The Explainer

In Ireland, we really do love talking about the weather - and often guiding the importance of these conversations is Met Éireann's colour coding system. It has been in use over the past decade, but it's often not that straight-forward. Some weather conditions with lower ratings have felt the same as others with higher ratings, sometimes they're announced at the last minute, or others seem to signa...

Earlier this year, TheJournal.ie launched a new podcast - The Explainer. Aimed at taking a deeper look at one big news story each week, we've now hit episode #44 and was named as one of the Best Listens of 2019 by Apple Podcasts. Since March we've covered everything from the trouble Prince Andrew has caused for the Royal Family to Patrick Nevin and the 'Tinder rape case', as well as looking at whe...

How possible is it to have a green - or environmentally-friendly - Christmas? That's what we've been looking at in our Green Christmas series on TheJournal.ie over the past few weeks. In this week's episode of The Explainer, our producer Aoife Barry steps into Sinéad O'Carroll's shoes and presents the show. She interviews reporter Dominic McGrath and Pat Kane of Reuzi.ie about how listeners can ha...

Boris Johnson was in jubilant form after the election result. "We broke the deadlock," he told reporters early this morning. "We ended the gridlock. We smashed the roadblock."This was a momentous election for the future of the UK. Boris Johnson will be Prime Minister with a huge Conservative majority, and Brexit will almost certainly happen next month. Jeremy Corbyn will not lead Labour into anoth...

Dublin is set to gain a new tourist attraction in the coming years, but it's one that caught many people by surprise. A white-water rafting facility was given the green light by councillors this week. It's expected to cost in the region of €22 million and take 18 months to complete. The location earmarked for the project is George's Dock in the city centre, adjacent to the CHQ building and a short...

On this week's episode, Sinéad O'Carroll is joined by Anton Savage of the Communications Clinic and reporter Rónán Duffy to discuss the recent news stories around Prince Andrew, and what impact they might have on the royal family. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The term antibiotic resistance might sound a bit futuristic - but it's something that's very much an issue in the here and now. It refers to certain bacteria becoming immune to the antibiotics that are usually used to treat them. This can result in health issues for patients, and dangerous superbugs. In this episode, Maria Delaney, investigative reporter with Noteworthy, is joined by Professor of...

In this week's Explainer podcast, we take a look at what the situation with RTÉ is right now: what the financial issues are, what it's planning to do about it, and what the future looks like for the broadcaster. Is the key to fixing the crisis in a broadcasting charge, or is this deflecting conversation from other cuts that need to take place? Joining presenter Sinéad O'Carroll in studio are repor...

This week saw the two teenage boys convicted of the murder of 14-year-old Ana Kriegel sentenced at the Central Criminal Court. Boy A was also convicted of aggravated sexual assault. A term of 12 years was imposed for that count, to be served concurrently. Boy B is to serve a term of 15 years, with the sentence to be reviewed after 8 years, the judge said. Due to the age of the teenagers and the na...

We look at why people are risking their lives to travel to Europe by sea and by land - what are the 'push and pull factors? What faces people on their journey, and what are the huge risks they take? And what is Europe doing about the migrant crisis? Host Sinéad O'Carroll is joined by former Economics lecturer from TU Dublin, Sean Byrne, reporter Órla Ryan and Médecins Sans Frontières nurse Aoife N...

Sometimes, there's so much happening with Brexit that it's hard to keep up. So if you're still wondering 'what was Super Saturday?', 'Who is this Letwin fella?' or 'is there going to be a general election in the UK anytime soon?', we're here to answer your questions. Joining presenter Sinéad O'Carroll in studio to discuss all things Brexit are our reporters Gráinne Ní Aodha and Rónán Duffy. Hosted...

Northern Ireland is going through a lot politically right now - although there is a Brexit deal, there are still a lot of questions about what life will be like for those living in the north afterwards. On top of that, there is no Stormont Assembly - and there hasn’t been for over two and a half years. There has been a little talk of direct rule. But that will all change soon, because over the sum...

It's been some week for Brexit. On Monday, we knew one thing: that the pressure was on for a deal to be struck between the EU and the UK on Brexit. After all, there was the Benn Act which meant that should no Withdrawal Agreement be agreed on, Boris Johnson would have to approach the EU and ask for an extension (something he really, really did not want to do).Then there was the EU summit that was...

Budget 2020 didn't set the world on fire - but it did contain an element that's aimed at making sure the world doesn't burn in climate change hell. That was an increase in the rate of carbon tax, by €6 a tonne (bringing the carbon tax rate up to €26 per tonne). The tax hike came into effect at midnight on Tuesday, meaning that petrol and diesel prices have now risen across the country. Meanwhile t...

There has been talk of impeaching US president Donald Trump since he was first elected back in 2016, but the wheels began to move in earnest over the past week. It all centres around a whistleblower revealing details of a call last July between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A 'favour' was requested, one which could amount to interference in the 2020 election campaign. This was...

On Tuesday 17 September, Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) director Kevin Lunney was abducted on his way home. He was taken to another location where he was savagely assaulted. Lunney was then left at the side of the road in Co Cavan. Gardaí now believe that a gang led by a former IRA member with a string of convictions was behind the planning of the attack. QIH is a well-known company in Cavan - it...

On this week's podcast, we look at chemsex: what is it, what accounts for its rise in popularity in Ireland, and what is its connection to the drug GHB? To find out more, we speak to the experts: Dr Kiran Santlal, registrar in psychiatry of substance misuse at the National Drug Treatment Centre (NDTC) and Graham Ryall, treatment services coordinator at the Rialto Community Drug Team. They join our...

In 2011, the Public Services Card (PSC) was introduced in the form of a pilot scheme for some social welfare recipients. The idea was simple: Streamline the delivery of multiple services such as social welfare by confirming the user's identity on a simple card. But in recent years, it has become nothing but a headache for government. Criticism grew over the use of the card for more services than o...

Dominic Cummings: Is he, as some suggest, the disruptor's disruptor - a strategically single minded and ideologically iconoclastic man? Or is he an unelected foul mouthed liability who has no place at the heart of a conservative Downing Street? On this week's episode of TheJournal.ie, we look at Boris Johnson's special adviser and his career. To help make some sense of Cummings and his very import...

In this week's episode of The Explainer, we look at the issues around climate change, meat eating and farming in Ireland. Reporter Cormac Fitzgerald, who has written our week-long climate change series this week, gives the latest updates on the three major reports which recommend people cut down on meat. Meanwhile, Dr Jesus Frias, Academic Leader Environmental Sustainability and Health Institute (...

Tom Humphries was known as one of Ireland’s finest sports writers when he was accused of grooming and the defilement of a child. He was released last week after spending 22 months in Midlands Prison. Cases like the Tom Humphries case can be an opportunity to focus the national conversation on the more difficult aspects of the justice system. It’s an incredibly complex policy area that is fraught w...

Newgrange is one of Ireland's most incredible sites - but despite it and the surrounding Brú na Bóinne complex being an area of intense historical interest, and having been studied now for hundreds of years, it is still revealing more and more discoveries. Just last week, a team of archaeologists lead by UCD's Dr Steve Davis uncovered around 40 previous unknown sites of interest. In this week's ep...

'The backstop' is one of the most contentious parts of the Brexit agreement. But it's also something that can fall foul of bad explanations, misunderstandings, and being used as a political football. This week on The Explainer podcast, we're taking a good and proper look at the Backstop. What is it? Why is it so controversial? Is everything that's being said about it true? To help guide us through...

Whether you are a gamer or not, you'll most definitely have heard of the game Fortnite. Earlier this week, the hugely popular game hit the headlines after an Irish teenager picked up $50,000 while competing in the Fortnite World Cup. Joshua Juliano, who is just 17, came 58th out of 100 gamers. So what is Fortnite? Well for starters, it's an online first-person shooter game that involves dropping 1...

Last week, a shock ruling saw an Irish judge rule that citizenship cannot be granted to an applicant if they have spent a day outside Ireland in the past year. But how did this come about - and can it be appealed? And does it really mean what it seems to? That's what we're discussing in this week's The Explainer podcast. Reporter Dominic McGrath talks us through everything you need to know about w...