It’s the political mess Fianna Fáil can’t escape. Months after Jim Gavin’s presidential bid collapsed in spectacular fashion, the party is finally preparing to publish its long-awaited internal review — and nerves are jangling.

Gavin was meant to be a safe choice. A proven winner. A figure above party politics. Instead, a controversy dating back to 2009 detonated his campaign almost overnight, forcing a humiliating withdrawal and leaving Fianna Fáil badly bruised.

Now, as leaks swirl about when decisions were made, who knew what — and how much money was spent — the big question is where responsibility will land. TDs and Senators are still furious over the sidelining of Cork MEP Billy Kelleher, the secrecy around Gavin’s recruitment, and the role played by Micheál Martin and Jack Chambers in pushing the candidacy through.

With around €400,000 reportedly poured into a campaign that barely got off the ground, party members want answers — and some are wondering whether this is merely a face-saving exercise or a genuine reckoning.

On today’s podcast Sean Defoe is joined by Shane Coleman from Newstalk Breakfast to dig into what the review is likely to say, whether Micheál Martin’s leadership is really under threat, and whether this fiasco changes anything at all for Fianna Fáil.

Politicians used to fight elections on radio and in TV studios and newspaper columns. Now they’re doing it on YouTube, TikTok, Substack, and podcasts recorded in cupboards.

From Liz Truss launching a baffling YouTube show aimed squarely at the American right, to UK Greens embracing what critics call “cosy left-wing populism,” politics has fully entered its influencer era. Long-form, first-person digital media is no longer a side hustle — it’s central to how power is won, lost, and rehabilitated. And Ireland is part of this shift too.

During the presidential campaign, Catherine Connolly quietly dominated the under-35 vote by appearing on podcasts like Blindboy, Louise McSharry and How to Gael, while rivals stuck largely to traditional interviews. The result raised an awkward question for Irish politics: are podcasts now just as important as radio, TV, and print?

On today’s podcast, Sean Defoe is joined by writer and broadcaster Paddy Duffy to explore this increasingly strange corner of political life. Why do some politicians thrive online while others look painfully out of place? Why do so many still speak to the internet like it’s a press release? And is there a future where Irish TDs host their own successful podcasts — or would listeners revolt?

As ever, we’d love to hear from you. You can email us at 📧 newstalkdaily@newstalk.com

Netflix wants to swallow-up Warner Bros — home to Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, DC, Barbie and HBO — in a deal so big it would reshape global entertainment. But Paramount has crashed the party with an even bigger hostile bid, dragging in the White House, Hollywood unions, and a swirl of billionaire politics.

Prices, choice, cinemas, wages, competition… everything is suddenly up for grabs. Are we heading for a world where three giant companies decide what gets made and what we’re allowed to watch? And does the ordinary viewer even care, as long as The Sopranos streams in 4K?

On today’s podcast, Sean Defoe is joined by For Tech’s Sake co-host Elaine Burke to make sense of the battle for Warner Bros, Trump’s looming “involvement,” and why this might be the moment the entire streaming era pivots.

Email your thoughts 📩 newstalkdaily@newstalk.com and follow For Tech’s Sake wherever you get your podcasts.

Ireland doesn’t lack ambition. But from the National Children’s Hospital to Metrolink to housing targets nobody seems able to hit, our record on major projects has drifted into farce. We plan big, talk big, promise big… and then somehow spend years in planning, appeals, disputes, overruns, and political hesitation.

It wasn’t always like this. Ireland once built boldly. Ardnacrusha powered the country. The Luas, announced on this day 30 years ago, transformed Dublin. Temple Bar was regenerated with imagination and speed. Across Europe, countries our size continue to build metros, housing and civic spaces at a pace that makes us look frozen in place.

So, what happened? And more importantly — how do we get unstuck?

On today’s podcast, Sean Defoe is joined by Maeve Jennings, founder of Harcourt Investments, one of the key figures behind the early Temple Bar regeneration and now a senior player in major infrastructure projects in France. From Paris, she explains why Ireland’s problem isn’t talent but structure, why we struggle to assemble land, how special delivery companies changed cities abroad, and what Ireland must do if it ever wants to build a metro, a hospital or even a new neighbourhood without a decade of delay.

If you’ve thoughts on this, drop us an email: ✉️ newstalkdaily@newstalk.com

A row about renaming Herzog Park in Rathgar turned into a much bigger national conversation about how Ireland remembers its past. Do we keep the names we inherited? Do we change them for modern values? Or do we risk losing the clues that explain who we were in the first place?

Meanwhile, Dublin’s Liberties are having a moment — and not just because of their famous markets, traders, and characters. A new push to secure UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status has reopened an old argument about who tells the story of the city, and what gets protected as Dublin grows and gentrifies.

On today’s Newstalk Daily, Sean Defoe sits down with Dublin South Central Historian-in-Residence Cathy Scuffil — a walking encyclopedia of Dublin 8 — to discuss the real history behind the Liberties, including how tariffs helped define the community, why “Engine Alley” isn’t about engines, and the local origins of the term “tenterhooks.”

From Viking settlers to Huguenot weavers, Jewish communities to British imperial markers, Dublin’s map is a storybook. So, what happens when a modern city tries to rewrite some of its own chapters?

December does strange things to us. One minute we’re “being good,” the next we’re knee-deep in tins of Celebrations, half a cheeseboard and someone’s leftover mulled wine. Christmas isn’t just a day — it’s an entire season of grazing, drinking, skipping sleep and drifting out of our routines.

And no matter how much we pretend otherwise, the festive sluggishness we blame on Christmas Day actually comes from everything wrapped around it. The office sweets. Late-night snacks. The “take the edge off” drinks. The meals we inhale without even noticing.

On today’s podcast, we’re asking a simple question: can you enjoy Christmas properly… and still feel good in January?

Tara Duggan is joined by Registered Dietitian and Physiologist Orla Walsh, who brings hard science to the trendiest December habits — intermittent fasting, crash dieting, festive drinking, movement, sleep, and the myth that you can “fast your way out” of the season’s excess. Orla also offers a range of tips for enjoying the festive season in a balanced, sustainable way.

🌐 Orla Walsh Nutrition:
https://orlawalshnutrition.ie/

Gambling was once the quiet background noise of Irish sport — a fiver on a match, a flutter at the weekend. But new research shows the problem is far deeper, and far darker, than most people realise. GAA players are six times more likely to struggle with gambling addiction than the general public. Behind the roar of the crowd sits a hidden world of pressure, debt, secrecy, and shame.

On today’s podcast, Dr Kieran Murray lays out the latest data from his study on gambling within the GAA — including players describing addiction as a “curse” gripping young men across teams and counties. And Armagh football legend Oisín McConville joins Tara Duggan with a searingly honest account of how gambling hollowed out his life at the height of his career: the debts, the panic, the sleepless nights, and the day he lost €20,000.

If you’re worried about your own gambling or someone close to you, support links are included below.

📌 Support and Information: GamblingCare.ie
🔗 https://gamblingcare.ie/

📌 Gamblers Anonymous Meetings & Help: GamblersAnonymous.ie
🔗 https://www.gamblersanonymous.ie/

Across the water, the UK is swinging a hammer at one of the oldest pillars of the justice system — stripping thousands of cases a year of their right to a jury. Only the gravest crimes will still go before twelve citizens in a box. Everything else gets fast-tracked into judge-only hearings. Officials say it’s the only way to stop a court system collapsing under; critics say it’s the start of a very slippery slope.

So, are we protecting fairness… or quietly eroding it? And in a world of delays, intimidation, huge legal bills and unpredictable outcomes — is trial by jury still the gold standard?

Barrister and Fifth Court co-host Peter Leonard joins Tara Duggan to test whether one of our oldest rights is becoming one of our biggest myths.

📧 For views, rants or jury-box confessions, email newstalkdaily@newstalk.com

🎙️ And tune in to The Fifth Court here: www.thefifthcourt.com