Podcast appearances and mentions of declan conlon

For Kneecap's growing fan base, the band's support of Palestine as they performed at the Coachella music festival in California last month didn't raise a ripple of surprise.The Belfast-based rappers who sing mostly in Irish have been consistent in their vocal opposition to Israel's response to the October 7th Hamas attack.But an American backlash coincided with UK police investigations into comments made by members of the group during concerts.One appeared to be shouting “up Hamas, up Hizbullah”.Footage from another concert appeared to show one of the group shouting “the only good Tory is a dead Tory” and “Kill your local MP”.Kneecap have since apologised to the families of two murdered British MPs. But they also insist the controversy has been manufactured in retaliation against their pro-Palestine stance and to distract from the real story of what's happening in Gaza.Media columnist Hugh Linehan looks at the controversies surrounding Kneecap, how they have responded and whether they are right to argue this is not a story worth covering.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. This episode was edited on May 1, 2025 to remove a reference to Kneecap concerts being cancelled. None of the group's US concerts has been cancelled. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most of China's roughly 10 million Catholics attend officially sanctioned churches but a substantial minority belong to the so-called “underground church”, attending masses in unapproved venues and private homes.Under Pope Francis, the Vatican entered into an agreement with China in 2018 aimed at ending the division between the two Catholic communities by regularising the appointment of bishops.But the agreement, which was renewed last October for four years, has drawn criticism from some Catholics who fear it cedes too much influence to the Communist Party.Irish Times Beijing correspondent Denis Staunton explains the controversy and why Catholicism is growing in China.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rory McIlroy will tee off on Thursday at 6.12pm Irish time on the first day of the Masters in Georgia.It is the first major tournament of the golf season and this year the news focus will be firmly on the man from Northern Ireland. It's his 17th Masters and he's known not so much for how he plays in Georgia but for the way he keeps falling short.While he is a consistent winner of other tournaments, building a golfing fortune estimated to be north of €250 million, and is only second to Tiger Woods in earning power off the course, one prize eludes him – the Masters in Augusta.He has finished in the top 10 seven times but has never won it. Commentators say he chokes, that the fault is not physical but mental. He has, in his interviews, been very open about his inability to seal the deal, to get so close to winning.The stakes are high; if he does finally win, he will complete the career grand slam, something only five other golfers have ever done.Irish Times sportswriter Malachy Clerkin has watched McIlroy's career from the start and he says that he is in the best form of his life, playing like a man who could win the Masters.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Global markets plunged again on Monday after Donald Trump showed no signs of pulling back from his sweeping tariff plan. All the major stock exchanges across Europe, the US and Asia were affected by the drop in prices, from tech to retail and manufacturing.European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned US tariffs were having a “massive impact” on the global economy, while Goldman Sachs raised the odds of a US recession to 45 per cent.And while stock prices don't mean much to many people, behind the figures, there's real damage being caused to the economy – in Ireland and around the globe.But when will we start to feel the impact of this financial chaos?How is Europe responding to Trump's 20 per cent tariff on EU goods and how has China reacted to the rising tariff threats coming from the White House?And is there any indication the plunging stock markets will prompt the Trump administration to rethink its approach to trade?Today, on In The News, how worried should we be about the toll of Trump's tariffs?Irish Times economics writer Cliff Taylor and China correspondent Denis Staunton discuss the global implications of Trump's tariff agenda.Presented by Sorcha Pollak, produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship starts this weekend.It's one of the biggest competitions in all of Irish sport. The All-Ireland football final has traditionally been among the top five most-watched TV broadcasts of the year. But last year, the hurling final outstripped it by almost 150,000 viewers.That's because GAA football has had a problem that has been growing for more than 10 years; even its most ardent fans say the game has become boring.Too defensive, too slow, too much hand passing, not enough flair.Former Dublin manager Jim Gavin was called in to fix football, to come up with a new set of rules that would revitalise the game before it was too late. And he did. So are they working?Irish Times sports writer Malachy Clerkin explains why the greatest shake-up in the history of GAA football was so direly needed and how he sees them working.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 2nd, two men – one Israeli and one Palestinian – stood on the stage of the Academy Awards in LA and accepted an Oscar for their documentary ‘No Other Land'. Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham spent four years filming Israel's forced displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank region. Their documentary was recorded before the war in Gaza, but highlights a reality that Palestinian communities have faced for decades. Life in the West Bank has become significantly more dangerous since Israel launched its Iron Wall operation just days after a the January ceasefire took hold in Gaza. What is the aim and justification of Israel's Iron Wall operation? And with settler violence on the rise, is Israel working towards a formal annexation of the region?Hanno Hauenstein, a Berlin-based journalist, discusses his years reporting reporting rom the West Bank for the Israeli-Palestinian +972 Magazine.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past two years, the pharmaceutical industry has quietly waged a massive lobbying campaign to try to block proposed EU regulations for the sector.Big Pharma companies have invested particular time and energy into lobbying the Irish Government, urging the State to push back against reforms to speed up the roll-out of new medicines across the EU, particularly to smaller and poorer countries.Correspondence now shows pharmaceutical companies are “disappointed and concerned” by the lack of support the Government has shown the sector in its push back against proposed European Union reforms.Irish Times acting Europe correspondent Jack Power joins In The News to discuss his investigation into pharma firms' attempts to prevent further regulation of the sector and the implications of these changes for pharmaceutical companies' presence on Irish soil.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Tánaiste Simon Harris it was a priority of the Trump administration to address the “trade imbalance” between Ireland and the US when they spoke by phone on Tuesday.By now it's known what that means: tariffs.US president Donald Trump has already talked about a 25 per cent import tax on Europe so that phone call won't have been a surprise.Nothing, as yet, is certain; not least the level of import taxes that might be imposed and whether it will be a blanket rate on all goods across the EU.But what would drastically increased tariffs mean for Ireland?And is there anything Taoiseach Micheál Martin can say over the bowl of shamrock when he meets Trump in the Oval Office next week that might influence the president?Irish Times economics columnist Cliff Taylor explains the business of tariffs and why, if Trump carries through on his promise, chaos is coming.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon.You can read Cliff's latest column on US tariffs here Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An 80 year alliance between the US and Europe has been upended in just one week. Donald Trump and other American officials have long felt Europe should not rely on US tax dollars for its defence. Now the US president and his administration has explicitly stated Europe needs to take responsibility for its own security, while simultaneously moving to end the war in Ukraine on Russia's terms. Excluding Europe in a discussion about its borders and threatening to pull military support begs the question - if America can no longer be relied upon to help defend us against Russian aggression, just how capable is the bloc of doing the job? Europe correspondent Jack Power joins us from Brussels, while crime and security correspondent Conor Gallagher lays bare the stark reality Ireland and its neighbours might face.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Groups of Irish parents dotted around the country have unwittingly started a large-scale social experiment – they're joining together and aiming, as a group, to delay giving their preteen a smartphone. These parents of soon-to-be first year students in secondary schools in Dublin, Cork and Galway hope they can hold out in the face of their children's smartphone requests, social media's addictive algorithms and what many see as a failure by successive governments to regulate the dangers of the internet. Mary Lovegrove is one such parent who has spoken to Irish Times education correspondent Carl O'Brien.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Take a five-minute walk in any direction in Dublin city centre and you'll come across boarded-up, even cemented-over shopfronts, upper floors supported by steel struts and foliage growing through the roof.Properties in prime locations left to rot in the capital city, in the middle of a housing crises. It doesn't make any kind of sense.In theory it should be easy to find out who owns these decaying properties but it's not. Nor is it straightforward to discover exactly why valuable properties have been left, sometimes for decades, as eyesores.For a new Irish Times series, Derelict Dublin, Olivia Kelly, along with colleagues Ronan McGreevy and Jack White investigated why the city is blighted by decay and what the council is doing about it.Kelly came into studio to explain.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, was ending its fact-checking programme and going back to its roots – promoting free expression.And the reason? That fact-checking had led to “too much censorship” and “too many mistakes”.He positioned himself as a supporter of free speech, an American virtue that's a world away from Europe, a tech backwater with ever-creeping censorship.But critics say the move is a cynical ploy to curry favour with incoming US president Donald Trump – and with millions of people using these social media platforms every day it risks ushering in “an age without facts”.Irish Times tech journalist Ciara O'Brien goes through Zuckerberg's five-point plan for Meta and explains why the newly bullish Meta boss is changing the way his business operates.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Friday Diarmuid Phelan, a senior counsel and Trinity law professor, was acquitted of murdering a trespasser on his farm almost three years ago. Keith Conlon, a 35 year old father of four, had been planning to go badger-baiting on Phelan's Co. Dublin land when he was shot in the back of the head, and died two days later from his injuries. Neither of his associates, and witnesses to the shooting, took part in the subsequent trial. After ten weeks, the jury returned their verdict following seven hours of deliberation. Legal affairs correspondent Mary Carolan takes us through the evidence heard about that day in Feburary 2022, and explains what the jury had to consider.This episode contains strong language.Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was originally published in September 2024.An Garda Siochana has a serious retention and recruitment problem.The Commissioner knows it, so does the Minister for Justice but despite public commitments to reach enrolment targets, ongoing recruitment campaigns and changes to admission criteria, efforts to increase the size of the force to the Government benchmark of 15,000 continue to falter.There are now fewer sworn Garda members than at the start of last year.Why? It's a well-paying public service job, it offers career variety and progression and it offers the possibility of retiring with a full pension at 60 or even earlier.Crime and security editor Conor Lally tells In the News the many reasons why encouraging citizens to join up is an uphill battle and what it means for policing in the State.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey and Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One city in China produces 80 per cent of the world's Christmas decorations.Yiwu International Trade City exports more than 20,000 types of Christmas products to more than 100 countries, with Europe and the Americas the most important markets for most producers. That's a lot of plastic Christmas trees, wreaths, baubles, life-size elves, tinsel and flickering lights.When Irish Times Beijing correspondent Denis Staunton visited, he found manufacturers with a clear idea of just what westerners want and the emerging trends – there's a new trend towards pastel coloured decorations, including trees.He tells In the News that although Communist Party members are forbidden from practising religion, Christian churches are allowed to operate under the supervision of the authorities. But some state schools have recently been discouraging children from marking western holidays such as Halloween and Christmas, urging them to celebrate Chinese traditions instead.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israel's move to close its embassy in Ireland means the diplomatic rift between our two countries is wider than ever, with potentially big implications for Ireland.Israel has called Taoiseach Simon Harris, as well as the entire country, anti-Semitic. He, however is holding firm, and insists Ireland will not end its criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza.President Michael D Higgins has also responded, saying it is “deep slander” to accuse the Irish people of being anti-Semitic because of criticisms of the Israeli government.Israel's Ambassador to Ireland Dana Erlich has been at the forefront of her country's criticism of Ireland and she spoke to Irish Times political editor Pat Leahy, who tells In the News what's behind Israel's move, why now – and how damaging it is – potentially – for Ireland.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The count continues with seats in several constituencies throughout the country still to be filled. As it stands, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in pole position to form the next government. The Greens have suffered a near wipeout, retaining just one seat; while Social Democrats and Labour have outperformed expectations.In today's episode we're bringing you coverage from our colleagues over on the Election Daily podcast – Hugh Linehan and the Inside Politics team – who have spent the weekend watching Ireland's political future take shape.Produced by Declan Conlon and Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump is an unpredictable and chaotic leader so what does his second term as US presidency herald? An interruption in trade between Ireland and the US could cost jobs and a loss to the exchequer. His apathy towards Ukraine could result in a new European border. And his climate denial may stymie attempts to limit global warming. Five Irish Times journalists explain key election promises made by Trump over the course of his campaign, and what they might look like if the 78 year-old follows through with them.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan, Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US presidential election day has arrived and the counting of votes will being tonight. With the race a dead heat according to polls, the results will be a fascinating conclusion to an eventful, high-stakes contest.But the coming days could take a dark turn if former president Donald Trump decides to once again refuse to accept the results should they favour vice president Kamala Harris.So, what should Irish audiences expect from election night? When will things really start to happen and where are the best places to watch? Irish Times journalist and Inside Politics podcast host Hugh Linehan gives his advice for following the 2024 US election results.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the morning of August 31st, 2018, award-winning film producer Trevor Birney was arrested at his home in Belfast while the PSNI searched the house as his bewildered family looked on.They were searching, they said, for documents used in his powerful documentary, No Stone Unturned, that examined the 1994 Loughinisland massacre when the UVF shot six men dead as they watched the Ireland v Italy football match in a village bar.That film unmasked in unflinching detail the collusion between the security forces in Northern Ireland and loyalist paramilitaries and it's a controversial subject Birney has returned to in this new book, Shooting Crows.The book's title refers to the comments of the judge granting the warrant to raid Birney's home, who worried that it was an exercise in scaring off other journalists.It set Birney on a path to prove historic and ongoing attempts by British authorities to silence journalists, film-makers, lawyers and activists in the North and to uncover surveillance and bugging operations.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier this year, The Irish Times gained access to the bankruptcy files of Derek Quinlan, one of the most prolific Irish property investors of the Celtic Tiger period, who lost his fortune in the 2008-09 crash.Quinlan ended up with €3.5 billion euro of debts, making him the biggest debtor to Nama – the State agency set up after the crash to save the banking system.This major Irish Times investigation reveals how Quinlan still owes Irish taxpayers €403 million and why he was blocked from exiting bankruptcy last year.Who exactly is Derek Quinlan and how did he amass so much debt? What do court documents tell us about his lifestyle and current finances, and will his stint in bankruptcy finally end next month?Today, on In the News, London Correspondent Mark Paul delves into the life and finances of Derek Quinlan.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, the Government rushed through a number of priority Bills in a scramble to clear the decks before the next general election.Five Bills were considered and passed, all in under six hours, a process that normally takes weeks.But, are there any risks involved in rushing these Bills so quickly through the Dáil? And, what happens to the pieces of legislation, such as the Defamation or Mental Health Bills, which are not expected to be passed before the election?Meanwhile, opposition TDs are continuing to call for the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban trade between Ireland and Israel's illegal settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories, to be passed without delay. Can that happen before the end of November?Today, on In the News, how the Government is rushing to pass new laws before its term ends. Irish Times political editor Pat Leahy examines the implications of fast-tracking Bills through the Oireachtas.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kinahan gang leader Liam Byrne (43) has been sentenced to five years in prison for weapons charges, while Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh (57) has been sentenced to six years for similar offences.Both pleaded guilty to the charges, while Kavanagh had also admitted perverting the course of justice. Their co-accused, Shaun Kent (38) from Liverpool, was also sentenced to six years.Observers in the court noticed Byrne's relief as he realised the sentence would see him out of prison as soon as next year. The court had not heard the full details of Byrne's criminal past, and Gardaí do not believe Byrne's claim that he wants to live a lawful life upon release. Conor Lally gives the background to the case and Mark Paul reports from the sentencing in London.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sending Irish prisoners to jails in eastern Europe and letting some sex offenders out early with electronic tags are just two of the 16 recommendations put forward by an expert group to solve the overcrowding crisis in Irish prisons.These two proposals are not being considered by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee but most of the measures in the Prison Overcrowding Response Group's new report are, including pop-up prison cells and early release for a wide range of offences.So packed are our 14 jails that for the past two years many offenders have already been released early – a drastic move that's gone almost unnoticed.But the problem keeps getting bigger as Conor Gallagher, Irish Times crime and security correspondent, explains as he outlines the challenges and possible solutions, including building a new prison.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gardaí suspect a missing child – now believed to have been murdered – may have died months before his disappearance was reported in August.Kyran Durnin (8) from Drogheda, Co Louth, is missing presumed dead and a formal murder investigation has now begun.The boy was reported missing in August along with his mother Dayla Durnin (24). She has since been located in the UK. To date there has been no trace of Kyran.Crime and security editor Conor Gallagher explains why this is such an unusual case. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's nearly four weeks since Israel detonated explosions in the pagers belonging to members of Hizbullah, the Iran backed Lebanese-based militia. Since then the conflict in the Middle East has escalated. Israel has been striking inside Lebanon with missiles and has now sent ground troops into the country and Hizbullah has been striking back at targets in Israel. The death toll is mounting. A key day was September 23rd when 550 people were killed in Lebanon by Israeli air strikes.Since then Beirut has been bombed: last Thursday two Israeli missile attacks hit the centre of the densely populated city, killing 22 people and injuring over 170.Irish Times journalist Sally Hayden lives in Beirut, 1km from where the bombs fell and she reports, that there was no warning from the Israel Defense Forces.She tells In the News what life is like in the city now, describes the escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hizbullah and why Lebanese people who see what Gaza has endured in the past year, fear the same could happen to them.International journalists have been prohibited by Israel from documenting events in Gaza which is why Hayden says it is important that journalists like herself report from on the ground in Lebanon.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From GAA superstar Jack Lynch who became taoiseach to RTÉ journalist George Lee whose political career was brief – for decades Irish voters have been presented at the polls with a range of well-known names.If the recent celebrity-filled European elections are anything to go by, the candidate list for the next general election will include a sprinkle of high profile names which the parties hope will break through the noise because of their name recognition among with voters.Well-known TV presenters Grainne Seoige and Alison Comyn have already been signed up by Fianna Fáil to go before the electorate, while others, particularly sporting names will likely emerge as the weeks go on as all parties hunt out candidates with strong name recognition.But why does that matter? And just because someone is glowing on the red carpet or the pitch, does it mean they'll be good on policy?Irish Times political correspondent Harry McGee explains why familiar names are so appealing to political parties and the electorate.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the appointment this week of Cork-born Morgan McSweeney as his chief of staff, British prime minister Keir Starmer must be hoping for some calm after a turbulent first 100 days in office.As the brains behind Starmer's leadership campaign, McSweeney (47) is credited with having brought the prime minister to power.After a landslide win in July, Starmer's first three months should have been spent consolidating that popularity and delivering on the pre-election promises of a selfless, calm and steady government with none of the drama of the previous administration.Instead there has been a stream of bad news stories and self-inflicted wounds.It's not the image he projected when in opposition while bashing the Tory government for similar behaviour.Irish Times London correspondent Mark Paul looks back at Starmer's difficult first three months, explains why McSweeney, a master strategist, is now in the top job and what banana skins await the new Labour leader in the coming months.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last weekend, The Sunday Times reported that an unnamed Irish politician had been working for Russian intelligence as "an agent of influence” within the Oireachtas. Although the news “came as no surprise” to Taoiseach Simon Harris, it is one of the most serious national security issues in recent history.Gardaí have now compiled a list of members of the Oireachtas and other people, including those in academia, that they believe have been targeted by Russians in Ireland seeking to exploit them for information gathering and destabilising the State.But how are they approached? And how is their co-operation encouraged by local Russian operatives? Also, why would the Kremlin consider an Irish politician a valuable asset?Jack Horgan-Jones tells In the News how such approaches are made and how politicians have reacted to reports that one of their own has allegedly been influenced by Russia.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chinese premier Xi Jinping has a plan to reshape the global security order. His diplomatic initiative is a challenge to the United States-led “rules-based international order” that has dominated since the end of the second World War.Xi's Global Security Initiative (GSI) has been gathering support from the Global South. Last month, 53 African leaders met in Beijing and supported the doctrine.The GSI is built on six commitments which include “abiding by the UN charter” and “resolving disputes through dialogue”. But the implications of the doctrine are more significant than these phrases suggest.Beijing correspondent Denis Staunton tells In the News how the West lost its influence with the Global South, what China's “multipolar world” will look like and where Ireland fits in.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prospective home purchasers are losing out to cash buyers – mostly overseas investors – on apartments with defects, ranging from minor issues to hazardous faults, because banks will not risk lending to people so they can buy them.Irish Times journalist Jade Wilson tells In the News about her investigation which found that mortgage-approved buyers are unable to buy second-hand apartments that require remediation works as banks are unwilling to lend on them due to uncertainty around a Government scheme to fix them.The Government has promised to introduce a €2.5 billion remediation scheme to fix up to 100,000 defective Celtic Tiger-era apartment blocks - many of the developers who built these projects are no longer in business - so that ultimately, the taxpayer is on the hook for the cost.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Attending the UN Assembly in New York on Sunday, President Michael D Higgins accused the Israeli embassy in Dublin of “circulating” a congratulatory letter he wrote to the newly elected president of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian in July. His comments were interpreted as an accusation Israel deliberately leaked the letter.The Israeli embassy issued a statement, calling it a “baseless accusation” and “potentially slanderous”, marking a new low in relations between the Israeli ambassador and President Higgins.On Monday evening President Higgins met the press again in New York and denied he meant Israel leaked anything, while doubling down on other criticism. Irish Times political correspondent Jennifer Bray was there. She explains how events unfolded that overshadowed the Irish Government's presence at the UN. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What links an Australian app designer, a global police sting and this week's drugs bust in Wexford? A Dublin gang known as 'The Family.' Gardai say the group is now the primary drug trafficking cartel in Ireland after the Kinahan's network was dismantled. It's alleged to be involved in the multi million euro seizure of guns and cash in Dublin and Wexford earlier this week. The tip off came via Australian authorities which had infiltrated the Ghost messaging app. The encrypted software created by 32 year old Sydney man, Jay Je Yoon Jung, was the platform of choice for much of the Irish criminal fraternity. Security and Crime Editor Conor Lally explains how the Australians hacked into the app, how it was used in Ireland and analyses how gangs here might react.Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At least 26 people are dead and thousands injured following the simultaneous detonating of pagers and walkie talkies in Lebanon. Israel is believed to be behind the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, which were designed as much to cause a macabre spectacle as they were to kill Hizbullah fighters. Hannah McCarthy reports from Beirut for The Irish Times. Security analyst Colin P. Clark of New York's Soufan Center looks at why Israel made this move.Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An Garda Siochana has a serious retention and recruitment problem.The Commissioner knows it, so does the Minister for Justice but despite public commitments to reach enrolment targets, ongoing recruitment campaigns and changes to admission criteria, efforts to increase the size of the force to the Government benchmark of 15,000 continue to falter.There are now fewer sworn Garda members than at the start of last year.Why? It's a well-paying public service job, it offers career variety and progression and it offers the possibility of retiring with a full pension at 60 or even earlier.Crime and security editor Conor Lally tells In the News the many reasons why encouraging citizens to join up is an uphill battle and what it means for policing in the State.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey and Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kamala Harris needed a win on Tuesday night's US presidential election debate. After an initial honeymoon period as Democratic nominee, her campaign on the ground was running out of steam. Now she and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the polls of key battleground states. All he had to do on Tuesday night was keep his cool and stick the script provided by advisers. Instead, he made a string of rambling statements that ranged from the baseless to the downright absurd. But given how polarised the country now is, the victor of the debate depends on viewers' own political allegiances. So how much of a difference will the performances have in the minds of Americans? Can Harris' debate win do anything to change her trajectory? Irish Times Washington Corresondent, Keith Duggan, reports from Philadelphia where the debate was held.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is an award of €13 billion a big win or an embarrassing loss? The European Court of Justice (ECJ) court yesterday said that the European Commission was correct in 2016 when it ruled that Apple owed Ireland €13 billion in tax relating to underpayments during 2003-2014.The ruling represents a heavy legal defeat for Apple and the Irish Government – and a major win for the EU.But how did it get to the point that Ireland had to go to Europe to defend a tax arrangement with a multinational? Irish Times columnist Cliff Taylor explains how a big pay-day for the Government is also a reputational hit, with the court's clear and final verdict that Ireland broke the rules and offered illegal State aid to Apple. And he looks at how to spend it. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy jnr has dropped out of the race in America's key swing states, but vows to remain as an alternative choice for voters in red and blue states. Washington Correspondent for The Irish Times, Keith Duggan, analyses whether getting out of Trump's way in places like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania will help the former president get re-elected. Or whether RFK's would-be voters will opt for the Democrats' new nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris where she currently has a tight lead. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2009 warring brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher fell out for the last time – their final argument broke up their band, Oasis.At the time Oasis albums topped the charts, they sold out the biggest venues and audiences were word-perfect in their vast catalogue of catchy anthems from Wonderwall to Don't Look Back in Anger.In the intervening years both brothers have had solo careers and both took every opportunity to slag each other off, saying they'd never play together again.But as music journalist Eamonn Sweeney tells In the News, the past year has seen a thawing of hostilities, with hints from Liam that Oasis just might get back together. There's a lot of money at stake.Then at the weekend, Liam tweeted a date for a big announcement – Tuesday, August 27th at the not very rock'n'roll time of 8am. Could Irish concerts be on the cards? Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon, Suzanne Brennan and John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, a 99-year-old German woman, who worked in a Nazi-era concentration camp office in her late teens, was confirmed guilty of being an accessory to murder on more than 10,000 counts.Irmgard Furchner worked as a secretary in the Stutthof concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland between June 1943 to April 1945, when she was aged 18 and 19. Up to 65,000 people are estimated to have died in the camp.80 years later, Furchner is still alive – and facing the consequences of her involvement in the camp.But what is the point of prosecuting Furchner, who was a teenager with little agency in those crimes?And, with at least five similar cases looming in the coming years, why are these convictions happening now?Today, on In the News, Irish Times Berlin correspondent Derek Scally discusses why this 99-year-old woman was put on trial and the implications of Germany's belated wave of Nazi-era prosecutions.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was originally published in April 2024. In Libya, former members of the Irish Defence Forces, including men who served in the elite Army Rangers Wing have been providing training for a militia headed up Libyan strongman, Khalifa Haftar.It's a lucrative business for the company called Irish Training Solutions but the work is an apparent breach of a United Nations arms embargo imposed on the volatile African country.Naomi O'Leary broke the story in the Irish Times on Wednesday and the official response was swift. Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin called the revelations “deeply shocking”, saying that they cause “reputational damage to Ireland and our Defence Forces”.O'Leary tells In the News about the sort of military training being provided by these former Irish soldiers, who is behind Irish Training Solutions, how much money is involved and, with providing military training in Libya specifically prohibited by the UN, what it means for the reputation of the Irish Defence Forces.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Malachy Browne heads up the New York Times's visual investigations unit where he and his team investigate key events, from breaking news at home to war atrocities abroad, to piece together second-by-second what really happened.The work exposes the truth of events, particularly ones that are shrouded in misinformation, conspiracy theories and official denials. He and his team have won two Pulitzer Prizes.Investigations, presented on the New York Times website, range from uncovering the devastating sequence of events of the atrocity at Bucha in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to plotting exactly happened in 2017 when a gunman opened fire at a concert in Las Vegas killing 60 people.On In the News he talks about these projects and more while explaining just how his team works, from 3D modelling and AI to painstakingly exploring satellite images and mining phone records, and how the Limerick man who began his career in Dublin before moving to New York works to stay one step ahead in a media landscape flooded with fake news.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. This episode was originally published in May 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Throughout the 1980s, two men dominated the Irish political landscape. Charles Haughey and Garret Fitzgerald embodied and articulated very different visions of Ireland and its future. Born a year apart, one a Northsider, one a Southsider, both sons of Civil War veterans, divided by social class, personality and beliefs, they came to epitomise their two respective parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. In the first instalment of a special three-part Inside Politics podcast series, Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan trace their stories from childhood to the early stages of their political careers until the end of the 1970s when they each rise to become party leader. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Were Irish colonisers too? A new book reveals our forgotten dark historyIn discussions around empire and colonisation, including popular movements such as Black Lives Matter and Rhodes Must Fall, Ireland likes to think itself on the “right” side of history, as colonised victims of empire.But as Trinity College Dublin historian Prof Jane Ohlmeyer explores in her new book, Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism, and the Early Modern World, it's not as simple as that.On the island of Monsterrat in the West Indies, for example, St Patrick's Day is a national holiday - the only country outside Ireland to mark the day officially. But the parades there are to celebrate an unsuccessful revolt by enslaved islanders against the European whites - mostly Irish - who colonised it in the 17th century.There are stark examples too of the Irish in India - and other countries too - acting more like colonisers than colonised.Irish Times reporter and historian Ronan McGreevy interviewed Ohlmeyer and talks here about a troubling aspect of Irish history.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. This episode was originally published in March 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The upcoming US election will see a presidential rematch for the first time since Eisenhower and Stevenson in 1956. That contest is between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the two most unpopular candidates in living memory. But who is likely to prevail once the votes are finally counted?In a special live event last week, Head of Polling at Ipsos US, Cliff Young, joined Hugh Linehan to dig into some of the big questions that have defined the presidential race thus far.Why is Joe Biden performing so poorly in the polls? Why have so many minority voters who would traditionally have voted Democrat, decided to make the move towards the Republican party? And despite his legal woes, does Trump's anti-establishment stance still retain its potency?And in terms of what issues are front and centre for US voters, Cliff explains why it's the economy, more specifically inflation, that is having a ‘nasty effect on the political calculus'. But can that be changed in any significant way before election day?Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.