The Mick Clifford Podcast

Roy Keane is a towering figure in Irish sport and even culture. From one of the greatest footballers to ever emerge from the country, to the man who divided Ireland over Saipan to the pundit everybody wants to see. But where did he come from, what relationship does he have to his home place and what effect has he had on the country, as it changed, as he changed. We Need To Talk About Roy – the Keanification of Modern Ireland is written by Dave Hannigan and Dave is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pressure is coming on Taoiseach Micheal Martin in the wake of the fuel protests and following the resignation as junior minister of Michael Healy Rae. We examine whether his leadership is now in peril, whether he can hang on for now and, beyond that, long enough to host the presidency of the EU in the second half of this year. Or is he destined to fulfil the maxim of all political lives ending in failure. Irish Examiner Political Correspondent Louise Burne is this week’s guest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Sunday Hungary goes to the polls in an election that should be of huge interests to all Europeans and beyond. The authoritarian leader of the last sixteen years is vehemently supported by both Vladamir Putin and Donald Trump, but is deeply unpopular among EU states. This week JD Vance landed in Budapest to campaign for him in an unprecedented move. On this week’s podcast Euronews Europe Correspondent Shona Murray describes Orban as a Trojan horse for Putin and analyses the impact of his authoritarian rule on both Hungary and the wider EU. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In March 1985, IRA man John Corcoran’s body was found outside Cork city. He had been shot as an informer. In the intervening years there has long been speculation that Corcoran’s murder could have been avoided and that he was sacrificed to protect another informer for An Garda Siochana, Sean O’Callaghan. The special branch detective who was John Corcoran’s handler, JP O’Sullivan, has now written a memoir about the times and the murky manoeuvres leading up to and following Corcoran’s murder. JP O’Sullivan is this week’ guest on the podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new book by Guardian Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll examines the hunt by British intelligence to capture Roger Casement and his role in assisting to foment, and ultimately attempting to call off, the 1916 Rising. The book is a unique take on the life of not just Casement but other figures who were central to the Rising and the British intelligence chief who was engaged in fighting a war against Germany as well as suppressing rebellion in Ireland. Rory Carroll is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 quandary was his Oval Office meeting with Donald Trump at a time of living dangerously for politicians who interact with the US president. Joining us to run the rule over the occasion and what else is brewing in politics is Irish Examiner political reporter, Tadgh McNally. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 world economy is shivering, what is the way out of this morass? On hand to give us some clues as to where we might go from here is an old friend of the podcast, UCD's Clinton Institute professor of international relations Scott Lucas. Scott talks about how this might end and why so much comes back to sentiment in the USA towards a president who appears to live in his own world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the Presidential election last year saw Catherine Connolly elected President and Paschal Donohoe left Irish politics for a job at the World Bank, political parties will have two by-elections to contest in May. What are the issues, who are the runners and riders and who can claim the seats? Joining Acting Political Editor Paul Hosford to run the rule over Dublin Central and Galway West are Political Correspondent Louise Burne and Political Reporter Tadgh McNally. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are frequently being told that there is a constituency out there that is not being served by the mainstream political parties. Peadar Tobin believes that his Aontu party would be an ideal home for such voters. He and Mick discussed how politics is and argued over who represents what in today’s fractured firmament. Peadar Tobin is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 stain. That was the country into which Paul Cullen was born and ultimately adopted. He has written a page turning account of his life as an adoptee, Outsider – Survival, Family Secrets and the Search To Belong. Paul is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 disappearing. One of the areas that has been repeatedly referenced in terms of depopulation is the peninsula of Iveragh in South Kerry. Now Iveragh is fighting back in a manner that will resonate across rural Ireland. Joseph McCrohan, Development Officer with the South Kerry Partnership and chair of the South Kerry GAA board is this week’s guest. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 whisper in Leinster House about the fate of George Mitchel’s legacy in the wake of his presence in the Epstein papers. And then there is the fate of the Taoiseach, Michael Martin. What dangers lurk for him, as they did for a predecessor Cork Taoiseach, in two upcoming byelections. Irish Examiner Political Correspondent Louise Burne is this week’s guest on the podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 not guilty verdicts against four serving and one retired garda in Limerick this week. All were charged with 39 counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice and found not guilty on all counts. Major questions remain as to why they were prosecuted, why the trial went ahead, who is responsible, and what impact this has had on policing in the mid west. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 treatment of type 2 diabetes. A new book looks at how the drug came to be developed, what effect it is having on society and where will it go from here. Off The Scales – The Inside Story of Ozempic and the Race to Cure Obesity is written by journalist Aimee Donnellan and she is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Taoiseach and getting a handle on where the new world order is heading. He has also run the rule over new immigration laws and whether the government is here to stay or on the road to nowhere. Paul is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 was faced with a dilemma. His father had just been elected a TD and would be leaving his council seat in Co Kerry. What more could a young man want than to return home from the sun in the dregs of winter to take up an often thankless role in a rural part of the country from which most young people had fled. He talks about his first year, the shock, the awe, the rewards and the rain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 felt behind the scenes of successive governments and among numerous politicians. Now Terry is telling all in her memoir from the political years, which includes a whole raft of narratives about how some major figures in Irish politics coped at times of crisis and challenges. Her book is entitled “I’m glad you asked me that”, a phrase she insists she has never, nor ever would, tell a client to issue. Terry Prone is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tralee-based businessman Nathan McDonnell was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a transglobal drug smuggling operation involving a notorious Mexican drug cartel. How did it ever come to this and what exactly is the connection in Kerry that saw the drugs being stored in a premises outside Tralee, en route from South America to Australia? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 acclaimed architect Herbert Sims in the early decades of the state and the people who now live in them. Flats And Cottages – Herbert Sims and the Housing of Dublin’s Working Class 1932-48 works as both a history of architecture and a social history of a changing city. But who was Herbert Sims and what can we learn from him and the times he worked in that can be applied to today’s housing crisis? Eoin Ó Broin is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, we examine where the hope and plans ended up. The last twelve months hasn’t progressed like that and some might say that in general things have regressed a bit. But what has the political year really been like. Joining the podcast to discuss the year that was are Paul Hosford and Louise Burne. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.