The Mick Clifford Podcast

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.

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 family behind the brand? Many people would have been familiar with the late Ben Dunne, a larger than life character, but what lay behind the character and what of the other big personalities in the family, from Ben Snr down. Matt Cooper has written Dynasty: Scandals, Triumph, Turmoil and Succession at the heart of Dunnes Stores. Matt is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the government introduced new rules in relation to immigration, principally directed at asylum seekers. Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said he is responding to a scenario in which this country has had a rapid increase in population. But is that the case, and is any such rise down to the number of people seeing asylum? Professor Ciara Symth, an expert in immigration law in UCG explores the facts, the myths and some of the lies that is now informing the public mood in this area. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 received much negative reaction. However, one voice that says O’Brien was talking sense is political scientist Eoin O’Malley, who is an associate professor in DCU. O’Malley, through his work has experience of the problems and foibles of young people emerging from education today. And he has strong opinions on whether remote working is actually working. Eoin is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 President of Ireland. In her inauguration speech, she said that the president should be “a unifying presence—a steady hand, but also a catalyst for change”. Irish Examiner deputy political editor Paul Hosford joins the podcast to give us the details as Ms Connolly aims to hit the ground running as she takes the reins. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 billionaire brother Patrick and John Collison from Limerick. The think tank describes itself as “on a mission to connect Ireland to proven policy solutions around the world”. But what do they stand for specifically and is their message resonating in the political firmament. Progress Ireland’s director Sean Keyes is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 that he was suffering from cancer. Carey was hurling’s first superstar whose exploits on the pitch thrilled the whole country. How did it all go wrong? What prompted him to head down the dark alley that led to imprisonment for the most grievous kind of deception? Eimear Ni Bhraonain’s new book The Dodger gives insight and detail in response to those questions. Eimear is today’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 time when the sun is shining. The Irish Examiner’s Michael Moynihan has spent much of his career tracking progress in the GAA and now he has produced a book that looks at the future, the hopes, the dreams and the threats that are being posed. Michael is this week’s guest on the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 that could potentially ensure both peace and justice in an area that has been devastated. But will it work? And does Trump have the patience and political interest in ensuring that the long hard slog is as successful as the photo opportunities he availed of this week. Professor Scott Lucas from the Clinton Institute in UCD joins the podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Irish Examiner Political Editor Paul Hosford joins Mick to talk over the shock departure of Jim Gavin from the presidential campaign and what now for the race for the Aras. On Tuesday the government introduced its first budget to the sound of groans from the general public and sirens sounding from economists. It was by any standards a week and a half. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.