In The News

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...

Last year, nearly 5,000 cars were stolen across Ireland – making it the worst year for car thefts in more than a decade. Opportunists and joyriders have always stolen cars but what is new, according to Conor Lally, is the gangs now operating across the country. They typically steal high-value cars, bring them to remote chop shops, break up the cars and export the parts. Lally explains how the gang...

October 7th is a date seared into the memory of Israelis . It was the day last year that they awoke to an attack by militant group Hamas, on a scale never before seen in the decades-long conflict. When In the News first reported on the febrile situation, interviewing Mark Weiss in Jerusalem who assessed the likely Israeli response, the scale of the Hamas massacre was unknown. Today, we know that a...

Whether you’re eight or 18, homework is part of your school day. But should it be? And how much should children be tasked to do? And what is the point? Irish Times parenting columnist Jen Hogan is clear: primary-school children should not be given homework, ever. She tells In the News that years of parenting and research informs her firm view. Irish Times education editor Carl O’Brien says that wh...

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...

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 requ...

What did we learn from the budget speeches of Ministers Jack Chambers and Paschal Donohoe? Irish Times reporters fill us in on bonus payments, tax adjustments, welfare increases and a surprise measure. Finally we ask: Is it wise to spend so much money in the way the Government plans? With Conor Pope, Niamh Towey, Jennifer Bray, Ian Curran, Jack Horgan-Jones and Cliff Taylor. Hosted on Acast. See a...

In the summer of 2022, journalists Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin were in Romania filming a documentary about Andrew Tate and his social media influence.  Tate, who had made a name for himself spouting misogynistic content online appeared invincible, but his empire was about to crumble.  As concern about his content began to mount, the controversial influencer was banned from Facebook, Insta...

In 2019, before Andrew Tate became the household name he is today, documentary makers Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin decided to tell Tate's story and investigate his social media influence and cultural impact. Much to their surprise, the 'king of toxic masculinity' allowed them into his world. But as they delved deeper into his empire and uncovered the sources of his income, their investigation soon t...

Since 2007 the Press Up hospitality group has been a key and highly visible player in Dublin’s social scene with super-stylish restaurants, popular nightclubs and bars and a cinema. Founded by old schoolfriends Matt Ryan and Paddy McKillen jnr it changed the face of dining out in the capital, growing fast by developing its own restaurants and buying existing, successful operations including Wagama...

This week has been the deadliest for Lebanon in decades after sustained air strikes by Israel. Fears are growing for an all-out war between the two sides as the Israeli Defence Forces prepare for a possible ground incursion. It says its targeting Iran-backed Hizbullah and its arsenal of weapons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists the militant group has hidden missiles and rocket launchers i...

The Government was forced to admit that it is dropping its controversial plans to introduce hate speech laws after the move was revealed by Irish Times political correspondent Jack Horgan-Jones at the weekend. But why? The long talked-about new Bill passed easily through the Dáil in 2023 and was expected to be rubberstamped by the Seanad. However fissures began appearing early in the Bill’s gestat...

This week Alexander McCartney from Newry, Co Armagh, will be sentenced in Belfast for what has been described as one of the “worst cases of catfishing” to ever come before the courts. Earlier this year, McCartney pleaded guilty to over 50 charges of blackmail and multiple offenses of possessing indecent images of children. The former student also pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a 12 year old...

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 “pot...

“Scans rarely show the cause of low back pain,” says Prof Kieran O’Sullivan, chartered physiotherapist and head of the school of physiotherapy at the University of Limerick . He points out that so-called “abnormal findings” on scans such disc bulges, disc degeneration and arthritis are common and normal for most people without pain, especially as they get older. So why do some people experience ba...

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 Aus...

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...

A record 10,600 Irish people emigrated to Australia last year, according to the Central Statistics Office; the highest number since 2013. With its year-round sunshine, high wages and laid back lifestyle, it’s not hard to understand the attraction. Push factors in Ireland include the diminishing hopes of home ownership for many young people. But Australia’s economy is slowing down and property pric...

Washington correspondent Keith Duggan reports on what we know about the second attempt on the life of former US president Donald Trump in a matter of months. Who is Ryan Routh, the man who has been arrested after fleeing the scene of the alleged assassination attempt and charged with gun offences? And will this incident make an impact on the election? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

The UK government has ordered a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, the Belfast solicitor shot dead in 1989 by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in collusion with British forces. But why now? His family, led by his widow, have for 35 years pressed Westminster for a public inquiry to get to the truth of why Finucane was killed and to reveal the true extent of the collusion of the Bri...

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 t...

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 ram...

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 t...

Former British nurse, Lucy Letby, is serving 15 life sentences for the murder and attempted murder of 14 babies. All of the infants were under her care when they were killed between 2015 and 2016. This summer her case was thrown out of the Court of Appeal. And yet doubts remain amongst a cohort of people who believe she may have been wrongly convicted on circumstantial evidence. Bizarre interventi...

Last Wednesday, a 14 year-old American student walked through the doors of his highschool in Georgia and opened fire. Terrified students and teachers ran for shelter as Colt Gray took aim, killing four people and injuring many others. The teenager, who was apprehended at the scene, used a lightweight semi-automatic rifle, a type of gun that’s become associated with school shootings.    T...