People living in Ireland do not have to wear masks as part of the effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 - but people in New York and the Czech Republic do. So should we be wearing masks, or not? What does the science say? And are homemade cloth masks any use? On this week's episode of The Explainer, we take a look at the question of mask-wearing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 16, 2020•26 min
There are a lot of numbers flying around the place that tell us things about the coronavirus outbreak - but analysing them can be tricky.Is it possible to read too far into some numbers, and too soon? Or is tracking the trajectory of death and diagnosis tolls our best way of getting a handle on how the coronavirus is affecting Ireland? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Apr 10, 2020•49 min
Skip to 0:58 for Germany, 19:23 for the United States, 41:48 for Sweden, and 1:01:47 for South Korea.The world is united in fighting the spread of the coronavirus, but every country has had its own journey.This week for The Explainer podcast we speak to reporters from four different countries to find out how things are going where they live.When did the restrictions come in? How have their country leaders been dealing with it? Are there any local customs or habits which make have helped or hinde...
Apr 03, 2020•1 hr 17 min
While every country has had its own individual response to the coronavirus, there has been a fairly consistent approach of acting as soon as the issue became apparent.However, the UK stood out for taking a slightly different approach, and introducing social distancing and a shutdown at a later point than countries like Ireland.Stories in the UK press suggesting the country had initially aimed to pursue herd immunity and encourage vulnerable and older people to stay at home were much criticised. ...
Mar 26, 2020•40 min
The country is in the middle of an unprecedented crisis - schools are shut, people are working from home when they can, and the government has been reassuring people that it's doing all it can to stop the spread of Covid-19.But besides the very obvious unusual things about this situation, there has been something else people have had to contend with: the spread of misinformation.On this week's episode of The Explainer podcast, we look at the spread of misinformation, and at TheJournal.ie's work ...
Mar 19, 2020•26 min
With the Covid-19 outbreak comes significant challenges, including huge pressure on our health service and disruption to our day-to-day lives.Minister for Health Simon Harris has already flagged that we are likely to see significantly more cases in Ireland, but many would be hoping that we can avoid what's happening in Italy.Italy has the second-highest number of cases in the world, after China, and the number of cases continues to spiral into the thousands. The entire country was put into lock-...
Mar 11, 2020•36 min
Super Tuesday has come and gone, and it's impact is already being felt - we've a comeback kid and already one hopeful has dropped out(that would be billionaire Michael Bloomberg).People in 14 states voted for their preferred Democratic candidate, which means that we get a greater sense of who could face Donald Trump in the 2020 election.But what is Super Tuesday exactly, what states were involved, and what could it mean for Trump? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 04, 2020•38 min
You might have many questions about the situation around this coronavirus – is it a pandemic? If it becomes one, what does that mean for Ireland? How can you keep yourself and your family safe? What does ‘self isolation’ mean?In this week’s episode, we cut through the scaremongering to answer your questions with facts and the most up-to-date information from experts. In studio we have Noteworthy investigative reporter Maria Delaney and Dr Kim Roberts, Assistant Professor of Virology at Trinity C...
Feb 27, 2020•37 min
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
