In The News

Last month, a shocking HSE report into South Kerry’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (Camhs), shed light on how some of our youngest mental health patients have been treated here in Ireland. In this episode, Irish Times Political correspondent Jennifer Bray takes us through the details of the report, while Dr Ian Kelleher, a Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist tells Sorcha Po...

New figures reveal there has been a 14.4% year-on-year rise in the cost of buying a home in Ireland, bringing the price of a house almost back to its Celtic Tiger era peak. Eoin Burke-Kennedy on why there is little hope for optimism that housing will become more affordable as things stand. Karl Deeter on the risk of another Celtic Tiger phenomenon returning: the property crash. Hosted on Acast. Se...

For nearly three years, Dublin businessman Richard O’Halloran was effectively trapped in China, after travelling there in February 2019 to handle a dispute between his employer and the Chinese authorities. Last month, after previous unsuccessful attempts to leave the country, he flew home to his wife Tara and their four children.  Irish Times Public Affairs editor Simon Carswell visited the c...

Loneliness is an emotion that most of us will experience at some stage in our lives. While it is often associated with the elderly or isolated, loneliness can still be felt in a relationship or group and can have profound effects on physical and mental health. Professor Roger O’Sullivan of the Institute of Public Health tells Sorcha Pollak why loneliness should be a top political priority and what...

Mississippi is the centre of a legal battle over abortion in America that could soon see the right to terminate a pregnancy removed or curtailed in dozens of states, affecting millions of women. The southern state is also home to an abortion clinic that attracts protesters and activists on both sides of the bitter debate. Washington correspondent Martin Wall went there. Hosted on Acast. See acast....

Winter energy bills are now costing hundreds of euro more than last year and prices are climbing up and down supermarket aisles. In this episode, consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope tells Sorcha Pollak what is behind the rising cost of living and how long should we expect prices to soar. We also hear from single mother of two, Cheryl Barry, who shares her experience of living on the one...

The Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar is set to become Taoiseach again in December.   But a Garda investigation into the leaking by Varadkar of a document to a friend in April 2019 is a fly in the ointment. Political reporter Jack Horgan Jones talks to In the News about the background to the story and what it might mean for Irish politics in the year ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has been named by Munich investigators as a potential accessory to child abuse in a file made available to state prosecutors. It's after a law firm commissioned by the archdiocese of Munich and Freising to study its archives presented a report flagging 497 cases of clerical sexual abuse and 67 alleged perpetrators. The investigators highlighted four cases of abusing...

Arts and Culture editor Hugh Linehan speaks to Conor Pope about Neil Young’s decision to leave Spotify and how the streaming service now plan to tackle misinformation on their platform. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than two dozen “lunatic asylums” were built throughout Ireland in the 1800s. Today some are hospitals, while others are derelict. Through interviews and archive research, Rosita Boland pieces together what life was like inside the walls of these state-run institutions. She discovers that for many of the thousands of Irish citizens who passed through them, mental illness was not the only reaso...

What can we do for ourselves to ensure that we live long, fulfilling, happy and fit lives? In this episode, Conor Pope speaks to Professor of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College, Rose Anne Kenny about the surprising and novel ways in which we can keep ourselves feeling younger. Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life by Prof Rose Anne Kenny is published by Lagom. P...

A buildup of Russian troops along its border has the people of Ukraine on heightened alert, and the world wondering: what exactly does Vladimir Putin want to achieve and how far is he willing to go? Dan McLaughlin reports from Kramatorsk in the east of the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, the parents of five children in Munster were jailed for a combined 24 years after being found guilty of abusing, exploiting and wilfully neglecting their five children between 2014 and 2016. The children’s father and mother, two of their uncles and an aunt were found guilty of all but one of the 78 charges against them. Today we hear the story of the Munster child abuse case from the re...

Just 30 kilometres north of Dublin, lies a hidden oasis in Meath called Dunsany Castle. Home to Ireland’s biggest rewilding project, it’s run by Lord Randal Plunkett, a heavy metal-loving filmmaker and producer. In this episode, Sorcha Pollak travels out to Dunsany to discover how rewilding has changed the landscape and contributes to the fight against climate change. However, not everyone is happ...

With case numbers continuing to fall, the easing of Covid restrictions could begin as early as next week. Today, Conor Pope speaks to The Irish Times public affairs editor Simon Carswell and Professor of Immunology at DCU, Christine Loscher, about passing the peak of the Omicron wave and why leaders remain “cautiously hopeful”. Presenter: Conor Pope Producers: Suzanne Brennan and Jennifer Ryan www...

Last Wednesday afternoon, 23-year-old Ashling Murphy went for a run along the canal pathway just outside the town of Tullamore in Co Offaly. At around 4pm, the primary school teacher was attacked and killed. Her death led to an outpouring of grief and anger across the nation with calls for men to stand up and call out the abuse and harassment of women. Irish Times journalists Jennifer O’Connell an...

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has never been under more pressure after revelations emerged that he attended a party during Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. The news came a month after accusations about breaches of Covid rules at Downing Street first emerged, embarrassing the Conservatives. Johnson may hang on, but "the magic is gone" says London editor Denis Staunton - and it may not be long until Tor...

Novak Djokovic is on the cusp of becoming the best men’s tennis player in the history of the sport. In less than a week, he should be attempting to land a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam men's singles victory at the Australian Open. But the Australian immigration minister has the power to revoke the Serbian’s visa due to his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19.    Sorcha Pollak tal...

English national John Shaw has been in custody in Ireland since September 1976 when both he and another English man, Geoffrey Evans, were arrested for the abduction, rape, torture and murder of Elizabeth Plunkett and Mary Duffy. After more than 45 years behind bars, Shaw is now looking to secure temporary release, but should he get the chance to step back into the outside world? Irish Times securi...

Two years into the pandemic, it’s still not clear how, when, or if it will end. With health systems across the world in a permanent state of crisis mode, other pressing health and societal problems that require urgent attention remain sidelined. Tim Colbourn, professor of global health systems, epidemiology and evaluation at University College London, says we must accept that eradicating Covid-19...

When rioters smashed their way into the US Capitol one year ago this week, it was seen as both a disaster for US democracy but also a potential turning point after the divisiveness of the Trump years. One year on, those hopes have faded and the polarisation of America is worse than ever, says our new Washington correspondent Martin Wall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you watched Squid Game yet? Since its release, the South Korean drama has become a global sensation, making it Netflix’s biggest series launch to date. Sorcha Pollak speaks to Irish Times Features writer Patrick Freyne about the phenomenal success of the series and what's behind its global appeal, while Dr Kevin Cawley, Senior Lecturer in Korean Studies at UCC gives an insight into the socio-...

Amazon, the company founded by Jeff Bezos in a Seattle garage more than a quarter of a century ago, is building one of its massive fulfilment centres in Ireland. While that will mean faster deliveries, easier returns and greater choice for Irish customers, the arrival of an  amazon.ie  is not without its dark sides.  In this episode, Conor Pope talks to US journalist and author Alec...

Could Ireland's most notorious murderer Graham Dwyer win a retrial, or even walk free?   Dwyer, who was convicted of the murder of Elaine O'Hara in 2015, reportedly believes so.   In the years since Dwyer was handed a life sentence, court rulings on the legality of key evidence used against him - mobile phone metadata - have given him hope.   On today's podcast, crime correspondent...

Nearly 100 years after his death, the truth about who assassinated Michael Collins remains one of the greatest unanswered questions in Irish history. Collins was murdered at Béal na mBláth in Cork on August 22nd, 1922. At the time he was chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State. Why then was his death never properly investigated? Over the last century there has been much spec...