In The News

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.

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

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.

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. 

This episode was originally published in June 2026. When Isak Andic, who created the Mango clothes brand, died from a fall while our hiking with his only son, Jonathan, in the mountains outside Barcelona, it was treated as a tragic accident.But for the Spanish police, something about events on that hiking trail in December 2024 just didn’t add up.First there were inconsistencies in Jonathan’s police statements. Then forensics found evidence that suggested something more sinister may have happened to the 71-year-old billionaire.In May, in a move that created shock and headlines in Spain, Jonathan was arrested in connection with his 71-year-old father’s death.He has been released from custody having posted €1 million in bail. But what happens now? Will the case go to trial to decide if the fashion mogul’s death was an accident or murder?Madrid-based reporter Guy Hedgecoe has been following the story.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. 

This episode was originally published in June 2026.For the six men and one woman trafficked to Donegal by Georgijs Poniza and Armen Pogosyan, life was unimaginably harsh.They worked long, gruelling hours, lived together in dire conditions, rummaging in public bins for food and walking up to 30km to get to work. When they stepped out of line they were subject to abuse including physical violence.In the nearly three years they spent in modern slavery in Ireland, the seven victims, all Latvians, earned about €750,000 but as their bank accounts were controlled, they saw a tiny fraction of that.This month in a first conviction of its kind in the State, Poniza and Pogosyan, who were long-time residents in Ireland, were jailed for a total of 24 years for human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation.So how did the operation work? Why in a small community in Donegal did no one notice anything? And how were the traffickers caught?Chris McNulty, a journalist with Donegal Daily, has been following the case and was in court for the sentencing.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

This episode was originally published in June 2026. Naomi James (38) was pregnant with her fourth child when, disillusioned with Ireland's maternity services, she chose to give birth at home without medical assistance.Shortly after her baby was born at home in Drogheda in June 2024, she became ill and was taken to hospital, where she died.Naomi was just one of an unknown but growing number of women in Ireland who opt for a free birth, – to have their babies without a midwife or doctor present.Such is the concern over free births that the State’s directors of midwifery have warned the HSE that such births are linked with “perinatal and maternal mortality and severe morbidity”.So what is driving this choice? How are home births different from free births? What role do online free birth influencers play in this dangerous movement? And how has Naomi’s family coped since her tragic death?Irish Times reporter Ellen Coyne investigated free births in Ireland, and the people advocating them.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

This episode was originally published in September 2024. In July 2026 Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Florida. They are currently detained in prison, awaiting extradition to the UK on charges of rape, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.In the summer of 2022, journalists Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin were in Romania filming a documentary about Andrew Tate and his social media influence. Tate, who had made a name for himself spouting misogynistic content online appeared invincible, but his empire was about to crumble. As concern about his content began to mount, the controversial influencer was banned from Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for violating community guidelines on dangerous individuals and hate speech. But a social media ban was the least of his problems. Back home in London, as Shea and Tahsin continued their investigation into Tate and his business operations, the sinister truth about his webcam industry and his ‘War Room’ began to reveal itself. In June 2023, Tate and his brother Tristan, along with two Romanian women were formally charged with rape, sex trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He is currently under house arrest in his compound in Bucharest. In this episode, (part two), Shea tells Bernice Harrison about the women from Tate’s past who decided to speak out against him and how his fans have reacted to his latest string of charges. Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere is out now.

This episode was originally published in September 2024. In July 2026 Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested in Florida and are currently detained, awaiting extradition to the UK on charges of rape, human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In 2019, before Andrew Tate became the household name he is today, documentary makers Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin decided to tell Tate's story and investigate his social media influence and cultural impact. Much to their surprise, the 'king of toxic masculinity' allowed them into his world. But as they delved deeper into his empire and uncovered the sources of his income, their investigation soon turned into a criminal one and something much bigger than Shea and Tahsin could ever have imagined.In their new book, Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere, they recount their investigation into the former kickboxer, the shocking allegations made against him, and the backlash they faced from Tate and his followers when their documentaries aired.In the first of two episodes on Andrew Tate’s toxic world, co-author Matt Shea talks to Bernice Harrison about Tate’s background and the influence of his narcissistic father, American chess player Emory Tate. He also examines Tate’s mass appeal and the space he occupies within the ‘manosphere’. Shea details his visit to Tate’s compound in Romania and explains what happened inside the private ‘War Room’ event, which followers of Tate paid five thousand pounds to attend. Though they were granted access to film the exclusive gathering, their relationship with Tate didn’t last long. Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate’s Manosphere is out now.