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We’re now just hours away from a public sector strike that will bring disruption not seen in a generation. A row over public sector pay has brought more than 400,000 workers to the brink of industrial action, with teachers and nurse among those set to down tools on Wednesday. So why aren’t the Government and the unions talking, and what would a strike on this scale mean for the country? Host; Kevin Doyle, Guests; Donal O'Donovan and Aisling Moloney We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Public lotteries have been a popular going concern for centuries.   The prospect of winning big with a low stake is undeniably attractive – it could be you, as the famous slogan goes.   In a fast-paced, lifestyle-focused social media age, the lottery takes on an ever more enviable quality when you can scroll through video after video of happy jackpot winners enjoying their prizes.   Such a strategy is key to the success of competition giveaway platforms like Ooosch, which has been operating in Ireland and the UK since the turn of the decade.   But do outlets such as Ooosch represent a form of gambling?   If so, is regulation required? And if not, why not?   On this episode of The Indo Daily, host Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Irish Independent journalists John Meagher and Sean Pollock to examine the ever-changing face of public giveaways.   The Indo Daily is part of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In recent weeks, the 2020 French hack into the secret gangster phone network Encrochat has continued to see Northern Ireland drug dealers sent to Maghaberry.Multiple prison sentences have been handed down to some significant figures from Northern Ireland’s criminal world. Gangsters like ‘cute hur’, ‘mint wind’ and ‘ultra gold’ are just some of those who went down after the notorious platform spilled its secrets.  Todays episode of The Indo Daily is brought to us by our sister podcast The BelTel as Ciarán Dunbar is joined by Belfast Telegraph’s crime correspondent Allison Morris. We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was in April 1992 when Patrick 'Patsy' O'Sullivan called into his brother Jerry's home like it was any other day, but it’s a day that will forever remain etched in Jerry’s memory. Patrick went missing from his home in Co Kerry that year, and despite extensive searches and emotional appeals, efforts to find him proved fruitless. It would take the O'Sullivan family 34 years to find out the truth. On today’s Indo Daily, Tessa Fleming is joined by Kerryman journalist Sinead Kelleher and by Jerry O'Sullivan, Patsy’s brother, to discuss his disappearance and how they eventually found out what happened to him. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For a few hours, Budget 2027 appeared to have escaped without a major political banana skin. Then came the news that RTÉ would receive €20m less next year than it had expected, and suddenly the national broadcaster and the Government were at loggerheads. RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst says the broadcaster had planned on the promised €260m, and has warned that some difficult decisions may now have to be made. But Media Minister Patrick O'Donovan says he isn't satisfied with the pace of reform at Montrose, raising the question of whether RTÉ is effectively being punished for failing to change quickly enough. So could the fallout ultimately mean cuts to programmes, sport or jobs, and what does this latest row tell us about the increasingly fraught relationship between Government and the national broadcaster? On this Extra episode of The Indo Daily, Kevin Doyle is joined by Irish Independent political correspondent Conal Thomas to examine the €20m bombshell and ask what gets cut at RTÉ now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A mysterious death inside a secretive Russian plague laboratory has triggered international concern and some deeply uncomfortable questions. As officials insist there is no wider threat, a sinister mix of rumours, misinformation and conspiracy theory is spreading almost as quickly as the story itself. But Russia has a dark history with biological weapons, so when Moscow says everything is under control, how much can we really trust what we’re being told? And in a world still scarred by Covid, could the fear of another outbreak itself become a weapon? Today on the Indo Daily, Kevin Doyle is joined by Irish Independent World News Editor Gareth O’Connor to ask what really happened inside that Russian lab, and whether the truth could be the hardest thing of all to contain. ­ We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former prince Andrew is mounting a legal challenge against the warrants that allowed police to raid his home in February. It’s the first time in nearly four centuries that a member of the Royal Family has launched a legal battle to stop criminal proceedings against them.   And while the legal claims have made headlines, Andrew has also been quietly welcomed back by Norfolk’s aristocratic set.  Does this mean his time in social isolation may be coming to an end? Host; Fionnán Sheahan and Guests; Enda Brady and Jennie Bond We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Extra episode of The Indo Daily is brought to you by our personal finance show Money Talks. Budget 2027 is in the books, so it's time to do some calculations. How much better – or worse – off are we? Has the government done enough to ease Ireland's cost-of-living crisis? On this episode, host Katie Byrne is joined by Charlie Weston, Saoirse Hanley and Sinead Ryan of the Irish Independent's business team to tot up the winners and losers of this year's major financial shake-up. The Indo Daily is part of the Trust Project. You can see our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism The content of this podcast is for information purposes and does not constitute investment advice or recommendation of any investment product. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Irish house prices finally showing signs of slowing, could the seemingly relentless rise in property values be reaching a turning point?  Higher interest rates, the cost-of-living squeeze and the limits of what buyers can afford are beginning to take some heat out of the market, with Richard Curran warning that “we’re reaching the ceiling of what we can put our hands on or borrow or repay”.  But with demand still high and housing supply struggling to keep pace, does a slowdown really mean prices could start to fall, or are we simply entering a period where, as Richard puts it, “we could actually see prices flatline for a while”?  And after more than a decade of rising values, what would falling house prices mean for first-time buyers, homeowners and the Government’s housing strategy?  Richard also looks back to Budget 2007 and the uncomfortable parallels with today, when a booming economy and apparently healthy public finances masked the trouble that was to come.  Twenty years on, billions are once again pouring into the Exchequer, this time through corporation tax, but Richard warns that “we haven’t put away enough of that money”.  And after €160bn in corporation tax receipts over the past decade, he asks a striking question: “How did we allow ourselves to get into a situation where that’s even an issue?”  Today on the Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheehan is joined by Irish Independent columnist Richard Curran to ask if Ireland’s housing boom is finally running out of road and whether, when it comes to the lessons of 2007, “we have learned that lesson” at all.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already transforming the legal world, but could we really trust it to decide someone’s fate in court? At the Kilkenny Law Festival, four leading AI models were asked to rule on a fictional but complex extradition case, complete with deliberately planted legal traps. The results revealed just how convincing AI-generated judgments can appear, while also exposing some significant flaws in how the technology understands and applies the law. Today on the Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Irish Independent legal affairs editor Shane Phelan to examine the experiment and ask whether robot judges could one day become a reality. We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Mark Little sold his news verification startup Storyful to Rupert Murdoch for $25m, he was summoned to the Australian's New York office. "Let's go make some f***ing money," Murdoch told him, according to Little. This episode of The Indo Daily is brought to you by our sister podcast The Big Tech Show, as former RTE anchorman-turned-entrepreneur talks in depth about his time running Twitter in Ireland, his challenges as a startup founder and what he thinks about the future of social media and AI. https://www.independent.ie/service/why-you-can-trust-the-irish-independent/a/98708550.html See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Through his Press Up group, Paddy McKillen Jr built one of Ireland’s biggest hospitality empires, employing thousands of people across dozens of venues. The son of billionaire property developer Paddy McKillen Sr, he appeared to be building a formidable legacy of his own.  But last week, the High Court heard he had just €270 in a Revolut account, against liabilities of almost €28 million. So, how did it all unravel, and could he ever build again?  Today on The Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by the Irish Independent’s Shane Phelan and John Burns to explore how Paddy McKillen Jr’s business empire came apart, and what might come next.  We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone wants a piece of the budget pie – so what will Budget 2027 do for you? With energy prices in turmoil, unfulfilled promises on childcare, soaring house prices and trade unions threatening strike action, expectations are building ahead of next Tuesday's announcement. On today’s Indo Daily, Tessa Fleming is joined by political correspondent with the Irish Independent Aisling Moloney to examine how far the Government will go, what is off the table, and who, if anybody, could be in for a windfall. We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s Indo Daily is brought to you by our sister podcast, Indo Sport. Irish Independent soccer correspondent Dan McDonnell joined the team to discuss the FAI’s appearance before the Oireachtas. Among the issues raised at Leinster House were safeguarding and governance, including the fallout surrounding Ireland’s recent match against Israel. We want to earn your trust and are members of the Trust Project. See our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two people who swore affidavits connected to Conor McGregor’s appeal in the Nikita Hand civil rape case have now been charged with perjury. Samantha O’Reilly and Steven Cummins had provided evidence that McGregor’s legal team initially intended to rely upon as part of his appeal, before that evidence was dramatically withdrawn. The development brings a fresh legal twist to a case that has already attracted international attention. In today's Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Irish Independent security correspondent Robin Schiller to explain who the couple are, what they are accused of and what happens next. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.