22 year old Evan Fitzgerald, identified later as a ‘vulnerable young man’, died at his own hand outside a Carlow shopping centre last June. He was on bail at the time for firearms offences.

He and two friends had been arrested in March 2024 in a Garda sting after they had attempted to purchase weapons on the dark web – it turned out the ‘sellers’ were Gardai, and the guns were disabled.

They were released on bail after a court appearance in which Gardai never revealed the sting operation that had led to their arrest. In an unprecedented move, Judge Desmond Zaidan later spoke out to correct the record on what transpired in that court appearance.

In the aftermath of Mr Fitzgerald’s death, a number of politicians have called for an inquiry into how the sting operation was conducted, Garda statements in court, and leaks suggesting he had a ‘manifesto’ at the time of his death, which turned out to be untrue.

Irish Examiner special correspondent Mick Clifford has been covering this case, and he’s the guest on today’s episode.

Mick Clifford: Fatal aftermath of Garda sting raises grave questions about policing failure

Evan Fitzgerald case: Senior garda praises firearms probe

Justice minister found out from Labour TD that gardaí had supplied Carlow shooting gun

Carlow shooting 'shouldn't have happened, but none of us know the true story', says gun shop owner

Evan Fitzgerald: Garda sources say 'we don’t have hindsight' when protecting the public

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

In April, a Cork-based Ukrainian influencer called Rendy Vlad with over a million followers hit the headlines after a video he took of a young woman’s medical emergency in Cork was removed by TikTok. The video was filmed using Meta’s smart glasses, technology which has been sparking privacy concerns for quite some time.

Since then the Irish Examiner’s Emer Walsh has been following the activities of the MTU student closely – and people filmed by him in their workplaces have begun to speak out about their experiences. Emer is the guest on today’s podcast.

Influencer filming Cork City shop staff with smart glasses sparks 'incident'

Woman filmed at Cork workplace by influencer using smart glasses calls for tougher privacy laws

Cork influencer's Meta glasses video of young woman's medical emergency removed by TikTok

Harassment by online influencers requires legal change

The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast: Concerns grow around surveillance and technology’s impact on women

Margaret E Ward: Tech-enabled stalking and AI abuse are fuelling violence against women

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

Last Monday Taoiseach Micheál Martin reopened the half century old debate about nuclear power, saying Ireland’s reliance on imported energy must come to an end. Speaking to the Irish Examiner’s Louise Burne in Armenia, the Taoiseach said “we should explore all avenues” to ensure energy sovereignty, including renewables and examining strides in technology around nuclear.

The Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East, James O’Connor, has now drafted legislation that would legalise nuclear energy.

But would it have any chance of passing a Dáil where so many TDs have objected to solar farms and windfarms in their own back yards – and is it really necessary?

Environmental journalist John Gibbons wrote about this issue for the Irish Examiner recently and he is the guest on today’s podcast.

John Gibbons: I've changed my mind on nuclear power — we don't need it any more

Taoiseach: We should 'seriously examine' nuclear power

Surplus renewable energy used to heat immersion tanks of older people

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