In The News

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin [https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/micheal-martin/] wraps up his four-day visit [https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2025/06/30/taoiseach-embarks-on-four-day-visit-to-japan-with-focus-on-investment/] to Japan today with a visit to Hiroshima where he will lay a wreath at the cenotaph commemorating those who died after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city in 1945. It’s been a hectic few days with an itinerary that included the opening of Ireland House in Tokyo, which at more than €20 million is the largest capital project overseas since the foundation of the State, as well as a visit to Osaka to visit the Irish pavilion at Expo 2025, an international exposition that is expected to attract more than 28 million people. Irish Times Beijing-based correspondent Denis Staunton explains why this visit is so timely and why it has focused on an economic relationship that has doubled in size over the past decade. He also explains the deep interest in Irish culture [https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/07/03/go-to-any-reasonably-sized-town-in-japan-and-youll-find-an-irish-pub-the-japanese-fans-of-irish-culture/] that has been building in Japan, from the development of Irish pubs to the thriving branch of Comhaltas. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

George Gibney [https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/george-gibney-case/] was arrested [https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2025/07/02/george-gibney-to-appear-in-court-in-us-next-week-following-arrest/] on Tuesday in Florida after a Garda [https://www.irishtimes.com/tags/garda-siochana/] request was made to the US State Department to extradite him to Ireland to face charges relating to alleged historical child sex abuse. The 77-year-old former swim coach, who avoided trial on sexual abuse charges in 1994 after successfully challenging his prosecution in the High Court, is now accused of 78 counts of indecent assault and one count of attempted rape relating to four girls; and the alleged attempted rape of one of the girls. All four were minors, aged between eight and 15, and were coached by Gibney. They made complaints to the Garda between 2020 and 2022 after the BBC and Second Captains podcast Where is George Gibney? [https://www.bbc.com/audio/series/p0k383l7] was aired in 2020. But why did it take over 30 years for Gibney to face fresh charges - and what happens next? Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally explains the background. Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Last month, a 22-year-old man named Evan Fitzgerald walked into the busy Fairgreen shopping centre in Carlow and opened fire. He then turned his weapon on himself and ended his own life. Following the incident, details quickly emerged about the young man’s fascination with guns and his previous run-in with gardaí. And this week, it emerged Fitzgerald had possession of more weapons than previously reported. The shooting, and gardaí’s interaction with Fitzgerald before the Carlow incident, have become the subject of much debate and discussion in recent weeks.  Senator and former minister for justice Michael McDowell described the Garda operation to sell Fitzgerald guns as “entrapment”, while Labour TD Alan Kelly questioned the need for gardaí to have delivered weapons to the young man. Today, on In The News, Irish Times Crime and Security Correspondent Conor Gallagher discusses the twists and turns of the Evan Fitzgerald case. Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

On June 30th 1922, a massive explosion ripped through Dublin’s Four Courts, after the Irish Free state national army opened fire on anti-treaty republicans occupying the building. Inside the building, the old, dry files housed in the Public Record Office quickly caught fire. The blast sent a dramatic pillar of black smoke hundreds of metres into the air and flung files, books and scrolls high in the sky above the Liffey. Paper scraps and fragments fell across the city with some even landing in Howth, 10km away. The explosion destroyed nearly seven hundred years of documented Irish history, including pre-famine 19-century census records and files detailing espionage, politics and the lives of ordinary Irish people. The blast also marked the start of the Irish Civil War. Three years ago, the Government launched Beyond 2022 – an international effort to try to recover the information lost in the fire and recreate a virtual treasury for future generations. And this week, 175,000 documents have been made freely and publicly available online through the Virtual Record Treasury. Today, on In The News, the online project reconstructing 700 years of Irish history. Dr Ciarán Wallace, codirector of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland, discusses the implications of the information lost in the1922 Civil War blast and the efforts to reassemble the millions of words lost in the fire. Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Declan Conlon.  ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.