In The News

The US, Israel and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday barely an hour before US president Donald Trump’s deadline to obliterate Iran was set to expire, with Tehran agreeing to temporarily reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The ceasefire is based on a 10-point proposal from Iran which Trump said was a “workable basis on which to negotiate”.
So what is in the proposal and why was Pakistan key to the negotiations?

The proposal requires Israel to stop its bombardment of Lebanon, something it has not done with the Israeli ‌military saying ​on Wednesday it has ​carried out ⁠the largest ‌strikes ‌against Lebanon’s ​Hizbullah ⁠since ​this ​war ‌began.

So how will that impact on the negotiations which are set to begin on Friday?

And what role did China play in the ceasefire negotiations?

Beijing-based Irish Times correspondent Denis Staunton analyses the proposal and its chance of delivering lasting peace in the region.

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

More details have emerged about the Minister for Finance’s new savings and investment idea which aims to unlock some of the €170bn Irish people are estimated to have on deposit and encourage them to become stock market investors instead.

Simon Harris first floated the idea of a Government-endorsed savings plan in February but the details were sparse.
The idea is now clearer, though the fine print has yet to be thought through and is likely to be announced around budget time in the autumn.
The new Irish scheme will follow the popular Swedish one which sees people putting their savings into an ISK and paying a flat tax – currently about 1 per cent monthly – on their investment over a certain tax-free threshold.

Investment products currently available in Ireland have a complex tax system based on capital gains.
So is it a good idea? And will risk-averse Irish consumers who prefer to keep their cash at the ready be prepared to become investors?

Irish Times economics columnist Cliff Taylor explains – and gives his view on the idea’s likely success.

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

It is not surprising that the army’s spy wing is a highly secretive organisation, but lately it’s becoming a little less so, with one of its top bosses giving an interview to The Irish Times.

Its job is to protect the State and the Defence Forces from military threats, counter hybrid activity and protect Irish interests overseas. Its expertise is wide, from on-the-ground surveillance to advising the government on strategic threats to our interests.

One of its tasks is to monitor the activities of ageing Russian tankers that appear with increased regularity off the west coast.

The service is undergoing a transformation: the name change from J2 to the Irish Military Intelligence Service (Imis) is a small part of that.

Irish Times investigations reporter Conor Gallagher was invited to the Imis HQ at McKee Barracks to meet one of the top intelligence operatives, to talk spycraft, threats, secrecy and a new phase of recruitment.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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

Gardaí have identified a person of interest in the disappearance of Icelandic man Jon Jonsson. The suspect, who's from Liverpool, is a veteran criminal with a history of large scale drug dealing.

Jonsson, who'd come to Ireland for a poker tournament, vanished on February the 9th 2019. He was caught on CCTV leaving the Bonnington Hotel on the Swords Road in north Dublin.

Beyond those images, Gardaí have no information about where he went and no trace of him has since been uncovered. One line of enquiry is that this man from Liverpool travelled to Ireland to attack another Icelandic man on the orders of a criminal gang and mistakenly targeted Jonsson.

As investigations continue into this new lead, listen back to a podcast originally broadcast in February 2024 that explains the puzzling details of the case.

Hosted by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
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In the entire country there are just 26 places for vulnerable children in need of the highest level of specialist care and supervision that Tusla is charged with providing.
And only 15 of these beds are currently available.

What this means is that when the child and family agency petitions the courts to have a vulnerable and in-danger child taken into its special care, it then has to admit to the judge that it has no beds available.

Judges are increasingly expressing their frustration and exasperation at this situation – and at the patchwork of care arrangements facing these children. These typically involve special emergency arrangements (SEAs), often in B&Bs, hotel rooms or private apartments. This is provided by private companies, charging the State nearly €60 million in 2024 alone.

Social Affairs Correspondent Kitty Holland explains the background to this ongoing failure and why the increasingly loud comments from the bench just might effect change.

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