On St Patrick’s Day 2024, while families across the country celebrated, gardaí made a grim discovery, the body of a young woman in a canal just outside Monaghan town. She was 23-year-old Kelly Marie Lynch. Today a former PSNI detective who has investigated a number of prominent murders, including the 2020 killing of Katie Simpson by Jonathan Creswell, tells us why he believes Kelly Lynch’s case should be upgraded to a murder investigation.

Host: Fionnán Sheahan Guest: Catherine Fegan & James Brannigan

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We are in a new era of global superpowers, and while Ireland has always sat comfortably with America, this week the Taoiseach has been enjoying the company of Chinese president Xi Jinping rather than Donald Trump. It’s an interesting place for Micheál Martin to be, caught in the middle of the battle for the new world order. But why did China roll out the red carpet for Ireland? And from our perspective, is it all about money?

Host: Kevin Doyle Guests: Alexander Dukalskis and Cónal Thomas

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John Magnier remains one of Ireland’s most intriguing and elusive figures. His recent high-profile defeat in court over the ‘Battle for Barne’ dragged him into a difficult public spotlight, but what do the bloodstock billionaire’s early days and business dealings tell us about how he constructed his enviable empire?

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Host: Fionnán Sheahan Guest: Liam Collins

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As countries around the world celebrated the arrival of 2026, the Trump administration took the opportunity of a new year to herald in historic levels of chaos in diplomatic quarters. And as the events unfolding in Venezuela have shown, the US is clearly not averse to meddling in the politics of smaller nations.

Meanwhile, a former trusted adviser of the US president, Steve Bannon, gave an interview to Politico, where he claimed that we are "going to have an Irish MAGA, and we’re going to have an Irish Trump”. Making it clear that some elements of the alt-right movement have set their sights on Ireland.

Bannon’s statement begs a number of questions, such as how exactly would he and other MAGA influencers pull this off?

Tabitha Monahan is joined by Declan Lynch (Sunday Independent columnist) and Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc (author of Burn Them Out! A History of Fascism and the Far Right in Ireland) to ask how has this kind of nationalism fared with Irish voters in the past, what could MAGA influence look like, and how vulnerable are we to outside influence in the social media age?

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