In The News

A new process to strip citizenship from Irish citizens has been passed by the Oireachtas more than three years after the previous system was struck down by the Supreme Court.The system will allow the State to revoke the citizenship of Islamic terrorist Ali Charaf Damache, something it has been trying to do since 2018. A convicted terrorist, Algerian-born Damache is in jail in the US where his Irish citizenship helped earn him a shorter sentence through a plea bargain.About 40 other revocation cases are also pending for a range of other issues, for example where an applicant has been later found to have given false information. In this episode from January 2024, Irish Times crime and security correspondent Conor Gallagher explains how Irish citizenship can be revoked, on what grounds it might happen and how the planned new system will change the process.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Malachy Browne heads up the New York Times’s visual investigations unit where he and his team investigate key events, from breaking news at home to war atrocities abroad, to piece together second-by-second what really happened.The work exposes the truth of events, particularly ones that are shrouded in misinformation, conspiracy theories and official denials. He and his team have won two Pulitzer Prizes.Investigations, presented on the New York Times website, range from uncovering the devastating sequence of events of the atrocity at Bucha in the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to plotting exactly happened in 2017 when a gunman opened fire at a concert in Las Vegas killing 60 people.On In the News he talks about these projects and more while explaining just how his team works, from 3D modelling and AI to painstakingly exploring satellite images and mining phone records, and how the Limerick man who began his career in Dublin before moving to New York works to stay one step ahead in a media landscape flooded with fake news.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. This episode was originally published in May 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh Linehan, a writer for the Irish Times, delves into the 'Googlepocalypse' and its sweeping effects on internet searches. He discusses Google's new AI-driven search tool, which has stirred controversy with its sometimes hilarious inaccuracies. Linehan warns of the negative impact on small businesses and content creators, citing a dramatic drop in web traffic. As the reliance on AI grows, he raises concerns about misinformation and the future of traditional media, prompting listeners to reconsider how they interact with online information.

This episode was originally published in March 2024.Health and family editor Damian Cullen had already ticked off a long list of diets before he hit on intermittent fasting and three years later, and 16kg lighter, he has stuck to the plan. He eats in an eight-hour window. At the more extreme end of intermittent fasting, former British prime minister Rishi Sunak follows the so called “monk fast” of eating nothing for a 36-hour period every week.As a way of losing weight, timed eating is probably the weight loss method of the moment; it follows a long list of diets, some of which became wildly popular for a time and then slid off the menu.Cullen explains how it works for him, while dietician Sarah Keogh gives the expert view. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Were Irish colonisers too? A new book reveals our forgotten dark historyIn discussions around empire and colonisation, including popular movements such as Black Lives Matter and Rhodes Must Fall, Ireland likes to think itself on the “right” side of history, as colonised victims of empire.But as Trinity College Dublin historian Prof Jane Ohlmeyer explores in her new book, Making Empire: Ireland, Imperialism, and the Early Modern World, it’s not as simple as that.On the island of Monsterrat in the West Indies, for example, St Patrick’s Day is a national holiday - the only country outside Ireland to mark the day officially. But the parades there are to celebrate an unsuccessful revolt by enslaved islanders against the European whites - mostly Irish - who colonised it in the 17th century.There are stark examples too of the Irish in India - and other countries too - acting more like colonisers than colonised.Irish Times reporter and historian Ronan McGreevy interviewed Ohlmeyer and talks here about a troubling aspect of Irish history.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon. This episode was originally published in March 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland has come from a place where movies were regularly censored out of puritanical panic, to classifying gay sex scenes as suitable for a 16 audience. The Irish Film Classification Office is now asking the public about “the suitability of existing classification guidelines” as it drafts new advisories for the modern era. Irish Times chief film correspondent, Donald Clarke, explains IFCO's latest report, takes a look at the movies that historically fell foul of the censors and reveals the most complained-about films of last year,Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Content warning: This episode contains details of child sexual abuse and may cause some listeners distress."They called him God, and the room where he molested them the ‘chamber of horrors,’" says journalist Justine McCarthy, who has followed the trials of Derry O'Rourke since the 1990s. The former Irish international swimming coach preyed upon young girls he trained, and was only jailed for the first time in 1998. Ultimately he served just nine years for offences that spanned decades. But yesterday he was sentenced to another ten for the rape of a teenage girl 35 years ago. McCarthy recounts his crimes, their impact and the heroic efforts of his victims to ensure the modern-day Swim Ireland is a safe haven for today's swimming champions.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Protesters across Venezuela have been met with a violent crackdown by security forces following the disputed re-election of Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro. Tallies show the real winner was the opposition, led by the popular and charismatic Maria Corina Machado. The economy has collapsed after years of mismanagement leading to 1 in 4 Venezuelan's emigrating, in what's one of the biggest migrant crises in the world right now. Tom Hennigan, who reports from South America for The Irish Times, says there's little doubt anymore that Maduro is a dictator who clings to power by force rather than the will of the people.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For nearly ten months, the eyes of the world have remained fixed on the devastating war and human catastrophe unfolding on the Gaza Strip.However, this war has not just destroyed the lives of people in Gaza – daily life for the three million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank has also transformed since the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel.The territory’s economy has collapsed, unemployment is soaring, Jewish settler violence is on the rise and Palestinians say they are trapped by mobility restrictions.Earlier this month, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s settlement policies and occupation of the territories were in breach of international law. The court’s announcement is historic, but non-binding, so will it bring about change?And what is daily life like for Palestinians living in these occupied territories?Today, on In The News, Irish Times international reporter Sally Hayden discusses the week she spent reporting from the West Bank and the implications of the Gaza war on Palestinians in the region.Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chinese graduates are heading to the factory floor. During the first quarter of 2024, the number of people under 25 applying for blue-collar jobs rose by 165 per cent compared with the same period in 2019.This is partly a response to increased demand for workers in the manufacturing and service sectors driven by the dramatic growth of ecommerce in China. There are now eight times more jobs in distribution than there were in 2019.But what about white collar jobs – the ones these young people might have aspired to when they embarked on their expensive degrees? And what do their parents think about this new employment trend?Irish Times correspondent Denis Staunton is based in Beijing and he talks to Bernice Harrison about changes in the Chinese workforce that are causing ripples throughout the entire society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.