The Mick Clifford Podcast

After forty three years the families of the forty eight young people who died in the Stardust fire in Dublin in February 1981 have finally received a form of justice. The longest running inquest in the history of the state returned a verdict of unlawful killing in all forty eight deaths. How did it get here, what did the inquest here and where can it go from here. The Irish Examiner’s Sean Murray has been following this story most of his career and he is this week’s guest on the podcast. 

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Michael Lynn is currently serving a prison sentence for crimes of fraud committed at the height of the Celtic Tiger years in this country. A solicitor by training, he conned banks out of tens of millions of euro, went on the run and ended up in Brazil where his wife gave birth to their first child. He thought that would save him from extradition but it didn’t. All the time his trail was being followed by investigative reporter Michael O’Farrell, who has now written a book, Fugitive, the Michael Lynn story. The book reads like a thriller and Michael is this week’s guest on the podcast. 

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We have long since developed in a nation of foodies in this country in terms of the range of foodies that people enjoy and how it is consumed. But what of our food system? How far now is the journey from farm to fork? Why do we no longer, for the greater part, know the precise distance and route taken by the food we buy? And why is this country that projects itself as a top class food producer, importing so much. Irish Examiner Food Writer Joe McNamee answers these questions and much more in a fascinating tour of our current food system.

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The bustling town of Killorglin in Co Kerry is one of the most unlikeliest places imaginable to have a connection with one of the biggest drug cartels on the planet but that is the case. One of the senior figures in the Sinaloa cartel is allegedly Morris O’Shea Salazar who spent a decade of his formative years growing up and into adulthood in Killorglin. Authorities in Chile are attempting to locate him to press serious charges on the basis that he was the cartel’s main man in Europe. His mother, who brought him to Killorglin, and his uncle are already serving prison sentences. Irish Examiner reporter Liz Dunphy went to the mid Kerry town to talk to locals and find out who exactly was and is Morris O’Shea Salazar.  

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The death was announced earlier this week of Rose Dugdale, the English aristocrat who became a member of the IRA, served time in prison and was subsequently involved in perfecting bomb technology for the Provos. She also featured in attempts to rid inner city Dublin of drug dealers in the 1980s. Sean O’Driscoll has written a biography of Ms Dugdale, entitled Heiress Rebel Vigliante Bomber. Sean is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Leo Varadkar’s announcement that he was stepping down as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael took the whole country by shock. Why now and who is in line to succeed him? Irish Examiner Political Editor Elaine Loughlin looks back on Varadkar’s career and looks forward to who might replace him and what it will mean for the government, the country and the next general election.

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One of the perks of the job of being Taoiseach is apparently the invite to the White House for St Patrick’s Day, a privilege that is afforded few foreign leaders. Leo Varadkar is over this year but he has a lot on his mind. He has to step lightly around hosts whose stance on Israel and Gaza is at odds with that of most of the world, including Ireland. And he also is burdened with reflection on a disastrous referendum outcome for his government. Joining him in DC, among the travelling media, is Irish Examiner Political Editor Elaine Loughlin, this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Through the years of the violence in Northern Ireland one distinctive voice was frequently heard across all airwaves. Eamonn Mallie didn’t speak with a typical South Armagh accent but it was from there he was sprung and he went on to be one of the leading reporters of the conflict in the North. Now he has written a book about his experiences, the stories he broke, his encounters with the men of violence and a highly unlikely friendship with the firebrand unionist, Ian Paisley. Eamonn Mallie is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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This week Mick sat down with a group formed a few years ago from descendants of those who were involved in signing the Anglo-Irish Treaty. And it wasn’t just those who were on the pro-treaty side that were part of this group, but also a grandson of Cathal Brugha and a grand nephew of Harry Boland. The group is pushing hard for a national day of reconciliation to be formed and they made a compelling case.

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Press photography may be a dying art but one of its great practitioners over the last forty years was Denis Minihane. Recently retired after forty seven years working for the Irish Examiner, he talks about his career, the art and the craft and the historic events at which he had a front row seat. Denis is this week’s guest on the podcast. 

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People who have served a prison sentence for a criminal offence are entitled to believe that once the sentence is completed they have paid their debt to society. That does not appear to be the case. New research shows that there are huge barriers to ex-prisoners finding employment and that the past simply won’t leave them alone. Damien Quinn was one such person, who had to fight hard to rebuild his life once he finished his sentence. He and Irish Penal Reform Trust Executive Director Saoirse Brady are this week’s guests on the podcast.

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Mike O’Donnell is one of the only if not the only court artists currently plying his trade in this country. He covers high profile trials and draws defendants, lawyers, judges, the public, all to give an insight and flavour of the environment of a court where serious, and usually tragic, drama takes place. He currently has an exhibition in which one of the main subjects is Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch whose trial Mike covered. Afterwards, Hutch invited the artist to his home in Dublin where he “sat” for Mike. This week’s guest on the podcast gives a fascinating insight into his trade and those he has encountered along the way.

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Last week the Bishop of Kerry announced that the church in the diocese was facing further challenges this year with more retirements of priests scheduled. So where stands the Catholic church in this country now in terms of serving its community? Will, for example, congregations be expected to travel further to attend mass and confession? Will there be a greater role for laity in the church? And is there willingness within the current hierarchy for creative solutions? Roy Donovan, a priest and member of the Association of Catholics Priests is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Ian Bailey’s death this week has reawakened debate on whether or not he should have been put on trial for the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. He was the chief suspect and was arrested twice but never charged. In 2019 he was convicted of murder in abstentia in Paris. But should he have been charged with murder in this jurisdiction. Nick Foster has written a book about the case, Murder At Roaring Bay. He and Mick disagree as to whether the evidence was sufficient to put him on trial. They debate the issue on this week’s podcast.

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Since Christmas there has been a number of restaurant closures throughout the country, including the high profile Nash 19 in Cork city. These were predicted due to a variety of cost related issues, most particularly labour and fall-out from the pandemic in areas like the warehousing of debt. So what will this mean for the future and is there anything that can be done to ensure that small businesses in general can survive in the current climate. Restauranteur Ross Lewis is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Brothers Michael and Danny Healy Rae are among the most high profile of the Dail’s independent TDs and both come with a serious political pedigree, courtesy of their late father Jackie. Recently, Irish Examiner political correspondent Ciara Phelan spent a few days in their company in and around the family bailiwick of Kilgarvan in Co Kerry. In this week’s podcast Ciara tells us about what she saw and heard, both from within the family and without and what impact their success is having on politics, both local and national.

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Ireland’s wild salmon stocks are disappearing. Over the last thirty years the stocks have plummeted due to a range of factors from fish farming to water quality to the ravages of climate change. There has already been a major impact on tourism, but beyond that lies the prospect of the complete disappearance of wild salmon. What can be done to arrest this slide before it is too late. John Murphy, chair of Salmon Watch Ireland, is this week’s guest on the podcast. 

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When is it alright for a democratic state to let one of its citizens go to their death and not prevent it? A new book by former IRA man and H block prisoner Richard O’Rawe covers the activities of the highest level informer that the British security services had in the Provisional IRA, Freddie Scappaticci.

 Scap was the man who tortured and shot spies on behalf of the Provos while operating as one himself. And evidence has emerged that he informed his handlers of most of the killings before they occurred. Richard O’Rawe is this week’s guest on the podcast. [Recorded - October 2022]

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Bernard Barton retired as a High Court Judge in 2021 but has maintained a keen interest in his former career. He is active in writing and researching in both the law and history and he has a special interest in proposals around changes to defamation laws, specifically a proposal to abolish juries. He passionately believes in the role of juries in our courts. As this week’s guest on the podcast he discuss this as well as changes he observed over the years in relations between judges and politicians and why retirees like himself could be of further use to the administration of the law today. [Long Version].

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As the end of year approaches time for a lookback on what has gone on over the last twelve months and maybe a little peek into the future. It’s been an interesting year in politics and with a number of elections due in 2024 the year ahead promises to be even more interesting. Irish Examiner Political editor Elaine Loughlin and deputy political editor Paul Hosford give their reflections and predictions.

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This week the government announced new, tighter rules to apply to Ukrainians fleeing the war in their country and arriving on these shores. Does this signal a change in approach to war refugees here and what does it say about the kind of pressures that communities around the country are experiencing with the influx of over 100,000 people in the last eighteen months. 

Political Correspondent Ciara Phelan, who broke the story for the Irish Examiner, is this week’s guest on the podcast

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Bernard Barton retired as a High Court Judge in 2021 but has maintained a keen interest in his former career. He is active in writing and researching in both the law and history and he has a special interest in proposals around changes to defamation laws, specifically a proposal to abolish juries. He passionately believes in the role of juries in our courts. As this week’s guest on the podcast he discuss this as well as changes he observed over the years in relations between judges and politicians and why retirees like himself could be of further use to the administration of the law today.

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Facial recognition technology is now firmly on the political agenda after the riots in Dublin. The technology, which is in use in many countries, assists police to finding and identifying suspects. Ther are, however, fear about how it is used and whether it can be misused. This week’s guest, Olga Cronin, Senior Policy Officer at the ICCL, gives the lowdown on the pros and cons of a technology that is, one way or the other, going to be in the news for some time.

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With the conflict in Gaza entering a new phase Irish Examiner Political Editor Elaine Loughlin takes stock of where everything is at right now. Elaine was in the Middle East last week and she relays what she experienced and she was in Leinster House this week where the was also a lot of noise, if not a great amount of heat.

Elaine Loughlin is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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On the first anniversary of Vicky Phelan’s death, the Irish Examiner launched its Read My Lips public health awareness campaign to encourage women to get tested for cervical cancer. Before she died, Vicky had been involved in pulling together the ideas for this campaign and on this week’s podcast Irish Examiner Feelgood Editor Irene Feighan talks about how the campaign came about and her memories of Vicky as well as Vicky’s solid legacy.

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Tommy Conlon and Ronan McGreevy are guests on this week’s podcast to discuss their book, The Kidnapping. In November 1983, the IRA kidnapped supermarket executive Don Tidey. Three weeks later, an army private and trainee gardai were murdered by the kidnappers in a remote area in Co Leitrim. The reaction was one of profound shock and over the longer term there was major consequences. The authors have written a riveting account of one of the seminal events of the Troubles south of the border, including the impact of the IRA’s campaign in counties like their native Leitrim.

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Cork native John Wain is a Senior Emergency Shelter Co-Ordinator with the United Nations, currently based in Ukraine. He has a unique view of the conflict as it develops in that country and his job and experience also render him as somebody who knows a thing or two about building emergency accommodation for those fleeing war, something that is apparently not getting done in this country.

John Wain is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Last week the Citizen’s Assembly finished its work examining how illegal drugs are dealt with in this country and whether a more enlightened approach is required. One very interested observer of the work was Maynooth University law lecturer, Dr Cian O Concubhair, whose specialist area is in policing. Cian also had personal interest in the assembly and its deliberations dating from an event in his own life that ultimately led him down a path to studying law.

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Last weekend’s massacre of up to 1,000 civilians by Hamas in southern Israel has prompted an equally horrific reaction with the relentless bombing of Gaza from the air. As civilians on both sides are bearing the brunt of this intractable conflict, many are asking how did things get this bad and is there any chance of peace. Joining the podcast to discuss these matters is Francesco Cavatorta, professor of politics at Universite Laval in Quebec, and formerly of DCU in Dublin. He is co-author with Vincent Durac of Politics and Governance in the Middle East.

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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he is making the eradication of child poverty a priority for this government. Exactly how urgent the issue is will become clear in the forthcoming budget. But what exactly is child poverty? What is the lived experience of children who are living in poverty? And what exactly needs to be done if it is to be addressed in a meaningful way. Maria O’Dwyer is a researcher and national co-ordinator of the Prevention and Early Intervention Network. She is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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The concept of retirement villages is largely alien in this country but Pat O’Mahony is determined to change that. After a lifetime working in education he has written a book on how best to cater for the housing of an aging population using a model with which he became familiar with while working in Australia. The idea is simple and works very well in many other countries so what is stopping it being utilized here. Pat O’Mahony is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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In a world where social media dictates so much, often through those who know so little, Laura Dowling is a turn for the books. In 2022 she left her job as a pharmacist, at which she had worked for twenty years, to set up a business initially to operate entirely online. Her experience and knowledge inform entertaining Instagram posts which are increasingly popular and through detailed research she has produced a range of plant based products, which are her passion. Laura Dowling, the fabulous pharmacist is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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The Summer’s over, the leaves are turning and politicians are trooping back to Leinster House. The forthcoming Dail terms promises to be very interesting, starting off with the run in to the budge in October. Elaine Loughlin, Political Editor of the Irish Examiner, sets the scene for the twelve months ahead, one that currently looks as if it will the last full year before a general election. 

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Dan Troy began his working life as a civil engineer but soon found that he had a calling to the Catholic church, and specifically what used to be known as the Missions. After completing his studies in the Columban order, he was dispatched to Wuhan in China, where he has now lived for over twenty years. He talks about what it is like to be a missionary priest in a nominally communist country, how Wuhan managed the covid pandemic which originated in the city and why China now feels like home.

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The electoral commission has recommended more TDs and more constituencies for the next general election. But what does it all mean, who are the winners and where can you find the losers? Will it impact on the formation of the next government? Why do we need more TDs at all and why do we like our constituencies within county bounds. Running the rule over this new electoral landscape is Gary Murphy, Professor of Politics at DCU. 

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Last week Mick wrote a column with the headline “McSwiney’s legacy is being stolen by Sinn Fein”. The McSwiney referenced was Terence, the Lord Mayor of Cork who died on hunger strike in 1920. One reader who took issue with the piece was Danny Morrison, former director of publicity for Sinn Fein and one of the central figures in the provisional movement in Northern Ireland throughout the Troubles. Danny suggested a podcast on the matter and who could turn down such an offer. 

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Throughout the state’s cities, towns and villages, dereliction has become a blight. Everywhere there are vacant and disused properties at a time when there is a huge housing crisis. So what is being done about it and where are the prospects of a brighter future. Irish Examiner reporter Neil Michael has completed a comprehensive series in the paper about dereliction right across Munster (the series is available on irishexaminer.com) and he talks to Mick on this week’s podcast about what he has found and where it is all going.

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He is a professor of history in UCD in his day job, but Paul Rouse also writes a weekly column for the Irish Examiner and presents the popular Irish Examiner Football Show podcast. His all round experience has led him to corral a collection of essays, reflections and pieces on what history says about sport and sport about history, entitled Sport in Modern Irish Life. Paul is this week’s guest on the podcast. 

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Ireland’s women returned home this week after exiting their very first World Cup finals after just three games. 

Getting to the tournament was a momentous achievement for Irish sport in and of itself, but storm clouds over the team gathered prior to the tournament and persist post-competition after an apparent rift between captain Katie McCabe and manager Vera Pauw.  

Joining us to discuss Ireland’s performance at the World Cup and the wider legacy for women’s sport in Ireland is John Fallon, Irish Examiner soccer correspondent, fresh off the plane from covering the tournament in Australia.  

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Over a decade in the making, Ireland is finally set to pass laws updating gambling legislation and bringing it into the 21st century. It'll introduce the country's first gambling regulator, bring in strict curbs on advertising and introduce a social fund for problem gambling initiatives. But how important is it these laws are passed, and do they go far enough? And why does Ireland have a "mountain to climb"? Consultant psychiatrist Professor Colin O'Gara joins the podcast this week to discuss. 

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Covid has seen a huge migration from cash to digital payments, but has this heralded an unstoppable move towards a cashless society? Recently there has been controversies about the GAA refusing to take cash at the entry to some games and an attempt by one of the retail banks to have cashless branches. Dr Olive McCarthy, director of UCC’s Centre for Co-operative Studies examines in detail the evidence on whether cash remains king.

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Where now for Ryan Tubridy and RTE? Will the presenter be back on the airwaves, how is the power balance now between him and the broadcaster? Communications expert Terry Prone reads the runes and offers some deep insights and observations of where the whole debacle now stands. 

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Mark Woods recently retired from a forty year career in journalism, principally in the area of sports. Changes, he’s seen a few and here he shares his remarkable, interesting and humorous journey though all the changes that have happened since he first entered a newspaper fresh and green, straight out of school.

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Artificial intelligence is having an increasing impact on how we live, particularly through the likes of chatbots such as ChatGPT. Some who are aware of the potential of AI are already warning of a future in which software could have more intelligence than humans. So what do we need to know, what needs to be done, and how can we take it handy. Professor Gregory Provan from UCC is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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One of the most notorious murder cases in the state, which also almost brought down a government, was that involving Malcolm Macarthur, who was found hiding out in the Attorney General’s home in 1982. Macarthur, from an quasi aristocratic background, had vicious killed Bridie Gargan and Derek Dunne in fits of violence that somehow seemed at odds with her personality. Journalist Harry McGee’s new book, The Murderer and the Taoiseach, examines the case in detail and relates his own engagement with Macarthur who served thirty years in prison.

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A new opinion poll, a series of coincidental articles, the mid term blues and a question hanging over Michael Martin, will he stay or will he go? Irish Examiner political editor Elaine Loughlin unravels all on this week’s podcast. 

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Tony Connelly is known across the country as RTE’s Europe Editor but now he is exploring his family history for a TV documentary. His grandfather, Michael Connelly from East Galway served in the RIC right up until it was disbanded in 1922. The trajectory of his life and career makes for a fascinating story and has also provided Tony with some food for thought about the RIC, their role in Irish society and how they are remembered today. Tony Connelly is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Summary results for last year’s census were published this week and they provide a snapshot of where exactly Ireland is now. Senior statistician at the Central Statistics Office, Cormac Halpin spoke on the podcast about what the change are and what they mean.

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On 24 May 1923 the Irish Civil War ended with the order to dump arms. This is one of the final major occasions to be examined in the centenary of the revolutionary decade, a time when the newly independent state finally had a chance to breathe. So how did it come about, and what was left at the end of a conflict that exercise a huge toll on a public that was already exhausted and damaged. Historian John Dorney is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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In October 1984 the IRA attempted to kill Margaret Thatcher with a bomb in the Grand Hotel in Brighton where she was staying for a Conservative party conference. The plot failed but five other people died. It was the most audacious attempt at assassination that the Provos had undertaken over the course of the Troubles. The story of the Brighton bomb, who plotted it, who carried out the plan, and how the main culprit was eventually captured, form the core of Rory Carroll’s new book, but it is much more than that, providing a wide lens view of the Troubles throughout the 1980s, written in the style of a thriller. And it also poses an interesting question: How would history have unfolded had the IRA been successful in killing Thatcher? Rory Carroll is this week’s guest on the podcast

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Speculation over who exactly will take over as presenter of the Late Late Show has been mounting as various presumed candidates have stepped forward to declare that they are not interested. So who is now the favourite and can he or she manage to ensure that the show maintains its relevance in a world transformed from the days when the show was unmissable.

Professor Jane Suiter from DCU discusses the past, present and future of the show.

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Next month a brother and sister from a highly successful Co Kerry family which made good in New York are due to be sentenced for fraud offences. Donal and Helen O’Sullivan were found guilty of the offences in relation to contributions from their construction company to union funds. It’s all a long way from Ballinskelligs in south Kerry where the family grew up and a long way from the dizzying success the family achieved in New York, where they were pillars of the Irish and Irish American community. The Irish Examiner’s Catherine Shanahan has the full story and she is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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This week an inquest into the deaths of forty eight young people in a fire in the Stardust disco in North Dublin in 1981 opened. It’s been a long, torturous journey for the bereaved to a point where they believe there is a very good chance of the truth of what happened to their loved ones finally being established. Irish Examiner reporter Sean Murray has been following the journey of the Stardust families for most of his journalistic career and he was present this week to witness pen pictures of those who lost their lives. Sean is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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The acquittal of Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch on the charge of murder this week has raised a whole host of questions, mostly for the gardai and the DPP. Why was this case ever brought? How did anybody build a case around the main prosecution witness, Jonathan Dowdall, whose character was ripped apart in the witness box? What does the ruling say about the controversial Special Criminal Court? And why does it appear that Gerry Hutch has achieved some level of sympathy among sections of the public? Irish Examiner reporter Sean Murray covered the trial and he is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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The debates on the Anglo Irish Treaty which took place in December 1921 into January 1922 were historic and tragic, leading ultimately to the Civil War. Poet Theo Dorgan adapted the debates for Anu Productions which staged a ten hour production over four nights and was ultimately streamed on RTE last Saturday, the centenary of the vote on the treaty. The result is enthralling and profoundly sad in light of what was to unfold in the following months. Theo Dorgan speaks about what he learned from working on the material, how the men and women of the day were brought to life and what exactly is this Republic about which they argued.

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The Irish Examiner’s political correspondent has the lowdown on what exactly the government and state apparatus are doing to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Paul also talks about his own family in which he discovered during childhood that his grandfather was from the North yet the Troubles were never discussed. Then there is his own contribution to cross border relations through his involvement in all island American football. We also discover that he even plays with an American accent.

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Prominent members of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael harbouring escaped IRA men, kidnappings replacing armed robberies, gardai saluting IRA funerals, agricultural grants used to build sheds for storing bombs, a plan to flood the economy with counterfeit £10 notes. Those were just some of the incidents and activities in the Republic of Ireland in the 1980s while a violent conflict was taking place just north of the border. So how much support was there for the Provos in the south and what form did it take. Gearoid O Faolean has written a new book about what exactly went on and some of the revelations are surprising, with one of two jaw dropping. He is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Carmel McMahon immigrated to New York when she was twenty with a suitcase of dreams and plenty of unseen baggage. Her time in the city was marked by both awakenings and struggle, most of it personal, including bereavement and a long battle with alcohol. In a lyrical memoir she combines her personal and family story with that of the history of the country of her birth and how trauma can be passed down through the generations unless and until it is dealt with. Carmel is this week’s guest on the podcast where she talks about her book, In Ordinary Times, Fragments of a Family history.

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Tina Satchwell went missing on 20 March 2017. The Cork woman was much loved by her family and did not overtly appear to have any problems in the world. The case has baffled gardai who have been involved in both a widespread search and a thorough investigation of the case. One senior garda source told the Irish Examiner that they are convinced there is somebody out there who can provide further clues as to what happened her. Irish Examiner Liz Dunphy is reporting this week on the case, the heartache that lingers for Tina’s family and the leads that investigators have followed.

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This week it was announced that the director of Social Justice Ireland Fr Sean Healy was stepping down from his role after half a century working on behalf of the most marginalised in society. Along with his co-founder of SJI, Sr Brigid Reynolds, he is calling it a day to make way for the next generation. On the podcast he speaks about his origins in Cork, his early experiences in Africa, how Bertie Ahern roped him into talking to Fianna Fail in its pomp, and he asks why Leo Varadkar never got back to him on his proposal to eliminate poverty.

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This month one hundred years ago the civil war reached its nadir with some horrific outrages in Co Kerry. Combatants on both sides died in terrible circumstances, including the outrage at Ballyseedy where nine men were tied around a mine and blown up. Miraculously one, Stephen Fuller, survived. This week's podcast guest is Historian Owen O’Shea, he looks back on those violent weeks and the subsequent fall out that resonated down through the generations. He also examines how exactly the past is being remembered today.

Neither political party which grew out of the civil war “covered themselves in glory” in how they treated those who were injured and damaged during the conflict, according to historian Owen O’Shea.

During the first decade of the state’s existence between 1922 an 1932 the Cumann na nGeadheal government was extremely parsimonious in compensating those who had fought on the free state side, and completely dismissive of anti-treaty veterans.

“Many were begging and begging in pension applications for some financial support,” O’Shea tells the Mick Clifford podcast. “They were battling mental health, financial troubles, breakdowns and immigration and the free state did very little in the first decade of its existence to support those who went out to fight for the state. Neither (political) party on the two sides of the conflict could claim they covered themselves in glory in that respect.”

The centenary of the Ballyseedy massacre, in which eight anti-treaty prisoners were blown up on a lonely road outside Tralee falls on March 7.

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Forty years ago, Fr Patrick Ryan, a native of Doon in Co Limerick, was murdered in Texas. He had been living in the USA for a just three years after a career largely spent in Ireland and Africa. Pretty quickly a native American man James Reyos was arrested and charged with the murder. He was convicted and has spent the last four decades in prison or restricted in his movements on parole. Now, new evidence has emerged to suggest that he was not murderer. So how did everybody get it so wrong and where are the suspects whom the police now believe were responsible for the death of a much loved priest. Irish Examiner reporter Ann Murphy has the story

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Protests against asylum seekers and refugees in recent weeks have given rise to the possibility that the far right may be in a position to enter the political arena in the near future. Throughout Europe, far right parties have been gaining strength over the last twenty years on a broad anti-immigration platform. That has not happened in this country but is it about to change?

Political academic and MD of research company Ireland Thinks Kevin Cunningham crunches the poll numbers and looks at the trends in Europe over the years for signs of what might be about to unfold here. He also asks the question whether the salience of immigration to the electorate can be reversed once it becomes an issue. 

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As a young reporter, Ellen McGarrahan witnessed a botched execution of Jesse Tafero, who had been found guilty of murdering two police officers in Florida. Tefero’s girlfriend and co-accused Sunny Jacobs was also due to be executed but this was commuted and, following further legal challenges freed from prison. Sunny subsequently married Peter Pringle, who had been sentenced to death in 1980 for the murder of two gardai but was ultimately released. The couple settled in Galway. Meanwhile, Ellen McGarrahan set out to find the real truth about the crime for which Tafero suffered a horrible death. Was an innocent man executed by the state? Were he and his girlfriend wrongly convicted? McGarrahan’s quest brought around the world, including a few days in Galway in the company of Jacobs and Pringle. Ellen is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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This winter the country once again endured some shocking scenes of people lying on trollies in emergency departments in hospitals across the state. Then the crisis appeared to pass and many simply moved on. But the crisis hasn’t passed and lives are being lost throughout the year because of the crisis. Long serving consultant in emergency medicine Fergal Hickey has been a keen observer of the politics of health in this respect over the last thirty years and he remains deeply concerned that the needless loss of life every year is not receiving the attention it deserves. Fergal Hickey is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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One off housing has been a hot political potato for decades, and is still in the news. The government is due to issue new rules for one off housing at a time when there are objections to the whole concept for sustainability reasons but on the other hand some say that it has a role in play in tackling the housing crisis. Writer Adrian Duncan’s Little Republics – The Story of Bungalow Bliss features Jack Fitzsimons, a man who was instrumental in the proliferation of one-off houses in the 1970s and 1980s. The book also examines the cultural, economic and environmental impacts of this way of living and where it stands today. Adrian Duncan is this week’s guest.

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This week the government announced a €2.5bn redress scheme for the owners of apartments stuck by fire and other defects. The scheme comes at the end of a long campaign by homeowners but also raises questions about culpability. The state has acknowledged that regulation was, to put it at its mildest, lax during the frantic building boom of the 2000s, but what about the builders who threw up sub standard work in their rush to turn a golden buck. Mick talks to Irish Examiner political correspondent Ciara Phelan about the questions that arise and they also look in on the beleaguered Pascal Donoghue.

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The debates on the Anglo Irish Treaty which took place in December 1921 into January 1922 were historic and tragic, leading ultimately to the Civil War. Poet Theo Dorgan adapted the debates for Anu Productions which staged a ten hour production over four nights and was ultimately streamed on RTE last Saturday, the centenary of the vote on the treaty. The result is enthralling and profoundly sad in light of what was to unfold in the following months. Theo Dorgan speaks about what he learned from working on the material, how the men and women of the day were brought to life and what exactly is this Republic about which they argued.

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What does the year ahead hold for politics? Irish Examiner political editor and current journalist of the year Danny McConnell joins Mick to give his forecasts on what to expect from the government under Leo Varadkar’s stewardship, what exactly to expect from the Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien, whether Micheal Martin is likely to lead his party into the next election and will Mary Lou McDonald continue to exude the appearance of a Taoiseach in waiting. Danny also gives his prediction on which politicians he expects to shine in 2023.

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This week’s podcast, the last of the year, looks back on the political year with Irish Examiner Deputy Political Editor, Elaine Loughlin. Who can face into the turkey and ham with a smug and relaxing demeanour and who realises they will have to do a lot better once the New Year bells are silent. Will the government, under its new Taoiseach, make an inroads into tackling the housing crisis, and what does the recently published Climate Action Plan mean to the general public. All is revealed.

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The Special Criminal Court is hearing evidence in the trial of Gerard ‘the Monk’ Hutch and two others for the murder of David Byrne at the Regnecy hotel in Dublin in February 2016. The chief prosection witness, a long time family friend of Hutch’s, is giving state’s evidence against his former friend. The testimony has been riveting, offering an insight into Dowdall’s version of gangland crime and his own travails after he was previously imprisoned for torturing another man. The Irish Examiner’s Sean Murray reports from the court for this week’s podcast.

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When Thomas Garavan was 12 he found out that his mother had a sister he never knew about. Over the following years, he was to discover that there were five other aunts and uncles whom he’d never heard about, all of whom along with his mother had been committed to Tuam Mother and Baby home when they were toddlers. The UCC academic set about tracing all of them and opening them up to the reality that they had siblings and extended families that they never knew about in a society where children committed to institutions grew up as second class citizens. Professor Thomas Garavan is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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As numbers of refugees from the war in Ukraine and asylum seekers fleeing other forms of conflict continue to arrive in the country, accommodation services are under pressure. Reactions to the prevailing situation vary along the spectrum from welcoming to intolerance. However, some locations have been asked to do more than others in finding accommodation. One such town that has been in the headlines recently is Killarney. The town’s mayor Niall Kelleher talks about how Killarney has welcomed refugees and how it is managing in terms of accommodation but also in the face of wild and ugly untruths often spread about new arrivals. 

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How do we solve the housing crisis? The question is one bedevilling public life at the moment and will be at the centre of the next general election. The crisis is having major impacts right across society, but what are the answers. Michael O’Flynn, one of Ireland’s leading developers and housing policy analyst and author Rory Hearne was very different views on what needs to be done. In a robust exchange they put forward their respective proposals and punch holes in each other’s solutions. Michael O’Flynn and Rory Hearne are this week’s guests on the podcast

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This week Donald Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in 2024. He is an early entry to the race and his announcement came in the wake of mid term elections in which the Republican party was expected to do much better. So does Trump have a good chance of making one of the greatest comebacks in US political history? Where now for his bogus claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him? And what will his candidacy do to the Republican party but also the growing chasm in US politics that is seeping into everyday life. This week’s guest on the podcast is presidential historian, Robert Schmuhl, who is emeritus professor at the University of Notre Dame and Adjunct Professor in the School of Law and Government in DCU.

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David Quinn is for many a standard bearer of conservative Catholicism, through both his commentary in the media and his stewardship of the Iona Institute. He says that he is one of the few voices of conservatism around today in a media bubble that, some, including himself, would say is dominated by liberal and left wing ideology. On this week’s podcast he talks about hate speech and why it is unsatisfactory in its current construct, why we won’t talk about immigration in this country and what exactly is the illiberal left. He also addresses the frequent allegations that pop up – usually on social media – about the funding of the Iona Institute.

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The planning board An Bord Pleanala has been beset by a series of controversies involving malpractice and misgovernance in recent months. Last week the Irish Examiner published details of an internal review at the board which outlined series issues and confirmed practically all the media reports that had come out in recent months. But has everything been revealed, and has any serious intent been attached to accountability? Cianan Brennan has been reporting on the An Bord Pleanala story for the Irish Examiner since it first emerged and he joined Mick on the podcast to untangle the strands and set out in plain terms why this is an issue that requires action from both the board and its political masters.

NOTE: Since recording this podcast, the chair of ABP, Dave Walsh, has announced he is taking early retirement.

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Catherine O’Brien has had a varied business career flitting between law, the florist business, a veterinary products company and moving in the bloodstock world. Today, there is a bench warrant out for her arrest on a charge of animal cruelty and the Criminal Assets Bureau went to the High Court in order to seize an expensive car she owned which the CAB say is the proceeds of crime. So who is this woman and, more to the point, where exactly is she now. Irish Examiner investigative reporter Ann Murphy is on the case and she is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Noeline Blackwell, currently the chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, has spent her whole career working in human rights law. During that time she has always advocated for those who are seeking to have their rights vindicated, whether it’s through getting access to court or recovering from the trauma of intimate violence. She talks about the barriers that exist for the victims of violence who are seeking justice, how much has changed and how much more still has to be changed to accommodate victims in our legal system. Noeline Blackwell is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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A recent violent protest outside the Dail by far-right activists has once again raised the question as to whether their brand of intolerance is on the rise in this country. Throughout Europe, far right parties have been having electoral success this year, but beyond politics how much of a threat and these groups and how do they operate. Mark Malone, who has tracked the activities of the far right and works with the Far Right Observatory gives a fascinating insight into who’s who and why they need to be closely monitored. Mark Malone is this week’s guest on the Mick Clifford podcast 

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Shane Ross has written a major biography of Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, entitled A Republic Riddle. He talks on this week’s podcast about the difficulties he had in getting people to talk to him about the book and how he still considers his subject’s evolution as a political being to be something of a riddle. He also defends a central theme of his book, that Mary Lou is not fully in charge but beholden in some sense to the “hard men” who ran the IRA and still hold sway in the so-called Republican movement. Shane Ross is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Gavan Ring, one of Ireland’s leading tenors, talks about his life and work, performing post Covid, and why, when looking for a place to stay, it’s always better to describe oneself as an opera singer rather than a freelance musician! Gavan is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Sinn Fein’s health spokesperson David Culinane is promising to reform the health service for once and for all. Last week his party published an alternative health budget but his plans go far beyond that. But how can he succeed where others have failed? Where will all the staff come from to fulfil his plans, and does he believe that reform is possible without closing some services and shipping major political pain? David Culinane is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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The prospect of a border poll at some point in the future, and the expectation that it would lead to a united Ireland, has prompted much discussion, debate and books. Most of the focus has been on how exactly this will come about and what kind of entity will emerge from unification. Now, however, veteran journalist and writer Malachi O’Doherty has written a book asking can we be as one and beyond that, should we. Malachi O’Doherty discusses what is a unique and wide ranging examination of the past, the present and the possible future on this island.

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Kay Barrett, from Donaghmore Co Cork has experienced mental health difficulties which eventually led to her being imprisoned. Her family are highly concerned for her welfare and perplexed at a system in which the courts are forced to deal with people like Kay because the proper healthcare is not available. She is current serving a sentence for minor offences in Limerick prison and her sister Clair and aunt Carmel are particularly concerned about how the conditions in prison are impacting on her mental health.

Clair Barrett and Carmel Nestor are this week’s guests on the Podcast.

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In recent years the country has been coming to terms with how previous generations of young women were treated when they gave birth outside marriage. A dark and painful history has been laid bare in documents like the Mother And Baby Homes Report. But what is it like for adopted people today looking for the details of their birth and early life? Aoife O’Connell has been on such a journey and she has found that despite the excavation of the past adopted people are still not afforded the access to their own details that should be a human right. Aoife is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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How caring is our society and how caring can it be in a political system that champions the individual? Kathleen Lynch, Professor Emeritus of Equality Studies in UCD has written a book about how capitalism ensures we do not care for each other as we should, or, more importantly, need to. On the podcast she points out how caring is completely unvalued in society, yet for individuals it is, or will be at some point, our more primal need. So what has to change and how do we go about it? Kathleen Lynch talks on this week’s podcast about the central messages in her book, Care and Capitalism.

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As the winter bears down on Afghanistan there are real fears of a famine with over 25m people now living in poverty under the Taliban regime. Irish journalist Hannah McCarthy has spent time in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over last August and she reports that there is a growing humanitarian crisis. She has also seen first hand the result of the American led sanctions and she questions who exactly is being worst impacted in the efforts to displace the Taliban. Hannah McCarthy is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Journalist Sean O’Driscoll has written a jaw dropping account of the life of Rose Dugdale, the British aristocrat who forsook her life in the upper echelons of British society to join the IRA in the name of a socialist revolution. Heiress, Rebel, Vigilante, Bomber examines the exploits, politics and personal struggles of one of the most unlikeliest figures to emerge from the period of violence in Northern Ireland. O’Driscoll talks about how he came to write the book and the various figures who agreed to be interviewed, and the account he was told about Dugdale’s role in developing new bombs in a remote Co Mayo farm. 

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The killing of Tom Oliver in Co Louth in 1991 was one of the more shocking murders associated with the Troubles. The IRA claimed he was an informer, a charge his family deny. In 2017, the gardai re-investigated the murder and the team believed they had advanced the case. However, the case is now the brief of a British operation investigating collusion, called Kenova. But why has there been no prosecution? And what do two former British agents in the IRA know about the murder? And what does the garda commissioner know about it through his former role in the PSNI?

Retired chief superintendent John O’Brien spoke on the podcast about a case that plumbs some murky depths and for which Mr Oliver’s family have not received any answers.

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With the end of the Dail term in sight and a whole host of problems bedevilling the government, Irish Examiner political editor Danny McConnell runs the rule over the body politic’s performance since the start of the year. He covers all the issues with his usual insight, verve and colour and he even finds time to tell why it’s good to be a Dub. Well, most of the time. 

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Sonya Egan was recently imprisoned for two years for a campaign of harassment against former Sinn Fein TD Jonathan O’Brien and businesswoman Laura O’Connell. Some details of the campaign, which also involved Egan stalking Ms O’Connell, were revealed in court. But on the podcast Laura O’Connell tracks how she first came into contact with Egan, how things developed to the point where Egan was harassing her on a nearly daily basis and what happened when she was forced to go to court to ensure her own safety. Laura also details the massive impact the whole affair had on her physical and psychological health.

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The enveloping inflation spiral and cost of living crisis is dominating public life today and practically everybody has been impacted in one form or another. This is the third major crises the country has faced in little over a decade, following a recession and the pandemic. But it is the first time in a generation that inflation is creating havoc in everyday lives.

Irish Examiner columnist Fergus Finlay was at the frontline the last time there was such a crisis, working as a union official and then for the government that grappled with the issue, as well as rearing a young family. He talks to this week’s podcast about what it was like, the differences today and how we can tackle the current crisis.

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With the centenary of the start of the Civil War arriving next week and the conflict having been marked by a major conference in UCC last week, we are looking at the role of women in what unfolded at the time. For most of the last hundred years, women were largely written out of the period but that is now changing. Apart from the general omissions there were women who played particularly prominent roles in the Civil War.

Dr Mary McAuliffe and Dr Hilary Dully joined Mick on the podcast for some fascinating insights in the role of women in the Civil War. 

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Martin McMahon has seen first hand the inequalities within the Irish health system. A political activist, and co-founder of the Tortoise Shack podcast, Martin has had a cancer condition for the last thirteen years. His first hand knowledge of the system has opened his eyes to the gross inequities that current exist. But how can the problems be addressed and is the political will there to do something about it? Martin is this week’s guest on the podcast. 

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On 29 May the champions league final between Liverpool and Real Madrid took place in Paris but what unfolded was far more than a football match. Liverpool fans were dangerously penned into tight spaces ahead of the game, access was highly restricted and the folk memory of Hillborough in 1989 was to the front of many minds. After the match, the departing fans were tear gassed by police and attacked by gangs of thugs. To top it all off, the initial response from the French government was to blame the fans. So what happened and what does the occasion say about policing on the continent? Film maker Neil Atkinson, who presents the popular Anfield Wrap podcast was one of those present on the night and he is this week’s guest. 

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On Monday, Lisa Smith was found guilty at the Special Criminal Court of membership of Islamic state group, ISIS. The case, which included details of how Ms Smith, who was from Dundalk and served in the Irish army, converted to Islam and ultimately travelled to the Islamic State as it then was. She was detained, and married and then had to flee as Isis was in retreat, ending up in appalling conditions in a refugee camp. The evidence gave an insight into the kind of regime that existed in the nascent state and the depravity that was used to enforce the will of Isis. Court reporter Eoin Reynolds attended every day of the trial and he is this week’s guest. 

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Willie McGee joined the fledgling garda fraud squad in the 1970s and over the following thirty years his work brought him to the front line of the kind of frauds that would make some good movies. From the gang that diverted phones from a bank while claiming money on fake bank drafts to the blackmailers who threatened to introduce foot and mouth disease into the country unless a ransom was paid, Willie saw it all. Now he has put his experiences between the covers of a book to tell it like it was. Willie McGee is this week’s guest on the podcast.

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Nearly exactly one hundred years ago, Sir Henry Wilson was gunned down on the streets of London by two IRA men. The assassination was one of the seminal events leading up to the Civil War as the British government claimed that it had been ordered by the anti-treaty forces in Ireland.

Irish Times journalist Ronan McGreevy’s new book, Great Hatred, The Assassination of field marshal Sir Henry Wilson MP, provides context, colour and plenty of evidence from the time, the lead up to the killing and its aftermath. It also answers the question that has occupied historians over the last century. Who exactly ordered what was, at that point in time, a reckless operation. 

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