021Cork man who overcame years of heroin addiction graduating with criminology Master
". '' TheJournal.ie'', 20 February 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021 The podcast, which was broadcast weekly, featured interviews with recovering Irish sport-stars, musicians and comedians, as well as a cancer patient, a therapist, a psychologist, a prison governor and a doctor commenting on the availability of prescription

barbiturate Barbiturates are a class of depressant, depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medication, medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological a ...

s in Cork's northside during the 1990s and 2000s.

Hosts

The hosts James Leonard and Timmy Long, aged 35 and 40 respectively as of 2021, were previously addicted to drugs which led them to prison and institutional care, but both have been in recovery since the early 2010s.Casey, Jess.
Man who learned to read in prison aged 32 graduates with honours degree
". ''Irish Examiner'', 17 November 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021 Through their organising of education and community support for other addicts in Cork and Ireland, and the launch of their the podcast in the summer of 2020, they gained widespread attention.
". ''

Evening Echo ''The Echo'', formerly known as the ''Evening Echo'', is an Irish morning newspaper based in Cork. It is distributed throughout the province of Munster, although it is primarily read in its base city of Cork. The newspaper was founded as a bro ...

'', 30 August 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2021BBQ playlist
.

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 () is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for the station in 2010 w ...

, 10 February 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021Dunphy, Liz.
Cork-based addiction recovery group saving lives during pandemic
". ''Irish Examiner'', 6 January 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021

Timmy Long

Long said that as a young teenager in the 1990s he was dealing pills at the "Sweat" nights at

Sir Henry's Sir Henry's was a bar and nightclub on South Main Street in Cork, Ireland. It was founded by Jerry Lucey in 1978. The name was derived from Henry O'Shea, a baker and building owner in the South Main Street area of Cork city. The club was known fo ...

but had been "an alcoholic before I touched any drug. When I was young I'd drink seven nights a week, then it was ecstasy for years, then tablets, then drink again, and then heroin came into my life. That was the end of it all. It completely robbed my soul. It took over my entire life, my thinking." Long has severe

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

which went undiagnosed until after his recovery. He said that for years "pictures were my understanding of what was going on. In a newspaper, I'd be able to read, maybe, the headline." Long completed his Leaving Cert while in prison, after which he enrolled at St. John's Central College, Cork. Long graduated from

Cork Institute of Technology Cork Institute of Technology (CIT; ) was an Institutes of technology in the Republic of Ireland, institute of technology, located in Cork (city), Cork, Ireland. Upon its dissolution, the institute had 17,000 students studying in art, business, ...

in January 2021 with an honours degree in

construction management Construction management (CM) aims to control the quality of a construction project's scope, time, and cost (sometimes referred to as a project management triangle or "triple constraints") to maximize the project owner's satisfaction. It uses pro ...

. Of his own and his brother's recoveries, he admits that he is "glad that we reached our rock bottom. For many of our friends that died, their rock bottom was a box. We live for them and want to show others that there is a way back."

James Leonard

Leonard was raised in

, which he describes as "probably the most deprived area in Cork". He in part ascribes his spiral into heroin addiction due to his father being in prison during his childhood.Life After Heroin: A Conversation with James Leonard
". ''Motley Magazine'', 31 March 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021 Leonard's break with drugs and intermittent homelessness came after an overdose where he was found by two

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace") is the national police and security service of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissio ...

(Irish police). He explains that "at that stage I was looking for a way out, and that way was death. When these Guards – who I didn't have a great relationship with by the way – showed me compassion and empathy, it really struck a chord with me. The next day, I rang to get on a list for a treatment centre." As of March 2021, Leonard was working towards a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in criminology at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

(UCC), having already achieved a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

and Master's degree in the subject. He says of his former view of the college: "You could walk to UCC in about fifteen minutes from my house, but it may as well have been a million miles away". Reflecting on the poverty gap in Ireland he said: "I had no stake in my own education s a teenager

CAO Cao or CAO may refer to: Mythology *Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology Companies or organizations * Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO * CA Oradea, Romanian football club * CA Osasuna, Spanish football club * Canadian ...

points, never heard of them...all this was never on my radar, so college was never given a second thought".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Two Norries, The 2020 podcast debuts Advice podcasts Audio podcasts Interview podcasts Irish podcasts People from Cork (city)