This Week

To examine the collateral damage to the region we speak to Raya Jalabi, Middle East Correspondent for the Financial Times, and The Economist's Gregg Carlstrom

There are worries that an increasing number of PhD applications from Iranians are being rejected. Fatemeh Golpayegni is Iranian and also Associate Professor in School of Computer Science at UCD.

Aontú held its Ard Fheis in Laois yesterday and Peadar Tóibín, the party's leader, speaks to This Week.

At their peak, there were around 3,000 partially built housing estates in 2008 and 2009. Figures obtained by This Week show that at least 58 remain throughout the country. Eithne Dodd has been taking a look at the legacy of unfinished housing developments, known as ‘Ghost Estates’

Fiona Mitchell brings us the latest updates on the conflict as it reaches day nine. We then hear from the Beirut-based correspondent Rania Abouzei.

On August 27th 1979, the provisional IRA bombed Lord Mountbatten's cruiser at Mullaghmore harbour in Sligo, killing the British statesman along with his daughter, grandson, and 15-year-old Paul Maxwell. Paul's mother, Mary Hornsey, gives a rare interview on the event.

The conflict in the Middle East has caused substantial increases in the cost of oil and gas. Liz Bossley, who has fifty years of experience in international oil markets, gives her view on the current situation.

With Irish citizens stranded in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait, we speak to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee.

In the latest of our interviews with the leaders of parties in the Dáil, we're joined by Roderic O'Gorman, leader of the Green Party.

We hear from Reza Sayah (France 24 Correspondent in Tehran); Sebastian Usher (BBC Middle East Analyst); Dr Roja Fazaeli, Professor of Law and Islamic Studies at the University of Galway; Jackie Fox (Washington Correspondent); and Dr Edward Burke (Assistant Professor in History of Warfare at UCD).

After what seems like endless rain, we are beginning to see patches of blue sky and that means spring is on the way. Eithne Dodd has been speaking to gardeners and garden-lovers about when they will know it’s springtime

Guardians who represent the interests of vulnerable children in complex court cases are threatening High Court action over plans to regulate their service. We hear from Dermot Simms, former District Court Judge and now Chair of the Association of Guardians Ad Litem, and Pat Bergin, Director of the new Guardian Ad Litem National Service

In the latest of our interviews with the leaders of parties in the Dáil, we're joined by Mary Lou McDonald, leader of Sinn Féin

After a US Supreme Court ruling struck down previous tariffs, Donald Trump has announced new 15% tariffs on imported goods. Laura Noonan from Bloomberg News explains the new measures.

During statements on the Kenova Inquiry, Taoiseach Micheál Martin named Freddie Scappaticci as the former British army agent - nicknamed Stakeknife. Deirdre Heenan, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Ulster speaks to This Week.

A planned €100m critical-care wing for Dublin's Rotunda Maternity Hospital was rejected by An Coimisiún Pleanála this week. Sean Daly, Master at the Rotunda, discusses the current situation at the hospital.

Further US-brokered talks aimed at ending Russia's war on Ukraine are due to take place in Geneva next week, after previous talks in Abu Dhabi. Siobhan O'Grady, Ukraine Bureau Chief for the Washington Post, outlines the state of play ahead of the meetings.

In the latest of our interviews with the leaders of parties in the Dáil, we're joined by Simon Harris, Tánaiste and leader of Fine Gael.

The newspaper associated with breaking the Watergate scandal, and significantly contributed to US President Richard Nixon's resignation, was rocked to its core this week when management unveiled swinging cuts, including axing most of its foreign correspondents. Glenn Kessler joins Paul Cunningham for more.

We've just passed the one-year anniversary of the ban on the XL Bully dog in Ireland. Eithne Dodd has this report.

Iran and the United States are due to hold more indirect talks on Tehran's nuclear capacity after what were described as positive discussions in Oman on Friday. For more on this Paul is joined by Ghoncheh Habibiazad of BBC News Persian

The Global Sumud Flotilla announced this week that it's organising another sail to Gaza with the aim of delivering humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory and helping to rebuild its infrastructure.

The DAA chief executive Kenny Jacobs stood down from his position this week, after reaching a High Court settlement with the airport's operator and receiving an undisclosed payment. For more on this we're joined by Arthur Beesley, Current Affairs Editor with the Irish Times.

In the latest of our interviews with leaders of parties in the Dáil, we're joined in studio presently by the leader of the Social Democrats, Holly Cairns.

In the latest of our interviews with the leaders of parties in the Dáil, we're joined from our Cork studio by deputy Michael Collins who is leader of Independent Ireland.

Syria's government and Kurdish forces have reached a comprehensive agreement that includes the gradual integration of the Kurds' forces and administration into the central state. We talk to two Kurds in Ireland (Jude Bakar & Zhyan Phelan) and correspondent Jasper Mortimer.

On Friday, the Government increased grants to small businesses from €20,000 to €100,000. In a new approach, hundreds of Red Cross volunteers have been knocking on doors alerting people impacted by flooding about their entitlements. Eithne Dodd reports from Enniscorthy with some of those volunteers.

Tomorrow, Pope Leo XIV will hold a private audience with abuse survivor David Ryan who featured in the RTÉ Radio documentary Blackrock Boys. We hear from Deidre Kenny of One in Four, who will accompany David on the trip.

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that his nominee to become the next chief of the Federal Reserve is Kevin Warsh. We speak to Patrick Honohan, former Governor of the Irish Central Bank

In the next of our interviews with leaders of the Dáil's political parties, we're joined in studio by People Before Profit - Solidarity's Ruth Coppinger.

An opinion poll suggests that one in 10 Irish people - aged between 18 and 29 - believe that the Holocaust is a “myth". We speak to Holocaust survivor Suzi Diamond and chair of Holocaust Education Ireland Tom O'Dowd

Ivan Bacik, Labour Leader on how to handle Trump, the possibility of a United Left and the EU

After bombarding Ukraine's energy network for months, Russian airstrikes knocked out power for over a million people amid subzero temperatures. Emannuelle Chaze, journalist in Ukraine.

This week, six Irish people received an Oscar nomination - Jessie Buckley, John Kelly, Richard Baneham, Maggie O’Farrell, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe. Two Irish film studios - Element Pictures and Wild Atlantic Pictures – saw their respective movies Bugonia and Blue Moon nominated. Eithne Dodd, RTÉ Reporter

Sean Murray, Irish Examiner, reports from Minneapolis where a protestor and US citizen, Alex Pretti, was tackled by masked ICE agents yesterday and then shot dead.

Our reporter Eithne Dodd visited two salt marshes recently - in Cork and Dublin

Uachtaráin Fianna Fáil, an Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Trumps move on Greenland, Homelessness and Grok's AI.

BBC's Middle East Analyst, Sebastian Usher on the brutal crackdown by the authorities, which reportedly led to the death of thousands and has appeared to have crushed nationwide protests.

Suzanne Lynch, Brussels Bureau Chief at Bloomberg and Professor John McHale - Head of Economics at the University of Galway give an outlook ahead of this afternoons meeting of EU Ambassadors. The meeting is to assess how to respond to Donald Trump's threat to sanction 8 European countries for getting in his way to take over Greenland.

The beginning of each year is when this programme interviews the leaders of the political parties in the Dáil. In 2026, we're starting with the Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, who joined Paul in studio today.

The Dáil returns on Tuesday following its lengthy Christmas break. We were joined in studio by Sandra Hurley, RTÉ's Political Reporter, to find out what it will mean for the Government and Opposition.

US President Donald Trump declared bluntly this week: "We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not." The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said this week the US "has no right to annex" Greenland.” Paul spoke to Pele Broberg, Greenland's Opposition leader, and a Foreign Minister in the last government.

Iran has been roiled by protests against rampant inflation and a slump in the currency. Dozens of protestors have reportedly been killed amid an ongoing government crackdown. We were joined by Roja Fazaeli who is Iranian and also Professor of Law and Islamic Studies at the Irish Centre for Human Rights in University of Galway.

Over 500 students in higher education institutions were found to have used AI illegally in their graded coursework last year. The responses do not include some of the country's biggest universities including UCD, UCC, Maynooth and UL, meaning the figure is likely to be higher. RTÉ reporter Eithne Dodd told us what the findings entail.

The European Parliament is to consider whether to ratify the controversial Mercosur trade deal between EU and South America. We discussed the matter with Jorgen Warborn of the centre-right European Peoples Party grouping backing the deal and Sinn Féin's Agriculture spokesperson Martin Kenny, who stands in opposition to it.

Work is nearly complete on the aptly named 'Extremely Large Telescope' high up in the Andes Mountains in Chile. Tom Ray, Professor of Astrophysics at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies and President of the European Southern Observatory, leads the project.

Will the Government finally hit them, or will they be missed again? It's the major political question yet again this forthcoming year. We hear from Conor O'Connell, Director of Housing and Planning at the Construction Industry Federation.

2025 has been described as a "devastating" year on Irish roads, as concern has been expressed about the number of fatalities recorded. This Week speaks to the Minister of State with responsibility for Road Safety, Sean Canney.

Venezuela's toppled leader Nicolas Maduro is in a New York detention centre after an audacious raid to capture him by the United States. We hear from Venezuelans in Ireland; journalist Catherine Ellis; our Global Security Reporter Yvonne Murray; Caracas-based freelance journalist Gabriela Mesone Roja; and UCD's Assistant Professor Ed Burke.

The target, agreed by world leaders in 2015, to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels is now impossible, according to scientists. The consequences are global, and some of those consequences have already been seen in Ireland over the past year.