As we approach the first anniversary of the arrival of the coronavirus on these shores, public health specialist Dr Orla Healy discusses the rollout of the vaccine in this phase of the pandemic. She talks about any possible pressure points in the roll-out and how the development of vaccines has been transformed in this pandemic.Dr Healy, who is leading the Covid Response for the HSE in the South and South West, also details how the approach to and resourcing of public health has changed as a result of our experience over the last twelve months.

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Worrying activity online and the targeting of high profile individuals from a minority background formed the basis of an investigative piece of journalism by Irish Examiner reporters Aoife Moore and Paul Hosford. Aoife tells the podcast why serious vigilance is required to ensure that a campaign of hate does not take hold in this country as it has elsewhere.Also, she explains why the latest controversy over policing in the North is tapping into some old resentments in the nationalist community.

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Saoirse McHugh had a brief but high profile time as an election candidate for the Green party. The 30-year-old activist narrowly missed being elected to the European parliament, subsequently missed out on a Dail seat and then resigned from the party in opposition to the decision to go into government.Here the environmental activist discusses her time in the party but also where she sees climate change and biodiversity challenges developing and whether or not a breakaway Green party is in the offing in the near future.

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Denis Eustace is the fifth generation of his family to train and practice as a consultant psychiatrist. He has specialised in later life mental health. Since the onset of the pandemic he says that he and colleagues are noticing some very worrying features in the mental health of older people. Fear and isolation are contributing to a rise in people experiencing mild cognitive impairment and more needs to be done to protect one of the most vulnerable cohorts in the population at this particular time.

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Last week, the former minister for Social Protection became the first parliamentarian from the government benches to criticise the Mother and Baby Homes Commission report. Now the leader of the Seanad, she talks about what she feels needs to be done for survivors of the homes. She also explains why she changed her mind after initially indicating she would leave politics when she lost her seat, and why she bristles at the narrative that her Fine Gael party is full of privately educated and privileged representatives.

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The report of the Commission of Investigation into the Mother and Baby homes has answered some questions and left many others hanging about the treatment of women who gave birth outside of marriage in twentieth century Ireland, and the fate of their babies.For whom was the investigation conducted? Was it for those who gave birth and were born in these homes, or was it to provide the state with a forum to tell itself a story about the times?To discuss that and other issues that have arisen since the publication, Mick was joined by Dr Katherine O’Donnell, Associate professor at the School of Philosophy in UCD and a member of the Justice for Magdalene Research group.

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Financial consultant Eddie Hobbs takes out his crystal ball and looks into the future as it might unfold once we get the pandemic under control. That future, according to Eddie, could well be determined by a technocracy of the world elite who meet and make plans under the guise of bodies like the World Economic Forum.He cautions that the democratic world must be vigilant to avoid being subjected to the kind of controls that totalitarian states like China exercise on their people. And he also thinks that we might emerge from the pandemic in pretty good nick in this country.

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War of Independence Podcast - Part Four:WOMEN OF THEIR TIME: Helene O’Keeffe.The role of women during the revolutionary period had, until recent decades, not so much been written out but not written in at all. That is beginning to change with greater research into the roles played by women both inside and outside Cumann na mBan. Helene O’Keeffe speaks here about a number of the women who made serious contributions during that period.

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The Irish Examiner political team runs the rule over the ministers in the government since its formation last June.Danny McConnell, Elaine Loughlin, Paul Hosford and Aoife Moore give their individual assessments and markings out of 10 for each of the ministers who have governed during what must be one of the most difficult times in a generation. There are a few surprises in there, some who have done better than might have been expected, and a few who most definitely must do better once the New Year opens up.

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Alice Leahy is this week’s guest. She talks about the people who visit the Alice Leahy Trust at this time of year, particularly those who have no homes and quite often simply don’t fit into society.Alice has been running the Trust Agency, which is a drop in centre in Dublin’s inner city, for more than forty years and she wonders whether the pandemic will have given people the opportunity to slow down and take time to spend a little time with each other.

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