The Mick Clifford Podcast

Facial recognition technology is now firmly on the political agenda after the riots in Dublin. The technology, which is in use in many countries, assists police to finding and identifying suspects. Ther are, however, fear about how it is used and whether it can be misused. This week’s guest, Olga Cronin, Senior Policy Officer at the ICCL, gives the lowdown on the pros and cons of a technology that...

With the conflict in Gaza entering a new phase Irish Examiner Political Editor Elaine Loughlin takes stock of where everything is at right now. Elaine was in the Middle East last week and she relays what she experienced and she was in Leinster House this week where the was also a lot of noise, if not a great amount of heat. Elaine Loughlin is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See...

On the first anniversary of Vicky Phelan’s death, the Irish Examiner launched its Read My Lips public health awareness campaign to encourage women to get tested for cervical cancer. Before she died, Vicky had been involved in pulling together the ideas for this campaign and on this week’s podcast Irish Examiner Feelgood Editor Irene Feighan talks about how the campaign came about and her memories...

Tommy Conlon and Ronan McGreevy are guests on this week’s podcast to discuss their book, The Kidnapping. In November 1983, the IRA kidnapped supermarket executive Don Tidey. Three weeks later, an army private and trainee gardai were murdered by the kidnappers in a remote area in Co Leitrim. The reaction was one of profound shock and over the longer term there was major consequences. The authors ha...

Cork native John Wain is a Senior Emergency Shelter Co-Ordinator with the United Nations, currently based in Ukraine. He has a unique view of the conflict as it develops in that country and his job and experience also render him as somebody who knows a thing or two about building emergency accommodation for those fleeing war, something that is apparently not getting done in this country. John Wain...

Last week the Citizen’s Assembly finished its work examining how illegal drugs are dealt with in this country and whether a more enlightened approach is required. One very interested observer of the work was Maynooth University law lecturer, Dr Cian O Concubhair, whose specialist area is in policing. Cian also had personal interest in the assembly and its deliberations dating from an event in his...

Last weekend’s massacre of up to 1,000 civilians by Hamas in southern Israel has prompted an equally horrific reaction with the relentless bombing of Gaza from the air. As civilians on both sides are bearing the brunt of this intractable conflict, many are asking how did things get this bad and is there any chance of peace. Joining the podcast to discuss these matters is Francesco Cavatorta, profe...

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he is making the eradication of child poverty a priority for this government. Exactly how urgent the issue is will become clear in the forthcoming budget. But what exactly is child poverty? What is the lived experience of children who are living in poverty? And what exactly needs to be done if it is to be addressed in a meaningful way. Maria O’Dwyer is a researcher...

The concept of retirement villages is largely alien in this country but Pat O’Mahony is determined to change that. After a lifetime working in education he has written a book on how best to cater for the housing of an aging population using a model with which he became familiar with while working in Australia. The idea is simple and works very well in many other countries so what is stopping it be...

In a world where social media dictates so much, often through those who know so little, Laura Dowling is a turn for the books. In 2022 she left her job as a pharmacist, at which she had worked for twenty years, to set up a business initially to operate entirely online. Her experience and knowledge inform entertaining Instagram posts which are increasingly popular and through detailed research she...

The Summer’s over, the leaves are turning and politicians are trooping back to Leinster House. The forthcoming Dail terms promises to be very interesting, starting off with the run in to the budge in October. Elaine Loughlin, Political Editor of the Irish Examiner, sets the scene for the twelve months ahead, one that currently looks as if it will the last full year before a general election. ...

Dan Troy began his working life as a civil engineer but soon found that he had a calling to the Catholic church, and specifically what used to be known as the Missions. After completing his studies in the Columban order, he was dispatched to Wuhan in China, where he has now lived for over twenty years. He talks about what it is like to be a missionary priest in a nominally communist country, how W...

The electoral commission has recommended more TDs and more constituencies for the next general election. But what does it all mean, who are the winners and where can you find the losers? Will it impact on the formation of the next government? Why do we need more TDs at all and why do we like our constituencies within county bounds. Running the rule over this new electoral landscape is Gary Murphy,...

Last week Mick wrote a column with the headline “McSwiney’s legacy is being stolen by Sinn Fein”. The McSwiney referenced was Terence, the Lord Mayor of Cork who died on hunger strike in 1920. One reader who took issue with the piece was Danny Morrison, former director of publicity for Sinn Fein and one of the central figures in the provisional movement in Northern Ireland throughout the Troubles....

Throughout the state’s cities, towns and villages, dereliction has become a blight. Everywhere there are vacant and disused properties at a time when there is a huge housing crisis. So what is being done about it and where are the prospects of a brighter future. Irish Examiner reporter Neil Michael has completed a comprehensive series in the paper about dereliction right across Munster (the series...

He is a professor of history in UCD in his day job, but Paul Rouse also writes a weekly column for the Irish Examiner and presents the popular Irish Examiner Football Show podcast. His all round experience has led him to corral a collection of essays, reflections and pieces on what history says about sport and sport about history, entitled Sport in Modern Irish Life. Paul is this week’s guest on t...

Ireland’s women returned home this week after exiting their very first World Cup finals after just three games.  Getting to the tournament was a momentous achievement for Irish sport in and of itself, but storm clouds over the team gathered prior to the tournament and persist post-competition after an apparent rift between captain Katie McCabe and manager Vera Pauw.   Join...

Over a decade in the making, Ireland is finally set to pass laws updating gambling legislation and bringing it into the 21st century. It'll introduce the country's first gambling regulator, bring in strict curbs on advertising and introduce a social fund for problem gambling initiatives. But how important is it these laws are passed, and do they go far enough? And why does Ireland have a "mou...

Covid has seen a huge migration from cash to digital payments, but has this heralded an unstoppable move towards a cashless society? Recently there has been controversies about the GAA refusing to take cash at the entry to some games and an attempt by one of the retail banks to have cashless branches. Dr Olive McCarthy, director of UCC’s Centre for Co-operative Studies examines in detail the evide...

Where now for Ryan Tubridy and RTE? Will the presenter be back on the airwaves, how is the power balance now between him and the broadcaster? Communications expert Terry Prone reads the runes and offers some deep insights and observations of where the whole debacle now stands.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Woods recently retired from a forty year career in journalism, principally in the area of sports. Changes, he’s seen a few and here he shares his remarkable, interesting and humorous journey though all the changes that have happened since he first entered a newspaper fresh and green, straight out of school. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Artificial intelligence is having an increasing impact on how we live, particularly through the likes of chatbots such as ChatGPT. Some who are aware of the potential of AI are already warning of a future in which software could have more intelligence than humans. So what do we need to know, what needs to be done, and how can we take it handy. Professor Gregory Provan from UCC is this week’s guest...

One of the most notorious murder cases in the state, which also almost brought down a government, was that involving Malcolm Macarthur, who was found hiding out in the Attorney General’s home in 1982. Macarthur, from an quasi aristocratic background, had vicious killed Bridie Gargan and Derek Dunne in fits of violence that somehow seemed at odds with her personality. Journalist Harry McGee’s new b...

A new opinion poll, a series of coincidental articles, the mid term blues and a question hanging over Michael Martin, will he stay or will he go? Irish Examiner political editor Elaine Loughlin unravels all on this week’s podcast.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tony Connelly is known across the country as RTE’s Europe Editor but now he is exploring his family history for a TV documentary. His grandfather, Michael Connelly from East Galway served in the RIC right up until it was disbanded in 1922. The trajectory of his life and career makes for a fascinating story and has also provided Tony with some food for thought about the RIC, their role in Irish soc...