The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast

"They put the pressure on while I was pregnant.""But after, it was like, he'd be better off without you, and he deserves better. He'd end up with some lovely family that could bring him up and look after him and he could become a doctor one day."... I was constantly told that a mother like me, a person like me, shouldn't have a child. Because at the time I would have had Indian ink up my arms and stuff like that."Cindi Bonny was just sixteen but she had already experienced homelessness, drug addiction and an abusive relationship when she first entered Bessborough in 1993, pregnant with her son Kevin.Adamant that she wouldn't give him up for adoption, determined to breastfeed her baby, she was kept from him for six weeks as the pressure mounted to give him up.Eventually she left with Kevin and returned to her abusive boyfriend – only to fall pregnant a second time, returning to Bessborough in 1994.Her second stay was different, but ended in tragedy with the sudden, shocking death of baby Zoei at just two days old.Zoei was the last baby to die under the care of Bessborough. Unlike so many others before her, she has a grave her family can visit.Cindi shared her story in the Irish Examiner earlier this week in an impassioned plea to authorities for a full investigation of burials at Bessborough, and for a memorial there instead of the planned apartments.Cindi is today's guest on The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast.Read her article here: 'Do not bury our history beneath concrete', mother of last baby to die at Bessborough tells GovernmentThe Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast: Paving over Bessborough's missing babiesThe Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast: Dominic Finn’s story of being adopted from Bessborough 

More than a year after RTÉ Cork employees were promised new, state-of the-art studios and offices, co-location talks with Cork City Council have broken down. A planned move to the Counting House complex now seems unlikely, given the recent announcement that the complex will be home to the new City Library.  The RTÉ Cork building at Fr Mathew Street is home to the RTÉ Today Show, the John Creedon show and a host of other household names from the State broadcaster but the building is in need of major refurbishment. Director General Kevin Bakhurst promised in 2025 that a new premises would be found by 2027. Reporter Donal O’Keeffe is covering this story in today’s Irish Examiner – on today’s podcast he outlines all the options for RTÉ Cork and explains how staff at the beleaguered broadcaster are feeling.   RTÉ Cork staff fearful for future after talks on new studio break down 'Unfair gloss': RTÉ's Bakhurst grilled over reclassification of Derek Mooney and pay implications Gareth O'Callaghan: Is it finally time for an honest debate about selling RTÉ? Obituary: Former RTÉ director general Joe Barry changed the face of Irish broadcasting Suspected burglar arrested in RTÉ Cork studios 

What goes on in family courts is a mystery to most people – except those who are part of the proceedings.The in-camera rule means there is very limited reporting of family law cases, with nobody ever identified.But a new campaign argues that this rule can protect abusers – while the courts are being weaponised by the same abusive spouses that victims are trying to escape from.Lisa Ann Wilkinson is a barrister specialising in family law, a board member of survivors' group SiSi and one of the women behind the Right to Transparency campaign.She has represented women who were imprisoned for refusing to allow their abusive ex-partners access to their children."I probably know about five or six women who were imprisoned when their children were resisting access with somebody who had either safety orders against them, breaches of safety orders, or convictions for domestic violence. They are still forced on access," she said."I know one mother whose ex is in prison for assault and coercive control and [she] still has to bring the children in to visit them. And that woman can't talk about it, you know, they can't speak to it," she said."And I now know of six or seven 18 plus year olds who were subject to these types of access orders who are now incredibly damaged... some of them are profoundly damaged by being forced into contact and the state's going to have a huge, huge problem on its hand with these now aged-out adults actually expressing the fact that the court process of forced access has caused them damage."Lisa-Ann Wilkinson is the guest on today's episode of The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast. Campaigners seeking in-camera rule changes to attend Leinster House meetingReform urged as family law system 'failing very people it is meant to protect'

The exploitation of vulnerable women for sex in exchange for housing was first highlighted by reporter Ann Murphy in 2020.Young migrant workers with limited English and no network and Ukrainians fleeing the war were among those Ann spoke to in her reporting who had fallen victim. She identified cases all over Ireland, including towns like Newcastlewest, Dungarvan and Kinsale.After a major Irish Examiner investigation in 2021 in which Ann confronted landlords - including one married couple seeking to fill a "granny flat" with a woman who would sleep with the husband in return for accommodation, the issue reached the Dáil floor and civil society organisations began to conduct their own research.It turned out that the increasingly widespread practice was not illegal, with those women who braved the Gardai being told it was a civil matter, while both the Department of Justice and Housing told Ann it was a matter for Gardaí.Now, with a new law introduced to tackle this form of exploitation, Ann talks to Deirdre about the investigations, the campaign for legal change – and whether she thinks women will be protected under the new law.Ann's journalism on this subject won the award for 'Campaigning Journalism' at the Newsbrands Ireland Awards 2026.Listen to the original podcast here: Sex for rent: The 'dangerous h…–The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast – Apple PodcastsRead our coverage here: Call for campaign to inform people most at risk of sex-for-rent offersSex-for-rent laws won't help women who are already stuck

Heatwaves have always happened, but in the context of our changing climate and an El Nino year, how do we cope, and what do we need to do?Meteorologist and author Joanna Donnelly  is the guest on today's podcast, explaining the terms we use around unseasonal weather and what El Nino means for our weather.Heatwave could cost taxpayers millions more as melting roads force changes to resurfacingHeatwaves are exposing Ireland's weakest linksEurope's record-breaking heatwave cost more than 10,000 lives in June

16 year old Grace Lynch was killed by a scrambler bike in January, while out walking near her home in Dublin.Her heartbroken parents Siobhán and Martin immediately embarked on a campaign to ensure nobody would suffer as they had, seeking legal changes to take scrambler bikes and e-scooters out of the hands of children.Their campaign has already forced the introduction of Grace’s Law, banning the use of scramblers on public roads, but a combination of legal loopholes, lack of enforcement and a non-existent tracing system means, they say, there is much more work to do.They’ve received death threats and online abuse as a result of speaking out – with little legal recourse.When they approached social media giant TikTok about abusive AI videos of their deceased daughter, they were asked to provide a death certificate.Today the couple will speak before an Oireachtas Justice committee.Listen to their story on today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast. Gardaí call for 'dedicated pursuit training' to deal with dangers of e-scooters and scramblers'I felt like I had to protect her': Grace Lynch's mum recalls harrowing moments after her deathGrace Lynch's mother gets death threats for seeking scrambler bike ban on public roads