The Indo Daily

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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