In The News

Five people are dead and four people - including a seven year old boy are seriously injured - after a stolen BMW was driven the wrong way on the M9 motorway in County Kildare. Five teenage boys in the stolen BMW were killed instantly in the head on collision, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Three sisters and a seven year old boy were in the other car. They are all in a serious condition in a number of hospitals across Dublin. Alma and Niamh Kinsella were in the front. Their little sister Ellie Hendricken and her nephew were in the back.

In today's episode, crime and security reporter Hugh Dooley talks to Aideen Finnegan about the details of last weekend's fatal crash and why 'wrong way' motorway driving has become a worrying trend among thrill seeking teenagers.
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For more than a year, Fergie Chambers, an American multi-millionaire and self-described communist, has called Ireland home.

The 41-year-old who is heir to one of the richest families in America had been living in South Dublin, until a trip to Ibiza with his family last month ended in his arrest.

While on the Spanish Island, police arrested Chambers on foot of an extradition request by US authorities. He’s been in prison in Madrid ever since.

If the extradition goes ahead, he faces charges of money laundering with the intent of supporting terror organisations; riot; and conspiracy to riot.

Friends of Chambers say he’s being targeted because of his support for Palestinian activism. They point to donations to humanitarian organisations working in Gaza and his funding of legal fees for protesters associated with Palestine Action in the UK.

But who is Fergie Chambers, what does he stand for and why has he become a target of the MAGA movement?

And could his case further strain relations between the US, Spain and Ireland over Palestine?

Aideen Finnegan is joined by Irish Times journalists Rachel Lavin and Naomi O'Leary.
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This episode was originally published in April 2026.

John O’Brien’s scam was simple. Arriving in the US on a tourist visa in 2021, he set himself up as a building contractor in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. By the time the authorities caught up with the 28 year-old, he had conned more than 100 victims out of an estimated $2.5 million.

Many of the homeowners who handed him their life savings for promised building work were charmed by his Irish accent and friendly demeanour.

Sentencing him to four years and eight months in prison, the judge talked about “the extent and breadth of the harm” done to victims who opened their doors to O’Brien out of kindness and trust. He had pleaded guilty.

Many of his victims gave statements in court including Candace Gauvin, a retired school crossing guard, who emptied a life insurance account, eventually paying him more than $90,000 for shoddy work.

One of the more than a dozen people who provided character references for O’Brien included fellow Traveller Senator Eileen Flynn who advocated for his early release for the “benefit of his young family”.

Local reporter Susan Zalkind was in court in Rhode Island for O’Brien’s case and she explains how the scam worked, how it funded his lavish lifestyle and the impact on the victims.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
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The city of Ceuta - the Spanish territory on the north African coast – is preparing for another potential wave of migrants hoping to cross the border from Morocco.

Images of some 72-thousand people reaching Ceuta went around the world almost a fortnight ago, on the 30th and 31st of July, after they climbed or swum around the border fence separating it from European territory.

83 people died during the rush, with a Moroccan human rights organisation putting the number higher at 141.

Of the tens of thousands of people who made it, many of them are children who are still in Ceuta, sleeping rough on beaches.

There were protests on Sunday with people voicing concerns and demanding support saying Ceutans alone cannot handle a situation like this.

Now social media activity suggests another mass crossing in the coming days.

Aideen Finnegan is joined by Madrid-based journalist Guy Hedgecoe.
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Last month, Fifa's President Gianni Infantino shocked football fans around the world when he announced plans to sell a slice of the World Cup’s business to private investors. Unsurprisingly, the proposal went down like a lead balloon, with critics pointing out how Infantino had orchestrated the deal in secret.

But one man - who not only knew about the plan but spent months working on it behind the scenes - was FIFA’s chief of staff, an Irish Man called Daniel O’Toole.

The Dublin man was handpicked by the Fifa president to work alongside him on the potential sale before it was eventually shelved - but who is he? And how did he ascend to the inner sanctum of power at the organisation?

Irish Times sports correspondent Gavin Cooney has the details on today's episode. Presented by Aideen Finnegan.

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