The Mick Clifford Podcast
Episodes
A FUGITIVE AND A PATRIOT: Rory Carroll
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A new book by Guardian Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll examines the hunt by British intelligence to capture Roger Casement and his role in assistin...
GETTING OUT INTACT: Micheal Martin
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In the week that was, the question that arose was – will he make it out of there intact? The subject of course was Taoiseach Micheal Martin and the ...
HOW IT WILL ALL END: Scott Lucas
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The war in Iran is continuing and Israel is using the opportunity to pummel those it considers the enemy in Lebanon. Add to that the fact that the wor...
The Mick Clifford Podcast - By-elections are looming
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
After the Presidential election last year saw Catherine Connolly elected President and Paschal Donohoe left Irish politics for a job at the World Bank...
FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS: Peadar Tobin
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
We are frequently being told that there is a constituency out there that is not being served by the mainstream political parties. Peadar Tobin believe...
ADOPTING TO LIFE: Paul Cullen
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Adoption was a big business in the Ireland of the middle decades of the last century, in a country where birth outside of marriage was considered a st...
SHOUTING STOP IN IVERAGH: Joseph McCrohan
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Rural depopulation and its impact on large tracts of the country was writ large late last year when the GAA published a report on the dangers of clubs...
LOUISE BURNE: Politics today
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The failure to prepare for the floods has left communities devastated along parts of the east coast, but whose fault is it? Also, has there been any w...
JUSTICE DELAYED IN LIMERICK: Mick Clifford
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s podcast, Mick swaps chairs and is interviewed by Deirdre O’Shaughnessy – on loan from he own Irish Examiner podcast – about the...
WATCHING THE WEIGHT LOSS: Aimee Donnellan
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The drug Ozempic has become a phenomenon across the world since its impact on weight loss was discovered as a side effect to its main function, the tr...
ROUND THE HOUSES: Paul Hosford
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
The Dail reconvened this week after the Christmas break, but already the Irish Examiner’s Paul Hosford has been to China and back trailing the Taois...
A ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: Tommy Cahill
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In November 2024, young Tommy Cahill found himself like many of his generation living the life abroad. He was in Dubai working as a teacher when he wa...
THE WAY HOUSING WAS: Eoin Ó Broin
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new coffee table book, written by Eoin Ó Broin and illustrated with the photographs of Mal McCann, looks at the public housing schemes designed by ...
POLITICS THEN AND NOW: Paul Hosford and Louise Burne.
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The start of the year, as in then, dawned full of hope and vim for a new government after the election in November 2024. Now, at the end of the year, ...
THE DUNNES DYNASTY: Matt Cooper
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dunnes Stores is one of the most famous brands in the country with one in every five shopping euros spent in one of their outlets. But what of the fam...
TALKING IMMIGRATION: Ciara Smyth
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week the government introduced new rules in relation to immigration, principally directed at asylum seekers. Minister for Justice Jim O’Callagh...
THE YOUNG AND THE DAMNED: Eoin O’Malley
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Comments by billionaire Denis O’Brien that some young people now feel entitled and that there is a decline in work ethic among the young have receiv...
CATHERINE CONNOLLY BECOMES IRELAND'S 10TH PRESIDENT
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, after 14 years in office, Michael D Higgins left Áras an Uachtaran for the last time and Catherine Connolly was sworn in as the 10th Presi...
PROGRESSING IRELAND: Sean Keyes
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Progress Ireland is a relatively unknown think tank from what might be described as the centre right of Irish politics. Among its backers are the bill...
DJ’s LONG FALL: Eimear Ni Bhraonain.
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
DJ Carey has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for defrauding at least ten people out of various sums on money on the false premise th...
TERRY PRONE: The Political Years
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Political communication was brought to a fine art by Terry Prone, her late husband Tom Savage and their mentor Bunny Carr. Their work was done and fel...
MORE THAN A GAME: Michael Moynihan
23 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The GAA has deep roots right across Irish society, culture and the economy. On one level it has never been as popular but often threats lurk at the ti...
TRUMP’S PEACE OF THE ACTION: Scott Lucas
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Against the odds, Donald Trump has managed, at least temporarily, to stop the bombing and slaughter in Gaza. He has brokered a twenty point peace plan...
A WEEK AND A HALF: BUDGET BLUES AND GAVIN GONE
09 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Irish Examiner Political Editor Paul Hosford joins Mick to talk over the shock departure of Jim Gavin from the presidential campaign and wha...
DEBATING A PRESIDENT: Gary Murphy.
02 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The presidential election campaign is underway but so far no fireworks are to be seen. But, Gary Murphy reckons, there are a number of subplots that m...
BATTLE FOR JUSTICE: Alan Kearney on his three year legal ordeal
25 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2021, Alan Kearney was heading towards the pinnacle of his career. He was due to be promoted to commandant in the defence forces and was in line fo...
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE RIVALRY: Eoin O’Malley
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Charlie Haughey and Garrett Fitzgerald dominated politics in this country in the 1980s, and according to academic Eoin O’Malley, their rivalry shape...
GET UP THE ARAS: Louise Burne
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The presidential race is up and running now, with Fianna Fail the latest party to select a candidate this week. Elsewhere, a whole host of independent...
THESE DIVIDED ISLES: Philip Stephens
04 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ireland’s history has been tied up with that of Britain for eight hundred years through strife, colonialism, emigration and at times friendship. But...
THE LONG FELLOW: Colum Kenny
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Fifty years to the week after the death of Eamonn de Valera, we talk to his biographer Colum Kenny about the makings of the man who dominated the Iris...
LEAVING CERT AND BEYOND: Jess Casey
22 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Leaving cert results are out and those who sat the exam are digesting how they did at a time when grade inflation is being reined in. But what doe...
RACISM’S UGLY TURN: Arpita Chowdhury
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Following a spate of racist attacks on Indian people in this country the question arises as to whether something new and ugly is going on in Irish soc...
LOST GAELS: Peadar Thompson
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The GAA in the north went through a torrid time during the Troubles, with members targeted and even murdered simply because of their membership. There...
ONLINE SAFETY CODE: Wild West era of social media is over
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For the first time, new regulations aimed at protecting Irish children online have been enacted – the ‘wild West’ era of social media is over. A...
THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN REVIEW: low on detail, high on promises
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The National Development Plan review was launched earlier this week to an underwhelmed response. An update of the previous plan, the review takes...
THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL: Cormac Moore
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
James Craig, the leader of unionist Ireland in the 1920s coined the phrase the root of all evil about the boundary commission, the body set up in 1922...
SHE WHO WOULD BE PRESIDENT: Elaine Loughlin
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There has been some rustling in the political bushes of late concerning the forthcoming presidential election. Suddenly, a field might be beginning to...
SEE THEM IN COURT: Sean Murray
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week there was some dramatic cases that came for hearing in the courts. Former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey pleaded guilty to a series of charges of ...
THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF SUMMER: Michael Moynihan
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is the time of year when the pulse quickens, the blood rises as county teams up and down the country do battle in the hurling and football champi...
HEALTH OF THE NATION: Niamh Griffin and Irene Feighan
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Irish Examiner’s Feelgood supplement a major survey of women’s health in Ireland was undertaken by t...
THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE: Fintan Drury.
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the destruction of Gaza by Israeli defence forces continues, bigger questions about how the world got to this point have gone unanswered. The pligh...
MURDER SUICIDE REVIEW: Jacqueline Connolly
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2016 Alan Hawe murdered his wife Clodagh and their three children. The subsequent garda investigation was found to be deficient in a number of resp...
THE UNFINISHED HEIST: Glenn Patterson
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The robbery of the Northern Bank in Belfast in December 2004 was both a criminal act and, most observors believe, a political act as it as carried out...
THE WAR ON DRUGS: Ann Murphy
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New mood-altering drugs are becoming available all the time but right now one in particular is eliciting huge concern among health professionals. Hexa...
REDEMPTION SONG: Eamonn Sweeney
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sportswriter Eamonn Sweeney set out to write a book about the GAA championship but succeeded in tackling a condition that had dogged him for nearly tw...
FIGHTING DISASTER: John Whyte
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a long way from the disadvantaged enclave of Rialto in Dublin’s inner city to the rubble and humanitarian devastation of Gaza but John Whyte ...
Fit for Purpose: Cliona Fole
01 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With health and fitness now a central part of modern life, a question arises as to whether gyms are suitably welcoming to women. Journalist and former...
100 DAYS AND COUNTING: Scott Lucas
24 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Next Wednesday marks the 100th day in office for President Donald Trump, in this his second term. It differs greatly from his first, but more tha...
BUILD BACK BETTER: Jude Sherry and Frank O’Connor
17 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the midst of a housing crisis this state also has a large cohort of derelict or unused buildings. Some enlightened thinking and political willpower...
JUSTICE FOR MY FATHER: Austin Stack
10 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1983, Brian Stack, the chief officer in Portlaoise Prison, was shot and fatally wounded after leaving an event in Dublin. The Provisional IRA were ...
STUMPED BY TRUMP: Elaine Loughlin
03 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump has introduced the centrepiece of his electoral platform, global tariffs. On what he described as Liberation Day he produced a typical sh...
The Forgotten War: Niamh Griffin
27 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Over 12 million people have been displaced from a civil war in Sudan that started in 2023 and continues. Around 1 million of those displaced are now r...
PRACTICING BUT NOT PREACHING: Ian Kilroy
21 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Kilroy is a journalist and lecturer in his day job but he is also a Zen Buddhist priest who has written a book that is already proving highly popu...
Taoiseach plays his Trump card: Elaine Loughlin
16 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The country heaved a sigh of relief this week when Micheal Martin’s meeting with Donald Trump went off without a hitch. The potential for a disaster...
CHILD’S STOLEN TIME: Jess Casey and Rebecca Meehan
06 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Providing an education for all children should be a basic duty of the state. Yet, for some reason, it doesn’t happen in this country. Every year the...
THE €32m crystal meth Kerry connection: Liz Dunphy
28 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tralee-based businessman Nathan McDonnell was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a transglobal drug smuggling operation involving a notor...
IN THE SHADOW OF DICTATORS: Cormac O’Keeffe
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine fell this week, at a time when Donald Trump has moved to completely realign the USA in the war. So wh...
WAR ON WOKE: Seamas O’Reilly
20 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump has declared a war on woke which has been music to the ears of many, most particularly those of a far-right viewpoint. But what does it m...
TO LOCK UP OR FREE UP: Saoirse Brady
13 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prison overcrowding has become a serious problem, with prisoners sleeping on mattresses and dangerous conditions prevailing. So is it time to ramp up ...
ENSURING THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Niall Muldoon
06 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Niall Muldoon is the ombudsman for children. His role gives him a perfect view into the problems that afflict the lives of children, right across soci...
ELECTRIFY NOW: Hannah Daly
31 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Electrify now: Hannah DalyThe loss of electric power in some parts of the country following last week’s storm has brought into focus the whole way i...
MARTIN BACK ON TOP: Elaine Loughlin.
23 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Micheal Martin was elected Taoiseach this week at the second time of asking. First he, the Dail and the wider public had to endure the spectacle of at...
FOUR MORE YEARS: Scott Lucas.
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Donald Trump is inaugurated as the next president of the United States, we look at what the world can expect. Will Trump 2.0 differ greatly from fi...
ALWAYS TAKE THE WEATHER: Alan O’Reilly
10 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Carlow Weather is a twitter handle that many might be aware of as a place to go for a usually on-the-ball weather forecast. Its operator Alan O’Reil...
FOR WHOM DOES PRISON WORK? Ann Murphy
02 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The issue of whether prison does what it was designed to do has been popping up regularly in recent years. Does it work? Does it provide rehabilitatio...
THE YEAR THAT WAS: Sean Murray.
26 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Irish Examiner reporter Sean Murray joins Mick to chew over some of the big stories from 2024, from failed referendums to shock resignations, from for...
HOME THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD: Colin Sheridan.
19 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tis the season to huddle around family, friends and community, but what of those who are exiled far from home? Many Irish people spend Christmas overs...
TRACING THE TRUTH: Ciaran Prior
12 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From an early age Ciaran Prior was exposed to the spectre of premature death but once he joined An Garda Siochana it became part of his job. Mid caree...
TO GOVERN OR TALK, THAT IS THE QUESTION: Gary Murphy.
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The election is over, the votes counted, seats filled. So what now? The people have spoken but what have they said? How long will it take to put a gov...
COUNTING IT ALL UP: Elaine Loughlin
01 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the second day of the general election count, the period in which the whole picture clears up to present the reality of the next Dail. Irish Ex...
The Count: Elaine Loughlin
30 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Irish Examiner Political Editor Elaine Loughlin and Special Correspondent Mick Clifford give their analysis of the key stories emerging from the GE24 ...
ARE WE THERE YET? Paul Hosford
28 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With just a few days to polling day we take a final look at the campaign with Irish Examiner political correspondent, Paul Hosford.Who to look out for...
Election Watch podcast: What can politicians really do about climate change?
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hosted by Irish Examiner columnist Mick Clifford, the Election Watch podcast brings UCC experts and students together to examine topics that...
THE BEND FOR HOME: Elaine Loughlin
21 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With just a week left before polling day, we take a look at where everybody and everything stands in the general election campaign. Has any issue real...
Election Watch: Is housing the number one issue this election?
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As polling day gets closer, the Irish Examiner and University College Cork have teamed up to present the Election Watch podcast. Have young people los...
SHOWTIME: Theresa Reidy
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Showtime was what political guru PJ Mara once described as the start of a general election campaign but how is this one going? We have had skirmishes,...
Election Watch: Have young people lost faith in Ireland’s politics?
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As polling day gets closer, the Irish Examiner and University College Cork have teamed up to present the Election Watch podcast. Have young people los...
SHOWTIME: Elaine Loughlin
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The posters have been printed, the canvassing routes worked out. The Taoiseach has made the call, the Dail has risen. Here comes general election 2020...
TRUMP’S TRUMP CARDS: Scott Lucas
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump won the US presidential election in what many are describing as the greatest comeback in US political history. But how did he, a convicte...
The Mick Clifford Podcast: US election on a knife edge - but who will win?
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Mick Clifford Podcast: US election on a knife edge - but who will win?Having gauged the temperature on both sides heading into next week's US pres...
THE CRUCIBLE OF THE ELECTION: Penn State.
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s podcast comes from Pennsylvania, where Mick has gone to take the temperature and see what makes MAGA tick. We have contributions from so...
THE FOREST MIDWIFE: Catherine Cleary
25 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Catherine Cleary had spent her working life in journalism when in 2020 she gave it all up to grow trees. With a friend she set up a company called poc...
SCOTT LUCAS: She ain’t heavy, she’s my sister
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s podcast focusing on the US election we look at whether having other candidates or issues on the ballot paper can impact on the vote f...
PITY THE NATION: Colin Sheridan
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Irish peacekeeping troops in south Lebanon are coming under pressure from Israeli defence forces as Israel moves into its neighbouring country, ostens...
LONG ISLAND’S SOUND: Michael Moynihan
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The phenomenon of Donald Trump is often associated with the rust belt states and among those who have been economically left behind in the USA. Not so...
Keeping an eye on the spies: Cathal Berry
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A recent report that the Russian agents have recruited a source in the Oireachtas has led to concerns about the state’s security apparatus and the i...
Bob Schmuhl: America, we hardly knew ya.
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The first our US presidential election podcasts hears from Bob Schmuhl. Bob, a professor emeritus of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame ...
FUNNY MONEY: Elaine Loughlin
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The budget was delivered this week and the general consensus was that it was a precursor to a general election, possibly to be announced in the weeks ...
MANUFACTURING TRUTH: Paul Rouse
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When he isn’t lecturing on history in UCD or presenting the Irish Examiner football podcast, Professor Paul Rouse mulls over how our world has becom...
THE ELECTION OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY: Donie O’Sullivan
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the campaign rhetoric ramps up and the polls continue to fluctuate, another would be assassin has been arrested in the USA. Senior CNN corresponden...
TIS THE SEASON FOR ELECTIONS: Elaine Loughlin
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the Dail returning next week and the budget on the horizon the expectation is that all politicians will have their eyes firmly focused on a Novem...
The Fighting Irish And Hitler: Clodagh Finn
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A new book details the fascinating stories of Irish people who joined resistance organisations in occupied Europe during the Second World War. Some ar...
TURNING A BLIND EYE TO VIOLENT DEATH
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Six and a half years after Jimmy Loughlin was beaten to death in Sligo by a highly disturbed individual the HSE has yet to conduct an inquiry into a s...
ALONE WE STAND? Declan Power
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A topic that is attracting increasing attention is whether or not the state is equipped enough to defend itself from all manner of attack, on land and...
Donal Ryan: Heart, be at peace
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Writer Donal Ryan talk to Mick Clifford about his latest book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Maurice Brosnan - Can Ireland build on Olympic glory?
08 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It’s no exaggeration to say the last fortnight in Irish sport has been among the best and most successful we’ve ever seen. We’ve had four Olympi...
Is Trump in trouble?
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the space of just a few weeks, the race for the White House has been turned on its head. It’s now Kamala Harris who will take on Donald Tru...
Four Shots in the Night: Henry Hemming
25 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Martin McGuinness assured Rose Hegarty repeatedly that her son Frank would be unharmed if he returned to Derry. Rose believed him and Frank came back....
SCOTT LUCAS: Can Trump be trumped?
18 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A tumultuous week in US politics saw an assassination attempt on Donald Trump and his subsequent victory march through the Republican party’s conven...
ARTHUR MATTHEWS: Will the real Kevin O’Higgins stand up to time.
11 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Arthur Matthews is a well-known comedy writer whose work includes Father Ted and the musical I Keano. Now he has taken a very different turn and writt...