The Deirdre O'Shaughnessy Podcast

38 year old Siobhán Kearney was killed by her husband Brian in 2006 as she was planning to leave their marriage.Siobhán, a chef, hotelier and mother of one, had been planning to leave Brian Kearney and was keeping a record of his controlling and abusive behaviour on the advice of her solicitor.Although Kearney tried to make her death look like suicide, he was convicted of her murder and has failed in his appeals. He’s currently serving a life sentence in Wheatfield Prison, but has been granted two days a year to meet with his family in a neutral venue, and could be eligible for parole.Siobhan’s sister Deirdre McLaughlin says a life sentence should mean life – and her family having to describe their pain every time he applies for parole is deeply unfair.“There's no parole... we can't go on parole and go meet my sister, Siobhan; he's taken her. She's gone. She's six feet under the ground in Redford Cemetery.” ‘I don’t believe someone who has done something like that should ever be released’If you have been affected by the issues raised in this episode please see www.womensaid.ie.

From Ballincollig to Mahon Point, with 27 stops, the Luas Cork route has finally been unveiled.  Homes, gardens, sports clubs and pubs will all be impacted – but the almost 100 year wait for reinstatement of Cork’s trams might be about to come to an end.Where are the stops going to be? Which locations are controversial? How long is it all going to take, and how much will it cost?Reporter Donal O’Keeffe has all the details on today’s episode of the Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.New Luas Cork route unveiled with 27 stops as public consultation opens until June'Couple of hundred' gardens face compulsory purchase orders in 'worst-case scenario' for Cork LuasCork Luas: Schools and sports clubs face compulsory purchase orders as preferred route revealed  

Drink driving is on the increase in Ireland and so are road fatalities. Doctors and gardai are frustrated at complex laws that make catching drink drivers in the act far harder than it should be – and they’re demanding action that politicians just don’t want to take.High profile cases such as the tragic death of mother-of-two Sheila Dunne in Cork in 2024 and that of Patrick Murphy in Kerry in 2023 prompted emergency doctor Eoin Fogarty to write in the Irish Examiner that the three hour timeframe and legal complications around collecting a blood sample leads “to gardaí and medical staff working against the clock in already high-pressure situations” and makes investigations harder than they should be.Investigating gardaí have spoken of the frustration of embarking on enormous investigations in the absence of a simple blood test.Irish Examiner Southern Correspondent Liz Dunphy has been covering this story, talking to Gardaí and medics about what needs to change – she's the guest on today’s Deirdre O’Shaughnessy podcast.Fatal Cork crash may lead to reform of laws on intoxicated driving

While Irish minds were occupied with fuel prices and blockades over the weekend a quiet revolution took place in Hungary.The country’s leader for 16 years, Putin puppet Viktor Orban, was ousted in a decisive election, to be replaced at the helm by his former party colleague Peter Magyar.But who is Magyar and what does this mean for Europe?Euronews reporter and Irish Examiner columnist Shona Murray has been following Orban for more than a decade – she's the guest on today’s episode.Who is Péter Magyar: Hungary’s next leader energised voters but is ‘a dark horse’Read Mick Clifford’s pre-election feature here: Russia and White House doing all they can to prop up Viktor OrbánListen to Shona speaking to Mick before the election last week: The Mick Clifford Podcast - Irish ExaminerShona Murray: EU faced with Russian trojan horse if Orbán gets re-electedRoderic O’Gorman: Budapest Pride was a rebuke to Orbán, we must keep an eye on his response

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 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