In The News

Abusers convicted of serious domestic violence will have their names included on a publicly available register under a new law designed to allow those with concerns to check whether their partner has a violent past.

The proposed legislation will be known as Jennie’s Law in honour of Jennifer Poole, a 24-year-old mother of two who was murdered by her former partner Gavin Murphy in 2021. Poole did not know he had a history of abusive behaviour, including a conviction for assaulting a former partner.

The Poole family believe that had Jennifer known about Murphy’s previous convictions she might still be alive. They have campaigned for the new register since her murder.

So how will it work? What offences will be covered? What information will be on the register? And are there any unintended consequences for such a register – particularly for victims?

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan, with research by Ellen Clusker.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The event that sparked the racist riots in Belfast on Tuesday evening happened on Monday night in the north of the city.

A Sudanese man, named in court as Hadi Alodid, is alleged to have brutally assaulted Stephen Ogilvie in a street knife attack that was filmed by a bystander.

Ogilvie lost an eye and is in hospital with other serious injuries.

The 30-year-old Alodid has now been charged with knife crimes and attempted murder and is remanded in custody for four weeks. So how extensive was the damage in the city? What role did anti-immigrant agitators, including from outside Ireland, play in the riots? What has been the official response? And is the city set for more nights of rioting?

Irish Times audio producer Andrew McNair lives in Belfast and saw first-hand the damage caused by the rioters.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan, with research by Ellen Clusker.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The 24-year sentence handed down to Sean McGovern in the Special Criminal Court prompted gasps in the packed courtroom.

It will also have sent shock waves through organised crime in Ireland and all the way to the Dubai prison where Daniel Kinahan is awaiting extradition back to Ireland and an appointment in the same court.
McGovern was a senior Kinahan cartel figure, formerly based in Dubai before his extradition in 2024, and his jail term is among the longest gangland prison terms.

He was convicted of directing the murder of Noel Kirwan and the attempted murder of James “Mago” Gately. The evidence against him – including incriminating conversations with other gang members on phones they believed to be deeply encrypted – prompted his guilty plea.

So how did the judge explain the 24-year sentence? And what does this mean for the Kinahan cartel? Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally explains.
Also last month, Lally came into the In the News studio and, in the episode “Nobody is Stopping Until They Are All Dead”, explained the background to this case and how the Garda built their evidence through a mixture of sophisticated data mining and old-style policing.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan, with research by Ellen Clusker.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the past 18 months, Dublin City Council has been keeping track of a worrying trend: an increase in the number of vacant council houses being targeted in racist attacks.

The criminal damage, which happens just before the council moves a new tenant in, ranges from racist graffiti to making the house uninhabitable.

So where is this happening? And what can be done to stop it?

Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally explains what’s behind the recent surge in these attacks, and the reaction from local communities.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Naomi James (38) was pregnant with her fourth child when, disillusioned with Ireland's maternity services, she chose to give birth at home without medical assistance.

Shortly after her baby was born at home in Drogheda in June 2024, she became ill and was taken to hospital, where she died.

Naomi was just one of an unknown but growing number of women in Ireland who opt for a free birth, – to have their babies without a midwife or doctor present.

Such is the concern over free births that the State’s directors of midwifery have warned the HSE that such births are linked with “perinatal and maternal mortality and severe morbidity”.

So what is driving this choice? How are home births different from free births? What role do online free birth influencers play in this dangerous movement? And how has Naomi’s family coped since her tragic death?

Irish Times reporter Ellen Coyne investigated free births in Ireland, and the people advocating them.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.