The Mick Clifford Podcast

A new book details the fascinating stories of Irish people who joined resistance organisations in occupied Europe during the Second World War. Some are well known and have been recognised for their contribution to fighting Nazism under the most dangerous circumstances, others have not had their bravery recognised properly until now. The Untold Stories of the Ordinary Heroes Who Resisted Hitler is written by John Morgan and Irish Examiner columnist Clodagh Finn. And Clodagh is this week’s guest on the podcast.

Six and a half years after Jimmy Loughlin was beaten to death in Sligo by a highly disturbed individual the HSE has yet to conduct an inquiry into a series of red flags about the danger to the public of the man in question. This is in sharp contrast to the recent publication of a report in Nottingham thirteen months after a violently disturbed man stabbed three people to death. Michael and Paula Loughlin have lots of questions for the health service, but nobody is willing to contemplate some answers. Michael and Paula are this week’s guests on the podcast. 

A topic that is attracting increasing attention is whether or not the state is equipped enough to defend itself from all manner of attack, on land and on sea. This comes at a time when another aspectof military force is being discussed, that of neutrality. To separate the wheat from the chaff on these matters we are joined today by defence analyst Declan Power.

Writer Donal Ryan talk to Mick Clifford about his latest book.

It’s no exaggeration to say the last fortnight in Irish sport has been among the best and most successful we’ve ever seen. We’ve had four Olympic gold medals across four separate sports, and a few bronze to go along with it. And there may yet be more to come. The events in Paris have captured the imagination back home on what has been the country’s best ever Olympic games. But what it all down to? And is something we can replicate in four years’ time in Los Angeles and beyond? The Irish Examiner's senior sports writer Maurice Brosnan is in Paris, and sits down to chat about all things Team Ireland. 

In the space of just a few weeks, the race for the White House has been turned on its head.  It’s now Kamala Harris who will take on Donald Trump in November’s US Presidential election, presenting a very different rival for the presidency than Joe Biden would have. She’s fundraising in huge numbers and gaining on Trump in many polls, while Trump is facing sharp criticism for his remarks about Harris at an event on Wednesday 31st July. With things still all to play for, we talk to Larry Donnelly, a Boston attorney, Law Lecturer at the University of Galway, columnist and commentator, to discuss the latest developments.  

Martin McGuinness assured Rose Hegarty repeatedly that her son Frank would be unharmed if he returned to Derry. Rose believed him and Frank came back. It was a fateful decision and that fate is explored in a new book about spies in the North during the Troubles. Four Shots in the Night examines the Hegarty case and puts it in the context of the intelligence war that played a vital role in bringing the violence to an end. Author Henry Hemming is this week’s guest on the podcast.

Arthur Matthews is a well-known comedy writer whose work includes Father Ted and the musical I Keano. Now he has taken a very different turn and written about a polarizing figure in Irish history, Kevin O’Higgins, the man many associate with the policy of executions during the Civil War. Arthur talks to the podcast about his book, Walled In By Hate, Kevin O’Higgins, His Friends and Enemies