Show Notes
On Monday, US rapper Macklemore was removed from Ed Sheeran's support acts following comments he made in early September in support of Palestine. Irish artists, Aaron Rowe and Beoga quit the tour in support of Macklemore on Tuesday. Arts and Media correspondent Evelyn O'Rourke joins Paul to explain how this is the biggest controversy facing singer-songwriter ED Sheeran. Later, Suzanne Lynch of Bloomberg analyses EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech
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Iarnród Eireann's scrapped IT project is back in the headlines, when it was revealed today that Indra, the company contracted to do the work, is seeking €30m as part of final accounts. Public Policy correspondent with the Irish Times, Martin Wall, joins Paul to explain the background to the failed project and what the plan is to rescue it. Later, Security analyst, Declan Power discusses the possible end of the Triple Lock and UNFIL mission in Lebanon.
Violent protests and looting spread across several cities in France over the weekend, as over a half a million people took to the streets on a wide variety of issues. The authorities plan to implement localised curfews in some areas to deal with the deteriorating situation. Senior lecturer in European Politics at UCC, Emmanuelle Schon Quinlivan joins Paul to explain the background to the crisis. Later, Adam Maguire discusses the popularity of Chinese EVs and why the EU has security concerns around the increasing level of tech available in the cars.
Award winning author Sally Rooney's books will no longer be available for sale in the UK due to her support for Palestine Action. Human rights lawyer, Caoilfhoinn Gallagher joins Fran to discuss the situation and why sweeping anti-terrorism legislation is having a far reaching impact on protest and culture. Later, Arts and Media correspondent Evelyn O'Rourke goes behind the scenes of NBC's Today show and looks at the success of Tourism Ireland's strategy.
Big Tech, Big Business and lots of politicians are attending the International AI Summit at the RDS. Fran and Paul are joined by Bloomberg's Tom MacKenzie to discuss AI in Europe. Later, Liz Carolan of The Briefing.ie and Charlie Taylor of the Business Post chat about the ups and downs of AI, dress codes and bad merch!
After five and a half years of illegal detention in Iraq, Robert Pether landed in Dublin airport on Monday morning. He was greeted by family and friends and spoke of his time in a Baghdad prison and subsequent struggle to survive before he was allowed leave the country. His lawyer, Irish man Peter Griffin, took up his case, pro-bono in 2021 having heard about Robert's case in his son's school newsletter. Peter speaks to host Karen Creed about the legal fight to secure Robert's release.