On the 24th of February 2022 Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine.

A full-scale invasion and a major land war in Europe had begun.

It was a scenario that seemed unimaginable for so long. Four years later, the geopolitical landscape seems utterly changed.

But in 2022 there were experts warning that the invasion was coming. So why didn’t the people who mattered listen?

On today’s podcast, Ciara Doherty speaks to Shaun Walker, eastern Europe correspondent for The Guardian.

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of sexual abuse and rape.

For years, Gisèle Pelicot was unknowingly drugged by her husband and raped by dozens of men he invited into their home. When the case came to light, she refused anonymity and chose to face the trial publicly — a decision that stunned France.

Now, with the publication of her memoir A Hymn to Life, her story returns to the spotlight. On today's podcast, journalist Roe McDermott reviews the book, and Paris-based reporter Elaine Cobbe joins Ciara Doherty to discuss the reaction in France and the wider cultural impact.

A Hymn to Life by Gisèle Pelicot is published by The Bodley Head. The English-language audiobook is read by Emma Thompson.

A heated Cabinet row, a leaked digital strategy, and one big question: should Ireland limit access ban social media for under-16s?

As tech giants face court battles in the United States over alleged harm to children, the Irish Government considering its options. Instead of an outright ban, Ministers want to trial a state-backed “digital wallet” to verify age online — promising protection for children without handing social media platforms any more personal data.

But will it work? Critics warn that age verification could push users towards VPNs and expand data-sharing, while supporters argue it’s more realistic than a blanket ban that might fall foul of EU law.

Ciara Doherty is joined by Elaine Burke of the For Tech’s Sake podcast to break down what the strategy really means, while Olga Cronin from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties weighs in on whether this digital fix could become a privacy risk.

Is this smart child protection — or the start of age-gating the entire internet?

Britain's former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, a younger brother of King Charles, was arrested today on suspicion of misconduct in public office and is in police custody. On this special edition of Newstalk Daily, Ciara Doherty gets the latest from Tom Sykes, European Editor at Large with The Daily Beast and host of the @TheRoyalistChannel on Youtube.

Tom's substack is here: https://theroyalist.substack.com/

A Taoiseach warning of a “slippery slide to disaster” — while sailing a 52-foot yacht decked out in mahogany and teak, with an “Admiral’s” cabin and vintage Champagne on ice. Celtic Mist wasn’t just a boat. It became shorthand for power, privilege, and the contradictions of 1980s Ireland.

Bought after Charles Haughey’s first yacht was wrecked off Mizen Head, and later examined by the McCracken and Moriarty Tribunals, the vessel raised sharp questions about money, loans from businessman Dermot Desmond, and the gap between public austerity and private luxury which included a private island, Inishvickillane, Charvet shirts, and summer voyages to Brittany with Terry Keane.

Then came an unexpected second act. After Haughey’s death, Celtic Mist was donated to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, circumnavigating Ireland, logging more than 100,000 kilometres of research and even heading for Arctic waters in search of humpbacks. It will retire from service later this year.

From tribunal exhibit to conservation vessel, Celtic Mist charts a course through scandal, spectacle, and reinvention. Newstalk’s Aisling Moloney joins Ciara Doherty to tell the story.

When the Republic of Ireland football team was drawn against Israel in the UEFA Nations League, what should have been a routine fixture quickly became something much bigger. Ireland previously asked UEFA to consider banning Israel from competition. Yet after the draw, the FAI confirmed it will fulfil the games. For some fans and politicians, that feels like a contradiction. For the association and Government, it’s about sporting rules, legal risk and wider consequences.

The comparison many are making is with Russia. In 2022, Russia was suspended from international football after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — but only after Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic refused to play them. No such coordinated boycott has happened in Israel’s case. So, is this a double standard? Or are these fundamentally different situations?

On today’s podcast, Ciara Doherty is joined by Financial Times writer and author Simon Kuper, one of the leading voices on the intersection of sport and politics. He has explored these themes in books such as World Cup Fever, Football Against the Enemy and the bestselling Soccernomics.

What would a boycott actually achieve? Would it change anything — or simply punish Ireland? And what does this moment reveal about how global football is really governed?

You can share your thoughts with the team at newstalkdaily@newstalk.com.

Say the wrong thing about someone… and it can cost you. A tweet. A headline. A comment under a post. In Ireland, words have come with a serious price tag.

Last week, the Defamation (Amendment) Bill passed through the Oireachtas, bringing the biggest changes to Irish libel law in years. No more juries in High Court defamation cases. New protections for journalists. New powers aimed at stopping so-called SLAPPs — lawsuits designed to intimidate and silence critics. And crucially, courts will now have clearer authority to order the identification of anonymous online posters — meaning the era of the untouchable “keyboard warrior” may be coming to an end.

Why does this matter? Because Ireland has long punched above its weight in defamation claims. Despite being a fraction of the size of England and Wales, we’ve historically handled a similar number of libel cases each year. Big jury awards — like the €1.87 million originally awarded to Monica Leech — created a reputation for unpredictability and eye-watering damages.

High-profile rows have kept the issue in the spotlight, from celebrity disputes involving Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, to battles involving Elon Musk’s company X, to cases closer to home involving Louis Walsh and Enoch Burke. Critics said the system created a “chilling effect” on journalism. Others argued that if your reputation is destroyed, you deserve serious redress.

So, will this finally end Ireland’s reputation as a go-to venue for libel actions?

On today’s podcast, Newstalk’s courts correspondent Frank Greaney explains what’s changed and why reform took so long. Later, media law expert Olivia O’Kane from Lewis Silken joins Ciara Doherty to look at what this means for journalists, social media users and anyone concerned about their good name.

You can email your thoughts to newstalkdaily@newstalk.com.

An American conservative powerhouse is setting its sights on Ireland. Turning Point USA, the youth movement founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk, has become one of the most influential networks in US conservative politics, with deep ties to the Republican Party and the MAGA movement. Now, following Kirk’s assassination in Utah last September, his widow Erika Kirk is reportedly planning a visit to Northern Ireland as part of a European recruitment tour.

The aim? To establish a local branch of the multi-million-dollar organisation on this island. The group has already launched a UK branch. Now, with reported encouragement from former DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr, discussions around a Northern Ireland chapter appear to be gathering pace.

But what does Turning Point stand for? How influential is it within today’s Republican Party? And what happens when a highly organised, well-funded American political network attempts to embed itself in a vastly different political culture?

On today’s podcast, Ciara Doherty speaks to journalist and author Peter Geoghegan, whose work examines how money and influence shape modern democracies. Is this simply student activism — or something much more strategic? And in a region with its own complex political history and strong evangelical traditions, what might Turning Point NI mean for the future of political organising here?

Follow Ciara on Instagram @officialciarad.