Here's How ::: Ireland's Political, Social and Current Affairs Podcast
190 episodes — Page 3 of 4
Here’s How 88 – Nuclear Ireland
Denis Duff, author of the website Better Environment with Nuclear Energy. He’s also a mechanical engineer with 30 years experience in ESB power generation, and is now an independent engineering consultant in Ireland and abroad. I mentioned projections of how long global uranium deposits – known and unknown – are likely to last, at the […]
Here’s How 87 – the National Broadband Plan
Fergal Mulligan is the Programme Director at National Broadband Plan at the Department of Communications. ***** That’s audio from an Egyptian news channel called Extra news, it’s in Arabic of course. That clip is 17 seconds long, and it’s a news item that, in Arabic, contained 42 words. As I understand it, it was broadcast […]
Here’s How 86 – Broadcasting in Ireland
Declan McLoughlin is a senior manager and the head of communications at the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. The Times – but not RTÉ – reported on the disgraced cardinal, Seán Brady, who covered up the crimes of the rapist priest Brendan Smith, meeting Pope Francis at Dublin Airport. Communicorp, owned by Dennis O’Brien owns: Dublin’s […]
Here’s How 85 – Data Protection
Graham Doyle Deputy Commissioner, and Head of Communications with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. ***** This is audio from one of the count centres in the local elections. The people ah singing are from People Before Profit who lost most of their council seats, but they’ve come across housing minister Eoghan Murphy and […]
Here’s How 84 – Cervical Check
Dani McCabe is a member of the steering group of Standing 4 Women. We discussed several court cases surrounding the Cervical Check controversy. ***** I wrote a piece on the website last December about Brexit, with the title that might have sounded a little pessimistic. It was called It’s Over. Brace for Catastrophe. There’s No […]
Here’s How 83 – Right-wing Positions
Rowan Croft runs the YouTube political channel Grand Torino. He says that he’s politically centre-right, not extreme right or alt-right, though his channel heavily features figures such as Justin Barrett of the National Party and formerly of Youth Defence, Herrmann Kelly of Irexit, Jim Dowson, the former BNP and Orange Order member who has been […]
Here’s How 82 – RTÉ and the AA
Dr Michael Foley is professor emeritus at the school of media at TU Dublin – formerly DIT – also a member of the NUJ’s Ethics Council, and has been invited by the International federation of Journalists and UNESCO to write a syllabus on journalism safety and ethics. ***** Because of the detailed nature of the […]
Here’s How 81 – Unionists and a United Ireland
Jamie Bryson is the editor of Unionist Voice and a prominent Loyalist activist. ***** Homelessness has been in the news a lot recently, as it deserves to be. In most normal societies, even though it’s not really polite to say so, homelessness, in the sense of people living on the streets, or very marginal accommodation, […]
Here’s How 80 – Brexit Common Sense or Unicorns?
Richard Tice is a British businessman, heavily involved in property management and development, and is best known as founder of the pro Brexit organisation Leave Means Leave and former co-chair of the referendum campaign group Leave.EU. He wrote recently that May’s deal is the worst deal in history. Richard queried my quote from David Davis […]
Here’s How 79 – Cervical Fact Check
David Robert Grimes is a physicist, cancer researcher and frequent writer and commentator on scientific topics. ***** I was talking in the last couple of podcasts about water charges, and the resistance to them, particularly in the light of the summer droughts, and there was quite a bit of feedback about those pieces. One of […]
Here’s How 78 – Water Charges
Brendan Ogle is the spokesperson for Right2Water, and is Unite the Union’s Senior Officer in the Republic of Ireland. ***** In the last podcast I had an interview with presidential candidate Gemma O’Doherty, and I have to say that I found the reactions to it pretty depressing. There was a twitterstorm in a teacup with a series […]
Here’s How 77 – Running for President
Gemma O’Doherty worked for the Irish Independent for 17 years before being dismissed following her investigation of the penalty points scandal. Since then she has worked as an independent journalist on a number of high-profile scandals and particularly on failed murder investigations. On 19 August, she announced her intention to seek nominations to be a […]
Here’s How 76 – the Future of Labour
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin is a Labour Party senator and former TD. ***** I wanted to comment a bit about the controversy that blew up in the UK last week about Boris Johnson’s comment about Muslim women who wear burkas. Boris Johnson, in case you don’t know, is the Tory Brexiteer who resigned in protest that […]
Here’s How 75 – the Future of Renua
John Leahy became leader of Renua Ireland in September 2016. I spoke to him about aspects of his policies set out on the Renua website, including the proposal to Introduce 90-day detention orders for those Gardai suspect of being actively involved in preparations to murder another or of being responsible for directing the activities of […]
Here’s How 74 – The Case for Brexit
Graham Gudgin is a founder of Briefings for Brexit, and a research associate at the Centre For Business Research at the University of Cambridge and the Senior Economic Advisor with Oxford Economics. He was a special adviser to the Northern Ireland First Minister on economic policy from 1998 to 2002. **** You’ll remember that in […]
Here’s How 73 – Antivax Claims
Steve Hinks speaks for the UK Association of HPV Vaccine Injured Daughters, and he attended a conference in Dublin in April organised by the the International Federation for Injured Children and Adults. The conference was also attended by Anna Cannon of REGRET and Dr Jesper Mehlsen. The conference program claimed a speaker from the HSE […]
Here’s How 72 – Feminism and Trans Issues
Natalie Parrott produces the YouTube channel ContraPoints. I highly recommend her videos. I mentioned the interview I did Linda Bellos in February. In our discussion, I mentioned the soaring referrals to the UK’s Tavistock clinic (which specialises in gender reassignment) of children. I also mentioned James Caspian, the doctoral candidate at Bath Spa University who […]
Here’s How 71 – Referendum Campaigning
David Quinn is a founder of the Iona Institute, a newspaper columnist and a regular media commentator. During the marriage equality referendum campaign, David said that Should the referendum pass, a same-sex couple could demand a right to marry in a church … In Denmark, we have already seen that the Lutheran Church, a State […]
Here’s How 70 – The Exit from Brexit
Sandra Khadhouri is one of the founders of Renew Britain, a new political party set up to resist Brexit. James Cousins, a former Conservative party member of Wandsworth Council has recently joined their party but they have not yet had a chance to test their electoral strength. In our conversation, I mentioned The Road to […]
Here’s How 69 – Battles within Feminism
Linda Bellos is a businesswoman, radical feminist and gay-rights activist. She was a member of the collective that produced Spare Rib, a British feminist magazine, and was a member of Lambeth Borough Council in London and was the leader of the council from 1986 to 1988. The term ‘TERF‘ is widely used as a term of […]
Here’s How 68 – Comreg and Protecting Customers
I talked to Director of Retail and Consumer Services at Comreg, Barbara Delaney. Yourtel appear to still be advertising to the Irish market, despite being convicted on 88 sample charges (out of 880) of ripping off their customers. They were fined just €750 of a maximum fine of €5,000 in each case – a total of €66,000. […]
Here’s How 67 – Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Videos
Ken Foxe is a lecturer in DIT and a freelance journalist. On June 27 last, the Irish-American academic and blogger Catherine Kelly was leaving Ireland through Dublin airport when she was detained by two plain clothes gardaí, and questioned about online reporting that she had done on the finances of Fine Gael minister for Social […]
Here’s How 66 – A Libertarian in Ireland
Keith Redmond is an independent member of Fingal County Council, having been elected on the Fine Gael ticket in 2014 previously run for the Progressive Democrats and briefly been a member of Renua Ireland. He’s also a founder member of the Hibernia Forum. The Libertarian Party in the US is known for its anti-government stance […]
Here’s How 65 – Cop on Comrades
I normally wouldn’t do a podcast about a blog post, but this is a blog post that has been signed by almost 500 people, so it’s not an ordinary blog post. You might have heard about Dean Scurry, he’s one of the activists who organised Home Sweet Home, the occupation of Apollo House by the […]
Here’s How 64 – Investigation: Unproven Meds Part 3
In the main interview, I talked to Gino Kenny of the People Before Profit party. Gino’s Facebook page shared the Facebook group Medical Cannabis Testimonials Ireland & UK, and encouraged people to share supposed ‘testimony‘ of people benefiting from medical marijuana. The page promotes the most manipulative and misleading quackery; most of its posts claim that […]
Here’s How 63 – Investigation: Unproven Meds Part 2
I interviewed Dr Mariano García de Palau of the Kalapa Clinic about his claims to treat a wide range of ailments with cannabis. As he mentioned, there are no clinical trials to validate most of these cures. I also interviewed Dr Robert O’Connor, Head of Research for the Irish Cancer Society.
Here’s How 62 – Cannabis Oil or Snake Oil?
This podcast is the first part of a major investigation into people selling unlicensed substances that they claim will treat or cure serious conditions. This first part of the investigation, focussing on the Dublin-based Hemp Company. The Hemp Company’s page selling the Charlotte’s Web product for up to €5,500 per litre is here, That page contains […]
Here’s How 61 – Brexit Negotiations
Derek Mooney is a public affairs and communications adviser as well as a former adviser to the Irish government. He’s a columnist on Broadsheet.ie and Slugger O’Toole. *** In the last podcast, I was talking to Tom Geraghty of the PSEU, that’s the union that represents higher level public sector workers. The interview was in the […]
Here’s How 60 – Pay Restoration
Tom Geraghty is the General Secretary of the Public Service Executive Union. Tom disputed a couple of the references that I made during the interview. The report of MABS staff dealing with an average of two new cases per week here. The minister for justice has confirmed that there are gardaí suspended on pay for […]
Here’s How 59 – Seanad Referendum Revisited
Opposition parties have called for the Disclosures Tribunal to be expanded. The MacLochlainn Tribunal does exist, but the Boyle Tribunal does not. Yet. Honest. Village magazine summarised the Morris Tribunal report in 2005 saying “the gardaí are in a state of disarray, with low morale, poor discipline, lack of oversight, and a culture of silence…” The […]
Here’s How 58 – Déjà Crash All Over Again
Tony Groves writes the blog Trickstersworld, and we discussed this article which he wrote for Broadsheet.ie.
Here’s How 57 – What is the Pay Gap? Are Women Being Short-Changed?
Lughan Deane is the Communications Executive for the IMPACT trade union, who are currently running the #ClockedOut campaign. In the discussion I slightly overstated the dominance of women in Iran’s technical and engineering facilities, but the point stands. By contrast, women in Norway are remarkably reluctant to enter many male professions. In Ireland it is […]
Here’s How 56 – Tuam Babies and Reaction Part 2
Bill Donoghue is the President and CEO of the Catholic League. The article that he wrote claiming that the Tuam babies story is a hoax is here. The report by the Mother And Baby Homes Commission Of Investigation which detailed the forensic findings is here. The text of the letter by Terry Prone, pouring scorn on Catherine Corless’s […]
Here’s How 55 – Tuam Babies and Media Coverage
Brendan O’Neill is the editor of Spiked Online. His 2014 article that we discussed is here, and the interim report of the Mother And Baby Homes Commission Of Investigations is here. The second part of my coverage of this topic will be published next week. The global infant mortality statistics that I mentioned are here, […]
Here’s How 54 – Media Independence; RTÉ, the Gardaí and EU Web Controls
This is the link to Episode 41 where I originally interviewed RTÉ’s news planner, Donal Byrne, and this is the original of the set-up interview with Paul Reynolds where he gave what he said were details of the contents of the O’Higgins report, which was published two days later. That report, and the possibility that […]
Here’s How 53 – Conservative Peter Lilley MP on Brexit
Peter Lilley is the Conservative party MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, and the former Secretary of State for Social Security, and the former President of the Board of Trade. I mentioned George Eustace’s speech at the Farmers Club, where he talked about restoring powers over farming to Westminster, not to the Northern Ireland, Scottish and […]
Happy New Year from Here’s How
Happy New Year, and a short message from the podcast host.
Here’s How 52 – Fiona O’Leary and Riko Muranaka on Vaccines
Fiona O’Leary is the mother of five children, two of whom are on the autistic spectrum. She was a witness in the prosecution that led to the conviction of Patrick Merlehan for selling unlicensed and dangerous medicines. Riko Muranaka is a Japanese journalist and medical doctor. She is a specialist in infectious diseases. Her work has […]
Here’s How 51 – Smári McCarthy of the Icelandic Pirate Party
Smári McCarthy is a programmer, a writer and one of the founders of the Pirate Party of Iceland. This interview was recorded shortly before his recent election to the Icelandic parliament.
Here’s How 50 – REGRET Update and Procession against Islamic Terrorism
This is the document that I was pointed to while searching for the source for Anna Cannon’s claim that one in 30 or one in 40 people are struck with an autoimmune disease after receiving the Gardasil vaccine. In fact, what the table on page 8 shows is that 2.3 per cent (one in 43) […]
Here’s How 49 – Dr Brenda Corcoran of the HSE & R.E.G.R.E.T.’s Claims
These are R.E.G.R.E.T.‘s website, Facebook page (Update: the page’s content seems now to be hidden) and Twitter. This is the US Food & Drug Administration page that gives Gardasil information, which references 772 serious adverse events following administration of Gardasil, out of 23,000,000 doses administered. There is no requirement for proof that the adverse event be […]
Here’s How 48 – Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute
Niamh Uí Bhriain is a founder of the Life Institute, and previously of Youth Defence. We discussed the Roe v Wade decision of the US Supreme Court and the McGee v Attorney General decision of the Irish Supreme Court, and how they led to the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign and ultimately the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution.
Here’s How 47 – Francis Duffy of the Green Party
Francis Duffy is a Green Party Councillor on South Dublin County Council. We talked about his proposal to ban election posters and replace them with hoardings at council-sponsored sites. The use of election posters is already highly regulated in Ireland, with the dates and locations of posters set in law; posters can be up for about […]
Here’s How 46 – AJ Noonan of the Small Firms Association
AJ Noonan is the chairman of the Small Firms Association. The SFA’s pre-budget submission is here. AJ queried my assertion that building land around Dublin was concentrated in a small number of hands. Business & Finance magazine reported in 2000 that the bulk of the development land in Dublin was owned by just eight speculators – […]
Here’s How 45 – Mick Fealty of Slugger O’Toole
Mick Fealty is the founding editor of Slugger O’Toole, Northern Ireland’s foremost political blog. Voting for the Blog Awards Ireland will open soon, and I will add a link as soon as it does. Here’s How has been longlisted in two categories, Best Innovation Blog and, strangely, Best Vlog.
Here’s How 44 – James Behan of Men’s Voices Ireland
James Behan is a PhD candidate at Trinity College Dublin, and a spokesperson for Men’s Voices Ireland. He is also a staff writer for Trinity’s University Times. In our discussion, James referred to a study by Dr Roisin O’Shea which indicates a poor quality of decision-making in custody cases in Irish Circuit Courts. James has written for the University […]
Here’s How 43 – Gavan Reilly of TodayFM on Brexit
Gavan Reilly is the political correspondent of TodayFM. You can nominate the Here’s How podcast for the Blog Awards Ireland here.
Here’s How 42 – Kian Griffin on Car Insurance Costs
You can nominate Here’s How for the Blog Awards Ireland here. Kian Griffin is the spokesperson for Ireland Underground. The motor insurance market is worth about €1.2bn per year, about half of one per cent of Ireland’s GDP. The Motor Insurance Justice Action Group has in the past called for government subsidies on motor insurance, although they […]
Here’s How 41 – Donal Byrne of RTÉ
Donal Byrne of is a news editor at RTÉ who is responsible for news planning. The phrase ‘known to gardaí” appears scores of times on the RTÉ website and, as Donal Byrne rightly pointed out, frequently occurs in other Irish media. The phrase has been sharply criticised for the meaning it carries, including by novelist Frankie Gaffney: […]
Here’s How 40 – Mick Byrne of the Dublin Tenants’ Association
Mick Byrne is a spokesperson on behalf of the Dublin Tenants’ Association. They launched a social media campaign to highlight the condition of the tenants of private landlords in Dublin, along with ‘licencees’, people who pay share a house with the owner, who are not considered tenants in Irish law. You can find them on […]