Episodes
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TRUMP’S BLUE DAY: Scott Lucas.
The US mid term elections dealt a severe blow to Donald Trump with the Democrats taking control of congress. But what will it mean for the remainder of Trump’s presidency? What will it mean for Americans struggling with the cost of living/ And wherefore the rest of the world, including this...
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LEFT HANGING ON THE RIGHT: Eoin O’Malley
The recent violent protests in France were attributed to far-left elements. In a milieu where far right interests are gaining support across Europe, this was something of an anomaly. For DCU associate professor of politics, Eoin O’Malley, this scenario suggests that perhaps the media and many in...
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BLOWING THE WHISTLE: Alan Kelly
There has been a drip feed of revelations about alleged malpractice in An Garda Siochana in recent weeks. Central to the allegations has been a group of officers who have made protected disclosures. How their allegations were received, how they were dealt with, has become a huge element of the...
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BRIAN COWEN’S LEGACY: Gary Murphy.
Brian Cowen was elected Taoiseach just as the economic storm clouds were gathering in 2008. By the time he left office the country was dependant on the kindness of strangers. Was Cowen culpable for what befell the country/ Was he simply the victim of bad timing? And did his time at the top…
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BUDGET BLUES: Paul Hosford and Tadgh McNally.
How was it for you? For everybody it would appear that the budget was spread so thin it will be difficult to feel any difference. Neither austerity nor giveaway it also left questions hanging. Such as where now for this government? What if anything is its guiding compass? This week’s guests are...
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SOCIAL SUPERMARKET: Angela Ruttledge.
A new initiative that could herald a while new way of life in some disadvantaged communities is being set up. The social supermarket is a model that has been tried successfully abroad and now is being introduced in north Dublin. It has been popularised by current New York mayor Zohran Mamdani but...
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MAGILL AND THE 1980s: Kevin Rafter
Vincent Browne was the founding editor of Magill magazine and oversaw it, officially and unofficially, for the 1980s. It was a time of great change and the emergence of outstanding journalists to document it. DCU academic and journalist Kevin Rafter has documented the highs, lows and the madness…
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OURSELVES ALONE: Siobhan Fenton
A new book takes us behind the closed doors of a party that remains something of a mystery. Sinn Fein to some appears to retain the closeness of a tribe rather than a political party and its policies generally don’t follow a beaten path. But is that the case or there less to see than might be...
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TRUMPED UP VISIT: Clodagh Harrington.
Donald Trump is visiting the country this weekend and it’s safe to say that many people, from the upper echelons of power down to the man and woman in the street, would prefer if he stayed home. He is here to attend the Irish Open golf championship at the Doonbeg in Clare which he owns. But what...
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A NATION LIKE NO OTHER: Paul Howard
What would a united Ireland look like? Could we come up with imaginative solutions that would only cheese off everybody equally? Paul Howard, the creator of Ross O’Carroll Kelly has written a satirical novel set in a government department charged with planning for a united Ireland. The results…
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FUEL FOR THOUGHT: Elaine Loughlin
The Dail has been recalled to delay the restoration of excise taxes in order to keep down the price of fuel. But is he government acting simply out of fear of a repeat of the fuel protests earlier this year? And what will happen if the USA’s war in Iraq continue through the winter and the price...
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YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND: Catherine Heaney
Democracy is under threat right across the world, certainly in the liberal form that persisted since the end of the Second world war. Donald Trump is leading the charge for a new form of populism and his administration is now providing funds for like minded organisations in Europe. Here, in...
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THE TREATY MAYOR: John Moran
It hasn’t been a smooth ride since John Moran was elected Mayor of Limerick, the first such office to be created in a city in the state. He has clashed on a number of occasions with councillors and most recently there has been conflict with traders in the city centre. But there has also been...
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GOVERNING FOR INSTANT GRATIFICATION: Elaine Loughlin
The coalition government, awash with cash and bereft of a core political compass, appears to be governing by the path of least resistance. The Irish Examiner’s Political Editor Elaine Loughlin recently outlined in a column how the government is now content to sort out those who shout loudest...
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POWER OR PROCESS? Tadgh McNally
The Government says Ireland needs to build faster. To do that it is preparing legislation that could allow major infrastructure projects to bypass parts of the planning system. At the same time, a major review of local democracy wants to hand more power to councillors and reduce the dominance of...
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THE MORALITY OF KILLING: John Ware
The running of agents in the North by the British state was a moral maze. Those who were in charge of the agents often had to decide whether or not to allow a murder go ahead in order to protect an agent’s cover. But where is the morality in such decisions? Did a point arrive where the state…
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FOOTBALL FEAST OR SPORTS WASHING: Colin Sheridan
As the World Cup comes to a conclusion we look back on a month of football to celebrate the best of it but also to ask where exactly the game is going and whether it is irredeemable corrupt. And beyond that, do we care if we keep watching it which is exactly what everybody did. Joining Mick to...
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INDEFENSIBLE DEFENCE FORCE: Neil Michael.
For the last month a defence forces tribunal, that was over two decades in the making, has been hearing shocking evidence about how some officers conducted themselves. Allegations of sexual, physical and psychological abuse have called to mind the kind of army life that might have existed in a...
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STILL HOME OF THE BRAVE AT 250? Marion McKeone
As America celebrates 250 years in existence as a nation, Marion McKeone looks at a country that is currently going through major upheaval with Donald Trump as president. Is America as we have known it coming to an end, or just going through another transition. Journalist Marion McKeone is this...
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ANDY, WE HARDLY KNOW YA: Fergus Finlay
With Andy Burnham all but certain to be the next British prime minister in the coming days, we talk to Fergus Finlay about what he can expect and what he should try to do. Fergus, who was an advisor to two governments talks about how all leaders should focus on one big idea and explains exactly…
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Brexit Blues: Ian Cooper
Exactly ten years ago this week the UK voted to leave the EU and Brexit was born. At the time there were predictions that this could spell economic disaster for this country but that didn’t come to pass. The UK itself has not fared as well. In fact, the UK is in a bit of a mess, but exactly how...
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HEALTHY PURSUIT: Niamh Griffin
After the recent row between the Minister for Health and the Rotunda Hospital over consultants doing private work, a question arises as to how soon we will have a single tier health service. The move in that direction has been ongoing now for a number of years and while there might be progress it...
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MORALITY AND WARS: Colin Sheridan
The Occupied Territories Bill and the triple lock are going to be landing hot and heavy in the public square in the coming months. Both issues elicit deeply felt emotions and questions over what is this state’s role in the wider world, and what should be done about it. Irish Examiner columnist...
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THE HEALY RAE SPLIT
Michael Healy Rae’s revelation that he believes his brother Danny cost him and Kerry a ministry has rocked the most fabled political dynasty in Irish politics. Is this the end or just a new beginning. Mick Clifford, Deirdre O’Shaughnessy and Louise Burne discuss and dissect.
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POLITICAL PITSTOP: Elaine Loughlin
The recent by-elections in Dublin and Galway took the temperature in politics right now and delivered victories to the Social Democrats and Fine Gael. But what did the elections say about the political pecking order right now and will there by any implications for Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail, who...
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THE RISE OF KNEECAP: Dean Van Nguyen
The Belfast rap trio Kneecap bring second record Fenian and their incendiary mix of Irish-language hip-hop and politics to Cork with two 'intimate' album launch shows at the Savoy Theatre ahead of a show Live at the Marquee on July 6. In this episode, we take a deep dive into the group’s journey…
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BY ELECTION SPECIAL: Louise Burne
Two constituencies go to the polls next Friday in byelections created by the resignations from the Dail of Pascal Donohue and Catherine Connolly, who both went on to greater things. Dublin Central and Galway West will vote for their replacements in the first by-elections since the current...
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SOLDIERING TOWARDS DESTINY: Gary Murphy
Fianna Fail is a century old this year and the party is celebrating the occasion this weekend with its Ard Fheis. But where stands a party that was in the twentieth century one of the most successful vote getters in the developed world. Has the new Ireland bypassed a party whose name translates…
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NEVER NEVER LAND: Children and that hospital.
The Irish Examiner’s Louise Burne has memories of spending time in Temple Street hospital in Dublin as a child to treat a condition with which she was born. The staff were great, the environment and facilities far less so. Recently, she wrote about the children of tomorrow who will have a brand…
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BURIED SECRET: Barry Cummins
Tina Satchwell was murdered by her husband and her body hid in the family home where he continued to live for six years before it was discovered in a cold case Garda search. The case was shocking and tragic and journalist Barry Cummins, who has written and broadcast extensively on Ireland’s…
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WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT ROY: Dave Hannigan
Roy Keane is a towering figure in Irish sport and even culture. From one of the greatest footballers to ever emerge from the country, to the man who divided Ireland over Saipan to the pundit everybody wants to see. But where did he come from, what relationship does he have to his home place and...
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Taoiseach on the brink: Louise Burne
Pressure is coming on Taoiseach Micheal Martin in the wake of the fuel protests and following the resignation as junior minister of Michael Healy Rae. We examine whether his leadership is now in peril, whether he can hang on for now and, beyond that, long enough to host the presidency of the EU…
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ORBAN ON THE BRINK: Shona Murray
On Sunday Hungary goes to the polls in an election that should be of huge interests to all Europeans and beyond. The authoritarian leader of the last sixteen years is vehemently supported by both Vladamir Putin and Donald Trump, but is deeply unpopular among EU states. This week JD Vance landed…
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THE INFORMER AND HIS HANDLER: JP O’Sullivan
In March 1985, IRA man John Corcoran’s body was found outside Cork city. He had been shot as an informer. In the intervening years there has long been speculation that Corcoran’s murder could have been avoided and that he was sacrificed to protect another informer for An Garda Siochana, Sean...
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A FUGITIVE AND A PATRIOT: Rory Carroll
A new book by Guardian Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll examines the hunt by British intelligence to capture Roger Casement and his role in assisting to foment, and ultimately attempting to call off, the 1916 Rising. The book is a unique take on the life of not just Casement but other figures…
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GETTING OUT INTACT: Micheal Martin
In the week that was, the question that arose was – will he make it out of there intact? The subject of course was Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the quandary was his Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump at a time of living dangerously for politicians who interact with the US president. Joining us...
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HOW IT WILL ALL END: Scott Lucas
The war in Iran is continuing and Israel is using the opportunity to pummel those it considers the enemy in Lebanon. Add to that the fact that the world economy is shivering, what is the way out of this morass? On hand to give us some clues as to where we might go from here is an old friend of…
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The Mick Clifford Podcast - By-elections are looming
After the Presidential election last year saw Catherine Connolly elected President and Paschal Donohoe left Irish politics for a job at the World Bank, political parties will have two by-elections to contest in May. What are the issues, who are the runners and riders and who can claim the seats?...
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FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS: Peadar Tobin
We are frequently being told that there is a constituency out there that is not being served by the mainstream political parties. Peadar Tobin believes that his Aontu party would be an ideal home for such voters. He and Mick discussed how politics is and argued over who represents what in today’s...
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ADOPTING TO LIFE: Paul Cullen
Adoption was a big business in the Ireland of the middle decades of the last century, in a country where birth outside of marriage was considered a stain. That was the country into which Paul Cullen was born and ultimately adopted. He has written a page turning account of his life as an adoptee,...
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SHOUTING STOP IN IVERAGH: Joseph McCrohan
Rural depopulation and its impact on large tracts of the country was writ large late last year when the GAA published a report on the dangers of clubs disappearing. One of the areas that has been repeatedly referenced in terms of depopulation is the peninsula of Iveragh in South Kerry. Now…
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LOUISE BURNE: Politics today
The failure to prepare for the floods has left communities devastated along parts of the east coast, but whose fault is it? Also, has there been any whisper in Leinster House about the fate of George Mitchel’s legacy in the wake of his presence in the Epstein papers. And then there is the fate of...
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JUSTICE DELAYED IN LIMERICK: Mick Clifford
In this week’s podcast, Mick swaps chairs and is interviewed by Deirdre O’Shaughnessy – on loan from he own Irish Examiner podcast – about the not guilty verdicts against four serving and one retired garda in Limerick this week. All were charged with 39 counts of attempting to pervert the course…
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WATCHING THE WEIGHT LOSS: Aimee Donnellan
The drug Ozempic has become a phenomenon across the world since its impact on weight loss was discovered as a side effect to its main function, the treatment of type 2 diabetes. A new book looks at how the drug came to be developed, what effect it is having on society and where will it go from...
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ROUND THE HOUSES: Paul Hosford
The Dail reconvened this week after the Christmas break, but already the Irish Examiner’s Paul Hosford has been to China and back trailing the Taoiseach and getting a handle on where the new world order is heading. He has also run the rule over new immigration laws and whether the government is...
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A ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: Tommy Cahill
In November 2024, young Tommy Cahill found himself like many of his generation living the life abroad. He was in Dubai working as a teacher when he was faced with a dilemma. His father had just been elected a TD and would be leaving his council seat in Co Kerry. What more could a young man want...
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TERRY PRONE: The Political Years
Political communication was brought to a fine art by Terry Prone, her late husband Tom Savage and their mentor Bunny Carr. Their work was done and felt behind the scenes of successive governments and among numerous politicians. Now Terry is telling all in her memoir from the political years…
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THE €32m crystal meth Kerry connection: Liz Dunphy
Tralee-based businessman Nathan McDonnell was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a transglobal drug smuggling operation involving a notorious Mexican drug cartel. How did it ever come to this and what exactly is the connection in Kerry that saw the drugs being stored in a premises...
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THE WAY HOUSING WAS: Eoin Ó Broin
A new coffee table book, written by Eoin Ó Broin and illustrated with the photographs of Mal McCann, looks at the public housing schemes designed by acclaimed architect Herbert Sims in the early decades of the state and the people who now live in them. Flats And Cottages – Herbert Sims and the...
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POLITICS THEN AND NOW: Paul Hosford and Louise Burne.
The start of the year, as in then, dawned full of hope and vim for a new government after the election in November 2024. Now, at the end of the year, we examine where the hope and plans ended up. The last twelve months hasn’t progressed like that and some might say that in general things have...