The enveloping inflation spiral and cost of living crisis is dominating public life today and practically everybody has been impacted in one form or another. This is the third major crises the country has faced in little over a decade, following a recession and the pandemic. But it is the first time in a generation that inflation is creating havoc in everyday lives.

Irish Examiner columnist Fergus Finlay was at the frontline the last time there was such a crisis, working as a union official and then for the government that grappled with the issue, as well as rearing a young family. He talks to this week’s podcast about what it was like, the differences today and how we can tackle the current crisis.

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With the centenary of the start of the Civil War arriving next week and the conflict having been marked by a major conference in UCC last week, we are looking at the role of women in what unfolded at the time. For most of the last hundred years, women were largely written out of the period but that is now changing. Apart from the general omissions there were women who played particularly prominent roles in the Civil War.

Dr Mary McAuliffe and Dr Hilary Dully joined Mick on the podcast for some fascinating insights in the role of women in the Civil War. 

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Nearly exactly one hundred years ago, Sir Henry Wilson was gunned down on the streets of London by two IRA men. The assassination was one of the seminal events leading up to the Civil War as the British government claimed that it had been ordered by the anti-treaty forces in Ireland.

Irish Times journalist Ronan McGreevy’s new book, Great Hatred, The Assassination of field marshal Sir Henry Wilson MP, provides context, colour and plenty of evidence from the time, the lead up to the killing and its aftermath. It also answers the question that has occupied historians over the last century. Who exactly ordered what was, at that point in time, a reckless operation. 

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As the war in Ukraine continues, those who have fled to this country are trying to get on with their lives. Polina Bashkina had what she says was a good life in Kiev but all of that has now been whipped from her and her six year old son and they are currently living in Co Galway, awaiting developments. Polina is a journalist and she has written accounts of both her journey and that of other Ukrainians who have come to this country since the war began. 

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