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PODCAST

In The News

The Irish Times

In The News is a daily podcast from The Irish Times that takes a close look at the stories that matter, in Ireland and around the world. Presented by Bernice Harrison and Sorcha Pollak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

news & politics

All Episodes

19:28

How is AI being used in Irish primary schools?

In The News ·

2026/05/26

If the junior infants in St Joseph’s Primary School in Dundalk, Co Louth want to know something they can ask AI.An AI voice assistant named Merlyn will tell them the answer, type it on a digital whiteboard with photos and illustrations and prompt them to delve deeper into the subject.Every class is being taught how to use AI because St Joseph’s is taking part in a Merlyn AI pilot programme alongside 48 schools across Ireland.It’s easy to see why getting its technology into Irish schools could lead

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14:17

Jeffrey Donaldson: The former politician goes on trial

In The News ·

2026/05/25

Jeffrey Donaldson (63) was arrested and charged with sexual offences in March 2024. The former DUP leader and MP is accused of 18 offences – one count of rape, four of gross indecency with or towards a child, and 13 of indecent assault on a female, on dates between 1987 and 2008.His wife Eleanor Donaldson (60), is charged with aiding and abetting her husband but she has been judged to be unfit to stand trial and will instead face a trial of the facts.Why was the trial, which was originally due to

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29:07

Why RTÉ is caught in a never ending payments drama

In The News ·

2026/05/22

RTÉ’s announcement that the salary of Derek Mooney, one of its most well-known on-air staffers, had been publicly misrepresented for years sparked a very public controversy.It prompted debate in the Dáil and an appearance for the broadcaster’s director general Kevin Bakhurst before the Oireachtas media committee.At issue was how pay is calculated in the organisation, with the suspicion that, once again, when it comes to how the “talent” is being remunerated, the public are not being told the full

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29:57

Byelections: who are the favourites to win in Dublin...

In The News ·

2026/05/21

When two TDs left for bigger gigs last year it triggered elections to fill their places.Fine Gael’s Pascal Donohoe left for a big job at the World Bank and Independent TD Catherine Connolly left for a bigger job in Áras an Uachtaráin.Voters tomorrow will be faced with long ballot papers but the Irish Times IPSOS B&A poll suggests the early emergence of a small number of clear favourites in both constituencies.But who are? How did the candidates perform in the last week of canvassing? And will

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17:48

Why videos of Yves Sakila’s last moments on Dublin...

In The News ·

2026/05/20

On Friday at about 5pm, Yves Sakila(35) was pursued by security guards on Dublin’s Henry Street. He was suspected of shoplifting. As he ran down the street, it is believed he collided with an elderly man.What happened next was witnessed by several bystanders and by thousands of others because of a distressing video posted on social media. It shows the Congolese man’s last minutes as he lay face down restrained by several security men.When gardaì arrived on the scene, Sakila had been held on the

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27:29

The son of killer dentist Colin Howell tells his story

In The News ·

2026/05/19

This episode was first published in February 2026. On the night of his second birthday in May 1991, Seamus Daniel Howell’s mother Lesley was murdered by his father, Colin Howell, and his father’s lover, Hazel Stewart.The pair also killed Stewart’s husband Trevor Buchanan.They left the two bodies in a garage in Castlerock, Co Derry, staging the scene to make it look as if they had taken their own lives.The pair had committed the perfect murder so they could be together. And they had got away with

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23:26

How punters on Polymarket have bet big on Gerry Hutch...

In The News ·

2026/05/18

Betting on the results of an election is not unusual but Polymarket is not a typical bookies. It allows punters to take and then change their position on all manner of events, from when the Strait of Hormuz might open to whether Taylor Swift will be pregnant before she gets married.So when Irish Times investigative reporter Conor Gallagher noticed almost €1 million had been wagered on the upcoming Dublin Central byelection on Polymarket, it raised enough red flags for him to delve deeper.Bets on

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17:23

Why Donald Trump is in China

In The News ·

2026/05/15

Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night for a two-day visit that both the United States and China hope will stabilise their relationship and prolong a truce in the trade war that began over tariffs last year. The state visit – with all the pomp and ceremony that entails – had been scheduled for April but was deferred because of the war in Iran. There is a lot on the table and, in the shorthand favoured by analysts, they are: the three Ts (Taiwan and Tehran and trade) and the three Bs

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19:55

Why do Dubliners suddenly love Stephen’s Green...

In The News ·

2026/05/14

When Dubliners first saw the multi-tiered, gleaming white, iron and glass shopping centre on St Stephen’s Green in the late 1980s, it was quickly nicknamed “the Mississippi showboat” and “the wedding cake”. And in a city that prides itself on its Georgian heritage and its historic buildings, it was seen by some as kitsch, an architectural pastiche and a bit embarrassing. But it grew on others. Now that plans have been approved by Dublin City Council to knock the shopping centre and replace it with a

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19:35

Keir Starmer is clinging on to power but for how long?

In The News ·

2026/05/12

British prime minister Keir Starmer is clinging to power after scores of Labour MPs – and several ministers – called on him to resign or at least plot a clear path for a change in leadership.The immediate prompt is the collapse of the Labour vote during the local elections which saw more than 1,500 councillors lose their seats.Add the party’s losses at the devolved elections in Scotland and Wales and the turnaround in Labour’s fortunes since its landslide general election win couldn’t be more

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22:17

How a Carlow garden centre left buyers millions out...

In The News ·

2026/05/12

When Irish Times consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope got an email last June about the non-delivery of garden furniture, he couldn’t have known that it would be the start of a deluge of similar complaints from hundreds of frustrated customers.All had ordered from Rathwood, a family business, operating for more than 30 years that had grown into one of the biggest outdoor living retailers in the State. And all had received excuses about delays, supplier issues and new investors.It has now been

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23:27

How money laundering has become big business in Ireland

In The News ·

2026/05/11

For online fraudsters to be successful they need a web of bank accounts to first receive the money they steal and then to channel it, often out of the country.Some people, often students, willingly let their bank accounts be used in exchange for a small sum of money. For others though, they have no choice, like the victim of sextortion before the courts this month who was blackmailed into letting his Revolut account be used by a crime gang.Drug gangs still use bricks-and-mortar operations to launder

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22:57

How PSNI botched Katie Simpson murder investigation

In The News ·

2026/05/08

When 21-year-old Katie Simpson died in August 2020 after an event in her home, why did the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) accept the version of events offered by Jonathan Creswell, the man she shared a house with? He said she had taken her own life.Why did they not look into his past as a convicted domestic abuser, or her history of presenting at hospitals with injuries and why did they so readily believe him?Nearly a year after her death he was charged with her murder and on the second

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32:05

Iran war: what a deal could look like - and why Trump...

In The News ·

2026/05/07

On Wednesday, in the midst of a tentative ceasefire, Iran issued what could be the first step in a deal with the US over the Strait of Hormuz.Meanwhile Iran’s foreign minister was in Beijing meeting China’s top diplomat who urged an end to the blockade of the vital waterway and an end to the war. Could a peace deal finally be in sight?And why did German chancellor Friedrich Merz torpedo his relationship with US president Donald Trump by saying “an entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian

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22:32

What do sky-high jet fuel prices mean for travellers?

In The News ·

2026/05/06

The Iran war, which began on February 28th, has disrupted air traffic routes and pushed up jet fuel prices. That much is clear. But with the war showing little sign of resolution, what is less clear is what will happen as the aviation industry grapples with inevitable fuel shortages?The disruption to aviation has been severe in the Middle East and Asia but, to date, the impact on European airlines has been relatively minimal. Flights have been cancelled and prices have risen marginally but for most,

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17:52

A suspected murder-suicide in Iceland with an Irish...

In The News ·

2026/05/05

In June 2025, the Mancel family left their apartment in Leopardstown in south Dublin, headed to Dublin Airport and flew to Reykjavik. They checked into the luxury Edition hotel for what appeared to be a weeklong holiday for husband Emeric Mancel (57), wife Ming Ting and their 29-year-old daughter, Catherine.But on the day they were due to fly home, Emeric and Catherine were found dead from stab wounds in the hotel.Shortly after the grim discovery in the hotel, Ming Ting was arrested and she is now

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51:15

A sick man: DJ Carey and his cancer con

In The News ·

2026/05/04

Last November former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for fraud.In July, the disgraced sportsman pleaded guilty to ten counts of deception involving thirteen individuals.It was a stunning fall from grace for the Kilkenny man, who was once the most celebrated hurler in the country.For years Carey spun a web of lies, convincing friends, acquaintances, and even strangers that he was battling terminal cancer and needed large sums of money for life-saving

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41:59

Inside the Kinahan cartel’s secret phone chats:...

In The News ·

2026/05/02

When Sean McGovern, a trusted member of the Kinahan organised crime cartel, was extradited from Dubai last May he can’t have known the depth and breadth of the evidence gathered by the Gardaí that would prove that he had directed cartel murder plans at the height of the deadly Kinahan-Hutch feud.It was all laid out in the Special Criminal Court this week as encrypted phone messages between him and fellow gang members during 2015 and 2017 were read out, surveillance footage from over a decade ago was

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27:26

Dire reviews and controversy: Why the Michael Jackson...

In The News ·

2026/05/01

Michael, the biopic tracking the early years of Michael Jackson, opened to dire reviews and criticism over its silence on the child sex abuse allegations levelled at the music superstar.The fans, though, don’t care; they made Michael a box office smash. Its first weekend broke records, with the film scoring the biggest opening of all time for any musical biopic.It stars Jaafar Jackson, who does a good job channelling his late uncle Michael, and the music is wall-to-wall with brief detours into some

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28:17

Car bombs and hijackings: Why two attacks show the...

In The News ·

2026/04/30

Last Saturday evening, a food delivery driver was hijacked in Co Antrim, a bomb was placed in his car and he was ordered to drive to Dunmurry police station. When he got there he ran in to raise the alarm. Minutes later, a police officer’s bodycam recorded the car exploding as nearby houses were being evacuated, with two babies among those who were being brought to safety at the time. The attack is being treated by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) as attempted murder and comes just

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1,164 results

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