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.

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Today · 20 min
Lost at sea on the ‘world’s deadliest migration route’
In the last week in June a boat set sail from The Gambia heading for the Canary Islands. On board were an estimated 200 people, made up mostly of men of all ages as well as about 20 women and five children. Within weeks, only 36 would be alive; the rest killed by starvation and thirst as the engine failed and the boat got lost on the Atlantic migration route, now regarded as the deadliest in the world. As the days went on, bodies were thrown overboard and tension rose between the remaining desperate travellers who had paid traffickers to take them from impoverishment in west Africa to what they hoped would be a better life in Europe. A fishing boat found the distressed vessel in July, alerted authorities and the survivors were given medical attention in Mauritania before being returned home. It is estimated that since 2022 more than 20,000 people have died on this route. Sally Hayden, Irish Times reporter who specialises in migration, travelled to The Gambia and spoke to two of the survivors Alhagie Ngie (27) and Mustapha Secka (29) who gave eyewitness accounts. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Sally Hayden’s reporting was supported by the Simon Cumbers Media Fund Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Yesterday · 29 min
Tracking down a romance scammer in Nigeria
This episode was originally published in June 2026. When Carlos Barragán discovered his mother was the victim of romance fraud, he flew to Lagos to find the con man – and found the Yahoo Boys, young men whose job it is to rip off westerners. The name comes from the old email platform, first used by the Nigerian scammers decades ago. His mother, Silvia, had fallen in love online with flirtatious, sincere, handsome Brian; she bought rings, planned a future and was convinced that they would one day live together – when he was free to travel to Spain. Her sons though, suspected something sinister was afoot, especially when “Brian” started to make financial demands. Over the course of three years Carlos, a journalist, visited Nigeria multiple times to see the Yahoo Boys in action and to try to understand why this particularly cruel, exploitative form of online fraud has become such an earner for so many young men in Lagos. He also discovered a romance scam involving an Irish woman. His compelling book, The Yahoo Boys: Real Life with the Love Scammers of Lagos by Carlos Barragán is published this week. He talks about the experience on In the News. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Monday · 21 min
Why almost all Phoenix Park drivers break the speed limit
Every year, more than 10 million motorists drive through Dublin’s Phoenix Park. Almost all are breaking the speed limit. All of the park’s attractions, including Dublin Zoo, the People’s Gardens, the Ashtown Castle Visitor Centre, Farmleigh House and almost 2,300 parking spaces, are accessed from Chesterfield Avenue, the main road that bisects the park. Yet there is no dedicated way for pedestrians to cross this 4km-long road. And even if there were, crossing might still be perilous, as more than 95 per cent of motorists exceed the speed limit. And despite the addition of cycle lanes on some of the park’s roads, poor design and maintenance render many unfit for purpose. It’s a problem that has been recognised for years, so why haven’t speeding motorists been stopped? And how Dublin’s biggest park become a commuter rat run? Olivia Kelly, Irish Times Dublin editor and daily park user, explains. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Andrew McNair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Saturday · 18 min
What does it take to win The Traitors?
By the time the final episode of The Traitors Ireland was aired last September, the nation was gripped. The RTÉ version of the gameshow was a hit with nearly three quarters of a million people tuning in to see a trio of “Faithfuls”, Oyin, Vanessa and Kelly bag the prize. It’s been quite the year for Vanessa Ogbonna and Oyin Adeyemi. They came into the In the News studio to talk about their time in the castle under the watchful eye of Siobhán McSweeney; how they won and what the spent the prize on; how they dealt with social media trolls, and their fun new podcast, Oya C’mere. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Friday · 24 min
Who is the Swiss politician accused of drugging and sexually abusing an Irish girl and her mother?
Swiss media have compared what happened to Irish teenager Paula and her mother, Iwona, to the Pelicot case in France. Prosecutors allege that Patrick Frei, 57, drugged and raped both Paula, then aged 14, and her mother, Iwona while they were living with him in the Swiss town of Untersiggenthal. It is also alleged that he filmed the assaults. Paula and Iwona had moved from their home in Sligo in 2022 to live with Frei, a high-profile right-wing politician, a year after Iwona and Frei had begun a long-distance relationship. So how did the case come to light and when did the alleged abuse begin? How did police build their case? And why did Swiss authorities move to deport Paula and Iwona while the investigation was under way? Frei is due to stand trial in February 2027. His lawyer says he “disputes substantial parts of the allegations and, in particular, the legal characterisation of several of the charges”. Conor Gallagher of The Irish Times investigations team travelled to Switzerland to speak with Paula and her mother, Iwona. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. Support services: Freephone 24-Hour DRCC National Helpline, 1800 77 8888; One in Four, 01-662 4070 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Thursday · 20 min
Natalie Harp is devoted to Donald Trump. Why is that a problem?
For Washington insiders observing how the Trump administration conducts its business, Natalie Harp is an alarming figure. The 35-year-old White House aide appears never to leave the president’s side, whether he is meeting a world leader in the Oval Office or playing golf. Her influential role has been questioned, and ridiculed, for years. Harp’s nickname is “the human printer”; she is rarely seen without a sheaf of documents ready for her boss. When it emerged that those documents included highly personal letters she had written to him, laying bare her devotion, insider gossip turned into public soap opera. A political attack line delivered by Democratic senator Jon Ossoff put her in the public spotlight when he said of the president: “He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenceless flying palace, gifted by the Emir of Qatar.” Shawn McCreesh, a White House reporter for The New York Times, explains this latest, and perhaps most puzzling, controversy to hit the Trump administration. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan, with Andrew McNair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 26 · 24 min
Inside the court: Why did Lindsay Clancy kill her three children?
Now in its fifth week, the trial of Lindsay Clancy in the US for the murder of her three children has been headline news, with blanket TV and press coverage and endless online discussion. What is known – and what she admits – is that on the evening of January 23rd, 2023 while her husband Patrick was out running errands, she killed their three children, Cora, 5, Dawson, 3 and Callan aged 8 months in their suburban home. When Patrick came home, and before he found the children, he found her on the ground outside their house. As Shanelle Kaul, a national correspondent for CBS News, tells In the News, his 911 call for help was one of the most harrowing evidence heard in court. Her defence is that she was suffering from post-partum psychosis; the prosecution maintains her actions were deliberate. As the jury prepare to begin deliberations this week, Kaul discusses the key evidence heard at the trial so far. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 25 · 31 min
How the culture wars spread to Ireland
This episode was originally published in March 2026. In his new documentary Amplified: The Exportation of the Culture Wars, director Mike Sheridan explores the profound influence of toxic discourse in the United States on the rest of the world – and in particular, Ireland. Through interviews and examples he shows how, with the amplification of social media, legitimate grievance can bloom into conspiracist, and how easily performance, paranoia, and power intertwine. As Irish Times reviewer Tara Brady notes, the film which “begins as a study of toxic discourse in the United States expands into a sobering excavation of recent unrest in Dublin. The riots of November 2023, along with the persistence of aggressive anti-immigrant demonstrations, are presented as symptoms of a transnational malaise”. Sheridan explains to In the News how he made the documentary, how imported misinformation can gain such a powerful hold, and why high-profile US commentators including Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes became so invested in the Dublin riots without any apparent factual knowledge of what occurred. Amplified: The Exportation of the Culture Wars is available to rent on Apple TV and other digital platforms Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 24 · 21 min
How a tech savvy woman lost €30,000 in an invoice scam
This episode was originally published in March 2026. If you got an invoice you’d been waiting for from your builder for work done, you’d get ready to pay it, wouldn’t you? And if, a couple minutes after that, you got another invoice from the builder saying that actually he’d made a mistake and he’d given you the wrong bank details, you’d think nothing of it and proceed to pay. Well that’s exactly what the reader who contacts our consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope did. She sent the requested €30,000 to her builder and thought nothing more of it – until a week later when her builder contacted her politely wondering if where the payments was. She is tech savvy, has been made aware through her work about all kinds of fraud, and is cautious by nature yet she had been the victim of payment redirection fraud – also known as invoice fraud. Conor Pope came into the studio to explain how this scam worked and why this particular case should be a lesson to everyone who believes invoice scams are only targeted at big business. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 21 · 13 min
Why staff at Oberstown Children Detention Centre have had enough
Staff at Oberstown Children Detention Campus are set to strike again on Tuesday the 25th of August. It will be their fourth work stoppage this summer over plans to expand the capacity of the north Dublin facility for young offenders. Members of the Fórsa trade union have already taken to the picket line this week in a protest relating to staffing levels, saying they’re “running on fumes.” While acknowledging that management have made progress in hiring 11 new staff, they believe recent high profile events, such as wrong-way motorway driving, will further heap pressure to find beds for teenagers in trouble with the law. Workers are concerned that inadequate staff ratios will undermine their safety, particularly in light of a spate of serious assaults on the campus last summer. One social care worker told Irish Times work correspondent Emmet Malone these “young people often present with challenging and difficult behaviour; they’re only in Oberstown as a last resort and we regularly find ourselves in difficult, sometimes dangerous situations ... If we don’t have enough staff to operate the unit safely, properly and adequately, the young people we work with on a daily basis are suffering too.” But if management are engaging with the union, why are staff still planning to strike on Tuesday? What are the sticking points and what might draw this dispute to a close? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 20 · 22 min
Who was Jason Arday and why are there calls for a public inquiry into his death?
On Monday evening, thousands of people took to the streets of central London to attend a vigil in memory of Jason Arday. The former Cambridge professor was found dead in his home just days earlier - at the age of 41. In his final days Arday - who was Black and autistic - was at the centre of a global media storm. Initially over allegations of plagiarism in his previous academic work and claims relating to his personal life, it morphed into a controversy relating to racism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion employment practices, and press harassment. As a result, he resigned from his role as professor of sociology at the prestigious university. In his resignation letter, he told colleagues he no longer wished to feel like he was living “under a constant spotlight, where every aspect of his life was subject to public examination and judgement”. But the media frenzy didn’t end there. Coverage about Cambridge's youngest ever Black professor continued. Now public figures and friends of Arday are demanding a public inquiry into the press attention he received before his death. A petition has already secured more than 90,000 signatures. In today’s episode, Aideen Finnegan is joined by Irish Times writer and columnist Hugh Linehan to talk about the media storm surrounding Arday and the public outcry following his death. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 19 · 22 min
What is 'the Mecca pact' and could it change the Middle East?
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey have signed a mutual defence pact that "echoes Nato’s article 5 in saying they will treat an attack on one as an attack on all". But will they? What does the pact mean for US leadership in the region, for the Iran war and for global security? We ask Denis Staunton. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 17 · 19 min
How ‘wrong way’ motorway driving has become a dangerous trend
Five people are dead and four people - including a seven year old boy are seriously injured - after a stolen BMW was driven the wrong way on the M9 motorway in County Kildare. Five teenage boys in the stolen BMW were killed instantly in the head on collision, in the early hours of Sunday morning. Three sisters and a seven year old boy were in the other car. They are all in a serious condition in a number of hospitals across Dublin. Alma and Niamh Kinsella were in the front. Their little sister Ellie Hendricken and her nephew were in the back. In today's episode, crime and security reporter Hugh Dooley talks to Aideen Finnegan about the details of last weekend's fatal crash and why 'wrong way' motorway driving has become a worrying trend among thrill seeking teenagers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 17 · 24 min
Who is Fergie Chambers? The Dublin-based millionaire wanted by US authorities
For more than a year, Fergie Chambers, an American multi-millionaire and self-described communist, has called Ireland home. The 41-year-old who is heir to one of the richest families in America had been living in South Dublin, until a trip to Ibiza with his family last month ended in his arrest. While on the Spanish Island, police arrested Chambers on foot of an extradition request by US authorities. He’s been in prison in Madrid ever since. If the extradition goes ahead, he faces charges of money laundering with the intent of supporting terror organisations; riot; and conspiracy to riot. Friends of Chambers say he’s being targeted because of his support for Palestinian activism. They point to donations to humanitarian organisations working in Gaza and his funding of legal fees for protesters associated with Palestine Action in the UK. But who is Fergie Chambers, what does he stand for and why has he become a target of the MAGA movement? And could his case further strain relations between the US, Spain and Ireland over Palestine? Aideen Finnegan is joined by Irish Times journalists Rachel Lavin and Naomi O'Leary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 14 · 25 min
How an Irish building contractor conned US homeowners out of €1.3 million
This episode was originally published in April 2026. John O’Brien’s scam was simple. Arriving in the US on a tourist visa in 2021, he set himself up as a building contractor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. By the time the authorities caught up with the 28 year-old, he had conned more than 100 victims out of an estimated $2.5 million. Many of the homeowners who handed him their life savings for promised building work were charmed by his Irish accent and friendly demeanour. Sentencing him to four years and eight months in prison, the judge talked about “the extent and breadth of the harm” done to victims who opened their doors to O’Brien out of kindness and trust. He had pleaded guilty. Many of his victims gave statements in court including Candace Gauvin, a retired school crossing guard, who emptied a life insurance account, eventually paying him more than $90,000 for shoddy work. One of the more than a dozen people who provided character references for O’Brien included fellow Traveller Senator Eileen Flynn who advocated for his early release for the “benefit of his young family”. Local reporter Susan Zalkind was in court in Rhode Island for O’Brien’s case and she explains how the scam worked, how it funded his lavish lifestyle and the impact on the victims. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 13 · 25 min
What led to the mass migrant crossing in Ceuta and will it happen again?
The city of Ceuta - the Spanish territory on the north African coast – is preparing for another potential wave of migrants hoping to cross the border from Morocco. Images of some 72-thousand people reaching Ceuta went around the world almost a fortnight ago, on the 30th and 31st of July, after they climbed or swum around the border fence separating it from European territory. 83 people died during the rush, with a Moroccan human rights organisation putting the number higher at 141. Of the tens of thousands of people who made it, many of them are children who are still in Ceuta, sleeping rough on beaches. There were protests on Sunday with people voicing concerns and demanding support saying Ceutans alone cannot handle a situation like this. Now social media activity suggests another mass crossing in the coming days. Aideen Finnegan is joined by Madrid-based journalist Guy Hedgecoe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 12 · 24 min
Who is the Irish man who helped shape FIFA's deal to sell the World Cup?
Last month, Fifa's President Gianni Infantino shocked football fans around the world when he announced plans to sell a slice of the World Cup’s business to private investors. Unsurprisingly, the proposal went down like a lead balloon, with critics pointing out how Infantino had orchestrated the deal in secret. But one man - who not only knew about the plan but spent months working on it behind the scenes - was FIFA’s chief of staff, an Irish Man called Daniel O’Toole. The Dublin man was handpicked by the Fifa president to work alongside him on the potential sale before it was eventually shelved - but who is he? And how did he ascend to the inner sanctum of power at the organisation? Irish Times sports correspondent Gavin Cooney has the details on today's episode. Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 10 · 25 min
Daniel Kinahan is back in Ireland – what now?
Ten years after the Regency Hotel attack, and four years after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the leaders of the Kinahan cartel, Daniel Kinahan is back on Irish soil following his extradition from the United Arab Emirates. A major security operation was put in place to transport the 49-year-old from Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnell, County Dublin, to the Special Criminal Court, where he was charged with one count of directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 18, 2015, and April 6, 2017. Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally was in court as Kinahan was charged. Presented by Aideen Finnegan, produced by Suzanne Brennan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 10 · 21 min
‘Irish only or it burns’ - Why Ireland's far right is targeting vacant council houses
This episode was originally published in June 2026. For the past 18 months, Dublin City Council has been keeping track of a worrying trend: an increase in the number of vacant council houses being targeted in racist attacks. The criminal damage, which happens just before the council moves a new tenant in, ranges from racist graffiti to making the house uninhabitable. So where is this happening? And what can be done to stop it? Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally explains what’s behind the recent surge in these attacks, and the reaction from local communities. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 7 · 27 min
Dire reviews and controversy: Why the Michael Jackson movie broke box-office records
This episode was originally published in May 2026. 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 aspects of Jackson’s odd life, including his obsession with Peter Pan, his first nose job and his acquisition of Bubbles the chimpanzee. Originally the script included the case of one of the boys who alleged sex abuse, but that was cut. So without the truth of Jackson’s life, what is the point of this biopic? And why is Hollywood so fixated on musical biopics? Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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