News that the Garda is to send a file to the DPP following its investigation into the findings of the Moriarty tribunal will test the memory of even the most avid news watcher.

The tribunal, which lasted 14 years and cost the taxpayer millions, explored in jaw-dropping detail the relationship between prominent business people and politicians. It filed its report in 2011.

One politician featured prominently: Michael Lowry, and the tribunal found that he “secured the winning” of the State’s second mobile phone licence for Denis O’Brien’s company, Esat Digifone. It also found that Lowry, a former Fine Gael minister, was given money by O’Brien, with the payments “demonstrably referable” to his winning of the licence. Both men have disputed the findings.

It is not known if there is any recommendations in relation to Lowry in the file submitted to the DPP.

Lowry is a vote topper in his native Tipperary as an Independent TD and he has been in the news since the recent election, labelled a kingmaker because he is leading negotiations on behalf of the nine-strong Regional Independents group, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

So, will this latest development in the Moriarty tribunal saga impact on his role in government formation?

Colm Keena reported on the Moriarty tribunal from its inception in 1997 to 2011. He explains what it did and why, and who exactly is Michael Lowry.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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

On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, was ending its fact-checking programme and going back to its roots – promoting free expression.

And the reason? That fact-checking had led to “too much censorship” and “too many mistakes”.

He positioned himself as a supporter of free speech, an American virtue that’s a world away from Europe, a tech backwater with ever-creeping censorship.

But critics say the move is a cynical ploy to curry favour with incoming US president Donald Trump – and with millions of people using these social media platforms every day it risks ushering in “an age without facts”.

Irish Times tech journalist Ciara O’Brien goes through Zuckerberg’s five-point plan for Meta and explains why the newly bullish Meta boss is changing the way his business operates.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Declan Conlon.

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

Amber (not her real name) is among the first people to use Ireland's long-awaited Supervised Injection Facility in Dublin. Speaking to Irish Times social affairs correspondent, Kitty Holland, Amber says up until now her day has been taken up by procuring heroin and crystal meth and then strategising about where she can consume them. Suffering from substance abuse since her teens, she says the new centre at Merchants Quay Ireland will change her life. "I am so tense when I am injecting I have had a needle break in my arm. Being able to relax, there is no price on the peace that would come with that.” The SIF was first proposed in 2015 and hasn't been without controversy. Objections to the centre came from stakeholders like the local primary school, where parents fear it will increase dealing and dangerous behaviour in the area. But those behind the pilot project say it will take intravenous drug use off the streets, encourage addicts to link in with local services and prevent deaths by overdose.

Presented by Sorcha Pollak. Produced by Aideen Finnegan.

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