In The News

For nearly three years, Dublin businessman Richard O’Halloran was effectively trapped in China, after travelling there in February 2019 to handle a dispute between his employer and the Chinese authorities. Last month, after previous unsuccessful attempts to leave the country, he flew home to his wife Tara and their four children. Irish Times Public Affairs editor Simon Carswell visited the couple in their home last weekend. He tells Jennifer Ryan what the O'Hallorans had to say about their three-year fight for freedom.Producer: Declan Conlonwww.irishtimes.com/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Loneliness is an emotion that most of us will experience at some stage in our lives. While it is often associated with the elderly or isolated, loneliness can still be felt in a relationship or group and can have profound effects on physical and mental health. Professor Roger O’Sullivan of the Institute of Public Health tells Sorcha Pollak why loneliness should be a top political priority and what measures must be put in place to address it. We also hear from Assistant News Editor of the Belfast Telegraph, Eimear McGovern, who shares her experiences of loneliness following a move away from family and friends.Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Jennifer Ryan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mississippi is the centre of a legal battle over abortion in America that could soon see the right to terminate a pregnancy removed or curtailed in dozens of states, affecting millions of women. The southern state is also home to an abortion clinic that attracts protesters and activists on both sides of the bitter debate. Washington correspondent Martin Wall went there. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Winter energy bills are now costing hundreds of euro more than last year and prices are climbing up and down supermarket aisles. In this episode, consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope tells Sorcha Pollak what is behind the rising cost of living and how long should we expect prices to soar. We also hear from single mother of two, Cheryl Barry, who shares her experience of living on the one-parent family payment, while trying to provide for her family. Produced by Suzanne Brennan, Jennifer Ryan and Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar is set to become Taoiseach again in December.  But a Garda investigation into the leaking by Varadkar of a document to a friend in April 2019 is a fly in the ointment.Political reporter Jack Horgan Jones talks to In the News about the background to the story and what it might mean for Irish politics in the year ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has been named by Munich investigators as a potential accessory to child abuse in a file made available to state prosecutors. It's after a law firm commissioned by the archdiocese of Munich and Freising to study its archives presented a report flagging 497 cases of clerical sexual abuse and 67 alleged perpetrators. The investigators highlighted four cases of abusing priests during the 94-year-old’s term as archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.Derek Scally, The Irish Times Berlin correspondent, and author of The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church and the End of a Special Relationship, reports on the story.Presenter: Sorcha PollakProducer: Jennifer Ryanwww.irishtimes.com/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arts and Culture editor Hugh Linehan speaks to Conor Pope about Neil Young’s decision to leave Spotify and how the streaming service now plan to tackle misinformation on their platform.Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More than two dozen “lunatic asylums” were built throughout Ireland in the 1800s. Today some are hospitals, while others are derelict. Through interviews and archive research, Rosita Boland pieces together what life was like inside the walls of these state-run institutions. She discovers that for many of the thousands of Irish citizens who passed through them, mental illness was not the only reason, or even a reason at all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can we do for ourselves to ensure that we live long, fulfilling, happy and fit lives? In this episode, Conor Pope speaks to Professor of Medical Gerontology at Trinity College, Rose Anne Kenny about the surprising and novel ways in which we can keep ourselves feeling younger.Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life by Prof Rose Anne Kenny is published by Lagom.Produced by Suzanne Brennan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A buildup of Russian troops along its border has the people of Ukraine on heightened alert, and the world wondering: what exactly does Vladimir Putin want to achieve and how far is he willing to go? Dan McLaughlin reports from Kramatorsk in the east of the country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.