Newstalk Daily

He’s the most wanted Irishman on Earth — a boxing promoter turned drug lord, living it up in the desert. Daniel Kinahan’s wedding at Dubai’s Burj Al Arab brought together Europe’s biggest narcos. Within five years, almost all of them were behind bars. All except him.  Now, as the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau sells off his former Dublin mansion for a record sum, Kinahan remains untouched in Du...

Shane Beatty’s had enough — his Local Property Tax bill has jumped by €120 after the latest revaluation. Across Ireland, 1.5 million homeowners are being asked to declare what their homes are worth by November 7th or face an estimate from Revenue.  So, what’s behind the new numbers? Why do councils set different rates? And what exactly is all that money spent on?  Economist Dr Barra Roan...

For more than two decades, Marwan Barghouti has been locked in an Israeli prison — a man both revered and reviled, described by many as “the Palestinian Mandela,” who deployed the famous phrase, “our chains will be broken before we are.”  Now, as calls grow louder for his release — including from former Irish President Mary Robinson and the Elders — his son Arab Barghouti joins the podcast to...

For every euro a man earns in the EU, a woman earns just 87 cent. Here in Ireland, that gap is smaller, but it’s still there. Despite years of promises, pilot schemes, and political speeches, the Government’s long-awaited pay gap portal still isn’t properly up and running, even though companies are required to report their pay gaps this month.  On today’s podcast, Shane Beatty speaks to Jenni...

From langers to gurriers, lads to ould wans, Ireland’s English is a carnival of colour — equal parts poetry, pub talk and pure mischief. Comedian and author Colm O’Regan joins Shane Beatty on the podcast to celebrate the launch of his new book “Gallivanting with Words: How the Irish Speak English” and to explain why our slang, insults and odd turns of phrase tell the story of who we are.  The...

It’s the campaign that’s electrified New York and unsettled Washington. Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist from Queens, has become the unexpected lightning rod of American politics. Ugandan-born, the son of a filmmaker, and a proud New Yorker, he’s promising to take on the city’s entrenched establishment with rent freezes, free buses, universal childcare, and a $30 minimum wage.&...

Fianna Fáil is reeling — again. The bruising fallout from the presidential election has left Micheál Martin fighting for his political life. His handpicked candidate, former Dublin football manager Jim Gavin, flopped spectacularly, opening deep fractures inside the party and sparking fresh doubts about Martin’s judgment and future.  He’s led Fianna Fáil through crises before — the post-crash...

In Paris last week, thieves pulled off an audacious €88 million heist at the Louvre — but it’s not the first time priceless crown jewels have vanished from a supposedly impregnable fortress.  Back in 1907, Dublin Castle — the heart of British rule in Ireland — was the scene of a theft so bizarre it remains unsolved to this day. The Irish Crown Jewels, a dazzling collection of emerald- and dia...

It was the show that defined an era — all fake tans, stilettos and scandals. Footballers’ Wives turned early-2000s celebrity life into high-camp art, mixing soap opera excess with tabloid obsession. Now, nearly twenty years later, rumours are swirling that the iconic series could be making a comeback.  On this Bank Holiday edition of the podcast, Shane Beatty relives the glory (and chaos) of...

As Ireland goes to the polls to elect a new President, politicians, military leaders and foreign policy wonks are wondering if the next Commander-in-Chief will preside over the end of Ireland’s much-debated triple lock, the rule that prevents Irish troops being deployed overseas without UN approval.  It’s a debate that lands just as the United Nations turns 80, an age that invites both celebr...

This Friday, more than 3.6 million Irish citizens are registered to vote in the presidential election — but what actually happens when you walk into that polling station? In this bonus podcast, Shane Beatty sits down with Art O’Leary, chief executive of the Electoral Commission, to take you step-by-step through the process: from registering (or discovering you’ve missed the deadline), to bringing...

When Nicolas Sarkozy swept to power in 2007, he promised to modernise France — fast. He married a supermodel, courted the cameras, and ruled with restless energy. But now, the man once dubbed “le président bling-bling” has swapped the Élysée Palace for a prison cell. The former French president has begun serving a five-year sentence for criminal conspiracy, related to illegal campaign financi...

Ireland’s Witness Protection Programme has always operated in the dark. Created in 1997 after the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, it was designed to stop intimidation from derailing major criminal trials. But as convicted torturer and Hutch gang associate Jonathan Dowdall begins a new life abroad — a move expected to cost the State almost one million euro — fresh questions are being asked ab...

Victoria Beckham has been in the public eye for almost 30 years - from Spice Girl to fashion powerhouse, celebrity wife to business mogul - yet she remains one of the most enigmatic figures in pop culture. A new Netflix documentary aims to pull back the curtain on the woman behind the Posh persona, offering unprecedented access to her world… but how much of the real Victoria does it actually revea...

Two fathers from opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - Rami Elhanan, an Israeli Jew, and Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian - lost their daughters to violence and, against overwhelming odds, forged a bond of brotherhood. This episode of Newstalk Daily explores their extraordinary journey from grief to advocacy for reconciliation.  Through their work with The Parents’ Circle, the orga...

Most of us have never heard of them, but rare earth elements quietly power almost everything we touch. From your phone to your electric car to the very microphone you’re listening to, these 17 minerals are the hidden backbone of the modern world.  On today’s podcast, Ciara Doherty explores the science and the drama behind these vital elements – and the increasingly tense battle for their cont...

When Irish Olympic swimmer Shane Ryan announced he would compete in the Enhanced Games, it sent a shockwave through the Irish sporting world.  These Games — a privately funded, doping-permitted alternative to the Olympics — are the brainchild of Dr Aron D’Souza, an Oxford-educated lawyer and entrepreneur with deep links to Silicon Valley’s libertarian tech elite. He calls it the “next step in...

Tommy Robinson — the self-styled “patriot” and founder of the English Defence League — was back before the courts this week, this time facing terrorism-related charges. But as his legal battle unfolds, the shockwaves of Robinson’s malign influence are being felt far beyond Britain’s borders. His message of grievance and outrage has found new life in Ireland, amplified through social media, Telegra...

In this special extra edition of the podcast, Ciara Doherty is joined by political commentator and columnist for the Times, Alison O'Connor, to review this morning's Newstalk Presidential Debate between Independent TD Catherine Connolly and former Fine Gael Minister Heather Humphreys, which was chaired by Pat Kenny. What was your take on this morning's head-to-head between the two women who want t...

It was an extraordinary day in the Middle East. Hostages returned home to scenes of jubilation and relief — the sound of their families’ cries echoing across television screens. In Jerusalem, Donald Trump received a hero’s welcome in the Knesset, where Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the bestowing of the Israel Prize upon the US President to mark the occasion. Trump, basking in the ap...

He’s the biggest country star in the world, the best-selling artist in the genre’s history, and next summer he’s headlining Slane Castle. Yet when Luke Combs was announced, a lot of people in Ireland asked the same thing: who is he? To his fans, the question sounds absurd. Combs has outsold Garth Brooks, filled stadiums across America, and built a huge following among younger listeners who are red...

From AI-generated stand-up routines by Robin Williams to fake livestreams of Kobe Bryant, social media is being flooded with so-called “AI slop” — endless streams of computer-made videos that imitate art but often exploit real people. Robin Williams’ daughter, Zelda, has called it “the Human Centipede of content”, condemning the use of her late father’s likeness in these creations. But who’s actua...

On October 10th, 2015, a fire tore through a halting site in Carrickmines, claiming ten lives — five of them children and one unborn child. The tragedy shocked the nation, exposed long-standing inequalities, and calls for change in Traveller accommodation and safety. A decade later, how much has really changed? Or do those calls remain since one of Ireland’s darkest mornings. In today’s episode, C...

When former England rugby captain Lewis Moody revealed he’d been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, he joined a heartbreaking list of athletes, like Doddie Weir and Rob Burrow, whose lives were changed by the illness.  MND is a devastating neurological condition that progressively weakens the body, and in recent years, concern has grown over whether elite sport could be a contributing fact...

Some budgets deliver stability — others end in political disaster. Ireland’s history is full of both. With Budget 2026 about to be unveiled, Ciara Doherty and Daniel McConnell, editor of the Business Post and co-author (with John Lee) of Hell at the Gates: The Inside Story of Ireland’s Financial Downfall, reflect on moments when budgets went awry.  From Ray “Mac the Knife” McSharry’s brutal c...