The Explainer

It's not every day that a video of a politician talking about insurance at an Oireachtas committee goes viral.You've likely seen the clip of Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty grilling insurance company bosses - if not, you can watch it here. Its virality has prompted more people to look at their insurance premiums and ask: Why do they keep going up, and up, and up?Many are feeling the pinch, with several summer festivals under threat due to the large sums of money now required to cover public liability insurance.This is at a time when the insurance industry is recording profits of more than 1,300% and is blaming fraud for the increase, something which Doherty's contribution at the committee disputed.But what exactly is going on?That's what we examine in this week's podcast as Sinéad O'Carroll is joined in studio by TheJournal.ie reporter Orla Dwyer to discuss her FactCheck looking at the rate of fraudulent claims in Ireland, Peter Boland of the Alliance for Insurance Reform who talks us through the complications in how a claim is processed, and Pearse Doherty, who speaks more about his questioning of insurance chiefs while also examining the finer points of insurance industry in Ireland - and what can be done to fix it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 5 July last year, Owen Maguire was shot four times in Drogheda, Co Louth.This is seen as the start of a feud between two gangs in the town. By November the situation began to boil over with a range violent attacks taking place.Locals are becoming increasingly fed up of the feud, and efforts are now underway to bring it to an end. Gardaí have stepped up armed patrols, and the town is eager to make next month's Fleadh Cheoil pass without a hitch.However, ending a cycle of violence like this isn't easy, and often requires a community-wide approach.In this week's podcast, TheJournal.ie reporter Garreth MacNamee and Ged Nash, a Labour senator who has represented Louth for two decades, join Nicky Ryan in studio to examine the origins of the feud, the scale of the violence so far and the impact on the local population, but also how gardaí and the community can take action to prevent the situation spiraling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Monday, Patrick Nevin was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He had been found guilty of attacking two women in the space of 11 days, after meeting them on Tinder.He was found guilty of raping one of the women, and sexually assaulting the other. For the rape, he was given a 14-year sentence, with two suspended on a number of conditions. For sexual assault he was sentenced to eight years, which will run concurrently.Nevin is currently in prison on another term for sexually assaulting another woman who met in similar circumstances to the above women - on Tinder. The courts heard that in all of the attacks Nevin would convince the women to meet him for a drive and he would pick them up at their home in a blue BMW. The court heard the women were fearful after the attack because Nevin knew where they lived.In this week's podcast, we talk Declan Brennan, managing editor of court reporting service CCC Nuacht, who was present when Nevin sat trial, and Noeline Blackwell, the CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Note - some of the details in this podcast might be upsetting to listeners.On 14 May 2018, teenager Ana Kriegel went out for a walk with a boy now known as Boy B. Hours later, when she had not returned home, her parents reported her missing to the gardaí.What began as a missing teenager case turned into a murder case when Ana's body was discovered in a derelict house three days later. Two boys - Boy A and Boy B - were arrested in connection with her disappearance.On Tuesday of this week, Boy A and Boy B were found guilty of the schoolgirl's murder. Boy A was also found guilty of aggravated sexual assault.The jury reached the verdict after over 14 hours of deliberating.The case was an unprecedented one, and an upsetting one. Ana Kriegel's family were present in court for every day of the trial. Journalists who reported from the trial described it as one of the toughest jobs of their careers.TheJournal.ie reporter Garreth MacNamee was present in court throughout the trial. On this week's episode of The Explainer podcast, he speaks to Christine Bohan (stepping in for Sinéad O'Carroll) about the details of the trial, what we know about Boy A and Boy B, and about the tributes paid to Ana Kriegel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last month, a woman who died in Direct Provision was quietly buried by the State without ceremony.Sylva Tukula, originally from South Africa, died in August 2018. All efforts by gardaí to find her next of kin, a process with included with assistance of Interpol, had been exhausted.Friends and colleagues of Tukula had previously been told they would be notified of arrangements for her burial. This did not happen.In this week's episode of The Explainer, we examine the chain of events that led to this situation. We're joined in studio by TheJournal.ie reporter Cónal Thomas, who broke many details of the story surrounding Tukula's death last week, and Nick Henderson, CEO of the Irish Refugee Council, to discuss the timeline leading to the burial, the current scale of the Direct Provision system in Ireland, as well as how deaths are currently recorded in Direct Provision. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katie Taylor was crowned undisputed lightweight champion on Sunday. But almost immediately, there was controversy. In this week's The Explainer, we're joined by The42.ie's Gavin Casey to talk us through what happened. He was ringside on the night and wrote the definitive examination of the aftermath of the win for The42.ie.Joining him in studio is presenter Sinéad O'Carroll, who also interviews longtime boxing US-based promoter Lou DiBella about the boxing world, Katie's win, and how judging works. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Healy Raes are a clan to be reckoned with. The Co Kerry family has not one one but two TDs in it, and recently saw three more family members elected to Kerry County Council.The family political dynasty was kicked off by patriarch Jackie Healy Rae, who after many years working with Fianna Fáil went independent and got elected to the Dáil in 1997. But why are they so popular, and what makes them so beloved in Co Kerry? That's what we're looking at in this week's episode of The Explainer. Presenter Sinéad O'Carroll is joined by reporter Rónan Duffy, columnist and former Irish Independent editor Gerry O'Regan, and author Donal Hickey to discuss what makes the Healy Raes so successful.http://jrnl.ie/4663189Image: RollingNews.ie / Palash Somani Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Irish MEPs have recently been raising concerns about a future 'EU army'. While this isn't surprising, given the issue of Irish neutrality and the EU, it is a topic that garners strong opinions.Added into this is the issue of Pesco, – the EU’s permanent structured cooperation arrangement that 25 states have signed up to. Ireland's one of those countries. But what is Pesco, why do some people criticise it, and what does it mean for our defence forces?We looked at the subject of an EU army and Pesco for this week's edition of The Explainer podcast. Joining presenter Sinéad O'Carroll in studio is TheJournal.ie reporter Rónán Duffy and former Irish soldier, defence analyst and author. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, a restrictive abortion law was signed in the US state of Georgia which banned terminations after six weeks gestation.This week, another state followed suit: Alabama's governor signed a law on Thursday which banned abortions in nearly all cases.With a Supreme Court dominated by conservatives and a pro-life president, this type of shift in abortion legislation in the US had been expected for some time - so what happens now?In this week's episode of The Explainer, TheJournal.ie's Aoife Barry and Christine Bohan, with contributions from NUIG law lecturer Larry Donnelly, look at the legislation which has been introduced in Alabama and Georgia and examine what the next steps might be.Why do supporters of the bills want them challenged? Could a bill end up in the Supreme Court and potentially lead to an overturning of Roe vs Wade? And could Trump simply ban all terminations across America? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On 1 May, the longest-running murder trial in the state's history came to an end when Tipperary farmer Patrick Quirke was found guilty of the murder of Bobby Ryan.A jury of 12 people found Quirke guilty of the murder of Ryan – known by locals in Tipperary as DJ ‘Mr Moonlight’ - by a majority verdict of 10 to 2. Quirke had pleaded not guilty but was sentenced to life in prison after the 13-week trial. Details of the DJ’s life, circumstances surrounding his death, as well as an affair involving the two men and Mary Lowry, were laid out in the court room.In this week's episode of The Explainer, we look at Patrick Quirke's conviction: what evidence did the jury hear? What do we mean by 'circumstantial evidence' and how big a role did that play in the case? How usual is it to have a majority verdict in a murder trial?To help us answer those questions, host Sinéad O'Carroll speaks to our reporter Gráinne Ní Aodha and barrister-at-law Marc Murphy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.