Two norries walk into a room . . .

The public discussion surrounding mental health and addiction is growing stronger every day, and it’s partly thanks to courageous individuals like James Leonard and Timmy Long.

Collectively, James and Timmy are the men behind the hugely successful Leeside podcast The Two Norries in which they talk about all kinds of social and personal issues.

The podcast, which has been topping mental health and health and fitness genres on Apple Podcast charts for a number of weeks, started during the lockdown after James appeared on 'The Tommy Tiernan Show' last year on RTE to speak about his past struggles with addiction.

James said he was inundated by messages from people from all over the country asking him for advice and information on drug addiction and mental health.

“I couldn't reach out to everybody, so then a friend of mine said that if we did a podcast, we could talk about all of these topics and then put it up on YouTube where anyone can access it for free. I thought it was a great idea,” James told the Cork Independent.

James, who works full time as well as studying for a PhD in Criminology, said the podcast was an immediate success and described is as a “labour of love”.

He said: “I knew there was a big appetite for it. I knew people wanted to hear these stories. I had an idea it was going to be received well, but I never really thought it would take off the way it did.”

Looking forward, James and Timmy plan to “continue indefinitely” as long as there is a demand for what they are doing.

Unfortunately, due to the country being raised to level three Covid-19 restrictions as of yesterday, The Two Norries’ sold out live podcast in the Kino tomorrow (Friday) night has been cancelled.

The show, which James said sold out within thirty minutes, was set to be their first ever live podcast.

However, the two men from Cork’s northside still have two shows pencilled in for 11 and 12 December at the Everyman when they will play to a 100 seat capacity each night, assuming by then the country has returned to level 2 restrictions.