In The News

Since the fixtures were announced earlier this year, the voices calling for the Republic of Ireland to boycott its Nations League games against Israel have grown progressively louder. They come from all quarters: from former Ireland players to diehard green jersey fans and from politicians to big names in other sports. The two soccer games are going ahead, behind closed doors and with minimum coverage; Israel’s “home” game in Debrecen, Hungary on Sunday, with the return fixture also in a neutral venue of Backa Topola, Serbia on October 4th. The FAI says Ireland has too much to lose; the penalties for boycotting the fixtures would be huge. But would they? A war of words has now broken out between Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson and the Israel FA. “We are not playing with genocide, we are playing against genocide,” he said. Israel responded calling Hallgrímsson’s use of the word genocide as the embodiment of “stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy”. According to Irish Times sports writer Gavin Cooney, who will be covering the games, the days ahead are likely to bring more tension and acrimony - but no boycott. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

This episode was originally published in July 2026.Employees of three key State agencies use a computer programme called Passwork to generate and protect their passwords. It’s a cybersecurity measure.But what they didn’t know, before it was revealed by The Irish Times, is that Passwork, which purports to be EU-based, has extensive links to a Russian company licensed by Russia’s security service.The agencies using Passwork are the Office of Public Works, the State Laboratory, which provides chemical testing and scientific advice to Government departments, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), the agency tasked with, among other things, helping consumers stay cyber safe. It is unclear how many other Irish State agencies use Passwork.So what does it mean for State security? Who has access to these passwords? And what does the Russian owner of the Spanish-based company that sold the Passwork programme to the State agencies say?

The scenes of violence and rampant destruction on the streets of Belfast on June 9th  were reminiscent of disorder we’ve seen before.But these were not sectarian-motivated attacks, instead they were race riots, with mobs of young men attacking migrants.When calm was restored, at least 88 migrant families had been made homeless, either because their home had been attacked or burned out, or because the threats were so terrifying they are too fearful to return.The riots had been sparked by a brutal knife attack earlier that day; a Sudanese national has since been charged with the crime.Why has there been a resurgence of anti-immigration sentiment in Northern Ireland? Who were the rioters on June 9th? And what does it mean for future peace and stability that anti-immigrant violence has replaced sectarian attacks in Northern Ireland?Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Andrew McNair. 

Today we're sharing the opening episode of a three-part series by Róisín Ingle that tells the untold origin story of U2. We hope you enjoy it. The full series can be found on irishtimes.com, or wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for Drummer Seeks Musicians: The Making of U2.It is 50 years this month since 14-year-old drummer Larry Mullen stuck a note on a school noticeboard looking for fellow musicians to form a band. That note led to U2.In this three-part podcast series to mark the 50th anniversary, Róisín Ingle traces the formation of the band in a school on the northside of Dublin through interviews with their classmates, teachers, friends, family and band members.Why did U2 happen in Mount Temple? And how are Bono, Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton still friends and still making music together fifty years later? Drummer Seeks Musicians is a remarkable origin story, told by the people who were there from the very beginning. From Mount Temple Comprehensive to the world stage, this is the story of how U2 began.Episode one goes back to the radical experiment that was Mount Temple Comprehensive School on Dublin’s northside in 1976, where fifty years ago 14-year-old Larry Mullen pinned a note on the school bulletin board. That note brought together Larry, Adam Clayton, Dave ‘The Edge’ Evans and Paul ‘Bono’ Hewson of U2, four teenagers who were destined to become one of the world's biggest bands. Róisín talks to the people who were there - the ones who nearly made the band, the teachers who supported them and the classmates who watched it happen. We hear about the architect of a remarkable school and discover the back stories of Paul 'Bono' Hewson and Larry Mullen Jr. Drummer Seeks Musicians: The Making of U2 is presented, written, researched and produced by Róisín Ingle. Editing by Rob Sutton.Additional production by Suzanne Brennan. The podcast is dedicated to Donald Moxham.Thanks to the staff at Mount Temple, to U2 and to everyone who took part in the podcast.

Staying ahead of organised drug gangs is the daily challenge facing the scientists and analysts at Forensic Science Ireland (FSI).And with criminal organisations having their own sophisticated labs to make new drugs, genetically engineer existing ones and disguise drugs in all manner of inventive ways to avoid customs detection, it requires considerable expertise.“Camouflaged cocaine” blended with coal or soaked in plywood are increasingly common.In labs across FSI’s new 13,000sqm base near Celbridge, Co Kildare scientists analyse fingerprints, bodily fluids, chemicals and exhibits, including murder weapons and victims’ clothing. It is their evidence that is used in court.Irish Times security and crime editor Conor Lally speaks to the In The News podcast about his wide-ranging interview with FSI boss Ciarán Seoighe.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Andrew McNair.

In her speech to MEPs on Wednesday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen spoke about Canada becoming an “associate” member of the EU in future, a concept that does not exist in the union’s governing treaties.The following day Canadian prime minister Mark Carney spoke to the same group of MEPs about wanting to be closer to the bloc during the “ferocious” storm that had ruptured alliances underpinning the previous world order.Carney sketched out the possible parameters of a new “alliance”, but what does “associate” membership mean? Is it all about trade?And what might the implications be for Ireland?Jack Power, Irish Times Brussels-based Europe correspondent explains.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. 

It seems incredible that no one knows how many data centres there are in Ireland. It could be as many as 100, it could be more. Whatever the number there are several others in the planning stages.What we do know is that energy consumed by these vast buildings accounted for almost a quarter of the electricity consumed in Ireland last year, up from 5 per cent in 2015.And, during the long hot summer when domestic water restrictions were imposed, it appeared to be water usage as usual for data centres.Questions about how they operate are growing. Do they pay less than households for electricity? With the national grid creaking from decades of underinvestment do they even pay enough to cover their costs?And why is the Government so keen to have them?Irish Times climate and science correspondent Caroline O’Doherty explains the many questions around data centres while political correspondent Jack Horgan Jones looks at how Government defends the explosion of these vast resource-sapping structures against mounting criticism.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced Aideen Finnegan and Declan Conlon. 

It has long been known that AI poses risks to humanity, but the scale of them is only starting to become clear. And those risks are terrifying.This month Evan Hubinger, a top scientist at Anthropic, said AI is advancing so quickly he believes there is a greater than 10 per cent chance it “could kill all humans” within the next decade.Jacob Coxon, an AI researcher who has just quit Anthropic and previously worked at OpenAI, has warned of “superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionise any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources”.AI is a multibillion business that’s moving at a speed no one could have predicted. But can it be regulated – and who would actually carry out that function effectively? Are these dire predictions realistic?Seán Ó hÉigeartaigh, director of the AI: Futures and Responsibility Programme at the Centre for the Future of Intelligence at the University of Cambridge, explains the current thinking on AI threats.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.