The Indo Daily

It’s been well over a month since April 8, when Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in Iran, but now that truce appears to be under real strain.
­
This week, tensions between the US and the Middle Eastern country have escalated, with both sides exchanging strikes just as a possible breakthrough in peace talks seemed imminent.
­
So, how realistic is the prospect of a peace deal at this point? And, as the situation deteriorates, how has one political figure edged ever closer to the centre of power?
­
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has increasingly rowed in behind his president’s foreign-policy agenda, but who exactly is the political hawk turned Trump cheerleader? And how did he climb the Mar-a-Lago ladder to join Trump’s inner circle?
­
On today’s The Indo Daily, host Tessa Fleming is joined by Scott Lucas, professor of international politics at the Clinton Institute in UCD, to discuss the latest on Iran and the rise of Marco Rubio.
­
­We want to earn your trust and are members of The Trust Project. You can see our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every time June 3 comes around, Michelle Ryan marks the anniversary of her father’s death in her own private way. She stays away from his grave.


For Michelle, her dad simply isn’t there.


On that summer morning in 2011, 52-year-old Bobby Ryan, a quarry worker and part-time DJ known by the stage name ‘Mr Moonlight’, vanished from rural Tipperary without a trace.


Almost two years later, his body was discovered in an underground run-off tank near the farmhouse where he was last seen.


The trial that followed was one of the longest in the history of the Irish State. By its conclusion, a love rivalry would be publicly exposed, a man would be jailed, and another man long buried.
In May 2019, Patrick Quirke (then 50) was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. He continues to deny any involvement in Mr Ryan’s death.


On this episode of The Indo Daily, host Tessa Fleming is joined by Irish Independent special correspondent Catherine Fegan to review the case, and by Michelle Ryan, daughter of Bobby Ryan, who speaks about the experience of losing her father and her vow to contest any potential release of his killer.


We want to earn your trust and are members of The Trust Project. You can see our ethics policies at independent.ie/ourjournalism
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

­Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson apologised to one of his alleged victims at a church retreat in the mid-1990s, a court heard today. Jurors were also told second complainant wrote letter to two defendants about the secret ‘she had to keep’ The prosecution delivered its opening address in the Donaldson trial on Wednesday. The former DUP leader is on trial at Newry Crown Court for alleged historical sexual offences. The 63 year-old has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences.
­
This Indo Daily Extra is brought to you by our sister podcast The BelTel where Allison Morris was in court and speaks to Ciaran Dunbar.
­
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.

Tommy Fleming has for decades been a star of international acclaim. The Sligo singer has played to sold out crowds, toured with Phil Coulter, and enjoyed much of his success with his wife Tina by his side.
­
Tommy called Tina the “most decent and loving” person he knew, while Tina said her relationship with him was “special and fulfilling”. But last year, the cracks in their life together started to show.
Details of their separation, of Tommy’s affairs and drug use, of his “living a lie”, have been aired in a leaked phone call recording and explosive interviews from both Tommy and Tina.
Today on The Indo Daily, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by Darragh Nolan, multimedia reporter with the Irish Independent, to look at the full story of Tommy Fleming.
­
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.

Carrie Jade Williams. Sadie Harris. Lucy Fitzwilliams. Jade Cookes. Samantha Black. Rebecca Fitzgerald.
­
These are just some of the fabricated identities used by serial con artist Samantha Cookes.
­
In 2024, her Walter Mitty-style life finally collapsed as online communities, journalists and a WhatsApp group of victims cross-referenced the inconsistencies in her story, joining the dots that authorities had missed.
­
In March 2025, Samantha Cookes was jailed for three years for deception and theft.
­
Yet her story keeps getting fresh chapters.
­
On this episode of The Indo Daily, host Katie Byrne is joined by Alan Bradley, documentary filmmaker and author of new book Unmasking Samantha Cookes: The Many Lives of a Serial Fraudster, to discuss the breadth and the impact of an incredible deception.
­
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.