In The News

Naomi James (38) was pregnant with her fourth child when, disillusioned with Ireland's maternity services, she chose to give birth at home without medical assistance.

Shortly after her baby was born at home in Drogheda in June 2024, she became ill and was taken to hospital, where she died.

Naomi was just one of an unknown but growing number of women in Ireland who opt for a free birth, – to have their babies without a midwife or doctor present.

Such is the concern over free births that the State’s directors of midwifery have warned the HSE that such births are linked with “perinatal and maternal mortality and severe morbidity”.

So what is driving this choice? How are home births different from free births? What role do online free birth influencers play in this dangerous movement? And how has Naomi’s family coped since her tragic death?

Irish Times reporter Ellen Coyne investigated free births in Ireland, and the people advocating them.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A summit in Portugal last weekend laid bare the growth in a pan-European remigration movement, with speakers who ranged from an MEP to Greg Bovino, a former US border patrol official who, before retiring, became the public face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in US cities.

The term means deporting not just illegal immigrants but all people judged to be unassimilated in western society, including citizens and the children of non-white immigrants.

In Ireland, the push for remigration is being led primarily by the National Party and its members Keith O’Brien (who goes by the name Keith Woods) and James Reynolds attended the event which took place behind tall gates and amid tight security.

The Irish Times gained access to the summit to see activists and elected representatives from across Europe, many of whom have close links to neo-Nazi groups, being cheered by delegates.

Critics say remigration is essentially a sanitised way of describing state-sanctioned ethnic cleansing. So does this represent a new phase in far-right activity in Ireland?

Irish Times investigative reporter Conor Gallagher, who has been tracking far-right groups in Ireland, reports.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For a child to access disability services they must have – as their legal right – an assessment of need. It puts them on a service pathway. But the waiting list is long and growing every year. It currently stands at 21,782 which means some children will wait years for diagnosis.

To speed up the process and deal with the stubbornly long waiting list, the government has announced details of a new “autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol”.

How will the new protocol work? Who will conduct the assessments?

Several stakeholders say no, but who are they and what are their issues with a plan intended to shorten waiting lists?

Social affairs correspondent Kitty Holland explains the new protocol, and the growing backlash against it.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Andrew McNair and Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has firmed up its forecast for a return of El Niño this summer, increasing the risk of record-breaking heat and extreme weather events starting in June and lasting until at least November.

Such is the threatened power of this weather pattern, it’s been called a super El Niño.

What happens when temperatures soar and the heat is simply too much, impacting our health and ability to go about our daily lives? And what about flooding? And wildfires?
That’s the sort of temperature level promised by El Niño. So what will it mean for Ireland?

Why, in a country where weather is the number one topic of conversation, are we so poorly prepared for extremes?

Caroline O’Doherty is the Climate and Science Correspondent with The Irish Times and she explains why a rise in sea temperatures in the tropical Pacific this summer could have such a massive impact on Irish weather.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Isak Andic, who created the Mango clothes brand, died from a fall while our hiking with his only son, Jonathan, in the mountains outside Barcelona, it was treated as a tragic accident.

But for the Spanish police, something about events on that hiking trail in December 2024 just didn’t add up.

First there were inconsistencies in Jonathan’s police statements. Then forensics found evidence that suggested something more sinister may have happened to the 71-year-old billionaire.

In May, in a move that created shock and headlines in Spain, Jonathan was arrested in connection with his 71-year-old father’s death.

He has been released from custody having posted €1 million in bail. But what happens now? Will the case go to trial to decide if the fashion mogul’s death was an accident or murder?

Madrid-based reporter Guy Hedgecoe has been following the story.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.