The Mick Clifford Podcast

The GAA in the north went through a torrid time during the Troubles, with members targeted and even murdered simply because of their membership. There were also members of the association who were in the IRA and ended up dead primarily because they were themselves involved in violence. Peadar Thompson has written a book commemorating all the GAA members who died violently. In particular he spoke t...

For the first time, new regulations aimed at protecting Irish children online have been enacted – the ‘wild West’ era of social media is over. At least, that’s according to the Government, which this week announced the beginning of the Online Safety Code. It’s taken the law over 20 years to catch up with social media – and in the meantime, a whole generation of children has been exposed to violenc...

The National Development Plan review was launched earlier this week to an underwhelmed response.  An update of the previous plan, the review takes into account the Apple Tax escrow fund the Government was so keen not to claim, and promises a focus on providing the infrastructure key to housing delivery. Along with the Summer Economic Statement, both announcements this week make a statement ab...

James Craig, the leader of unionist Ireland in the 1920s coined the phrase the root of all evil about the boundary commission, the body set up in 1922 to determine where exactly the border should lie between south and north on this island. But what was it all about? Could it have been any different? Did the border actually beget evil? Cormac Moore has written a fascinating account of the border co...

There has been some rustling in the political bushes of late concerning the forthcoming presidential election. Suddenly, a field might be beginning to take shape. Meetings, conventions, nomination processes, all are getting underway as the Summer break looms and the boys and girls in Leinster House break out their buckets and spades. But who is in and who will win? Irish Examiner Political Editor...

This week there was some dramatic cases that came for hearing in the courts. Former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey pleaded guilty to a series of charges of deception involving receiving money over false claims that he had cancer. In the Court of Appeal, Conor McGregor withdrew dramatic evidence which alleged the woman whom a High Court jury determined he had assaulted, Nikita Hand, had been assaulted by...

This is the time of year when the pulse quickens, the blood rises as county teams up and down the country do battle in the hurling and football championships. Meanwhile, RTE is currently broadcasting a five part series on the history of Gaelic football. Irish Examiner senior journalist Michael Moynihan knows all about championship summers and was a consultant on the documentary. He is this week’s...

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Irish Examiner’s Feelgood supplement a major survey of women’s health in Ireland was undertaken by the newspaper. Some of the results were surprising, some worrying and a couple were quite shocking. To run their eyes over the results we were joined this week by Feelgood Editor Irene Feighan and Irish Examiner Health Correspondent, Niamh Griffin. Hosted...

As the destruction of Gaza by Israeli defence forces continues, bigger questions about how the world got to this point have gone unanswered. The plight of the Palestinian people has long been the issue that much of the west simply doesn’t want to know about. Businessman, author and migration activist Fintan Drury has written a book that melds history with polemic into a compelling narrative. Catas...

In 2016 Alan Hawe murdered his wife Clodagh and their three children. The subsequent garda investigation was found to be deficient in a number of respects. Clodagh’s sister Jacqueline and their mother Mary pushed for a proper investigation. That was conducted but never published. Jacqueline, who wrote her memoir Deadly Silence on the case, believes it should be published in order to prevent any si...

The robbery of the Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 was both a criminal act and, most observors believe, a political act as it as carried out by the Provisional IRA at a time when Sinn Fein was negotiating on the basis that violent and criminal acts by the Provos were at an end. Acclaimed writer Glenn Patterson was in the city centre on the night it happened. His latest book The Northern...

New mood-altering drugs are becoming available all the time but right now one in particular is eliciting huge concern among health professionals. Hexahydrocannabinol, or HHC as it is known, is widely available to buy over the counter in vape shops. Since it emerged as a serious drug a few years ago, doctors and addiction counsellors have been encountering major problems with its effects. Irish Exa...

Sportswriter Eamonn Sweeney set out to write a book about the GAA championship but succeeded in tackling a condition that had dogged him for nearly two decades, and largely confined him to his west Cork home. He talks about his struggles, his love of the GAA and why he felt compelled on various match days to check out the Orthodox religions and dine on exotic foods. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

It’s a long way from the disadvantaged enclave of Rialto in Dublin’s inner city to the rubble and humanitarian devastation of Gaza but John Whyte has seen both. Before joining the UNRWA refugee agency, John oversaw the regeneration of Fatima Mansions that is considered a template of how to tackle disadvantage in this country. Today, as senior deputy director of UNRWA his brief is to alleviate the...

With health and fitness now a central part of modern life, a question arises as to whether gyms are suitably welcoming to women. Journalist and former PE teacher Cliona Foley has written in the Irish Examiner about her own experience and some disturbing research into the whole area that suggests society has a way to go yet. Cliona is this week’s guest on the podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

Next Wednesday marks the 100th day in office for President Donald Trump, in this his second term. It differs greatly from his first, but more than that he has rushed to reshape the world, both within and without US borders. So how is he doing, will he succeed and is there any interest in stopping him bringing the US, and by extension the world, into a new reality. Scott Lucas, professor of US...

In the midst of a housing crisis this state also has a large cohort of derelict or unused buildings. Some enlightened thinking and political willpower could use this resource to hugely positive effect but despite this there is still a way to go, particularly at official level. Judge Sherry and Frank O’Connor who run their design consulancy Anois have tracked this problem for four years and are now...

In 1983, Brian Stack, the chief officer in Portlaoise Prison, was shot and fatally wounded after leaving an event in Dublin. The Provisional IRA were long suspected of this attack but for many years, the organization denied any responsibility. Austin Stack was a young boy when his family’s life was changed forever and in adulthood he and his brothers began a long journey to get justice for their f...

Donald Trump has introduced the centrepiece of his electoral platform, global tariffs. On what he described as Liberation Day he produced a typical showbusiness background to the announcements that may well upend the whole nature of global trading. So what will it mean for this country, how we have been governed and how the country has developed over the last thirty years. Joining the podcast is I...

Over 12 million people have been displaced from a civil war in Sudan that started in 2023 and continues. Around 1 million of those displaced are now refugees in neighbouring South Sudan, living in extremely difficult conditions, including without clean water and attempting to survive in one of the poorest corners of the world where climate change is now having a devastating impact. The Irish Exami...

Ian Kilroy is a journalist and lecturer in his day job but he is also a Zen Buddhist priest who has written a book that is already proving highly popular. Do Not Try To Become A Buddha examines zen teachings and practice but is main narrative is rooted in Ian’s own personal journey. He talks to the podcast about what brought him from a Galway childhood to Buddhism and from there onto a point where...

The country heaved a sigh of relief this week when Micheal Martin’s meeting with Donald Trump went off without a hitch. The potential for a disaster or two was nervously discussed before the meeting but the wily Corkman survived. That’s one view. Another is that he just kept the head down and dodged what some might have considered his duty to discuss with current incumbent in the White House. So h...

Providing an education for all children should be a basic duty of the state. Yet, for some reason, it doesn’t happen in this country. Every year there are children with special needs who can’t access either a place in a special school or a place in a special class in mainstream education. Why, in a country as allegedly developed as this, have we not been able to get this basic duty right. Rebecca...

The third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine fell this week, at a time when Donald Trump has moved to completely realign the USA in the war. So what does this mean for a country under siege and now apparently sandwiched between the autocratic Putin and apparent wannabe Putin, Trump. Irish Examiner security correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See...

Donald Trump has declared a war on woke which has been music to the ears of many, most particularly those of a far-right viewpoint. But what does it mean? And why is any such war required or to be welcomed and how does it feed into the basic strands of a far-right agenda. Writer and Irish Examiner columnist Seamas O’Reilly has been mulling over such issues in recent weeks. Seamas is this week’s gu...