Shows / In The News
In The News
In The News is a daily podcast from The Irish Times that takes a close look at the stories that matter, in Ireland and around the world. Presented by Bernice Harrison and Aideen Finnegan.
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Episodes
- In The News
‘My Irish friends are awesome’ says Elon Musk – who are they?
Elon Musk seems particularly taken with the opinions of three Irish men active on X: far-right activist Michael O’Keeffe; Barry O’Driscoll, whose idea of…
- In The News
Petrol bombs and drive-bys: How Limerick’s gangland violence returned
This episode was first published in June 2025. In the early hours of May 8th, two masked men in a stolen Audi staged a drive-by shooting, firing nine shots…
- In The News
Richard Satchwell: why did it take eight years for the killer to face justice?
This episode was first published in May 2025. From the moment he reported her missing in 2017, Richard Satchwell stuck to his story that his wife Tina had run…
- In The News
The new IRB: How a shadow 'government' is operating under the radar in Ireland
This episode was first published in August 2025. For years the Irish Republican Brotherhood – the IRB – was remembered annually in a curious ceremony at…
- In The News
Plum pudding and sea swimming: Irish traditions that have stuck and new ones that have taken off
It’s Christmas Eve and so much about this time of year is about the things we do and eat – not because we particularly want to do them or even enjoy eating…
- In The News
From Traitors to Kneecap: What kept us entertained in 2025
At a time when there are media think pieces galore about how atomised entertainment is, how people don’t talk about TV like they used to; how the music…
- In The News
Inside Tommy Robinson’s world: Unholy mix of faith and fury on the streets of London
British far-right activist Tommy Robinson is the UK’s most notorious anti-Muslim activist. At 43, he is the street leader of the radical right-wing nationalist…
- In The News
2025 was a year of upheaval. But what will it be remembered for?
2025 was a year of global upheaval, from the activities of the Trump Administration to instability in the Middle East and the reshaping of power politics as…
- In The News
Why Ireland is under pressure in a battle over European trade
After 25 years the Mercosur deal is reaching crunch time. The trade deal which would permit free trade between the EU and the South American countries that…
- In The News
What was the greatest Irish sporting moment of 2025?
The 2025 roll call of Irish sporting heroes is long and notable for the variety of sports that saw stunning feats of excellence. Golfing great Rory McIlroy…
- In The News
Irish politics in 2025: which stories really mattered?
What were the big political stories of 2025? Were there issues we were obsessed with at the time and now can’t quite remember why? And were there any laughs to…
- In The News
Crime 2025: The stories that made the headlines
One of the most shocking stories of the year was the disappearance of Kerry farmer Michael Gaine, whose dismembered body was found on his farm almost two…
- In The News
Will Australia’s social media ban for children come to Ireland?
This week, Australia became the first country in the world to impose a social media ban for children aged 16 and under. Welcomed by parents there but…
- In The News
What’s gone wrong with the M50 and can we fix it?
The M in M50 stands for motorway – multiple lanes, fast speed limits and easy access to a network of national roads. More than 30 years ago it was designed as…
- In The News
How a Government advice video on 'moving back home' went viral for all the wrong reasons
The Department of Housing is an unexpected source of top tips for young adults on how to behave. “Help out around the house”, it advises, “Set house rules” and…
- In The News
Murder in Edenderry: How suspected drug debt led to deadly arson attack
Gardaí have opened a double murder investigation after a young boy, Tadhg Farrell (4) and his great-aunt Mary Holt (60) were killed in a suspected petrol bomb…
- In The News
Syria’s disappeared: Leak of Assad torture photographs reveals fate of thousands
A leak of documents, including photographs, from the regime of Bashir al Assad has laid bare the bloody inner workings of his regime. More than 33,000…
- In The News
Ukraine: Why Trump's push for peace is not working
The latest round of Ukraine-Russia peace talks have been the most complex and lengthy since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia began in February…
- In The News
Is arming the gardaí with Tasers a good idea?
Uniformed gardaí are being issued with Taser guns as part of a six-month trial. It has long been a point of pride in Ireland that the police force are not…
- In The News
Is Trump starting a war with Venezuela?
In a major military operation that began in September, the US administration continues to put pressure on Venezuela with navy warships massing in the Caribbean…
- In The News
Why Irish landlords are selling up and leaving the rental market
New figures from the Residential Tenancies Board are stark: the number of eviction notices issued by landlords in the third quarter of this year increased by…
- In The News
Will a tax bill scupper Gerry Hutch's run for the Dáil?
Gerry Hutch, also known as The Monk, is eyeing up the Dáil seat left vacant by the resignation of Paschal Donohoe. Already it is believed that the convicted…
- In The News
Hong Kong fire: how unheeded warnings may have lead to disaster
By Friday, the death toll in the Hong Kong apartment complex inferno had reached 128 with many more people unaccounted for. A blaze that began in one 32-storey…
- In The News
Will plan to rename Dublin Airport after Seán Lemass fly?
Ireland has been slow to name its airports after people. Streets and housing estates, yes, but as Ronan McGreevy points out, the State is more inclined to…
- In The News
‘There’s an impression in society that it’s a man’s disease’: Heart attacks and the risks for women
Heart disease is the leading causes of death of women in Ireland but yet, many of us still consider it a male illness. Cardiovascular disease claims more…
- In The News
Why online scammers love Black Friday
Black Friday – a Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza imported from the US – isn’t just one day any more. Retailers, both online and in the shops, started…
In The NewsIreland ‘flying blind’ financially, and a new name for Dublin Airport?
This is an episode of our new sister podcast, Early Edition. It's in your feed this morning because -as a listener of In The News, we thought you might like…
- In The News
Are Denmark’s hardline immigration rules coming to Ireland?
Denmark’s immigration laws have evolved over the past 20 years but the intention underpinning them is the same: only asylum seekers who have been invited…
- In The News
How 'skinny jabs' are making Ireland richer
Pharma giant Eli Lilly manufactures the ingredients for its weight-loss drug Mounjaro and its diabetes drug Zepbound in Kinsale, Co Cork. The Irish Fiscal…
In The NewsDefence Forces Tribunal demands names, and nursing homes want immigration rules relaxed
We're happy to share an episode Early Edition, a new podcast from The Irish Times that brings you four of our top stories in under ten minutes. Find it in your…
- In The News
Good year for the Criminal Assets Bureau, bad year for blinged-up criminals
In 2024 the Criminal Assets Bureau seized assets and money totalling just over €17 million and sold 20 houses that had been bought with the proceeds of crime…
- In The News
FIFA World Cup: Can Republic of Ireland qualify for 2026?
So now we know, the World Cup play-off fixtures have been announced: Republic of Ireland will play Czech Republic away on March 26th, and if they win, they…
- In The News
Why Trump caved to Maga pressure over Epstein files
The Epstein files are a vast cache of documents which include legal files, witness testimonies and flight logs, collected during an extensive US Justice…
- In The News
What will Paschal Donohoe's departure mean for government?
There has been a sense for some time that Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe’s next move was never going to be to some other role in Leinster House. Instead…
- In The News
John Mackey murder: How an Irish pensioner was killed for his groceries
Like a whole generation of young Irish men, John Mackey emigrated to the UK in the 1950s in search of work. At 87 and living alone in north London, the…
In The NewsIntroducing 'Early Edition', a new podcast from The Irish Times
We're happy to share an episode Early Edition, a new podcast from The Irish Times that brings you four of our top stories in under ten minutes. Find it in your…
- In The News
What’s behind Belfast’s Irish language revival?
For generations, Irish speakers north and south of the Irish Border have fought to keep their language alive. And today, what was once dismissed as a fading…
- In The News
New housing plan promises 300,000 new homes. Can it deliver?
In hard hats and high-vis jackets, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and Minister for Housing James Browne looked the part at Thursday’s launch…
- In The News
How Sudan became a killing zone
Few conflicts have caused as much horror and devastation to people’s lives as Sudan’s civil war. And yet, the country’s ongoing death and destruction remains…
- In The News
What we know so far about the alleged plot to destroy Galway Mosque
Last Friday, two men appeared before Portlaoise District Court as part of a Garda investigation into an alleged terrorist plot by an extreme right wing group…
- In The News
COP30: Will this be the year for real change?
On Monday, the COP30 climate summit officially opened in the Brazilian city of Belém at the gateway to the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian organisers have…
- In The News
Is it time to change the way we buy houses?
For most people, the process of buying a house can be quite disheartening. The lack of housing supply across the country means houses often sell for way above…
- In The News
Food Month: Ireland’s top restaurants, and what’s on the menu
Every November, Irish Times restaurant critic Corinna Hardgrave looks back at her year to produce a list of the top 100 restaurants across the country. This…
- In The News
Why Donald Trump is rattled by socialist Zohran Mamdani's NYC victory
On Tuesday New Yorkers elected socialist and Democratic Party candidate Zohran Mamdani as mayor. Mamdani, the city's first Muslim and African-born mayor and…
- In The News
How Ivan Yates’s links to Fianna Fáil have landed him in hot water
On Saturday, the story broke that broadcaster and former Fine Gael politician Ivan Yates had provided interview and debate coaching to Fianna Fáil presidential…
- In The News
A Sick Man: DJ Carey and his cancer con
On Monday afternoon, in a packed courtroom at Dublin’s Circuit Criminal Court, former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey was sentenced to five and a half years in prison…
- In The News
Could a drawing help identify woman’s body found in Co Cork?
There are many things An Garda Síochána know about the woman whose skeletal remains were found in 2021 during the construction of a greenway in Co Cork. They…
- In The News
Saipan: Will 2002 World Cup movie open old wounds for Irish football fans?
Saipan: it’s the one word that can, even 23 years later, cause a row and Irish football fans still divide into two camps. When it comes to events in Saipan…
- In The News
Remembering May McGee: The ‘hero housewife’ who fought to make contraception legal in Ireland
In the early 1970s Mary ‘May’ and Seamus ‘Shay’ McGee were parents to four young children. On her second and third pregnancies, May had experienced…
- In The News
How Russia’s hybrid war is spreading fear across Europe
In early September, worshippers gathering for dawn prayers at several locations across Paris discovered a gruesome and spiteful scene – bloodied pigs’ heads…
- In The News
Inside Afghanistan: What is life really like under Taliban rule?
Journalist Khadija Haidary left her home in Afghanistan in October 2024 after spending three years trying to survive as a working woman in a Taleban-controlled…
- In The News
Bloody Sunday: Not guilty verdict in Soldier F murder trial
A Belfast court delivered a not-guilty verdict on Thursday in the trial of a former British Army paratrooper accused of the murder of two young men in the…
- In The News
Tik Tok thieves versus Ireland's organised crime gangs
Crimes carried out by a loose syndicate of about 60 teenagers spread across north and South Dublin, who are more interested in capturing their joyriding…
- In The News
Tear gas and riot gear: How Gardaí put a stop to the Citywest riots
In chaotic and violent scenes reminiscent of the street riots in Dublin city centre two years ago, around 1,000 protesters outside the Citywest IPAS centre in…
- In The News
Virginia Giuffre memoir: Will the British royal family finally drop Prince Andrew?
On Tuesday, almost six months after she took her own life, the posthumous memoir of Virginia Giuffre went on sale. ‘Nobody’s Girl’, which was completed by…
- In The News
Louvre jewel heist: how the robbery that outraged France unfolded
Shortly after 9.30am on Sunday, when the Louvre in Paris had just opened its doors to visitors, alarm bells started to ring out through the halls of the…
- In The News
Inside the call centres where Irish victims are top targets for investment scammers
Scam call centres are paying up to €1,200 per person for the contact details of potential Irish victims. And once they have a name and number, it’s game on…
- In The News
Drug debts and buried bodies: the trial of Ruth Lawrence for double murder
Eleven years after the bodies of Anthony Keegan (33) and Eoin O’Connor (32) were discovered buried on Inchicup Island, Dublin woman Ruth Lawrence (45) has gone…
- In The News
Why has Irish swimmer Shane Ryan signed up for the 'Steroid Olympics'?
Irish Olympic swimmer Shane Ryan can now take all the performance-enhancing drugs he wants as part of his training plan. And if anabolic steroids, human growth…
- In The News
How one woman lost all her money through a romance scam
The number of people falling victim to online fraud, and in some cases losing their life savings as a result of being scammed, is skyrocketing. Banks have…