In The News

Could new technology help to finally reveal who killed Sophie Toscan du Plantier?  After prime suspect Ian Bailey’s death last year, Sophie's uncle Jean-Pierre Gazeau said their family would never get the truth.  But now a Garda cold case team has used new technology, called M-Vac, to harvest DNA from items recovered at the West Cork crime scene. We talk to Jared Bradley, the man behind M-Vac, about how it has helped US investigators to crack decades-old cases.  But first, Southern correspondent Barry Roche shares what we know about progress in the du Plantier case.

Nearly half of everyone watching Irish TV on Sunday evening tuned in for the scheming, lying and game-playing on The Traitors Ireland. It’s a hit.RTÉ has joined more than 30 broadcasters worldwide in making a version of the Dutch format which sees players strategising, “killing”, banishing and lying – all to win a cash prize.It is hosted brilliantly with more than hint of theatricality by Cork actor Siobhán McSweeney, who changes her elaborate costumes more often than the contestants change their minds about each other.Just three episodes in and favourite players are emerging but it is impossible to accurately predict the winner.The rules are complicated but the appeal is easy to understand.For Irish Times features writer Patrick Freyne “it’s a game of skill and strategy and not just the random weaponisation of groupthink and paranoid pattern recognition that you get in any office, school or newsroom”.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

Gardaí are attempting to unravel several conflicting witness accounts of what happened to a boy who went missing four years ago and is feared dead.Searches for the child’s remains in an area of ground in north Dublin are expected to continue for several more days.The boy spent about a year in state care before returning to his family in 2020, with Tusla confirming it had no contact with the child between 2020 and last week. The case comes one year after it emerged another boy, Kyran Durnin, had not been seen for several years and is now feared dead. Conor Lally and Kitty Holland report on the search for the Dublin boy and the questions that must be answered about how a child once in the care of the State could vanish for years.

This week, Britain’s Labour Party returned to Westminster from a summer recess defined by anti-migrant protests, and during which, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK dominated the news agenda.British prime minister Keir Starmer resumed business in parliament by announcing a small reshuffle of his Downing Street team. However, the Labour leader is still facing an array of domestic and foreign policy conundrums, most notably Farage’s rapidly rising popularity.His right-wing Reform UK party has led Labour in about 90 successive opinion polls, while recent polls show 71 per cent of British voters believe the prime minister is handling the asylum hotel issue badly. Nearly four in ten British voters now cite immigration and asylum as the most important issue facing the country.With Starmer facing calls from Labour Party heavyweights to take a more radical approach to the small boats crisis, and calls led by Farage for Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, the Labour Party is undoubtedly facing a rocky autumn season.What are the main challenges facing Starmer’s Government in the coming weeks and how does he propose to overcome them?And how much have Nigel Farage and his Reform UK party benefited from Labour’s plummeting support?Today, on In The News, can Keir Starmer claw back control as Nigel Farage soars ahead?Irish Times London correspondent Mark Paul discusses the political perils facing Keir Starmer as the summer recess ends.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Andrew McNair. 

Kathleen Folbigg was convicted over the deaths of her four babies in 2003 in a case that shocked Australia.In 2023 a judicial review found that the babies may have died of a genetic condition and having served nearly two decades in prison she was freed.Her case is now regarded as one of Australia’s greatest miscarriages of justice.In the second episode on the Katheleen Follbig case, McDermot explains how a scientific breakthrough eventually exonerated the mother of four. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. 

Kathleen Folbigg was convicted over the deaths of her four babies in 2003 in a case that shocked Australia.The first three were treated as cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) but when Laura died, the authorities looked to Meadow’s Law and arrested the grieving mother.That controversial theory held that “one sudden infant death is a tragedy, two is suspicious and three is murder until proved otherwise”.She always maintained her innocence.In 2023 a judicial review found that the babies may have died of a genetic condition and having served nearly two decades in prison she was freed.Her case is now regarded as one of Australia’s greatest miscarriages of justice.In August, the now 58-year-old woman, who was once branded “Australia’s worst mother”, was awarded just AUS$2million for 20 years of wrongful imprisonment.The sum was far less than anyone predicted says award-winning investigative journalist Quentin McDermott. He wrote the book on Meadow’s Law and made the TV documentary that helped raise questions about the safety of her conviction, leading to the review that freed her.In the first of two episode on the case, McDermot explains how the now discredited legal concept led police to Kathleen Folbigg's door.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

Brazilian couple Gil Rudge (39) and Natalia Bonadia (36) rented a room in a shared apartment from Eduardo Gonzaga’s company, Leevin Ireland.All was fine until their landlord advised them that unless they accepted a third person to share their bedroom their rent would have to double.Janiedson da Silva dos Santos was sharing a house with eight others – students rented a bed, not a room – until Leevin Ireland abruptly issued him with a month’s notice. While he was away for a few days, he returned to his rental to find it in disarray and his property gone from his room.Irish Times housing reporter Niamh Towey and Dublin-based Brazilian freelance journalist Alekson Lacerda tell In the News how landlords are exploiting the dire housing situation and how a lack of English and an understanding of tenants’ rights mean foreign students are easily exploited.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

Despite all the talk over the summer, the names that came and went, the speculation and supposition – there is still only one name confirmed for the presidential race.Catherine Connolly, who launched her candidacy early with the support of Labour, the Soc Dems and others will be on the ballot paper.She will be joined by other presidential hopefuls – that much is certain – but who?Today in The Irish Times Pat Leahy reports that Fianna Fáil may have found its candidate. On today's podcast political correspondent Ellen Coyne looks at GAA legend Jim Gavin's potential candidacy, why Fine Gael picked Heather Humphreys over Sean Kelly, and whether the independents pushing for a place on the ballot have a real shot.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon

This podcast was first published in June 2025. The use of so-called 'dodgy box' technology to illegally stream television is widespread. Last week Mary Hannigan reported on the impact dodgy boxes are having on Irish sports broadcasters like Clubber, LOITV and GAA+. “I said it before, it’s no different to going in to your local shop, picking up a loaf of bread or a bottle of milk and just walking out the door without paying,” said Jimmy Doyle, the founder of Clubber, the subscription platform that streams GAA club games. “It’s theft, at the end of the day.”Individuals have been prosecuted for selling dodgy box services. But so far there have been no consequences for those using them. Back in June on In the News Conor Pope reported on whether dodgy box users will ever face the law.