In The News

In Texas last week, Elon Musk told an invited audience they were about to “see some crazy stuff tonight”.It turned out to be a new version of Tesla’s Roadster sports car, this one equipped with thrusters to make the electric car fly.As the audience gasped, the Roadster sped up a steep ramp, took off, did a spin and then fell to the ground aided by air jets. There was no driver at the wheel. His SpaceX company helped develop the model.China already has several flying car models at advanced test stage. However a key difference is that they look like a cross between a large drone and a helicopter, while the Roadster looks like a car.But will his vision of a car flying over highways come to fruition, and when?Motoring journalist Neil Briscoe explains.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ammi Burke, a young solicitor from Castlebar, Co Mayo, was dismissed by Arthur Cox Solicitors in November 2019 and is now on her third legal challenge to her dismissal. In the Labour Court in Dublin this week, her former employers laid out its reasons for the dismissal and the events that led up to it that action. Burke rejected Arthur Cox’s assertions, and more will be heard from her when the court resumes in early 2027.She joined the prestigious firm as a trainee in 2016, qualified as a solicitor two years later and in January 2019, a key event, as detailed in the court, took place. Since her dismissal, she says she has been unable to get another job in her chosen profession and she wants her position back.Two long days in the Labour Court were not enough to finish the case, and both sides will be back before the court in January. Burke, a member of the well-known evangelical Christian Burke family, is representing herself; Peter Ward SC is representing Arthur Cox.Irish Times reporter Ronan McGreevy was in court to hear both sides, and he reports on the proceedings.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Tuesday morning, the country awoke to news that a house fire in Waterford had claimed the lives of four members of the same family.Within hours of the blaze, Gardaí ruled out an accidental cause and upgraded the investigation to a murder inquiry.Though the investigation is at an early stage, detectives believe the attack was related to a drug debt. It’s thought a petrol bomb was thrown at the front door of the house, in an effort to intimidate the family.In recent years, the number of petrol bomb attacks on Irish homes has risen sharply. It's been described as 'the new epidemic'. So who’s carrying out these attacks? How difficult are they to investigate and why are drug gangs turning to petrol bombs to intimidate and extort? Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally has the latest.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Wednesday Ireland is facing the biggest coordinated public sector strike since 2009. To find out what it is about, why it hasn't been averted despite the Government's offer to talk with unions and whether it still could be called off, we talk to Irish Times work correspondent Emmet Malone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For years Victor Spaggiari was a familiar sight on the streets of Galway.A homeless man, he lived in the Cope Hostel and spent his days sitting on a bench in the city. He spoke little, caused no trouble and seemed content. When he died in 2024 aged 65, his funeral was small and he was buried in the city, far from his Italian birthplace.Then, when his will went to probate it emerged that Victor was a millionaire and he had left his fortune to a cousin in Milan. So who was Victor? How did he come by the money? Why didn’t he spend it? And why did he spend his adult life in Ireland?Intrigued by the story Irish Times senior feature writer Rosita Boland went to Galway to find out more about how Victor lived and Europe correspondent Naomi O’Leary – who joins me on the podcast – tracked down his cousin in Milan to discover about Victor’s childhood.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jack Horgan-Jones has the latest on a row that has blown up in the aftermath of Tuesday's Budget, reopening RTÉ's rolling funding crisis and leaving questions unanswered about why Minister for Media Patrick O'Donovan "reneged" on a funding commitment to the broadcaster. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christa Pike spent 30 years in jail in Tennessee on death row, waiting for the day the state would kill her. When that day finally came, last week, she was first given a lethal injection, then a second one when the first dose failed. She survived that too and the 50-year-old convicted murderer was taken to hospital where she was placed on life support. So who was Colleen Slemmer, her teenage victim? What evidence convicted Pike and will this botched execution change attitudes to the death penalty in the US. Keith Duggan, Washington correspondent has been following the case. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wicklow businessman Brendan Kavanagh (61) has an entrepreneurial skill for building connections and seeing gaps in the market. That has led him to set up multiple businesses including the successful education-technology focused Olive Group.But what happens when some of his high profile business relationships turn sour?TV sports pundit and psychotherapist Richie Sadlier has a tale to tell; so too has fitness influencer Mr Motivator (Derrick Evans).And it has been a turbulent time in the boardroom of Grinds 360. He cofounded the successful online grinds company in 2024 with investors that include former rugby player Brian O’Driscoll, who spoke in a video promoting its services, and Caelan Doris, who helped garner media attention.Irish Times investigations editor Mark Tighe has been following Kavanagh’s career for two years.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Premier League football club Manchester City has been found guilty of boosting its coffers by more than €1bn by arranging “sham contracts” with big name commercial partners.The infringements to the league’s funding rules were found by an independent commission to have taken place between 2009 and 2018 – a time when the club experienced unprecedented success. So what did the club do with the money? And did this extraordinary level of funding drive its success?The club is owned by sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the vice president and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. Since taking over the club in 2008 his funds have helped turn it into a global brand.The scandal was first uncovered by Rui Pinto, a Portuguese computer hacker and founder of the Football Leaks website. He passed the information to Der Spiegel and the German newspaper developed the story to the point that the Premier League took Manchester City to the independent commission to adjudicate on the allegations.It’s a scandal that has rocked football.So what happens now? The club denies all wrongdoing and an appeals process is open to it. Other clubs are demanding a stiff penalty for City though it is unclear what that might look like.The Guardian’s investigations correspondent David Conn explains this turbulent week in the Premier League.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since early Sunday morning, 35 members of the Orange Order have been waiting at Drumcree Church to parade down the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown. It is a march that, in the 1990s, sparked tension and violence in Drumcree, and with the result that the Protestant loyalist organisation has been refused permission to march through the Catholic area for nearly 30 years. So why was it given permission now?As of Tuesday, the Orangemen remain determined to march, saying they now have the legal right to do so. The local nationalist community is equally intent on preventing them. And the repercussions are being felt at Stormont. The DUP and the Orange Order have made complaints to the PSNI about the presence of Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald and Northern Ireland’s First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, at the protest.With tensions running high on the streets of Drumcree, and the DUP-Sinn Féin political partnership fraying, could this standoff bring down Stormont? Mark Hennessy, The Irish Times Ireland and Britain Editor, reports from the Garvaghy Road.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A comprehensive 3-0 away victory for the Republic of Ireland should have cause for celebration. Instead, it has been overshadowed by unprecedented crisis within Irish football.In the days before Ireland's Uefa Nations League fixture against Israel, players faced mounting calls from politicians, celebrities and activists to boycott the match over Israel's genocide in Gaza and its continued expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.Behind the scenes divisions emerged within the squad, culminating in the withdrawal of second goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu and a rancorous team meeting on Saturday. In the end an anonymous vote amongst the players resulted in the decision to proceed. But the damage had been done.Sports correspondent Gavin Cooney speaks to In the News from Debrecen, Hungary. He explains the day as it unfolded, how the controversy escalated and what the fallout could mean for the future of the Rep. of Ireland team.Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the fixtures were announced earlier this year, the voices calling for the Republic of Ireland to boycott its Nations League games against Israel have grown progressively louder. They come from all quarters: from former Ireland players to diehard green jersey fans and from politicians to big names in other sports. The two soccer games are going ahead, behind closed doors and with minimum coverage; Israel’s “home” game in Debrecen, Hungary on Sunday, with the return fixture also in a neutral venue of Backa Topola, Serbia on October 4th. The FAI says Ireland has too much to lose; the penalties for boycotting the fixtures would be huge. But would they? A war of words has now broken out between Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson and the Israel FA. “We are not playing with genocide, we are playing against genocide,” he said. Israel responded calling Hallgrímsson’s use of the word genocide as the embodiment of “stupidity, ignorance and hypocrisy”. According to Irish Times sports writer Gavin Cooney, who will be covering the games, the days ahead are likely to bring more tension and acrimony - but no boycott. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The scenes of violence and rampant destruction on the streets of Belfast on June 9th  were reminiscent of disorder we’ve seen before.But these were not sectarian-motivated attacks, instead they were race riots, with mobs of young men attacking migrants.When calm was restored, at least 88 migrant families had been made homeless, either because their home had been attacked or burned out, or because the threats were so terrifying they are too fearful to return.The riots had been sparked by a brutal knife attack earlier that day; a Sudanese national has since been charged with the crime.Why has there been a resurgence of anti-immigration sentiment in Northern Ireland? Who were the rioters on June 9th? And what does it mean for future peace and stability that anti-immigrant violence has replaced sectarian attacks in Northern Ireland?Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Andrew McNair.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.