Avsnitt
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When it comes to the political pecking order, Minister for Arts is way down the list. It’s been called the last seat on the bus.
The newly-appointed arts minister is Patrick O’Donovan and quite how much interest or experience the Fine Gael TD has in the arts – or culture, also part of the job- is not clear.
And his portfolio is massive – it includes communications, media and sport.
Two tricky and pressing issues for O’Donovan are RTE’s ongoing funding problems and the soon-to-end basic income for artists programme. And there’s so much more.
Hugh Linehan, who wrote a no-holds-barred column questioning O’Donovan’s suitability for the job, explains why in a country that prides itself on its arts and culture, the arts ministry is, in political terms, a low prestige role.
And following the new Minister’s visit to Montrose to talk to RTE chief Kevin Bakhurst, Laura Slattery explores his peculiar obsession with the station’s programming - and why he’s got it wrong.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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On the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised he would end the war in Ukraine in just 24 hours. Despite missing his own deadline, Trump has threatened Russia with high tariffs and further sanctions if Putin fails to end the war. But this week, Donald Trump announced he was “looking to do a deal with Ukraine”. In return for further US military aid, Trump wants access to Ukraines rare earths, critical elements used in electronics, such as titanium, lithium, graphite and uranium.
So what will this development mean for the future of peace talks? And does Trump really have an interest in ending the war in Ukraine?
Sorcha Pollak speaks to Irish Times Eastern Europe correspondent Dan McLaughlin from Kyiv.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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At the White House on Tuesday US President Donald Trump announced an outrageous idea to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The US would seize control of the strip and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”. Trump suggested Palestinians who had been living through "hell" could live in neighbouring Arabic nations like Egypt and Jordan, funded by wealthy countries. The declaration was made at a joint press conference at the White House with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu; who welcomed the idea without explicitly backing it. The suggestion was roundly condemned in the Middle East and criticised by the international community. Sky's Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkal says it raises more questions than Trump’s bizarre answer to an entrenched geopolitical problem.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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During his last presidency Donald Trump slapped a tariff on Kerrygold butter; costing its parent company, Ornua, €50m in one year. A fortnight into his second presidency and it’s clear sweeping tariffs are now a core part of the agenda for his second stint in the White House. He's hit China with a 10% tax, while Canada and Mexico have been given a month before their US exports are levied with 25% duties. And the 78 year-old has been explicit about his plans to impose tariffs on goods coming from the European Union, saying the EU bloc’s approach to trade is an “atrocity”. So, what exactly is a tariff and why is Donald Trump so focused on imposing them? And what does this all mean for Ireland’s main exports and our country’s foreign direct investment? Irish Times economics correspondent Eoin Burke Kennedy outlines how the 'Americanisation' of our economy has left us vulnerable to Trump's tariffs and tax plans, and what may be offered by Brussels to appease Washington's whims.
Presented by Sorcha Pollak, produced by Aideen Finnegan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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When the parents of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs stopped giving her the insulin she needed to control her diabetes, they thought God would cure her.
And when the little girl slowly died in their home in the Australian city of Toowoomba they and other members of the Saints, a religious sect stood by waiting for her to rise from the dead.
The details that emerged at the trial in Queensland of the 14 members of the cult were harrowing. The court heard that the child’s father Jason Struhs finally called emergency services 36 hours after his daughter’s death, saying “though God would still raise Elizabeth, they could not leave a corpse in the house”.
Both Jason and her mother Kerrie Struhs were found guilty of manslaughter. The sect’s leader, Brendan Stevens was found guilty of manslaughter for encouraging the father to withhold insulin from his daughter in January 2022.
The Saints are a conservative Christian sect made up mostly of three families who believe in speaking in tongues and who reject modern medicine as “witchcraft”.
The 14 will be sentenced on February 11th.
Andrew Messenger from the Guardian Australia details this tragic case.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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This episode was first published in November 2024.
Veteran republican Marian Price initiated legal action against streaming giant Disney+ after the release of TV drama Say Nothing, based on a book of the same name by Patrick Radden Keefe, which her lawyers say depicted her as being involved in the murder of Belfast woman Jean McConville.
Lawyers for Price, who was jailed for her part in the IRA’s London bombing campaign of 1973, said the allegation was “not based on a single iota of evidence”.
In this episode we replay an interview with Patrick Radden Keefe, recorded when Say Nothing was published in 2018.
Radden Keefe explains how he reached his conclusion that Marian Price was centrally involved in McConville's killing, along with her sister Dolours Price.
The Disney dramatisation of Say Nothing has brought the stories of the Price sisters and Jean McConville to a new global audience.
"Such allegations published on an international scale are not only unjustified, but they are odious insofar as they seek to cause our client immeasurable harm in exchange for greater streaming success. Our client has now been forced to initiate legal proceedings to hold Disney to account for their actions", Prices lawyers said.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht was one of the hundreds of prisoners who walked free thanks to a pardon from US president Donald Trump.
His online marketplace facilitated the sale of everything from illegal drugs to weapons, hacking equipment to stolen passports, all delivered to your door at the push of a button. He had more than a million customers worldwide.
The campaign for his release began as soon as his double life sentence was handed down in 2015. They came from his family; his mother Lyn was tireless in her lobbying and also from the Libertarian Movement whose the support Trump sought in the run up to the presidential election.
New York Times technology reporter David Yaffe Bellany explains the background.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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***Please note some listeners may find this episode distressing***
Seven babies, delivered since January last year at Portiuncula University Hospital in Galway, suffered a brain injury as a result of oxygen deprivation (HIE). Six were immediately referred to Dublin for a treatment known as neonatal cooling. The numbers are far in excess of what might statistically be expected which raises questions about the provision of maternity services at the hospital. The HSE has announced an inquiry into the delivery of these babies as well as two stillbirths in 2023. But this is the second time in a decade that concerns about maternity provision at the Ballinasloe hospital have been raised. In 2015, an inquiry - the Walker review - found staffing issues, a lack of training and poor communication among maternity staff, which contributed to the death of three babies. Warren Reilly and his wife Lorraine lost two baby girls, Amber and Asha, at Portiuncula hospital within two years of each other, and they took part in the 2015 Walker review. He tells In the News how this week’s revelations have been devastating. Irish Times journalist Sarah Burns reports on this unfolding story.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The wealth of the world’s billionaires grew at roughly $5.7 billion (€5.5 billion) per day last year, according to Oxfam’s annual report on the financial affairs of the richest people on earth.
Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, according to the World Bank.
Oxfam’s latest research reveals the number of Irish billionaires has risen from nine to 11 in the past year, and that their combined wealth has increased by more than a third to just over €50 billion.
Oxfam is using the report, issued to coincide with the annual Davos gathering of the super wealthy, to argue for new taxes on the rich. But, while better-off people generally pay more tax on their incomes, the world’s billionaires pay extremely low levels of income tax and, on some occasions, none at all.
How does a system exist where the super wealthy pay a lower tax rate than a teacher or a retail worker?
And will a tax for the super-rich ever happen or are things only going to get worse with Donald Trump sitting in the White House, surrounded by billionaires?
Irish Times writer specialising in economics and finance Cliff Taylor explains why the richest people on earth are able to avoid paying tax.
Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brenna
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The worst storm to hit Ireland in decades, Storm Éowyn left over a million homes and businesses across the island without power. A new humanitarian group has been established as part of the National Emergency Coordination Group to help deal with the immediate hardship caused by the storm. But what measures need to be taken immediately to avoid similar large scale power outages as these extreme weather events happen with greater frequency? And why was Ireland’s infrastructure, particularly our energy network, so vulnerable to Storm Éowyn? Dr Julie Clarke, assistant professor in engineering in climate action in Trinity College Dublin, joins the podcast to discuss how Ireland needs to prepare for future storms of this magnitude. We're also joined by journalist Arlene Harris who's home in Co. Clare is without power, and who has been seeking food, warmth - and a plug socket to charge her phone - in an 'humanitarian hub' in Ennis.
Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan and Declan Conlon.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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President Trump campaigned on immigration. He promised mass deportations, zero tolerance and border security. His first acts in office included several executive orders related to immigration, focused on the US’s southern border and giving officials the power to quickly deport migrants who came in under Biden-era programme.
Deportations in his first week included rounding up migrants with criminal records.
Undocumented Irish in America typically don’t come in across the southern border. Instead they travel from Ireland under the 90-day ESTA visa waiver programme and simply stay on. Many of them acquire social security numbers and driving licences and work and live illegally in the US, sometimes for decades.
But immigration lawyer John Foley tells In the News that 'Irish illegals' are now “low-hanging fruit”, in part because the ESTA process includes waiving any legal rights to appeal if the recipient is caught having overstayed the 90 days.
For “Lorcan” (not his real name) an Irish man who has lived in the US illegally for five years, it’s about staying under the radar and building a life – with the acceptance that the price includes not being able to come home to Ireland for key family events including weddings and funerals.
He is not worried about Trump’s promises to expel illegal aliens, saying the first to go will be those who have committed crimes and who do not contribute to US society.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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After 15 months of warfare, humanitarian aid is finally getting through to Gaza.
By Wednesday, 2,400 trucks had crossed the border and aid agencies are ramping up delivery of essential supplies following the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that began on Sunday.
The need is enormous as are the logistical difficulties in delivering food and medical supplies in a region where there are no longer roads and where vast tracts of demolished buildings dot the landscape.
Families, like the Badr family, father, mother and three of their 10 children, who have been living in refugee camps for safety from unrelenting Israeli air attacks, are returning to their homes to find nothing left expect piles of rubble. For some families, the return means searching through the rubble for the bodies of their loved ones.
Unicef’s Rosalia Bollen is on the ground in Gaza and she explains the challenges in delivering aid in war-torn Gaza, the very real threat of famine and the impact 15 months of war has had on children.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Last summer a teenager walked into a children's Taylor Swift-themed dance class in a quiet Liverpool suburb, and murdered three girls under the age of ten. Axel Rudakubana also stabbed eight other young girls and two adults that tried to help them. This week the 18 year old pleaded guilty to the murderous rampage, as well as attempted murder and possession of terrorist materials and the bioweapon ricin. Following his admission, many troubling details have emerged about the teenager and the missed opportunities that might have prevented the atrocity. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised an inquiry into the failings of the UK terror-monitoring system. Irish Times London correspondent Mark Paul explains how this tragic case goes beyond the crime itself, to collide with politics, immigration, race, extreme online violence and social media.
Presented by Bernice Harrison and produced by Aideen Finnegan
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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On Monday, Donald Trump stood before a packed Rotunda room in the US Capitol building and announced the beginning of a new “golden age” for Americans standing on “the verge of the four greatest years” in the nation’s history.
Speaking after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump outlined his plans for a new era where the United States would “reclaim its rightful place as the greatest, most powerful, most respected nation on earth”.
The US will expand its territory and carry its flag “into new and beautiful horizons,” he said in his inauguration speech, adding that the nation would “pursue our manifest destiny into the stars”.
The US president then issued a flurry of executive orders, ranging from a pardon for the people who stormed the Capitol on January 6th 2021 to the declaration of a national emergency on the nation’s southern border where he said “all illegal entry” would be immediately halted.
What else will these executive orders change about the way people live their lives in the US and around the world?
Irish Times Washington correspondent Keith Duggan discusses the first 24 hours of the new Trump administration.
Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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TikTok users across the United States breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday when US president Donald Trump pledged he would issue an executive order to allow the app to continue operating. The Chinese-owned video app temporarily went dark late on Saturday but has been given additional time to find a buyer before facing total shutdown. If the ban holds, business and technology journalist Ciara O'Brien says it could precipitate the platform's decline in countries including Ireland. In 2020, President Trump tried to ban TikTok over concerns it was sharing Americans’ personal information with the Chinese government. So, why has he taken this U-turn? Meanwhile, a day before taking office, the 78 year-old has launched his own meme-coin called $Trump.
Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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While walking through Dublin city, journalist Quentin Fottrell was scammed.
A pleasant sounding, nicely dressed man stopped him and started chatting. Didn’t Quentin remember him? After all, the man said, he had worked on his house some years ago. Not wanting to be rude and a little embarrassed at forgetting a face, Quentin continued the chat which slowly turned to the fact that the man had forgotten his wallet and needed some help to get home. It was only when he had walked away, €40 lighter, that Quentin realised he had been scammed.
He wrote about the experience in The Irish Times and his article elicited multiple replies from men who had also been scammed by the same man in Dublin city centre.
Donal Cronin was one such reader. Although he is a communications expert and deeply knowledgable in the psychology behind persuasion, he too fell victim to the smooth-talking scammer. He took a photograph of the man while they were chatting and Quentin was able to confirm it was the same confidence trickster.
Quentin and Donal came into studio to explain how the scam worked and how they feel now having being duped.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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After 15 months of bloodshed, a ceasefire will commence in Gaza on Sunday. The pause in hostilities for an initial six week period will allow food and medical aid in to desperate Palestinians. They will also be allowed to return to what is left of their homes. But with previous ceasefire agreements failing, the peace is precarious.
The release of hostages held by Hamas is among the conditions on which the long-awaited deal is based. The first of 33 hostages to be released in the first stage of the deal, among the near 100 still held captive by Hamas, will be released on Sunday. The names of those to be released have been given to Israeli authorities, but families do not know if they will be receiving their loved ones alive or dead.
Journalist Mark Weiss says despite the ceasefire being supported by 70% of Israelis, many feel it is a bad deal. So why is it happening now? What has changed for Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree a deal with Hamas at this stage?
Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Two years ago, climate scientist and activist Dr Peter Kalmus moved his family away from Los Angeles because as California’s climate kept growing drier and hotter, he was afraid that his much loved, indeed idyllic sounding, neighbourhood would burn. He had lived in Altadena for 14 years.
Now, from his new home in North Carolina, he has had the deeply upsetting experience of watching Altadena razed, as climate-driven wildfires caused death, destroyed homes and ruined livelihoods.
Kalmus tells In the News that even he – who has spent his career warning about the deadly impact of our fossil fuel dependence – didn’t expect fires of this scale. It is he says proof that climate models which consistently predict the sort of temperatures that will alter life on earth, have tended to err on the side of optimism.
Our inability – in a world shaped by the interests of big business, billionaires and the fossil fuel industry – to grasp the threat caused by carbon emissions, means he says that nowhere is safe from unpredictable, and even devastating weather events. The LA fires won’t be the last.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The next government of Ireland is taking shape. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and nine Independents will go into coalition and we now have a blueprint for the next five years with the Programme for Government. The Healy Rae brothers are in, with Michael also negotiating a junior ministry. But what other concessions might they have brokered in exchange for their support? What is a super-junior ministry and does Ireland really need an extra one? Which pre-election promises have made the cut and which have been left out? Political editor Pat Leahy joins us to explain everything we know so far about the 34th Dáil.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Consumer journalist Conor Pope says he loves a good bandwagon and it was in that spirit that three years ago he – and his wife – thought they’d give Dry January a go.
The idea – to give up alcohol for the first month of the year, as a post Christmas detox – has gained traction over the years and for most who try it, and who make it through to the end of the dreariest month, February 1st signals the opening of a favourite tipple and a return to drinking as usual. Not so for Conor.
The February 1st target gave way to staying off alcohol until the summer and then he stopped counting.
Not drinking had become a habit and he found that he was having a good time. He’s still, very happily, off alcohol. It did bring its challenges. In an alcohol-soaked culture, not drinking can prompt a range of reactions from suspicion to derision, but the benefits he says far outweigh any awkward questions.
The three years has also given him time to reflect on his drinking habits, which began as it does for many, as a teenager raiding his parents’ drinks cabinet.
The rewards, he says, are a clear head, more energy and, theoretically, a healthier bank balance. He estimates that the Pope household has saved €10,000 in the three dry years.
Conor came into studio to tell In the News about his new alcohol-free life and with a huge response from readers to his Irish Times article on his Dry January that has gone on forever, why it’s touched a nerve.
Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
- Visa fler
