Podcast
Early Edition
Hosted by The Irish Times · EN
A morning news update from The Irish Times. Our top stories five days a week.
Produced in association with MSD.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
10episodes
Episodes
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Deportation flights; 'rough sex' defence; Australia; 'book-handling' in Berlin
2d ago00:09:50Tap to summarizeThe State paid more than €1 million for a single deportation flight when returning 42 adults and children from Ireland to South Africa in June.The ‘rough sex’ defence didn’t work for Lorcan Murphy. The 38 year old Dubliner - jailed for murder in Hungary last week - wasn’t the first to try it either.The reality of building a life in Sydney, Australia? “It’s bloody hard to afford anything,” writes Irishman Cormac McConville.In 1941 Brian O’Nolan, better known as Flann O’Brien and Myles na gCopaleen, proposed a Book Handling Agency in The Irish Times. On Sunday evening, 85 years later, Flann’s idea became reality in a Berlin bar where a crack team of literary experts was on hand to make unread books look well-read.Ireland’s second oldest woman is remarkable not only for her age (107), but Walburga Monaghan’s son Michael says it’s her general health, too. She rarely gets ill, takes no medication and her mind is sharp enough to continue The Irish Times Simplex crossword, something she has been doing for as long as she can remember.Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Iran trades blows with the US; and massive gun stash linked to Polish crime gang in Ireland
3d ago00:06:22Tap to summarizeThe conflict between the US and Iran has escalated again after Donald Trump said he would reimpose the blockade on Iranian ports and charge a 20% tariff on any ships trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.Gardaí have seized one of Ireland’s largest organised crime arms dumps in more than a decade, uncovering machine guns, pistols, and drugs linked to a Polish gang.A new law giving women up to five days paid leave after a miscarriage before 23 weeks of pregnancy is to be brought before cabinet today.Many families are getting into debt covering school costs, according to the Irish League of Credit Unions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Violent pornography ban; GAA World Games; and Yellow weather warnings for heat
4d ago00:09:28Tap to summarizePossession, production and sharing of extreme or violent pornography could be effectively banned in Ireland under proposals being put to cabinet by the Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan this week.The Department of Justice was concerned about cuts to the Garda budget for security during Ireland’s EU presidency, internal documents have revealed.Research being led at Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) could help answer one of humanity’s oldest questions and pave the way for “greater understanding of the origins of life”, according to the astronomer leading the project.The GAA World Games begins today with hundreds of players from around the world gathering in Waterford.Yellow weather warnings for heat issued by Met Éireann come into effect this morning effecting countiesCork, Kerry, Limerick, Galway, Mayo. Presented by Andrew McNair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Airstrikes on Iran; Dublin man sentenced for murder in Hungary
1w ago00:09:30Tap to summarizeThere has been more escalation in the exchange of fire between Iran and the United States.The brother of Mackenzie Michalski, who was murdered by a Dublin man in Hungary in November 2024, has said he is happy the man is off the streets having been handed 14 years in prison.Political correspondent Harry McGee explains why there is so much opposition to hare coursing in the Daíl.What does The Irish Times archive tell us about the perfect picnic over the years? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Road deaths; water leakages; artists' privacy concerns; tech tips for your holidays
1w ago00:10:36Tap to summarizeMinister of State for Road Transport Seán Canney has told the Road Safety Authority (RSA) he was concerned about its “lack of visibility” following a series of road deaths late last year.The regulator for utilities has imposed a €31 million penalty on Uisce Éireann for failing to meet performance targets, relating to leakages and bad debts.The Government should recuse itself from negotiating legislation that touches on digital policy and corporate tax in Brussels during its Council of the EU presidency, given its “questionable track record” and cosy relationship with tech multinationals, a group of 50 academics have has said.Applicants to the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme have raised concerns that plans to make their Personal Public Service (PPS) numbers publicly available could result in identity theft or fraud.Holiday itineraries, packing tips? There’s an AI app for that. Technology can take a lot of the guesswork out of summer breaks.Presented by Aideen Finnegan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Black-listed gambling sites; Sinn Féin's merch profits; Returning emigrants
1w ago00:09:30Tap to summarizeIrish authorities granted gambling licences to six companies at the heart of a global network of black-market betting websites. Two Irish companies were also found to be processing payments for unlicensed gambling sites operating in Europe.Ireland’s richest political party, Sinn Fein, sold merchandising worth euro more than €405,000 last year, according to financial accounts filed with the Standards in Public Office Commission (Sipo).Ireland remains “well off-track” in cutting greenhouse gas emissions after a fall of just 2.2 per cent last year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Columnist Laura Kennedy is writing movingly today about what it feels like to return home as an emigrant, remaking a new life in a familiar setting.Presented by Aideen Finnegan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →George Gibney found guilty of historic sex abuse; and wildfires rage across southern Europe
1w ago00:06:41Tap to summarizeFormer Olympic swimming coach George Gibney, who’s 77 with an address in Florida, has been found guilty of sexually abusing four girls more than 50 years ago.Authorities in France have evacuated 10,000 people because of wildfires burning out of control near the Spanish border. Fires are also raging in northern Spain, Portugal, and Greece.With Donald Trump reigniting his feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of the Nato summit in Ankara this week, leaders in the military alliance have much bigger questions to answer.Personal records of children who were “boarded out” from religious institutions will be withheld from a new public archive set up to remember the abuse of women and children in 20th-century Ireland. Presented by Andrew McNair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Community healthcare waiting lists; smuggling of wood soaked in liquid cocaine; and JD gift cards reissued
2w ago00:08:36Tap to summarizeNew figures show some patients are waiting as long as 13 and a half years for community healthcare appointments like dietetics, ophthalmology and psychology.Ireland will chair EU meetings around new European Oceans legislation aimed at strengthening protection of Europe’s marine territory, undersea cables and pipelines, and improving ocean health.Gardaí have uncovered what’s believed to be the most sophisticated drugs-processing operation ever discovered in Ireland involving plywood soaked in liquid cocaine.Investigations are continuing into the death of a man in his 30’s following an incident at a pub in CountyCork on Saturday. Separately, investigations have been launched into the fatal shooting of a man in his 40’s in Dún Laoghaire on Sunday morning.JD Sports has been ordered to reissue thousands of gift cards to customers worth close to €250,000 after they were found to have expiry periods far shorter than allowed in Irish law.There are growing questions over the common travel area between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland amid immigration concerns.Presented by Andrew McNair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Aughinish Alumina exports to Russia; and customers to be offered human interaction on bank calls
2w ago00:08:49Tap to summarizeTaoiseach Michéal Martin has faced questions over exports from the Aughinish Alumina plant in county Limerick to aluminium smelters supplying the Russian military.The government will sign a new law requiring financial service providers to offer customers the right to speak to a human rather than an AI bot.A jury in the trial of a 77-year-old man on historic sex abuse charges will continue its deliberations today.Ireland will experience more warm weather this weekend, as the World Meteorological Organisation warns the El Niño weather phenomenon will intensify throughout the summer.Ryanair boss tells The Irish Times holidaymakers who booked early got better deals this summer than they did a year ago, despite rising fuel costs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Parnell Square attacker found guilty; EU presidency begins; and return to work mandates “narcissistic”
2w ago00:11:52Tap to summarizeRiad Bouchaker, who’s 52, has been found guilty of attempted murder in relation to the stabbing in Parnell Square in November 2023. Our legal affairs correspondent Mary Carolan recounts the events which left a child with life altering injuries.After authorities in Sweden froze the assets of a company owned by Rusal, which owns the county Limerick plant Aughinish Alumina, what next for the firm linked with exports to the Russian military machine?Ireland’s presidency of the EU has begun. What does it entail, and why does it matter?The entrepreneur Margaret E. Ward writes that return to work mandates, effectively ending remote or hybrid working models, is led by narcissistic CEO’s. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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