In The News

With all the good weather we're having, it can only mean one thing: it’s Leaving Cert season. This morning, around 60,000 students around the country will sit down to English Paper One. For many of them, this marks the beginning of a gruelling CAO points race and a scramble over coveted university places. But with lots of alternative routes into further education available, why is there so much emphasis on the final year exam results? Irish Times education editor Carl O’Brien explains the options available to students, who favour a less stressful route. We also hear from Irish Times intern Katie Mellett, who completed her exams last year.

Love them or hate them, reality TV dating shows are one of the most enduring formats on the small screen. It seems like TV producers will take any concept and turn it into a dating show. But if they didn’t net big ratings for TV execs, they wouldn’t keep making them. So what keeps us going back for more? Self-appointed ‘hunk correspondent’ for The Irish Times, Patrick Freyne, loves to review these shows as Features Writer. In this episode of In The News, he analyses the good, the bad and the ugly and why they make such compelling viewing. This episode was originally broadcast in February 2023.

How dangerous is vaping? Outside every school and college there are clouds of watermelon or strawberry scented steam, while brightly-coloured toy-like used vapes litter parks and playgroundsNext month the Government will introduce legislation to ban the sale of vaping products to those under 18.ABC journalist Tom Lowrey explains how Australia already had some of the most restrictive vaping rules in the world when it tightened them even further in May banning all recreational vaping – now vapes are only available on prescription. RCSI professor Donal O’Shea explains how damaging to health this apparently benign looking and smelling product is and why this first legislative step is good but why the Government needs to go much, much further to protect the health particularly of teenagers and young adults.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey with additional research by Katie Mellett.

Phillip Schofield was TV royalty in Britain, an ITV star who presented the station’s flagship breakfast show, This Morning – as well as several other prime time, family-friendly programmes. His 40-year career imploded in recent weeks amid media headlines about an affair with a younger colleague. In this episode, London Editor Mark Paul talks us through the details of Schofield's spectacular fall from grace and the broadcaster's new investigation into the scandal.

The results of Census 2022 are here. As usual it’s a mine of information, with figures detailing the state we’re in, from our religious affiliations to how many people smoke, how we get to work and the average age. Ronan McGreevy talks us through the headline figures , with vox pops from Catherine Mellett.

Lara Marlowe spoke to Bernard Phelan, the Irish man who recently left Iran after being released from over six months in prison. He told her about life in a Tehran jail - with bad food, freezing cold temperatures and a dark atmosphere as beatings and executions took place. He also told her about the dramatic day of his release. Lara shares the story with Bernice Harrison.

Lisa Lawlor was just 17 months old when her parents Maureen and Francis died in the fire at Stardust Ballroom in the early hours of Valentines Day 1981. Orphaned by the tragedy, she has been known throughout her life as the ‘Stardust baby’. In this episode, Lisa talks to Bernice Harrison about the anguish of losing her family and her 42-year search for answers. We also hear from Social Affairs Correspondent Kitty Holland, who has been attending the inquests in Dublin each day.

Do teenagers today have it tougher than previous generations? In terms of how well they can develop emotionally and socially, the answer is yes, says Dr Colman Noctor, a psychotherapist who works with adolescents. He tells Irish Times journalist Jen Hogan about how the pandemic years have robbed young people of crucial opportunities for social development, driving them instead into the online world - where many pitfalls await.Presented by Bernice Harrison.

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are currently searching a reservoir in Portugal, 50km away from the holiday resort where the toddler went missing in 2007. It is believed the area was visited by chief suspect Christian Brückner around the same time that Madeleine disappeared. But who is Christian Brückner, what is his criminal history and how exactly has he become linked to the McCann case? Berlin correspondent for The Irish Times, Derek Scally, brings us the details.This episode was originally published in October 2022.