The general election has come and gone - so why don't we have a government?The Dáil has sat for the first time, but party leaders were unable to gather enough votes to become Taoiseach, leading to Leo Varadkar's resignation. There's talk of a left-wing coalition let by Sinn Féin, but there's also talk of a grand coalition between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.Where do we go from here?Nicky Ryan is joined by Gavan Reilly, political correspondent with Virgin Media News, DCU politics professor Gary Mur...
Feb 21, 2020•38 min
The exit poll indicated we'd be talking about Sinn Féin throughout count day but it didn't point to the absolutely huge first preference votes its candidates would get across the country. The party has topped polls in multiple constituencies, with popular sitting TDs, deputies who had feared for their seats and unknown names who came from seemingly nowhere. Storm Ciara brought turbulence in more ways than one. We know a number of ministers will lose their seats, with Shane Ross the first formall...
Feb 10, 2020•43 min
For our first live episode, recorded at Crow Street in Dublin's Temple Bar, we're looking at how Ireland ends up with the politicians it has. How much do polls, debates, and social media have to do with it - and how much is people voting for party or country?Sinéad O'Carroll is joined by journalist and broadcaster Lise Hand and Professor Gary Murphy, Associate Professor of Politics at DCU, and Maynooth University’s election guru Adrian Kavanagh. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...
Feb 06, 2020•1 hr 12 min
On this week's episode, we look at the novel coronavirus outbreak and ask - how worried should we be in Ireland about it? What is a coronavirus? How can you stop its spread? And is the Irish health system prepared for a possible outbreak here?Joining Sinéad O'Carroll in studio are Noteworthy investigative journalist Maria Delaney and Nigel Stevenson, associate professor in immunology at Trinity College Dublin. We also hear from John Cuddihy, Director of the HSE's Health Protection Surveillance C...
Jan 31, 2020•29 min
Last year, we brought you the story behind the Drogheda feud. This week, we take another look at the feud, in the wake of the shocking death of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods.The young teen's remains were found in a holdall in Coolock on Monday 13 January. Two days later more remains were found in a burning car in Ballybough.The shocking discovery and subsequent garda investigation showed that the Drogheda feud had reached north Dublin. Keane disappeared on Sunday 12 January and gardaí described ...
Jan 24, 2020•31 min
Update: Since we recorded this episode, it has been announced that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will no longer be working members of the royal family.This month is a significant one for the British Royal Family.In an almost unprecedented move, Prince Harry and Meghan announced on 8 January that they plan to step back as senior members of the family, removing themselves from frontline royal duties. They want to, they said, carve out a "progressive role" in the monarchy.The rest of the family we...
Jan 18, 2020•33 min
It was supposed to be fairly straightforward - a commemoration for those who served in the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP), to be held in Dublin Castle.But due to the varied complications of Irish history over the past centuries, as soon as the event was publicised the criticism and questions began to roll in for the government over the past week.We're joined by two experts to discuss what went wrong and what we can learn from it. Hosted on Acast. See acas...
Jan 11, 2020•37 min
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 signal impending doom pass without incident.Joining us in studio is TheJournal.ie reporter Sean Murray, an...
Jan 03, 2020•28 min
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 whether Ireland can grow its own medicinal cannabis and why exactly there's so much controversy over the ...
Dec 27, 2019•34 min
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 have a 'green Christmas'. They examine what exactly 'green' means, and whether big changes are necessar...
Dec 18, 2019•26 min
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 another election after a disastrous defeat. But beyond the headlines, there is a lot more to unpack. In t...
Dec 13, 2019•27 min
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 walk from Connolly Station and Busarus.The facility has received support from athletes and emergency ...
Dec 06, 2019•31 min
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.
Nov 29, 2019•30 min
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 biology Fiona Walsh from Maynooth University to talk us through the topic. Hosted on Acast. See acast....
Nov 22, 2019•29 min
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 reporter Stevie McDermott and Steve Dempsey, the Sunday Independent's media and marketing columnist. Hoste...
Nov 15, 2019•27 min
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 nature of the crime, Mr Justice Paul McDermott would have given careful consideration to the sentences i...
Nov 08, 2019•24 min
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 Ní Mhurchú to discuss the issue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Nov 01, 2019•32 min
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 on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Oct 24, 2019•27 min
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 summer MPs in Westminster voted for an amendment that would extend same-sex marriage and abortion to Nort...
Oct 19, 2019•23 min
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 due to begin on Thursday, tightening the pressure further. And beyond that, the looming 31 October de...
Oct 18, 2019•21 min
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 the rise in the tax for home-heating fuels will kick in from May 2020. Finance Minister Patrick Donohoe...
Oct 11, 2019•27 min
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 enough to spark impeachment proceedings, launched by by US Democrat and speaker of the House of Repres...
Oct 03, 2019•26 min
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 was established in 2014 and comprises elements of businessman Sean Quinn’s former businesses. This la...
Sep 26, 2019•28 min
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 reporter Órla Ryan, who has been writing about chemsex, and presenter Sinéad O'Carroll to discuss t...
Sep 20, 2019•32 min
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 originally intended, sparking concerns it was quickly becoming a de-facto national ID card backed by a ...
Sep 13, 2019•30 min
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 important and strategic role, presenter Sinéad O'Carroll is joined in studio by our Brexit reporter Grainne ...
Sep 06, 2019•28 min
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 (ESHI) at TU Dublin, tells us more about meat, health and food trends. And journalist and beef farmer...
Aug 30, 2019•30 min
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 with emotion – not just on the part of victims and their families. Humphries’ release also comes agains...
Aug 23, 2019•34 min
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 episode of The Explainer, presenter Sineád O'Carroll is joined in studio by editor of Archaeology Irelan...
Aug 16, 2019•34 min
'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 the conversation, joining host Sinéad O'Carroll in studio is reporter Gráinne Ní Aodha and Euronews...
Aug 08, 2019•29 min
