The Mick Clifford Podcast

Brothers Michael and Danny Healy Rae are among the most high profile of the Dail’s independent TDs and both come with a serious political pedigree, courtesy of their late father Jackie. Recently, Irish Examiner political correspondent Ciara Phelan spent a few days in their company in and around the family bailiwick of Kilgarvan in Co Kerry. In this week’s podcast Ciara tells us about what she saw and heard, both from within the family and without and what impact their success is having on politics, both local and national. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland’s wild salmon stocks are disappearing. Over the last thirty years the stocks have plummeted due to a range of factors from fish farming to water quality to the ravages of climate change. There has already been a major impact on tourism, but beyond that lies the prospect of the complete disappearance of wild salmon. What can be done to arrest this slide before it is too late. John Murphy, chair of Salmon Watch Ireland, is this week’s guest on the podcast.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When is it alright for a democratic state to let one of its citizens go to their death and not prevent it? A new book by former IRA man and H block prisoner Richard O’Rawe covers the activities of the highest level informer that the British security services had in the Provisional IRA, Freddie Scappaticci. Scap was the man who tortured and shot spies on behalf of the Provos while operating as one himself. And evidence has emerged that he informed his handlers of most of the killings before they occurred. Richard O’Rawe is this week’s guest on the podcast. [Recorded - October 2022] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bernard Barton retired as a High Court Judge in 2021 but has maintained a keen interest in his former career. He is active in writing and researching in both the law and history and he has a special interest in proposals around changes to defamation laws, specifically a proposal to abolish juries. He passionately believes in the role of juries in our courts. As this week’s guest on the podcast he discuss this as well as changes he observed over the years in relations between judges and politicians and why retirees like himself could be of further use to the administration of the law today. [Long Version]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the end of year approaches time for a lookback on what has gone on over the last twelve months and maybe a little peek into the future. It’s been an interesting year in politics and with a number of elections due in 2024 the year ahead promises to be even more interesting. Irish Examiner Political editor Elaine Loughlin and deputy political editor Paul Hosford give their reflections and predictions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the government announced new, tighter rules to apply to Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country and arriving on these shores. Does this signal a change in approach to war refugees here and what does it say about the kind of pressures that communities around the country are experiencing with the influx of over 100,000 people in the last eighteen months. Political Correspondent Ciara Phelan, who broke the story for the Irish Examiner, is this week’s guest on the podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bernard Barton retired as a High Court Judge in 2021 but has maintained a keen interest in his former career. He is active in writing and researching in both the law and history and he has a special interest in proposals around changes to defamation laws, specifically a proposal to abolish juries. He passionately believes in the role of juries in our courts. As this week’s guest on the podcast he discuss this as well as changes he observed over the years in relations between judges and politicians and why retirees like himself could be of further use to the administration of the law today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facial recognition technology is now firmly on the political agenda after the riots in Dublin. The technology, which is in use in many countries, assists police to finding and identifying suspects. Ther are, however, fear about how it is used and whether it can be misused. This week’s guest, Olga Cronin, Senior Policy Officer at the ICCL, gives the lowdown on the pros and cons of a technology that is, one way or the other, going to be in the news for some time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the conflict in Gaza entering a new phase Irish Examiner Political Editor Elaine Loughlin takes stock of where everything is at right now. Elaine was in the Middle East last week and she relays what she experienced and she was in Leinster House this week where the was also a lot of noise, if not a great amount of heat.Elaine Loughlin is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the first anniversary of Vicky Phelan’s death, the Irish Examiner launched its Read My Lips public health awareness campaign to encourage women to get tested for cervical cancer. Before she died, Vicky had been involved in pulling together the ideas for this campaign and on this week’s podcast Irish Examiner Feelgood Editor Irene Feighan talks about how the campaign came about and her memories of Vicky as well as Vicky’s solid legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.