In The News

An Garda Siochana has a serious retention and recruitment problem.The Commissioner knows it, so does the Minister for Justice but despite public commitments to reach enrolment targets, ongoing recruitment campaigns and changes to admission criteria, efforts to increase the size of the force to the Government benchmark of 15,000 continue to falter.There are now fewer sworn Garda members than at the start of last year.Why? It’s a well-paying public service job, it offers career variety and progression and it offers the possibility of retiring with a full pension at 60 or even earlier.Crime and security editor Conor Lally tells In the News the many reasons why encouraging citizens to join up is an uphill battle and what it means for policing in the State.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey and Declan Conlon.

Kamala Harris needed a win on Tuesday night's US presidential election debate. After an initial honeymoon period as Democratic nominee, her campaign on the ground was running out of steam. Now she and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the polls of key battleground states. All he had to do on Tuesday night was keep his cool and stick the script provided by advisers. Instead, he made a string of rambling statements that ranged from the baseless to the downright absurd. But given how polarised the country now is, the victor of the debate depends on viewers' own political allegiances. So how much of a difference will the performances have in the minds of Americans? Can Harris' debate win do anything to change her trajectory? Irish Times Washington Corresondent, Keith Duggan, reports from Philadelphia where the debate was held.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan.

Is an award of €13 billion a big win or an embarrassing loss? The European Court of Justice (ECJ) court yesterday said that the European Commission was correct in 2016 when it ruled that Apple owed Ireland €13 billion in tax relating to underpayments during 2003-2014.The ruling represents a heavy legal defeat for Apple and the Irish Government – and a major win for the EU.But how did it get to the point that Ireland had to go to Europe to defend a tax arrangement with a multinational? Irish Times columnist Cliff Taylor explains how a big pay-day for the Government is also a reputational hit, with the court’s clear and final verdict that Ireland broke the rules and offered illegal State aid to Apple. And he looks at how to spend it. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.

Former British nurse, Lucy Letby, is serving 15 life sentences for the murder and attempted murder of 14 babies. All of the infants were under her care when they were killed between 2015 and 2016. This summer her case was thrown out of the Court of Appeal. And yet doubts remain amongst a cohort of people who believe she may have been wrongly convicted on circumstantial evidence. Bizarre interventions on her behalf include that of the former Brexit Secretary, David Davis, on Good Morning Britain last week. Families of the victims say they are dismayed certain elements of the 10 month trial have been taken out of context and fuelled with misinformation. So why exactly do Letby's supporters believe she should walk free? We speak to miscarriage of justice investigator, David James Smith, who sat on the UK's Criminal Cases Review Commission between 2013 and 2018.

Last Wednesday, a 14 year-old American student walked through the doors of his highschool in Georgia and opened fire. Terrified students and teachers ran for shelter as Colt Gray took aim, killing four people and injuring many others. The teenager, who was apprehended at the scene, used a lightweight semi-automatic rifle, a type of gun that’s become associated with school shootings.  Two days later, his father Colin Gray was arrested and charged with manslaughter and second-degree murder. This is not the first time that parents of a school shooter have been charged. Instead of addressing laws on gun ownership, US prosecutors are increasingly going after the parents of mass shooters – but will it make a difference? Guest: Emma Long, Associate Professor of American history and politics at University of East Anglia.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

Sinn Féin has published its plan to solve the housing crisis.Party spokesman on housing Eoin Ó Broin says A Home of Your Own, is “comprehensive, detailed and fully costed”.The headline figure is that 300,000 homes will be built in five years; a mix of social, affordable and private homes. The plan costs €39 billion.The document is nearly 110 pages long so In the News asked Irish Times economics analyst Cliff Taylor to go through it and explain the details.He also answers the key questions – is it visionary and could it work?Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

Hundreds of primary, secondary and special schools run by religious congregations have been named for the first time as having complaints of child sexual abuse. The scoping inquiry was set up in the wake of revelations in 2022 of historical cases at Spiritan-run schools. Its author has recommended a full Commission of Investigation be set up to provide accountability for survivors. The report recommended every school in Ireland should be covered by the inquiry's terms of reference. Irish Times contributor, Patsy McGarry, was the paper's Religious Affairs Correspondent for 25 years. He explains the latest developments, what will happen next and questions whether religious orders will pay redress to survivors, when so many have refused to compensate other victims.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Aideen Finnegan.

If you don't have young children in your life, you may be completely unaware of one of the world's biggest game platforms. Roblox is a digital playground where children can create block-like avatars, pay to accessorise them, use them to take part in role-playing games and talk to others. Therein lies the inherent danger. While it's mostly harmless fun, several terrifying cases of grooming, abuse, blackmail and even kidnapping have been highlighted in the US. This week an Irish report found most primary school children who'd had upsetting experiences online had experienced them on YouTube or Roblox. Irish Times journalist Conor Capplis argues the platform is social media by stealth, and should be regulated as such to keep users safe.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

On Saturday morning, Irish Times consumer expert Conor Pope logged on to Ticketmaster, ready to take his own advice about navigating the sales platform to buy tickets for one of the Oasis gigs in Dublin next summer.He found himself behind 138,692 people in the queue and hours later, when he was finally offered tickets, they were nearly four times what he had expected to pay.Tickets had been advertised at €86.50 but they were no where to be seen and soon social media filled up with stories of people paying nearly €1,000 for two “in demand” standing tickets on the pitch in Croke Park.Oasis fans in Ireland and the UK were quick to vent their frustration at the pricey tickets and the lack of transparency in the sales process.But who is to blame – Ticketmaster, MCD, the promoters, or Oasis? And can the competition watchdog do anything?Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.