‘No smoking gun’ as Gerry Adams court case ends

Three victims of the IRA’s bombing campaign in Britain have spent the past four years building a legal case in an attempt to prove that Gerry Adams was a leading member of the IRA during the Troubles.The former Sinn Féin leader spent two days in the witness box in London, maintaining he was never a member of the republican paramilitary organisation responsible for the injuries of John Clark in the Old Bailey explosion in 1973, Jonathan Ganesh at Canary Wharf in 1996 and Barry Laycock a few months later in Manchester.The 77-year-old appeared, according to Irish Times Ireland and Britain editor Mark Hennessy, frail but he was robust in his denial of the claims.So what happens next? Why might the judge rule that the case should never have been brought? And why did Adams wear a bulletproof vest on the first day of the hearing?As the court prepares to sit for its final day, Hennessy explains the background to the case and the evidence presented.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Michael and Rose Murray were refused planning permission for a substantial dormer bungalow in 2006 on land they owned in Co Meath, they went ahead with more ambitious plans anyway. They built a detached house that was twice the size of the one denied permission at scenic Faughan Hill. Shortly after they moved in, a complaint to Meath Co Council kick-started an epic legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court as the couple sought, to no avail over two decades, to be granted retrospective planning permission for their house. The process culminated this week with the council seizing the property. Irish Times science correspondent Caroline O’Doherty, who has been following the case over the decades, gives the background; while Irish Times legal affairs correspondent Mary Carolan explains what happened in court this week – and why it might not be the last the courts have seen of this saga.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you got an invoice you’d been waiting for from your builder for work done, you’d get ready to pay it, wouldn’t you?And if, a couple minutes after that, you got another invoice from the builder saying that actually he’d made a mistake and he’d given you the wrong bank details, you’d think nothing of it and proceed to pay.Well that’s exactly what the reader who contacts our consumer affairs correspondent Conor Pope did. She sent the requested €30,000 to her builder and thought nothing more of it – until a week later when her builder contacted her politely wondering if where the payments was.She is tech savvy, has been made aware through her work about all kinds of fraud, and is cautious by nature yet she had been the victim of payment redirection fraud – also known as invoice fraud.Conor Pope came into the studio to explain how this scam worked and why this particular case should be a lesson to everyone who believes invoice scams are only targeted at big business.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To keep Irish alive as a language for the modern world, new words are added all the time.Bingewatch (craosfhéachaint), cryptocurrency (criptea-airgeadra), influencer (tionchairí ar líne) and mansplaining (fearmhíniú) are among the relatively recent English words that now have Irish translations.It's great for communication, but who decides on these new translations – and how?Irish Language Editor Éanna Ó Caollaí, writer Alan Titley and Cormac Breathnach from Focloir.ie are here to explain how new Irish words are born. This podcast is available in English and Irish.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

De réir mar a thagann coincheapa agus téarmaí nua chun cinn sa saol, tagann focail nua chun cinn sa chaint mar chur síos orthu.  Ar nós gach pobal teanga eile, forbraíonn focail, nathanna agus téarmaíocht go nádúrtha i bpobal labhartha na Gaeilge. Uaireanta eile, nuair a thagann téarmaí iasachta isteach sa ghnáthchaint, cumtar focail nua Gaeilge mar chur síos orthu le cur le stór na bhfocal in focloir.ie.Is samplaí iad Bingewatch, cryptocurrency, influencer agus mansplaining de fhocail nua a tháinig chun cinn sa Bhéarla le blianta beaga anuas. Ach cá as a dtagann na focail Gaeilge ar na coincheapa sin? Agus cén chaoi a gcuirtear le stór na bhfocal Gaeilge iad?Labhair Eagarthóir Gaeilge an Irish Times, Éanna Ó Caollaí, leis an scríbhneoir Alan Titley agus le Cormac Breathnach, bainisteoir tionscadail foclóireachta le foclóir.ie, faoin gcur chuige.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its fifth year, day-to-day life has become wearyingly normal.Having endured one of the coldest winters on record – mostly without electricity because of Russia’s bombing of power plants – the grinding misery of trying to survive for Ukranians goes on.The devastation in the cities targeted by Russia is clear to see and cost in lives immense. Civilians are paying a massive price: official figures note that 55,000 Ukranians have been killed on the battlefield and the total death toll could be as high as 200,000 people. It is thought that 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed – though the Kremlin has not released figures.Inna Sovsun, a Ukrainian MP from the opposition Holos party, explains what life is like for her in the war, how successive peace talks have been weighted in Russia’s favour, and how her job as a legislator still goes on with, for her, the added worry that her partner is fighting on the front line.Her resilience and determination that Russia cannot win, is she says, shared by her compatriots.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey and Suzanne Brennan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Israeli air strikes on Lebanon have been relentless and growing in ferocity since the US and Israel launched its war against Iran on February 28th.Saying it is targeting Hizbullah, the Iran-backed militia that essentially functions as a state-within-a state in Lebanon, Israel issues evacuation orders to residents in advance of its missile attacks. That has prompted a mass displacement of people seeking safety.On Wednesday night, air strikes hit the Beirut seafront killing eight people and injuring more than 30 displaced people; families who had fled their homes on Israeli instructions and who were living in tents near the beach.Sally Hayden, who reports from the region for The Irish Times, lives in Beirut.To understand how the attacks are impacting Beirut residents, she visited churches, halls and even a football stadium where displaced people, including thousands of children, are seeking safety in very basic conditions.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

News that Kinahan cartel founder Christy Kinahan snr and his sons, Daniel and Christopher jnr, have not left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for four years offers real insight into how small their world has become.Garda sources say that finding the Kinahans has never been the problem for the teams of detectives investigating them. What has proved difficult is building a case against the men who are the reported leaders of one of the biggest drugs cartels in the world.According to crime and security editor Conor Lally they are literally too scared to leave the UAE for fear of losing control of their lives and their liberty. Why? And why have they not been brought to justice given that a Garda file on the Kinahan leadership was submitted to the DPP in 2023.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Andrew McNair. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first wave of attacks on Iran, a primary school was hit, with a reported death toll of 175, most of them young girls.It is the deadliest known episode of civilian casualties since the US and Israel launched its war in the region on February 28th.In the immediate aftermath, no side took responsibility and who is to blame has become a question that the Trump administration is being called upon to answer.And its answers are confusing and evasive, including the president’s claim that the school was hit by Iran.While both Israel and the US say they are investigating, and with outside reporters unable to reach the scene, Malachy Browne and the Visual Investigations Team at the New York Times began to piece together what happened. So how did the team do it and what does this mean for the US strategy of “precision strikes”? Browne explains.Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan and Declan Conlon.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the conflict in Iran continues and spreads, global markets are down and oil prices are soaring. So what impact could the conflict have on the global economy and on energy costs here in Ireland? Irish Times economics columnist Cliff Taylor explains what we know. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.