In The News

It’s a quintessentially American institution, where kids battle it out to correctly spell ten-dollar words like 'querimonious' and 'solidungulate'. This year, the long dominance of Indian-American competitors was broken by the first ever black American winner, 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde. Documentary filmmaker Sam Rega tells us the story of the National Spelling Bee. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

Ireland is in the midst of a rent crisis. Prices are increasing nationally at a rate of around 8%, housing stock is low and the cost of buying a home is beyond many people who would like to get a foot on the property ladder. In this episode we hear from two people with first-hand experience of the rental market. Conor Pope talks to Irish Times feature writer Jennifer O’Connell about the reality of...

How did Sinn Féin adapt, evolve and rise to become the most popular political party in the Republic of Ireland? And if it does win power in a future election, can it satisfy the many disparate groups of voters who now support it? We talk to Pat Leahy, political editor of The Irish Times, and Aidan Regan, at UCD's School of Politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Omicron variant of Sars CoV 2 is the most transmissible variant yet and the percentage of cases here is growing dramatically. What is the Government going to do about it and what are the implications for the health service? Conor Popes talks to Irish Times health editor Paul Cullen and political correspondent Jennifer Bray. Produced by Declan Conlon, Jennifer Ryan and Suzanne Brennan. www...

Earlier this month, the government approved a landmark scheme to regularise thousands of undocumented migrants and their families who are living in Ireland. The scheme, which opens in January and runs for six months, will allow those living in the shadows of society to come forward and establish their status. Seen as a life changing development for the nearly 17,000 undocumented people living in t...

Demand for cosmetic procedures is on the rise across Ireland, but what are the risks involved when the industry remains unregulated? Features writer Jennifer O’Connell speaks to Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon, Jennifer Ryan and Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denis Staunton on the latest scandal hitting UK prime minister Boris Johnson's government, after a week of denials that an illegal party took place in Downing Street last Christmas was brought to an embarrassing end by a leaked tape. Will the scandal weaken Johnson, or undermine the new Covid-19 restrictions he announced this week? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A group of MEPs, citing civil liberties, are refusing to present a Covid vaccination certificate when entering the European Parliament. Their ringleader is Romanian MEP Christian Tehres. Tehres is supported in his campaign by his Irish press officer Hermann Kelly, better known for his presidency of the far-right Irish Freedom Party, his advocacy for Irexit and his association with Nigel Farage. Na...

On the 6th of December 1921, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was agreed, paving the way for the creation of the Irish state. A century later, we explore how it was negotiated, the impact it had then and its legacy today. Conor Pope talks to playwright Colin Murphy, author Gretchen Friemann, historian Mícheál Ó Fathartaigh and Irish Times journalist Ronan McGreevy. Produced by Declan Conlon, Jennifer Ryan a...

The emergence of the Omicron variant has us asking questions about the virus and vaccines. What exactly does it look like when Sars-CoV-2 mutates? Could it really mutate to be a "nicer" virus? Can we ever create a vaccine that remains totally effective against Covid-19 in the long term? To find out the answer to these and other questions, we talk to Dr Gerald Barry, a virologist at University Coll...

Jack Horgan-Jones on the new measures announced by the Government yesterday in light of the emergence of Omicron, a potentially more transmissible variant of Covid-19. Plus: If the worst comes to the worst, can our economy weather another Covid-19 wave? We ask economics columnist Cliff Taylor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Leaving Cert system is often accused of being one large memory test, placing high levels of stress on students and failing to prepare them for a life beyond education. Now, academics are calling for change, with plans to reform the system due to be published soon. Education editor Carl O’Brien and Professor Anne Looney of Dublin City University, speak to Sorcha Pollak about how the new system...

Thanks to Argentinian heritage, comedian and TV presenter Stephen Mullan knows how much Diego Maradona meant to the people of Argentina, and how much his death still hurts them one year on. Stephen tells Conor Pope about why the beloved and infamous footballer meant so much to him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last weekend, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of European cities to demonstrate against the introduction of new Covid restrictions. Europe correspondent Naomi O'Leary speaks to Conor Pope about the rising unrest and how the authorities are grappling with soaring infections. Produced by Declan Conlon, Jennifer Ryan and Suzanne Brennan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more...

Irish Times features writer Jennifer O’Connell recently spent the day in Dublin’s Mater hospital, speaking to frontline staff. With Covid cases continuing to rise and a surge in demand for critical care, many fear the worst is still to come. O’Connell spoke to Dr Sinead McArdle, Dr Colman O’Loughlin and Prof John McCaffrey. Here she tells Sorcha Pollak what medics are anticipating in the weeks and...

Last week Google, following "right to be forgotten" rules, granted a request from a member of a well-known Irish business family to hide unfavourable news stories about the family from search results. But how much is there to remember about self-made billionaire Sean Quinn and the Quinn family? Quite a lot, actually. Colm Keena, who travelled to Ukraine to investigate the affairs of the Quinns at...

Thousands of migrants, mainly from the Middle East, are stuck on the Belarus border with Poland, having arrived into the country with the promise of a safe route into the European Union. Instead, Polish authorities have guarded the border, leaving many stranded in makeshift camps and surviving freezing conditions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been accused of engineering the crisis...

Dennis Hutchings was buried on Thursday in Devon with full military honours and applause. The 80 year old died in  Belfast  after contracting Covid-19 while he was in the city to face trial for the shooting of John Pat Cunningham in 1974. Mr Cunningham, who was 27, was a vulnerable adult with learning difficulties who was afraid of soldiers. Mr Hutchings has become a figurehead for the c...

Last week, former All Black Carl Hayman revealed a diagnosis of early onset dementia at just 41 years of age. Hayman has also joined a long list of former players taking legal action against rugby’s governing bodies, claiming they failed to protect players from the risks caused by concussions and sub-concussions. In today’s episode, former Welsh back-rower Alix Popham speaks to host Sorcha Pollak...

The finishing line of this pandemic has been cruelly pushed back again and again. Vaccines have diminished the threat posed by Covid-19 but we're still a long way from normal. Now, with cases as high as ever, there are still a few levers left to pull to get the virus under control. Simon Carswell asked immunologists Professor Kingston Mills and Professor Christine Loscher about booster doses, upda...

Last Friday in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, a fire in the busy neighbourhood of Wellington killed scores and injured many more. The fire was caused by a leak from a fuel tanker and many people had been drawn to danger to collect the precious fuel to resell or power their vehicles. From Freetown, Sally Hayden reports on what happened on Friday and since, the obvious link between poverty and the...

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 Conor Gallagher talks...

How does a country halve its greenhouse gas emissions in just nine years? The new Climate Action Plan is the Irish government's answer to that question. The proposals within it, if implemented, will radically change life in the country. So what's in it, who will it affect the most and does it go far enough? Jennifer Ryan talks to Jennifer Bray, political correspondent with The Irish Times and Dr H...

A squat eviction, protests over plans to redevelop the site at the Cobblestone pub and the announcements of closures of the Science Gallery and a much-loved independent bookshop. These individual events, which took place in Dublin last week, may not seem related. But for many people, they symbolise what is seen as the degradation of culture and the character of the capital city.  Sorcha Polla...

Just over 25 years ago, the Criminal Assets Bureau was established in the wake of the killings of Detective Jerry McCabe and journalist Veronica Guerin. The murders shocked the nation and served as a wakeup call to the authorities that they were losing the fight against gangland figures and paramilitary groups. Over the years, the Criminal Assets Bureau has seized almost €200million in the proceed...