This week Alexander McCartney from Newry, Co Armagh, will be sentenced in Belfast for what has been described as one of the “worst cases of catfishing” to ever come before the courts.

Earlier this year, McCartney pleaded guilty to over 50 charges of blackmail and multiple offenses of possessing indecent images of children. The former student also pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a 12 year old child, who he had blackmailed online but had never met.

In this episode from March 2024, Bernice Harrison speaks to Irish Time Northern Correspondent Seanín Graham about the charges against McCartney and how the global 'catfishing' investigation led police to his house in rural Armagh.

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Attending the UN Assembly in New York on Sunday, President Michael D Higgins accused the Israeli embassy in Dublin of “circulating” a congratulatory letter he wrote to the newly elected president of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian in July.

His comments were interpreted as an accusation Israel deliberately leaked the letter.

The Israeli embassy issued a statement, calling it a “baseless accusation” and “potentially slanderous”, marking a new low in relations between the Israeli ambassador and President Higgins.

On Monday evening President Higgins met the press again in New York and denied he meant Israel leaked anything, while doubling down on other criticism.

Irish Times political correspondent Jennifer Bray was there. She explains how events unfolded that overshadowed the Irish Government's presence at the UN.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.

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“Scans rarely show the cause of low back pain,” says Prof Kieran O’Sullivan, chartered physiotherapist and head of the school of physiotherapy at the University of Limerick. He points out that so-called “abnormal findings” on scans such disc bulges, disc degeneration and arthritis are common and normal for most people without pain, especially as they get older.

So why do some people experience back pain when others don’t? O’Sullivan says 90 per cent of lower back pain is caused by a combination of physical and non-physical factors including poor sleep, relationship or family stress, job dissatisfaction or financial pressures.

It’s finding ways first to understand the cause of the pain and then ways to treat it that’s the key to successful management.

O’Sullivan talks to In the News about how to understand your lower back pain and what to do about it.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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What links an Australian app designer, a global police sting and this week's drugs bust in Wexford? A Dublin gang known as 'The Family.' Gardai say the group is now the primary drug trafficking cartel in Ireland after the Kinahan's network was dismantled. It's alleged to be involved in the multi million euro seizure of guns and cash in Dublin and Wexford earlier this week. The tip off came via Australian authorities which had infiltrated the Ghost messaging app. The encrypted software created by 32 year old Sydney man, Jay Je Yoon Jung, was the platform of choice for much of the Irish criminal fraternity. Security and Crime Editor Conor Lally explains how the Australians hacked into the app, how it was used in Ireland and analyses how gangs here might react.

Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan

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At least 26 people are dead and thousands injured following the simultaneous detonating of pagers and walkie talkies in Lebanon. Israel is believed to be behind the attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, which were designed as much to cause a macabre spectacle as they were to kill Hizbullah fighters. Hannah McCarthy reports from Beirut for The Irish Times. Security analyst Colin P. Clark of New York’s Soufan Center looks at why Israel made this move.

Presented by Aideen Finnegan. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan.

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A record 10,600 Irish people emigrated to Australia last year, according to the Central Statistics Office; the highest number since 2013. With its year-round sunshine, high wages and laid back lifestyle, it’s not hard to understand the attraction. Push factors in Ireland include the diminishing hopes of home ownership for many young people. But Australia’s economy is slowing down and property prices in Sydney are even higher than in Dublin. Irish Times columnist and returning emigrant, Brianna Parkins, outlines the Instagram V Reality of moving down under.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The UK government has ordered a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, the Belfast solicitor shot dead in 1989 by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in collusion with British forces.

But why now? His family, led by his widow, have for 35 years pressed Westminster for a public inquiry to get to the truth of why Finucane was killed and to reveal the true extent of the collusion of the British state in his murder.

For decades, successive UK governments had resisted a campaign by the family for a full public inquiry into the killing.

London correspondent Mark Paul explains the timing – and the reaction to the announcement.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan

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An Garda Siochana has a serious retention and recruitment problem.

The Commissioner knows it, so does the Minister for Justice but despite public commitments to reach enrolment targets, ongoing recruitment campaigns and changes to admission criteria, efforts to increase the size of the force to the Government benchmark of 15,000 continue to falter.

There are now fewer sworn Garda members than at the start of last year.

Why? It’s a well-paying public service job, it offers career variety and progression and it offers the possibility of retiring with a full pension at 60 or even earlier.

Crime and security editor Conor Lally tells In the News the many reasons why encouraging citizens to join up is an uphill battle and what it means for policing in the State.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey and Declan Conlon.

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Kamala Harris needed a win on Tuesday night's US presidential election debate. After an initial honeymoon period as Democratic nominee, her campaign on the ground was running out of steam. Now she and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the polls of key battleground states. All he had to do on Tuesday night was keep his cool and stick the script provided by advisers. Instead, he made a string of rambling statements that ranged from the baseless to the downright absurd. But given how polarised the country now is, the victor of the debate depends on viewers' own political allegiances. So how much of a difference will the performances have in the minds of Americans? Can Harris' debate win do anything to change her trajectory? Irish Times Washington Corresondent, Keith Duggan, reports from Philadelphia where the debate was held.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon and Aideen Finnegan.

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