A review of security at all IPAS centres nationwide is underway after a Halloween night arson attack on a Drogheda centre housing 28 people .

At the time the fire was set, families including a 20 year old baby were asleep in the building.

CCTV footage widely circulated of the incident shows a masked man pouring a substance onto the building’s only staircase and igniting it before fleeing.

The incident is part of a pattern of more than 30 arson attacks on buildings associated with asylum seekers since 2018, but according to Irish Refugee Council CEO Nick Henderson, an attack on a building that was inhabited at the time represents an escalation. It took place just days after an anti-migrant rally in the town.

One speaker at the protest on Saturday, October 25, previously made online comments about fires at Ipas centres, and reportedly wrote "burn baby burn" online about a hotel being used to house asylum seekers.

At the rally, he claimed that all migrants were provided "four-star accommodation" while some "16,000 Irish people don't know where they're going to sleep tonight".

Irish Examiner reporter Liz Dunphy has been covering this story – she's the guest on today’s episode of the Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

Anti-migrant rally held in Drogheda days before near fatal attack on Ipas centre

Fuel was poured on stairs at Ipas centre before it was set alight

'Terrifying ordeal': Children amongst those rescued as gardaí say Ipas centre fire was arson attack

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On Tuesday’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, court reporter Liam Heylin described the daylight murder of Kieran Quilligan and the extensive Garda investigation that led to his remains being discovered in a bag by teh side of an East Cork road.

On Wednesday, his killers Luke Taylor and Niall Long were sentenced to life in prison – and the court finally heard about Kieran Quilligan the man, rather than Kieran Quilligan the murder victim.

“I miss my best friend every day. I feel lonely and lost without him. Kieran was a good man, a good friend and a good partner. Kieran was adored by his family and he will be missed forever and always,” said Mr Quilligan’s partner Colette O’Driscoll.

Today’s episode features moving testimony from his parents Stephen and Catherine, and his long-term partner Colette O’Driscoll.

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 Murdered in daylight on a Cork city street after a small-time drug deal went wrong, the case of Kieran Quilligan is a revealing insight into the darker side of life in Cork city.

Audio recording from on-street cameras of a row over €200 worth of crack cocaine,  footage tracking the victim’s evening stroll across the city centre, and a phone call to Gardaí from distressed residents who heard a man being beaten with a hammer were crucial to this case being solved.

Luke Taylor and Niall Long have been convicted of Mr Quilligan’s death – but questions remain about how a small-time drug dealer who lived at home with his parents and used his mother’s car to dispose of the body became a killer, and on whose orders.

Irish Examiner Court Reporter Liam Heylin is the guest on today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

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Catherine Connolly has been elected the tenth president of Ireland by a resounding majority.

She’s the first ever candidate backed by all the left wing parties and this represents a stunning success for the female-led left alliance, but it leaves the mainstream parties Fianna Fiáil and Fine Gael with egg on their faces.

In this special bonus edition of the Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, Acting Political Editor Paul Hosford and Political Correspondent Louise Burne analyse the fallout from the race for the Áras.

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A week of protests has taken place outside the Citywest accommodation centre in Dublin, including violent rioting which saw four Gardaí injured and multiple arrests.

The protests began after an alleged sexual assault on a ten year old girl in the vicinity of the hotel last weekend. A man has been charged in connection with the assault and remains in custody.

Terrified international protection applicants including many Ukrainian women and children remained indoors at the centre, while residents in the Saggart area were unable use public transport or access local shops on Tuesday and Wednesday nights due to the violence.

What started the disturbances, who’s rioting, and who’s been stoking it up online?

Irish Examiner Security Correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe joined Deirdre O’Shaughnessy for today’s episode of the Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

'No incidents' at Citywest gathering after two nights of disorder

Frontline gardaí demand tougher stance on violent Citywest protesters after officers injured

Seventeen people charged after second night of disorder near asylum seeker hotel

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As polling day nears and the Presidential campaign gets nastier by the day, the final debate will take place this evening on RTE Prime Time. But will it be decisive?

Presidential contests are rarely won in debates – but it is possible to lose an almost guaranteed win in that crucial final tussle.

In today’s episode of the Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, behavioural psychologist Nuala Walsh advises undecided to voters to focus on the “cringe” factor, while Acting Political Editor Paul Hosford says he doesn’t believe this election is all over for Heather Humphries.

Leadership X-ray? Why presidential debates reveal less than you think

Paul Hosford: Fine Gael's US-style attack video may be a new departure in Irish politics

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Irish Examiner Fashion Editor Annmarie O’Connor is well known to readers as a stylist, a writer, and more recently an advocate for people with Parkinson’s disease. 

She was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s IEStyleLive2025, and she is the guest editor of this Saturday’s Weekend Magazine. Annmarie sat down with Deirdre O’Shaughnessy for an honest and open chat about her life as it is now and her new book Twitch: My Life with Parkinson’s.  

In this special episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast, Annmarie speaks candidly about learning to live well with Parkinson’s, how her family’s history has shaped her, and her belief in the spirit world. 

“You’ll go on, dear, because you have to, and you’ll do it one day at a time,” is what her mother told her upon learning of her diagnosis. “One foot in front of the other” is the family motto, learned in adversity. 

The trajectory of Annmarie's family life was altered by the death of her father when she was just four years old, her mother returning from New York to rural Galway with her daughters to open a B&B. She describes her father’s mother, sent to America by ship at just seven years old to work in the household of a distant cousin, and the survival skills of her maternal grandmother, who raised her young family alone after her husband was killed at sea in a freak Galway storm.  

In this in-depth interview, Annmarie describes how a long-buried issue with disordered eating resurfaced after her Parkinson’s diagnosis, and how she dealt with it. She talks about her belief in psychics and the spirit world, the joy she has found in friendships and the love of her family, and the challenge of dating with the additional stress of uncontrollable limb movements.  

Inspiring, full-hearted and hopeful, Annmarie's is a story of surviving the worst that life can throw at you, and learning to thrive with it.  

ieStyle Live: Standing ovation as Annmarie O’Connor speaks about when 'life falls apart' 

Book review: O’Connor finds quiet certainty to carry on after Parkinson’s diagnosis 

Annmarie O'Connor: Three things I've learned since my Parkinson's diagnosis 

'I arrived at CUH before 9am. By 4pm, I had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease' 

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Parents at a flagship special school in the Taoiseach’s constituency, opened in a rush due to a shortage of school places, warned recently the school has handed out suspensions “like confetti”.

Opened by Cork Education and Training Board (Cork ETB) in 2021, Carrigaline Community Special School (CCSS) issued 17 official suspensions out of a maximum student body of just 48 in three years.

Parents at the school told the Irish Examiner that they believe their children are being punished for behaviours linked to and consistent with their conditions. They point to a lack of in-school therapies, children being repeatedly sent home from school, and a high level of staff turnover.

In response to queries from the Irish Examiner on the issues raised, Cork Education and Training Board (ETB) said it “is aware of the matters raised and has engaged intensively with parents around their concerns”.

In a statement, Cork ETB said: “The care and welfare of our students and their educational progress is always the number one priority for Cork ETB and for our special schools.”

Irish Examiner Education Correspondent Jess Casey  describes the issues on today’s episode of The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast.

Read the story here: Suspensions ‘crisis’ at flagship special school in Cork

Read Cork ETB’s full statement here: 'It wouldn’t be acceptable in a mainstream school, so why should we have to take it?'

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In January 2017 civil servant Fi Bourke was walking home from work when she was viciously attacked by a woman she didn't know. The attack would change the course of her life. 

Her attacker, Laura Kenna, who had a troubled history of childhood abuse and substance misuse, told Gardai that she would “finish her off” when her sentence had been served. 

Kenna was found guilty but insane and admitted to the Central Mental Hospital. Now, because of a legal anomaly, Fi Bourke has no right to know when her attacker will be released from custody.

Irish Examiner reporter Ann Murphy joins Deirdre on today’s episode. 

Ann's story: Victim of attempted murder seeks to have law changed around 'unique and complex' case

Coverage of the court case: Woman guilty of attempting to murder stranger walking home from work by cutting her throat

Other stories referenced:

Sinead O'Leary: Surviving victim of Rochestown murderer Peter Whelan warns he will kill again

Jury rejects James Kilroy's insanity claim to find him guilty of murdering his wife

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A rise in minimum wage to €14.15, a €10 increase to all core social welfare rate and hikes in cigarettes and fuel – but not alcohol.

What’s in Budget 2026 – and more importantly, how will it impact you?

Budget 2026 is in, and Irish Examiner Political Correspondent Louise Burne joins Deirdre on today’s podcast to dive into the details.

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