The Explainer

When tickets for US singer Lizzo's debut Irish show at the Olympia this coming November went on sale last week, people knew there would be demand. But there were questions raised when fans found it difficult to get their hands on tickets via the Ticketmaster website, and when, hours later, 'Platinum tickets' went on sale for €140 each. In addition, resold tickets were immediately on offer as soon...

It's not every day that a video of a politician talking about insurance at an Oireachtas committee goes viral. You've likely seen the clip of Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty grilling insurance company bosses - if not, you can watch it here. Its virality has prompted more people to look at their insurance premiums and ask: Why do they keep going up, and up, and up? Many are feeling...

On 5 July last year, Owen Maguire was shot four times in Drogheda, Co Louth. This is seen as the start of a feud between two gangs in the town. By November the situation began to boil over with a range violent attacks taking place. Locals are becoming increasingly fed up of the feud, and efforts are now underway to bring it to an end. Gardaí have stepped up armed patrols, and the town is eager to...

On Monday, Patrick Nevin was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He had been found guilty of attacking two women in the space of 11 days, after meeting them on Tinder. He was found guilty of raping one of the women, and sexually assaulting the other. For the rape, he was given a 14-year sentence, with two suspended on a number of conditions. For sexual assault he was sentenced to eight years, which w...

Note - some of the details in this podcast might be upsetting to listeners. On 14 May 2018, teenager Ana Kriegel went out for a walk with a boy now known as Boy B. Hours later, when she had not returned home, her parents reported her missing to the gardaí. What began as a missing teenager case turned into a murder case when Ana's body was discovered in a derelict house three days later. Two boys -...

Last month, a woman who died in Direct Provision was quietly buried by the State without ceremony. Sylva Tukula, originally from South Africa, died in August 2018. All efforts by gardaí to find her next of kin, a process with included with assistance of Interpol, had been exhausted. Friends and colleagues of Tukula had previously been told they would be notified of arrangements for her burial. Thi...

Katie Taylor was crowned undisputed lightweight champion on Sunday. But almost immediately, there was controversy. In this week's The Explainer, we're joined by The42.ie's Gavin Casey to talk us through what happened. He was ringside on the night and wrote the definitive examination of the aftermath of the win for The42.ie. Joining him in studio is presenter Sinéad O'Carroll, who also interviews l...

The Healy Raes are a clan to be reckoned with. The Co Kerry family has not one one but two TDs in it, and recently saw three more family members elected to Kerry County Council. The family political dynasty was kicked off by patriarch Jackie Healy Rae, who after many years working with Fianna Fáil went independent and got elected to the Dáil in 1997. But why are they so popular, and what makes the...

Irish MEPs have recently been raising concerns about a future 'EU army'. While this isn't surprising, given the issue of Irish neutrality and the EU, it is a topic that garners strong opinions. Added into this is the issue of Pesco, – the EU’s permanent structured cooperation arrangement that 25 states have signed up to. Ireland's one of those countries. But what is Pesco, why do some people criti...

Last week, a restrictive abortion law was signed in the US state of Georgia which banned terminations after six weeks gestation. This week, another state followed suit: Alabama's governor signed a law on Thursday which banned abortions in nearly all cases. With a Supreme Court dominated by conservatives and a pro-life president, this type of shift in abortion legislation in the US had been expecte...

On 1 May, the longest-running murder trial in the state's history came to an end when Tipperary farmer Patrick Quirke was found guilty of the murder of Bobby Ryan. A jury of 12 people found Quirke guilty of the murder of Ryan – known by locals in Tipperary as DJ ‘Mr Moonlight’ - by a majority verdict of 10 to 2. Quirke had pleaded not guilty but was sentenced to life in prison after the 13-week tr...

2019 will likely be the year when it becomes significantly easier for patients to access medicinal cannabis in Ireland. The government has found a supplier, and Minister for Health Simon Harris is due to bring his plans for a cannabis access scheme to cabinet. Currently it is only available to a small number of patients. This will make it significantly less of a grey area in Irish law - and it cou...

Imagine popping down to your local newsagents with this shopping list: Bread, milk, eggs, Lotto quick pick, an official government porn pass. That's the situation anyone living in the United Kingdom could face from July if they want to view pornography online, when the British government brings in radical new laws. Websites which primarily host porn will be required to carry out age-verification c...

Back in 2015, the then-government announced that the first supervised drug injection centre in the country would open within two years. The centres - known as medically supervised injecting facilities (MSIFs) - provide drug addicts with a safer, sterile environment in which to inject heroin, cocaine or others drugs under the supervision of a medical professional. Users source their own drugs and i...

On Wednesday night, the latest stage of the Brexit saga began: The Flextension. The United Kingdom and European Union agreed a flexible Brexit extension until 31 October following marathon talks in Brussels. This now gives UK prime minister Theresa May extra wiggle room to get her Brexit deal over the line - but we've already been hearing about this for more than two years, and for many people, th...

He's not a professional sports person, but John Delaney is one of the most well-known names in Irish sport. The longtime head of the Football Association of Ireland - the FAI - followed in the footsteps of his father Joe to get involved in the organisation. He held the role treasurer of the FAI before moving on to become its chief executive. However, earlier this month he moved from the role to be...

Daylight Savings Time has been a fixture in Ireland for as long as most of us can remember, but MEPs recently voted to scrap it - and Ireland has 12 months to say if it will follow suit. That's what we look at in this week's episode of The Explainer, where we dive into why this is happening, the history of daylight savings in Ireland (including why Dublin Mean Time isn't a thing any more), and whe...

In the episode, we look at the case of Irish Islamic State member Lisa Smith, who is Irish and was married to an Islamic State member. We examine the current state of play regarding Islamic State in Syria, why its members are leaving the country, and what Ireland's options are for returning citizens. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Measles is on the rise in Ireland. We examine the latest outbreaks and discuss how linked it is to wider anti-vaccination trends. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the week where the major decisions will be made about what Brexit will look like, TheJournal.ie looks at your shopping basket to see what will happen to prices and supply in Ireland after 29th March Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.