It’s the biggest game in Irish Football for a decade and if we win it it will be followed quickly by an even bigger game.

The prize is a place at World Cup 2026.

But with Trump and Infantino and the war in Iran overshadowing the whole event do we even really want to be there?

Ciara is joined by Off The Ball’s Cameron Hill and Eve Conway

Ireland is winding down one of the largest emergency responses in its history — housing more than 125,000 people fleeing war in Ukraine. Thousands have been living in hotels, guesthouses, and private homes under State-supported schemes. Now, the Government wants to scale it back.

Contracts with accommodation providers are ending, and payments to households are being reduced. But billions of euro have already been spent. A handful of private companies were paid a sizeable chunk of that money. And as the State pulls away, it faces a new problem — large legal bills from developers heavily invested in projects that were later cancelled.

Meanwhile, the wider housing system remains under intense pressure. Rents are high, supply is tight, and the question at the heart of it all is: if State support is reduced… where are people supposed to go?

On today's podcast, Ciara Doherty talks to Niall Sargent, Current Affairs Correspondent with The Currency.

🎧 If you want to understand how we got here… it’s worth going back to an earlier Newstalk Daily — Profiting from Protection: Who’s Made Millions from Refugee Housing?

That episode digs into the money behind the system — the companies, the contracts, and the billions in public spending that built what we’re now trying to unwind.

You can find it now on GoLoud:
https://www.goloudplayer.com/episodes/profiting-from-protection-whos-m-NWY4YzVmMDg3NDQyNzkwZGY4MDNjM2EzNmEyOWFhZmE=

📰 And if you want to stay across this story, Niall Sargent’s reporting is essential reading. You can follow his work here:
https://thecurrency.news/

More than 5,000 eviction notices in just three months. A 41% jump in a year. And a rental system that, for many, feels increasingly unstable. On today’s Newstalk Daily, Ciara Doherty examines the sharp rise in evictions — to their highest level since the Famine era — and what’s driving it.

The latest figures from the Residential Tenancies Board show more than 20,000 notices were issued in 2025. In many cases, tenants aren’t being evicted for wrongdoing, but because landlords are selling — reducing supply and ramping up pressure on renters.

At the same time, new rental rules have come into force, aimed at stabilising the market. But the Government’s own analysis warned they could lead to higher rents and more “economic evictions” in the short term.

Ciara is joined by Michael Clifford, special correspondent with the Irish Examiner, to explore the policy choices, the market shifts, and the real-world impact on tenants. Because in Ireland, eviction is never just about housing.

You can email the podcast at newstalkdaily@newstalk.com.