In The News

The number of babies being born is falling globally, with profound effects in store for societies and economies should the trend continue long term. The phenomenon has preoccupied pro-natalist politicians like JD Vance and Viktor Orban; as well as father-of-12 Elon Musk who has previously claimed "a collapsing birth rate is the biggest danger civilization faces by far". But while it’s long been acknowledged the decline is down to couples deciding to have smaller families, Financial Times data reporter John Burn-Murdoch believes the trend in recent decades is actually down to a ‘relationship recession’; a collapse in the number of couples of child-bearing age. This is happening in countries as disparate as Finland and South Korea. Burn-Murdoch reveals the reason for the global decline is surprising and is not, as frequently posited, driven by the financially independent "girl-boss". Irish Times sex and relationships columnist, Roe McDermott, also joins the podcast to examine the factors contributing to the relationship recession in Ireland.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

High profile Kerry businessman Nathan McDonnell was “committed to and invested in” a €32 million crystal meth operation by an organised crime group with links to the notorious Mexican Sinaloa Cartel.For his role in the scheme he has been jailed for 12 years.McDonnell, who had encountered “fierce financial difficulties” and racked up debts of €4 million, was to be paid €150,000 to store a machine containing the drugs on his premises and arrange for its export to Australia.He was known locally for his flash lifestyle and his prominent business. But what do people in Tralee think now?Barry Roche, Irish Times Southern Correspondent reports. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

Alan Vial (39) and Nikita Burns (23) have been found guilty of murdering 66-year-old ‘Robin’ Wilkin whose body was thrown over the cliffs at Sliabh Liag in Co Donegal almost three years ago.The trial lasted two-months. It was, the court heard, a grisly murder carried out by two people living a chaotic, alcohol fuelled life.It was eight days after the murder that Wilkin’s body was found, a delay that caused significant challenges in establishing a cause of death.The jury agreed that on June 25th, 2023 the pair had attacked their housemate, Wilkin, as the trio were on yet another of their drinking sprees. They dumped his body over the cliffs at Sliabh Liag, which ranks among Europe’s tallest sea cliffs.The couple were caught 24 hours later when their car went into a ditch. Gardaí noted blood spatter and cleaning products in the car and the foundation of the case was a confession Burns made to her friends, which they recorded and then reported to the Garda.In court, Vial attempted to blame Burns much to the troubled woman’s obvious distress.Court reporter Eoin Reynolds explains how the case unfolded.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan

The newly formed Gambling Regulatory Authority has, since Wednesday, taken control of the industry.The regulator will decide who in the areas of gaming, betting and lottery will get operating licences, and oversee the new regulations now in force under the long delayed Gambling Regulation Act.The underlying goal of the legislation is to protect children and problem gamblers.Measures include advertising and sponsorship restrictions as well as banning industry-wide marketing practices such as free bets, free credit and hospitality.And those child-sized football jerseys that feature gambling sponsors? They are banned too.The authority’s remit encompasses all types of gambling so, for example, it will have oversight on draws run by local charities and sports clubs.With problem gambling a growing phenomenon in Ireland and online betting easier than ever to access, it is astonishing that this new legislation – which also establishes a single regulatory authority over the rich and powerful industry – took nearly two decades to be enacted.Irish Times reporter Mark Hilliard explains the delay; how lobbying from vested interests slowed the whole thing down, and what powers the new authority has.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio told Tánaiste Simon Harris it was a priority of the Trump administration to address the “trade imbalance” between Ireland and the US when they spoke by phone on Tuesday.By now it’s known what that means: tariffs.US president Donald Trump has already talked about a 25 per cent import tax on Europe so that phone call won’t have been a surprise.Nothing, as yet, is certain; not least the level of import taxes that might be imposed and whether it will be a blanket rate on all goods across the EU.But what would drastically increased tariffs mean for Ireland?And is there anything Taoiseach Micheál Martin can say over the bowl of shamrock when he meets Trump in the Oval Office next week that might influence the president?Irish Times economics columnist Cliff Taylor explains the business of tariffs and why, if Trump carries through on his promise, chaos is coming.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon.You can read Cliff's latest column on US tariffs here

This week, Stephen Mooney pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, Anna Mooney, at their home in Kilbarrack, Dublin in June 2023.Mooney had been due to stand trial for the murder but circumstances changed last month following a “significant development” in the case.After two years of being unable to access the contents of Mooney’s phone, gardaí were finally able to extract video and audio footage of the murder using controversial Israeli-made decryption technology.What is this decryption technology, how does it work and why did it take two years to work?And what else do we know about this decryption technology which is widely used by Israeli military?Crime and security correspondent Conor Gallagher, who reported on this Israeli-made technology for The Irish Times, joins the podcast.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. 

Last Friday's showdown between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump in the Oval Office will have Irish officials on tenterhooks. Just hours after the Taoiseach accepted an invitation to the St. Patrick's Day shamrock ceremony at The White House, the Ukrainian leader's press conference with the US president turned into a shouting match. While Micheál Martin's visit is unlikely to be as eventful, there remains a number of landmines he will have to avoid on March 12th. They include our trading relationship with the US, Ireland's support for Ukraine and its recognition of Palestine as well as the EU's diverging view on tech regulation. But with a partisan press corps of fringe media outlets and the American culture wars dominating political discourse, journalist, tech entrpreneur and former RTE Washington Correspondent Mark Little says the Taoiseach will have to either "throw red meat to the president, or be the red meat" himself.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

Backpacker Danielle McLaughlin knew that her mother Andrea worried about her when she was away on her travels, so every day she’d text home to Donegal.Then one day in March 2017 there was no text and Andrea soon learned, from one of Danielle’s friends in Buncrana, that her 28-year-old daughter had been murdered in Goa.The friend had seen the news on Facebook and it was up to Andrea to go to her local Garda station to seek help.Last month, Vikat Bhagat, 24 at the time of the killing, was found guilty of the rape and murder of the young Donegal woman. He was handed two life sentences with additional time for concealing evidence.The case took eight years to conclude (Bhagat has 90 days to lodge an appeal) and was before the court more than 250 times.Andrea, her second daughter Jolene McLaughlin-Brannigan and Danielle’s best friend, Louise McMenamin, travelled to India for the verdict.Irish Times reporter Kitty Holland travelled to Buncrana to talk to Andrea about her daughter, the slow-moving Indian legal system, the scenes in court as Bhagat was sentenced and what they hope will happen now.They still don’t know exactly how Danielle died.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

The run up to this year’s Oscars in Ireland has been quiet; for the first time in years there are no Irish contenders in the major categories.The movies named across several categories include Sean Baker’s Anora, Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance as well as Conclave and Wicked.It’s been a year when awards talk around movies and performances ebbed and flowed particularly since Cannes, as some gained momentum while others lost it.In one movie’s case, Emilia Pérez, that can largely be explained by the self-inflicted controversy around Karla Sofía Gascón, the film’s Oscar-nominated lead. For others, its more about timing and public reaction.Irish Times chief film correspondent Donald Clarke has a solid track record picking the winners and he tells In the News who he thinks will win in the main categories and why.And he predicts there is going to be one Irish winner on stage being handed the famous statuette.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.