In The News

The appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK Ambassador to the United States is a moment Keir Starmer will rue.

On Monday, he faced MPs in the UK Parliament to explain what he knew about the vetting process, which it has been revealed Mandelson failed.

Starmer says he knew nothing about it and has sacked the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office over what he says was the failure to inform him.

Mandelson resigned as Ambassador following revelations about his links to the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and allegations he had shared sensitive documents with the billionaire.

If he wasn’t told, how could Starmer have failed to check Mandelson’s vetting properly? And as many politicians in Britain are demanding to know, why didn’t he ask?

Irish Times London Correspondent Mark Paul explains.

Presented by Mark Hennessy. Produced by Declan Conlon and Andrew McNair.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The amount of cannabis being smuggled into Ireland has risen significantly in recent years, with most of the product for sale now coming from the United States.

So why have drug gangs here turned to overseas product and why from the US?

In today’s episode, Irish Times Crime and Security correspondent Conor Lally explains how drug gangs attempt to get cannabis into the country - and how they are caught.

Presented by Bernice Harrison, produced by Suzanne Brennan.

This episode was originally published in January 2026.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Heneghan is one of Ireland’s most popular online gambling tipsters. His social media accounts show his more than one million followers a glamorous lifestyle of private jets, yachts and wads of cash.

In recent videos he’s placing large cash bets at Cheltenham with darts players Luke Littler and Luke Humphries.
His company, Pro Sports Advice, charges between €19 to €149 a month for his tipping services, but customers can also pay €3,999 for a “platinum lifetime”. membership.
As Irish Times senior investigative reporter Mark Tighe has discovered. Heneghan has also promoted Gambana, a Belize-registered gambling website that operates using a fraudulent licence.

So what are the possible dangers for gamblers using this site? And what did a High Court action, settled in Dublin on Friday, reveal about the lucrative online tipster world?
Tighe, whose investigation into Heneghan and Gambana continues, explains.

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

When a pilot scheme was announced in 2022 to provide artists with a guaranteed weekly income of €325 a week for three years, there were more than 8,000 applications for the 2,000 places.

The Basic Income for the Arts pilot programme ended in February and a review of it was conducted by the Department of Culture before the decision was taken to create a new, permanent scheme. It is now open for applications.

It will once again be open to 2,000 artists, chosen by lottery with no qualitative assessment. The weekly payment remains the same.

There are some key changes; notably in oversight. Recipients will be audited regularly to ensure they are producing art. Also, their names will be publicly available.

While the scheme, thought to be a world first, is widely seen as a positive, a freedom-of-information request by Irish Times journalist Órla Ryan reveals that not everyone is happy. She explains why the pilot scheme was so popular and explores the changes as it transitions from pilot to permanent.

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

As US president Donald Trump threatens to wipe out Iran and attacks the pope, even some former allies are questioning whether he has grown increasingly unbalanced.

His social media post of an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus gave even more ammunition to his detractors.

All of this has meant that Trump’s political opponents have become louder in invoking the US constitution’s 25th amendment, a mechanism for ousting a medically unfit president.

With no clear end to the war in Iran and no plan from the White House for what should be next, the president’s frustration is palpable. Is his erratic behaviour a manifestation of that frustration or is there something else going on with the near 80-year-old?

Irish Times Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan explains.

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