Newstalk Daily

A Taoiseach warning of a “slippery slide to disaster” — while sailing a 52-foot yacht decked out in mahogany and teak, with an “Admiral’s” cabin and vintage Champagne on ice. Celtic Mist wasn’t just a boat. It became shorthand for power, privilege, and the contradictions of 1980s Ireland.  Bought after Charles Haughey’s first yacht was wrecked off Mizen Head, and later examined by t...

When the Republic of Ireland football team was drawn against Israel in the UEFA Nations League, what should have been a routine fixture quickly became something much bigger. Ireland previously asked UEFA to consider banning Israel from competition. Yet after the draw, the FAI confirmed it will fulfil the games. For some fans and politicians, that feels like a contradiction. For the associatio...

Say the wrong thing about someone… and it can cost you. A tweet. A headline. A comment under a post. In Ireland, words have come with a serious price tag.  Last week, the Defamation (Amendment) Bill passed through the Oireachtas, bringing the biggest changes to Irish libel law in years. No more juries in High Court defamation cases. New protections for journalists. New powers aimed at stoppin...

An American conservative powerhouse is setting its sights on Ireland. Turning Point USA, the youth movement founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, has become one of the most influential networks in US conservative politics, with deep ties to the Republican Party and the MAGA movement. Now, following Kirk’s assassination in Utah last September, his widow Erika Kirk is reportedly planning a visit to North...

The true-life story of Jenny James and the Atlantis commune in Burtonport, County Donegal, has it all: primal scream therapy, free love, Garda raids, political controversy and a tragic death in Colombia.  On today’s podcast, Ciara Doherty speaks to bestselling Irish author Carmel Harrington about her 14th novel, The Nowhere Girls. The story follows Vega, an investigative journalist determined...

Stripe is back in the headlines — and this time the numbers are eye-watering. The Irish-founded fintech company is reportedly arranging a tender offer that would value it at around 140 billion dollars, a dramatic jump from last year and a figure that puts it among the most valuable private tech firms in the world.  So, what exactly is Stripe? If you’ve ever paid for something online — from sh...

Bord Bia is at the centre of one of the most explosive rows in Irish farming in years. Protests outside and inside its headquarters. A Dáil motion calling for the chair to go. Farmers, Sinn Féin and the government pulling in opposite directions.  At the heart of it all is Larry Murrin, Bord Bia chair and CEO of Dawn Farms, and the revelation that a small share of the company’s beef is sourced...

Irishman Seamus Culleton has been held by US immigration authorities for nearly five months — despite a valid work permit, a US citizen wife, and no criminal record. From Boston to upstate New York to Texas, his family describes a nightmare of overcrowded cells, paperwork disputes, and relentless uncertainty. Seamus says he never signed deportation papers; Immigration and Customs Enforcement – the...

Norway’s royal family is facing an unprecedented storm. At the centre is Marius Borg Høiby, the 29-year-old son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit, who stands accused of multiple sexual offences while denying the gravest charges against him. His case has intensified after a fresh arrest on suspicion of assault and threats with a knife, just as his trial continues in Oslo.  Complicating matters fur...

The inquest into the death of Belfast schoolboy Noah Donohoe continued this week, more than five years after he disappeared. Noah was 14 years old when he went missing in June 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. He left home on his bicycle on a Sunday afternoon. In his backpack was a laptop and a copy of Jordan Peterson’s book, 12 Rules for Life. He never returned.   Six days later,...

Peter Mandelson has weathered scandal before — but this time the reaction has been visceral. His resignation from the House of Lords follows intense public anger over revelations about his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender whose crimes continue to reverberate through global politics.  Allegations that Mandelson shared sensitive information, lobbied on Epstein’s behalf,...

The future of Ireland’s Triple Lock is moving from political argument to legislative reality. Following a Cabinet decision last week, the Government is preparing to bring the Defence Amendment Bill before the Oireachtas — setting up one of the most consequential debates about Irish neutrality in decades.  The Triple Lock currently requires Government approval, a Dáil vote, and a UN mandate be...

It’s one of Ireland’s most baffling missing persons cases. And it’s in the news again with Gardai confirming that they now believe the couple in question never left the country despite numerous reported sightings abroad. So what really happened to Conor and Sheila Dwyer? And what, if anything, has a renewed investigation uncovered? Ciara is joined by Southern correspondent with the Irish Independe...

Yesterday was, of course, St. Brigid’s day. But your ancestors would have known it as Imbolc. And in celtic countries like Ireland and Scotland there are some who still celebrate it as such.  So what is Imbolc and what has it got to do with St. Brigid? Ciara is joined by Kelly Fitzgerald from the School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore in UCD

50 years ago this year a new genre of music was created.    Suddenly there was this strange and raw sound. Angry looking young people were screaming about their dissatisfaction as to the state of their lot in life and the stale and seemingly hopeless future they had been handed by the establishment.   There were leather jackets, mohawks, safety pins and a whole lot more.&n...

At what point do politicians decide X is no longer fit for purpose?  Dublin City Council saw the writing on the wall and removed their account.  Will others see the logic in their thinking?  Are politicians staying on X because they need it, or because they were told to use it?   And if X is no longer fit for democratic discourse, what — if anything — should replace it?&nb...

“TAX THE RICH” — it’s a slogan we’ve heard shouted on streets and trending online     But it’s not a new idea.      Ireland tried a wealth tax before — and — promptly — dropped it.     But times have changed, so the question returns: could a wealth tax work this time? And would it actually change anything?   Eamonn Torsney is joined by Jim Clarken, CEO of Ox...

A new survey shows Holocaust denial among young people in Ireland is rising — and it’s happening at a moment of extreme political tension globally.      For many Jewish people, including those here in Ireland, there’s a growing fear of being forced into this binary: that remembering the Holocaust somehow means endorsing the actions of the Israeli state — or that criti...

It’s the dawn of the Age of Aquarius, and Gen Z are letting their voices be heard   From Bulgaria, to Bangladesh, From Nepal to Ecuador — mass political upheaval is happening across almost every continent since 2022  So, could the west be in some very early stages, and should the power brokers start getting worried?  To help us unpack why Gen Z has become the generation of prot...

It is almost 50 years since major protests took place in Dublin against plans by the City Council to build new civic offices on a Viking settlement discovered on Wood Quay. It was big news at the time but in the end the campaign of opposition was ultimately unsuccessful and the project was completed in 1994. Now, after just over four decades using the site as its headquarters, DCC have made an ann...

It's been 10 years since the peak of the migration crisis in Europe.  January 2016 set a grim record for the number of migrants dying while attempting to cross the Mediterranean after more than 1.2 million people came to Europe seeking protection in the previous 12 months. As recently as December European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen was claiming a measure of success on this issu...

It’s the family feud everyone is talking about — Brooklyn Peltz Beckham and the very public breakdown within the Beckham dynasty.   But is this simply a family dispute, amplified by the glare of celebrity?   Or does it point to something more familiar — the kind of toxicity often associated with fame, power, and image?   Away from the celebrity of this story, we want to focus on the...

To say it’s been a tumultuous few weeks in American politics might be the understatement of the year.  The kidnapping of the leader of another sovereign nation, threats to annex the territory of a fellow Nato member, an outspoken defence of the killing of a US citizen by a federal agent and that’s just this month.  These sorts of actions have been labelled “unprecedented” by many but is...

Psychotherapy has moved from the margins to the mainstream in Ireland. More people are turning to therapy to deal with anxiety, grief, trauma, relationship problems, and the everyday pressures of modern life. But as demand grows, so do the questions — especially around who is qualified to practice, how therapists are trained, and how the profession is regulated.  On today’s podcast, Shane Bea...

Though it may not move the needle quite so much here in Ireland, the most watched sporting event worldwide this weekend will likely be the final of football’s African Cup of Nations. By all accounts it’s been a great tournament on the pitch but the biggest story, and indeed the most iconic image from the tournament has been provided not by one of the players but by Democratic Republic of Congo fan...