Will Jim Gavin controversy do lasting damage to Micheál Martin’s leadership of Fianna Fail?
It was Micheál Martin’s worst week in the job as leader of Fianna Fáil and it began on late on Sunday evening when the party’s campaign for the presidency imploded. Its candidate Jim Gavin resigned following media reports that, 16 years ago, a tenant had accidentally overpaid him by €3,300 and despite repeated requests, the former military man and presidential hopeful had refused to return it.The failure to repay a debt – and a landlord’s debt at that – had caused a sensation when news of it was reported on Friday.Gavin was Martin’s man – his “celebrity” non-party pick announced after a summer of speculation.But from his first outing it was clear that he lacked the charisma and communication skills that are baseline requirements in any political campaign. And for a celebrity candidate he was remarkably unknown.Many in Martin’s party were simply puzzled by his choice while also being angry at a process in which they felt sidelined.Wednesday provided a new twist when the tenant outed himself on his popular crime podcast as Niall Donald, deputy editor of the Sunday World.Then on Wednesday evening before a five-hour parliamentary party meeting, a shaken Martin apologised for the disaster which has left party members furious and embarrassed.So how did Micheál Martin get here; how did he make this massive misstep in choosing Gavin and has he set the clock ticking on the end of his career leading Fianna Fáil.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Budget 2026: Your questions answered
So now we know what’s in Budget 2026 but for most people, what’s not so clear is what’s in it for them.As he has done every year on the day after the budget Irish Times personal finance expert and assistant business editor Dominic Coyle put a call-out to readers for their own queries and then he answered them.For In the News he picks out the ones that exercised people the most and explains how he answered.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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What's in the Budget for you?
What is in Budget 2026 for you? Not a lot, probably - as expected, Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Jack Chambers have delivered a much tighter package than recent years. Out are universal payments to help with steep energy bills and most bonus social welfare payments. But the budget did deliver some help for some groups. Conor Pope runs through the main points. Plus: Cliff Taylor on why, eleven months after a general election campaign that featured many spending promises, the Government has instead decided to tighten its belt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How Big Tobacco is going after illegal cigarette sellers in Ireland
It’s budget day and one thing we can almost certainly expect in Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe’s spending announcements is an increase in the price of cigarettes. This year, the cost of a pack of cigarettes is set to increase by 50 cents, bringing it to almost €19 for a pack of twenty.And while this price hike may help reduce smoking levels in Irish society, and improve the overall health of the population, it is also driving Ireland’s rapidly growing black market tobacco business.More than one in four cigarettes smoked in Ireland are now sold through the black market, costing the exchequer around €600 million in lost revenue annually.And it’s not just the Irish authorities who are keen to end this booming underground activity – Big Tobacco companies are now hiring investigators in Ireland to collect data on how and where this business takes place.On today’s In The News episode, consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope discusses the day he recently spent shadowing an investigative team hired by Japan Tobacco International, one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world, to scour Dublin for sellers of illegal tobacco.Who is selling this tobacco, where is it produced and what do we know about the criminals behind this illegal cigarette chain?And what is the point of tobacco companies tracking down small-time street dealers who are purely cogs in a much larger, multimillion euro, illicit tobacco-producing machine?Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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How Jim Gavin's presidential run ended in disaster for Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fail’s presidential candidate Jim Gavin's sensational withdrawal from the presidential race has plunged Fianna Fáil into crisis. There’s dismay among party backbenchers, anger at Taoiseach Micheal Martin, and uncertainty over what kind of presidential election race we now have. Earlier today, Jack Horgan Jones and Ellen Coyne talked to Hugh Linehan on our sister podcast Inside Politics about the affair. In the News will be back with another regular episode tomorrow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In The News is a daily podcast from The Irish Times that takes a close look at the stories that matter, in Ireland and around the world. Presented by Bernice Harrison and Sorcha Pollak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ireland