The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast

42 years after his lifeless body was discovered on White Strand near Cahirciveen, County Kerry, a file has been sent to the DPP in relation to the violent death of an infant known only as Baby John.Irish society was rocked by the discovery of two dead babies in different parts of County Kerry in 1984. One of those babies, named John by the local undertaker, was found with stab wounds on the White Strand in Cahirciveen.Joanne Hayes, from a different part of County Kerry, was wrongly identified as Baby John’s mother by Gardaí and went through a gruelling trial and tribunal, in which she was accused of the biological impossibility of being the mother of both babies, pregnant simultaneously by two different fathers. Her own baby had died of natural causes and been buried on her family farm. Ms Hayes's ordeal finally concluded in 2020 after a State apology and a High Court case.The investigation into what happened to baby John continues, with a man (60s) and woman (50s) arrested in 2023 following voluntary DNA examinations of the local population.Reporting this week, the Irish Examiner’s Alison O’Reilly revealed that a file has been sent to the DPP in relation to the case.Kerry Babies: Gardaí submit file to DPP after 'extensive investigation'Kerry Babies: Ex-detective says people should not forget 'brutality inflicted on Baby John'  Timeline: Key events in the Kerry Babies case

We are in a fuel crisis, “the worst the world has ever seen”, according to Tánaiste Simon Harris. But what does that mean for the ordinary person, how did we get to here – and what’s going to happen next?Professor Aoife Foley is chair in Net Zero Infrastructure at the University of Manchester. She has written for the Irish Examiner recently on how the Government can support consumers and businesses through this crisis – without damaging the economy.While she favours targeted energy supports for at-risk households and the farming, pharma and transport sectors, she believes that universal payments such as those given during the Ukraine energy crisis would be disastrous for the economy.“It needs to be very, very targeted. It can't be the blanket approach because they need to look at the checks and balances. And that's the key thing - the other thing as well is we really need to focus on onshore and what we can do onshore."She says Ireland must now prioritise onshore wind, repowering ageing wind infrastructure, and conduct an inventory of all gas and oil industry stocks and stores across all of the UK and Ireland.Why Ireland’s energy supports are becoming part of the problem

Jamie Weldon from Butlerstown in Co Waterford would have been 57 on the day his body was found, August 19th 2023. Instead, he had lain alone in his apartment for about three weeks after taking his own life. The grief of their brother’s lonely death was compounded for his family by the knowledge that, after being found, he had spent almost a week in Dublin City Morgue before his family were notified despite evidence of his identity in his home in the Iveagh Gardens sheltered housing facility.  Jamie’s body had to be formally identified through matching his DNA with a sample provided by one of his brothers and his remains were in the morgue for 27 days in total before they were released to his family. His inquest concluded last week with a verdict of suicide, but the Weldon family still have questions. Jamie’s sister Fiona Weldon is the guest on this week’s Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast. Inquest to take place of Waterford man who lay in morgue for almost a month Family of Waterford man whose remains were kept in morgue for 27 days complain to Gsoc 

The US and Israel’s bombing campaign on Iran has caused international chaos, unprecedented turmoil in previously safe areas of the Middle East and an economic shock that is only getting started as the rest of the world finds out just how crucial the Straits of Hormuz is to global supply chains.  But the people bearing the brunt of this war are Iranian, and a repressive regime imposing an internet blackout means that we have limited information about their response to this war.  Dr Mahya Ostovar is an Iranian political activist who has researched opposition movements in the country. An assistant professor at the University of Galway, she wrote for Saturday’s Irish Examiner about how Western anti-war movements are co-opting the Iranian war – and how they don’t speak for Iranian people. 'Anti-war' groups drown out voices of Iranians opposed to Islamic Republic regime 

The demolition of a family home in Co Meath last week brought the idea of ‘build first, apply for retention later’ into the spotlight. Chris and Rose Murray built the 588sq m (6,220sq ft) house near Navan in 2006 despite being refused planning permission for a bungalow half that size on the site. After five unsuccessful retention bids and three failed appeals to keep the home intact, it was eventually demolished last week. While the house has now been demolished, the case divided public opinion enormously and it highlighted the tensions between the planning system, the public, and politicians.  From the developer who superglued himself to a County Council office to the 11 Dublin councillors who took payments in return for planning permission, our relationship with the rules in Ireland has always been questionable. Housing lecturer Lorcan Sirr believes the Irish attitude to planning permission – sin first, seek forgiveness later – is a particular feature of Catholic countries, and that the disrespect shown to the rules by politicians filters down through the general population. He’s been writing about this for the Irish Examiner, and he’s the guest on today’s Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.  Lorcan Sirr: Meath house the latest example of our disrespect for planning Demolition of house built without planning set to continue after court ruling End of the line for unauthorised Meath house as demolition finally gets under way  

Young mother of two Daena Walsh was found in her burning Midleton apartment with 25 knife wounds in August 2024.  Her partner, Adam Corcoran, the father of her children, was found guilty of her murder last week, and will serve a life sentence. Corcoran’s behaviour, from the moment he brutally stabbed his 27 year old partner to death and tried to burn her body, to his lies in court, piled “cruelty upon cruelty”, Daena’s brother Callum said afterwards. Callum Walsh described Corcoran’s actions as “demonic”.  Irish Examiner court reporter Liam Heylin covered the case and he is the guest on today’s podcast.  

On August 4, 2002, 10‑year‑old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing after leaving a family barbecue in the village of Soham, a suburb of Cambridgeshire in the UK. Their disappearance triggered a massive 13‑day search and captivated the entire nation. The search ultimately led investigators to school caretaker Ian Huntley, who was later convicted of their murders, while his girlfriend, Maxine Carr, was convicted of perverting the course of justice for providing a false alibi during the search for the girls. More than two decades on, Huntley’s own life ended violently inside a maximum-security jail, raising fresh questions about prison safety.In this episode, we revisit one of the most harrowing criminal cases in recent British history. Journalist Enda Brady joins us to unpack why the case still resonates, how the media covered the unfolding tragedy at the time, and what Huntley’s death means for the legacy of one of the UK’s most infamous crimes.

Flags have become increasingly controversial in recent years. The US flag has become shorthand for MAGA and the Irish flag is under increasing strain, with its appearance on flagpoles all over Ireland signalling that immigrants are unwelcomeHowever the history of our national symbol is equally contested – who first combined the green, orange and white, whose idea was it, what did it mean and why were other symbols rejected?Historian John Crotty is the author of a new book on the tricolour.The tricolour's contested origins show how myths are made