This Week

Journalist, author and environmental campaigner Frank McDonald has died after a brief illness at the age of 76. Frank was best known for his decades long career at the Irish Times where he focused on climate action, urban design and the planning process. Paul was joined by Frank's close friend and former colleague Mark Brennock. 

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Schools are back, which signals that the summer is over. So to find out how tourism went during that key part of the year, Paul was joined in studio by the Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland Caroline Bocquel.

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Most children who commit a criminal offence are 'diverted' into a community programme designed to help them not to offend again rather than detention. RTÉ reporter Eithne Dodd went to a Youth Diversion Project in Sligo to find out how they work and if they're fit for purpose 

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The ballots have been counted and the verdict is in: Iceland will not resume EU membership negotiations with Brussels. Paul was joined from Reykjavík by RTÉ Europe Editor Tony Connelly. 

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The death toll in Nepal and Tibet from last week's catastrophic floods has left 750 dead with 3,044 missing, authorities there have said. The monsoon weather continues to hamper rescue efforts. Paul was joined from Nepal by RTÉ reporter Kate Varley and in studio by Mahesh Kushwaha, a Nepalese PhD candidate in DCU, who has just returned to Dublin.

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It's back to school time, but many Irish-medium post-primary schools are over-subscribed, and there are no independent Gaelcholáiste in Offaly, Longford, Westmeath, Cavan, Leitrim, Louth and Roscommon. Paul was joined from Dundalk by Aidan Kinsella, a spokesperson for the campaign group IMEASC.

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On his first official visit to Northern Ireland since becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham told journalists that a referendum on a united Ireland is "off the table." For an assessment of Mr Burnham comment, Paul was joined by Deirdre Heenan, Professor of Social Policy at the Ulster University

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The future of FIFA President Gianni Infantino remains in doubt this weekend as UEFA considers criminal proceedings against Infantino - and potentially other FIFA officials - over the abandoned plan to sell-off a stake in the World Cup. Paul was joined by football finance journalist Dave Powell.

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In the 19th century, the "rocket car" was rolled out across Ireland so that shipwrecked sailors could be brought safely to land on a pulley system known as ‘breeches buoy’. Few cars survive after a general decommissioning in the 1980s, but the rocket of Baltimore in west Cork has not just survived but thrives.   

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