In The News

On the morning of August 31st, 2018, award-winning film producer Trevor Birney was arrested at his home in Belfast while the PSNI searched the house as his bewildered family looked on.They were searching, they said, for documents used in his powerful documentary, No Stone Unturned, that examined the 1994 Loughinisland massacre when the UVF shot six men dead as they watched the Ireland v Italy football match in a village bar.That film unmasked in unflinching detail the collusion between the security forces in Northern Ireland and loyalist paramilitaries and it’s a controversial subject Birney has returned to in this new book, Shooting Crows.The book’s title refers to the comments of the judge granting the warrant to raid Birney’s home, who worried that it was an exercise in scaring off other journalists.It set Birney on a path to prove historic and ongoing attempts by British authorities to silence journalists, film-makers, lawyers and activists in the North and to uncover surveillance and bugging operations.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey.

More than a year’s worth of rain fell in southern Spain in barely eight hours on Tuesday.It caused devastation. By Thursday the death toll had reached 155 with an unconfirmed number of people still thought to be missing.Valencia appears to be the worst hit city; the images of cars piled up on narrow residential streets and videos of torrents of muddy water sweeping away all before it were unprecedented scenes in the European city. People of all ages died when they were trapped in their cars or homes or simply swept away by the sheer force of the water.Valencia has experienced significant rain events in the past particularly in autumn – but nothing like this. It’s to do with the DANA weather phenomenon whereby, at its most basic, cold and warm air meet and produce powerful rain clouds. The intensity of such rainfall events appears to be increasing due to climate change and rising global temperatures.As Guy Hedgcoe explains from Madrid that in the calm after the chaos of the flood, citizens in the region are questioning if the authorities could have done more. And who will pay for the clean up in what insurance analysts in Spain have predicted that the floods will mark the most expensive natural disaster to ever hit the country.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Aideen Finnegan.

Earlier this year, The Irish Times gained access to the bankruptcy files of Derek Quinlan, one of the most prolific Irish property investors of the Celtic Tiger period, who lost his fortune in the 2008-09 crash.Quinlan ended up with €3.5 billion euro of debts, making him the biggest debtor to Nama – the State agency set up after the crash to save the banking system.This major Irish Times investigation reveals how Quinlan still owes Irish taxpayers €403 million and why he was blocked from exiting bankruptcy last year.Who exactly is Derek Quinlan and how did he amass so much debt? What do court documents tell us about his lifestyle and current finances, and will his stint in bankruptcy finally end next month?Today, on In the News, London Correspondent Mark Paul delves into the life and finances of Derek Quinlan.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan.

Last week, the Government rushed through a number of priority Bills in a scramble to clear the decks before the next general election.Five Bills were considered and passed, all in under six hours, a process that normally takes weeks.But, are there any risks involved in rushing these Bills so quickly through the Dáil? And, what happens to the pieces of legislation, such as the Defamation or Mental Health Bills, which are not expected to be passed before the election?Meanwhile, opposition TDs are continuing to call for the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban trade between Ireland and Israel’s illegal settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories, to be passed without delay. Can that happen before the end of November?Today, on In the News, how the Government is rushing to pass new laws before its term ends. Irish Times political editor Pat Leahy examines the implications of fast-tracking Bills through the Oireachtas.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon.

This episode was originally published in August 2024. Sales of EVs in Ireland collapsed in 2024 with the number of newly-licensed electric vehicles down by 24 per cent in the first seven months of the year.But why? The push towards EVs is a key plank in the Government’s climate strategy and the choice of EVs has never been wider.Early adopters worried about range anxiety but advances in technology has seen that replaced by charge anxiety – concerns about the availability of charging stations, whether that be at home or on the road. But that’s just one worry motorist have before considering an EV.The Government’s Climate Action Plan aims to have almost one million EVs on Irish roads by 2030, comprising 845,000 cars and 100,000 vans, trucks and buses.With just over six years to go before that target date, the falling sales figures raise further questions over what was already an ambitious target.Motoring writer Neil Brisco explains why the shine has gone off EV cars for Irish motorists.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

The Apprentice isn’t a movie about the reality TV series that made its presenter, New York businessman Donald Trump, a star. Instead it tracks the relationship from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s, between Trump (Sebastian Stan) as a young man desperate for acknowledgment, fame and wealth and the legendary lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), a whatever-it-takes fixer for a host of shady clients, including the mob.It is Trump who is the apprentice here, eagerly learning from an amoral master and latching on to a particular style of “winning”.This vivid, sometimes fun, always compelling telling (written by journalist Gabriel Sherman and directed by Iranian film-maker Ali Abbasi) won an eight-minute standing ovation when it premiered in Cannes in May but as Irish Times culture columnist Hugh Linehan explains, its path to global cinema screens was fraught as distributors backed away from what they feared could be trouble if Trump is re-elected.Screen Ireland came on board to help finance the distribution.But what does the film ultimately say about Trump? And will it have any impact on the election?Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and John Casey.

At an event this week, an all-male panel led by Taoiseach Simon Harris, went through the Dublin task force’s 10-point plan.Irish Times Dublin editor Olivia Kelly was there to find out if the task force’s 10 “big moves” offered a new vision for the city – and one where the words might translate into action.She tells In the News what the 10 “big moves” are and how – after she shook off the felling of deja vu – the report, which borrows heavily from the 70-plus such reports that have gone before, might make a difference for Dublin.Presented by Bernice Harrison.

Kinahan gang leader Liam Byrne (43) has been sentenced to five years in prison for weapons charges, while Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh (57) has been sentenced to six years for similar offences.Both pleaded guilty to the charges, while Kavanagh had also admitted perverting the course of justice. Their co-accused, Shaun Kent (38) from Liverpool, was also sentenced to six years.Observers in the court noticed Byrne’s relief as he realised the sentence would see him out of prison as soon as next year. The court had not heard the full details of Byrne’s criminal past, and Gardaí do not believe Byrne’s claim that he wants to live a lawful life upon release. Conor Lally gives the background to the case and Mark Paul reports from the sentencing in London.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Suzanne Brennan.