499. RTE and the Apology with Hugh O’Connell

We were joined in The Tortoise Shack by Political Correspondent with the Irish Independent, Hugh O’Connell, to talk about the how and why (wrongly) RTE apologised to Finance Minister, Paschal Donohoe, for a mild historical criticism of Fine Gael and children’s shoes. We also talk about the role of the Pol Corr and its pipeline to Govt Advisor roles, the […]

Go to Podcast

497. Mary Lou McDonald

We were delighted to be rejoined in the tortoise shack by Sinn Féin Leader, Mary Lou McDonald. We discussed the latest Covid changes, the failures in strategy, her Party’s position on Zero Covid and vaccine inequality typified by the Beacon Hospital controversy. We also discussed the practical steps she would like to see beginning now in terms of Irish unity […]

Go to Podcast

496. Dublin Lord Mayor, Hazel Chu on Representation

With Martin away at the Public Accounts Committee, I was delighted to be rejoined by Dublin Lord Mayor, Hazel Chu on recent events. As you are probably aware her recent candidacy for a Seanad Byelection was met with opprobrium by members of her own party and a motion of no confidence was tabled (and then postponed) at the last Green […]

Go to Podcast

Sunday Special #35 – We Are All That Stuck Boat

For this weeks Live Sunday Special Tony was joined by Martin and by new tortoise shack member, Joella Dhlamini (Built Different is coming soon) as well as Irish Examiner Political Correspondent, Aoife Grace Moore and Cancer Pharmacist D.J Walsh. We talked about Aoife’s great piece on the United Ireland conversation, the Beacon vaccine controversy, half-arsed mandatory hotel quarantine, the Green’s […]

Go to Podcast

492. Mick Clifford on Bogus Self Employment

In advance of Martin’s appearance at the Public Accounts Committee, the Irish Examiners’s Mick Clifford co-hosts with Tony in this podcast discussing bogus self employment. Martin, who has pursued the issue of bogus self employment for more than 20 years, is our guest. We discuss the letter from the Revenue Commissioners to the Public Accounts Committee confirming that Revenue have […]

Go to Podcast

495. The Beacon Hospital Vaccine Controversy with Craig Hughes

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you will have heard that the Beacon Hospital gave “excess” vaccines to the teachers of a private school that just happens to be attended by that same hospital’s CEO’s Michael Cullen’s children. So we were delighted to be joined in the tortoise shack by the journalist who broke the story, Political Correspondent with […]

Go to Podcast

Ep.494 – The Seanad By-Election with Ciarán Ahern

It was a pleasure to be rejoined in the tortoise shack by Labour candidate for the upcoming Seanad by-election, Ciarán Ahern. We discussed his last 12/15 months, from getting married to running as a first time candidate in GE 2020 and now putting himself forward in the closed voting shop that is the Seanad by-election. He outlines his reasons for […]

Go to Podcast

491. The EU vs UK, Covid & More with Shona Murray

We were delighted to be joined in the tortoise shack by Europe Correspondent for Euro News, Shona Murray. We talked Covid and the EU response, the breakdown of EU/UK relations and the vaccine rollout. Shona tells us about the EU relief fund and how Ireland’s impressive GDP numbers haven’t gone unnoticed in many EU States. This is a great insight […]

Go to Podcast