The Mick Clifford Podcast

NEXT DOOR ELECTIONS: Seamas O’Reilly

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The UK elections has delivered a hammer blow to the Tories after fourteen years in power. Kier Starmer is the new British Prime Minister but what need...

Bertie Ahern, Roy Keane, the Saipan controversy and the great Tommie Gorman

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bertie Ahern, Roy Keane, the Saipan controversy and the great Tommie Gorman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RUNNING TO STAND STILL: Cathal Dennehy

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The recent successes of Irish athletes in the European championships have nicely teed up the forthcoming Olympics for most sports fans. Rashida Adelek...

ELECTIONS UPSET THE APPLE CART: Elaine Loughlin

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some had billed the Euro and local election the most important in a generation. Others said they all say that. One way of the other there were shocks,...

HUNTED: Dan Lawton

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most fascinating personal stories to emerge from the decades of violence in the North is that of Kevin Barry Artt. He was wrongly convicted...

TO BRUSSELS WITH LOVE: Theresa Reidy

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With European elections coming over the horizon next week we got political scientist Dr Theresa Reidy to tell us just what exactly we will be voting f...

EXAMINING THE EDITOR: Tom Fitzpatrick.

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s guest on the podcast is Irish Examiner editor, Tom Fitzpatrick. Tom talks about the challenges in today’s media world, from attempting...

COUNSEL FOR THE DEFENCE: Frank Buttimer

17 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s guest on the podcast is one of Ireland’s leading criminal law solicitors, Frank Buttimer. With over forty years in practice Frank Butt...

AN OUTRAGE AND AN INJUSTICE

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The fiftieth anniversary of the Dublin Monaghan bombings falls on 17 May. Thirty four people died in the four bombings in what was the worst tragedy i...

TEENAGE RABBIT HOLES: Debbie Ging.

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A new study into how teenage boys are drawn down rabbit holes online to content that is misogynistic and possibly have a traumatic impact on their dev...

HERO’S BROKEN WINGS: Roger Casement

25 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most tragic figures from the revolutionary period was Roger Casement, global humanitarian, Irish rebel, hung as a traitor. A new biography ...

STARDUST JUSTICE: Sean Murray

18 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

ON A CROOK’S TRAIL: Michael O’Farrell

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

TAKEAWAYS FROM THE FOOD SYSTEM: Joe McNamee

04 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 wha...

THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF MORRIS O’SHEA SALAZAR: Liz Dunphy

28 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

HEIRESS, BOMBER: Rose Dugdale

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 subseq...

SO LONG LEO: Elaine Loughlin

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 li...

LUCK OF THE IRISH PREMIER: Elaine Loughlin

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 fo...

EYEWITNESS: Eamonn Mallie

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Through the years of the violence in Northern Ireland one distinctive voice was frequently heard across all airwaves. Eamonn Mallie didn’t speak wit...

RECONCILING WITH THE PAST

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

DENIS MINIHANE: SNAPPING AT HISTORY’S HEELS

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 sev...

SECOND CHANCE: Damien Quinn and Saoirse Brady

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

DRAWING FROM THE WELL: Mike O’Donnell

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

LOSING THEIR RELIGION: Roy Donovan

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last week the Bishop of Kerry announced that the church in the diocese was facing further challenges this year with more retirements of priests schedu...

NICK FOSTER: Should Ian Bailey have been put on trial?

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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. H...

COLD TIME FOR FOOD BUSINESS: Ross Lewis

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since Christmas there has been a number of restaurant closures throughout the country, including the high profile Nash 19 in Cork city. These were pre...

THE HEALY RAES – A FAMILY OR A POLITICAL PARTY? : Ciara Phelan

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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, ...

WHAT RUNS FREE IN OUR RIVERS: John Murphy

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 w...

WAS STAKEKNIFE WORTH THE TROUBLES: Richard O’Rawe.

29 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 pr...

A JUDGE’S ACCOUNT: Bernard Barton [Long Version]

26 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Year That Was: Politics

22 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

IRELAND OF THE UNWELCOMES? Ciara Phelan.

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

A JUDGE’S ACCOUNT: Bernard Barton

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

FACING UP TO POLICING

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Facial recognition technology is now firmly on the political agenda after the riots in Dublin. The technology, which is in use in many countries, assi...

GAZA AT HOME AND ABROAD: Elaine Loughlin

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

READ MY LIPS: VICKY PHELAN WOULD HAVE WANTED THIS

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On the first anniversary of Vicky Phelan’s death, the Irish Examiner launched its Read My Lips public health awareness campaign to encourage women t...

THE KIDNAPPING: Don Tidey

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tommy Conlon and Ronan McGreevy are guests on this week’s podcast to discuss their book, The Kidnapping. In November 1983, the IRA kidnapped superma...

HOME THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD: John Wain

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 conf...

THE PIECE ON DRUGS: Cian O Concubhair

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Last week the Citizen’s Assembly finished its work examining how illegal drugs are dealt with in this country and whether a more enlightened approac...

WILL SOMEBODY SHOUT STOP? Aftermath of Hamas attack on Israel

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 o...

CHILDREN IN NEED: Maria O’Dwyer.

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 bec...

LAST TIME BUYER: Pat O’Mahony

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 educa...

FAB PHARMACIST: Laura Dowling

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 jo...

BACK AT THE COALFACE: Elaine Loughlin

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Summer’s over, the leaves are turning and politicians are trooping back to Leinster House. The forthcoming Dail terms promises to be very intere...

DAN TROY: From here to Wuhan

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 know...

BRAVE NEW ELECTORAL WORLD: Gary Murphy

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The electoral commission has recommended more TDs and more constituencies for the next general election. But what does it all mean, who are the winner...

HISTORY NOW AND THEN: Danny Morrison

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

TO BUILD OR NOT TO BUILD BACK BETTER: Neil Michael

18 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout the state’s cities, towns and villages, dereliction has become a blight. Everywhere there are vacant and disused properties at a time whe...

HOW WE SPORTED AND PLAYED: Paul Rouse

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 E...

Pride and regret for Ireland's Women as cloud hangs over World Cup homecoming - John Fallon

03 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Prof Colin O'Gara: Ireland's gamble on new betting laws

27 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 intro...

IS CASH STILL KING: Olive McCarthy

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Covid has seen a huge migration from cash to digital payments, but has this heralded an unstoppable move towards a cashless society? Recently there ha...

PUBLIC RYAN: Terry Prone

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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? Communic...

FORTY YEARS A GROWIN’: Mark Woods

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 h...

AS SMART AS WE THINK WE ARE? Gregory Provan

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial intelligence is having an increasing impact on how we live, particularly through the likes of chatbots such as ChatGPT. Some who are aware ...

GUBU: Harry McGee

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

ELAINE LOUGHLIN: A snapshot of Leinster House in the sunshine

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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? Iris...

TONY CONNELLY: Granddaddy was an RIC man.

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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, M...

IRELAND, WE HARDLY KNEW YOU: Cormac Halpin.

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

JOHN DORNEY: AN END AND A BEGINNING

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

KILLING THATCHER: Rory Carroll

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

LATE, LATE RUNNERS: Jane Suiter.

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Speculation over who exactly will take over as presenter of the Late Late Show has been mounting as various presumed candidates have stepped forward t...

AMERICAN DREAM TURNED SOUR: Catherine Shanahan.

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

SEAN MURRAY: They never came home.

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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, t...

THE MONK WALKS: Sean Murray

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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....

DEBATING THE REPUBLIC: Theo Dorgan

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Wa...

MORE THAN JUST A CORRESPONDENT: Paul Hosford

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Irish Examiner’s political correspondent has the lowdown on what exactly the government and state apparatus are doing to celebrate the twenty fi...

GEAROID O FAOLEAN: A BROAD CHURCH

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Prominent members of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael harbouring escaped IRA men, kidnappings replacing armed robberies, gardai saluting IRA funerals, agricu...

CARMEL MCMAHON: Of Time and Trauma.

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 b...

LIZ DUNPHY: Tina Satchwell, still missing.

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

SEAN HEALY: Fifty years-a-fighting.

09 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 b...

OWEN O’SHEA: LEST WE FORGET

02 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ci...

WHO MURDERED FR PATRICK RYAN?

23 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

POLLS AND THE FAR RIGHT: Kevin Cunningham

17 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 p...

FROM EXECUTION CHAMBER TO GALWAY: Ellen McGarrahan

09 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a young reporter, Ellen McGarrahan witnessed a botched execution of Jesse Tafero, who had been found guilty of murdering two police officers in Flo...

THE POLITICS OF HEALTH: Fergal Hickey

03 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This winter the country once again endured some shocking scenes of people lying on trollies in emergency departments in hospitals across the state. Th...

LITTLE REPUBLICS: Adrian Duncan

26 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

BUILD BACK BETTER: Ciara Phelan.

20 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

DEBATING THE REPUBLIC: Theo Dorgan

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Wa...

READING THE POLITICAL RUNES: Danny McConnell

05 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST: Gavan Ring

29 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

THE POLITICAL YEAR THAT WAS: Elaine Loughlin.

22 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 fa...

SEAN MURRAY: The Regency murder trial.

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

PIECING TOGETHER A FAMILY: Thomas Garavan

08 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

NIALL KELLEHER: KILLARNEY A WELCOMING REFUGE

02 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

As numbers of refugees from the war in Ukraine and asylum seekers fleeing other forms of conflict continue to arrive in the country, accommodation ser...

BUILDING UP: Michael O’Flynn and Rory Hearne.

24 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 TRUMP CARD: Bob Schmuhl.

17 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

DAVID QUINN: Please don’t let me be misunderstood.

11 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

David Quinn is for many a standard bearer of conservative Catholicism, through both his commentary in the media and his stewardship of the Iona Instit...

WORST LAID PLANS: Cianan Brennan

04 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The planning board An Bord Pleanala has been beset by a series of controversies involving malpractice and misgovernance in recent months. Last week th...

CATHERINE THE FAKE: ANN MURPHY

27 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine O’Brien has had a varied business career flitting between law, the florist business, a veterinary products company and moving in the blood...

WHERE LAW AND JUSTICE PASS EACH OTHER BY: Noeline Blackwell

20 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Noeline Blackwell, currently the chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, has spent her whole career working in human rights law. During that...

REELING IN THE FAR RIGHT: Mark Malone.

13 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

SHANE ROSS: Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Shane.

06 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

HEALTHY DISCUSSION: David Culinane.

22 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 alte...

CAN IRELAND BE ONE? Malachi O’Doherty

15 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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, d...

A scandal that never sleeps: Kay Barrett

12 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Kay Barrett, from Donaghmore Co Cork has experienced mental health difficulties which eventually led to her being imprisoned. Her family are highly co...

ADOPTION STORY: Aoife O’Connell

01 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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. ...

CARING OVER CAPITALISM

25 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS OUT OF SIGHT: Hannah McCarthy

18 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 jo...

HEIRESS, BOMBER: Sean O’Driscoll

11 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...