In The News

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.

Over the past two weeks, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Spain to protest the country’s worsening housing crisis. The demonstrations were triggered by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman, Maria del Carmen Abascal, from her home in Madrid.

Known in Spain simply as Maricarmen, she had lived in the same apartment for more than seven decades and was evicted after it was sold to a private investment company. She died in a hospital in Madrid two weeks later.

In response to the public outcry following her eviction, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez put forward several emergency housing measures. However, when the proposals were rejected by Parliament, he called a snap general election for November 29th.

But will the Prime Minister’s gamble pay off? Is it likely his party will lead the next government and could this surprise election pave the way for parties on the right to seize power?

Irish Times contributor Guy Hedgecoe speaks to Bernice Harrison from Madrid.
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.

Ministers Simon Harris and Jack Chambers have been explaining how the Government will tax and spend in the year ahead. They have promised to deliver changes we will feel in our daily lives. But will you really feel a difference in your daily life? Consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope has been listening. 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.