It is not surprising that the army’s spy wing is a highly secretive organisation, but lately it’s becoming a little less so, with one of its top bosses giving an interview to The Irish Times.

Its job is to protect the State and the Defence Forces from military threats, counter hybrid activity and protect Irish interests overseas. Its expertise is wide, from on-the-ground surveillance to advising the government on strategic threats to our interests.

One of its tasks is to monitor the activities of ageing Russian tankers that appear with increased regularity off the west coast.

The service is undergoing a transformation: the name change from J2 to the Irish Military Intelligence Service (Imis) is a small part of that.

Irish Times investigations reporter Conor Gallagher was invited to the Imis HQ at McKee Barracks to meet one of the top intelligence operatives, to talk spycraft, threats, secrecy and a new phase of recruitment.

• Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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Gardaí have identified a person of interest in the disappearance of Icelandic man Jon Jonsson. The suspect, who's from Liverpool, is a veteran criminal with a history of large scale drug dealing.

Jonsson, who'd come to Ireland for a poker tournament, vanished on February the 9th 2019. He was caught on CCTV leaving the Bonnington Hotel on the Swords Road in north Dublin.

Beyond those images, Gardaí have no information about where he went and no trace of him has since been uncovered. One line of enquiry is that this man from Liverpool travelled to Ireland to attack another Icelandic man on the orders of a criminal gang and mistakenly targeted Jonsson.

As investigations continue into this new lead, listen back to a podcast originally broadcast in February 2024 that explains the puzzling details of the case.

Hosted by Bernice Harrison. Produced by John Casey.

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

In the entire country there are just 26 places for vulnerable children in need of the highest level of specialist care and supervision that Tusla is charged with providing.

And only 15 of these beds are currently available.

What this means is that when the child and family agency petitions the courts to have a vulnerable and in-danger child taken into its special care, it then has to admit to the judge that it has no beds available.

Judges are increasingly expressing their frustration and exasperation at this situation – and at the patchwork of care arrangements facing these children. These typically involve special emergency arrangements (SEAs), often in B&Bs, hotel rooms or private apartments. This is provided by private companies, charging the State nearly €60 million in 2024 alone.

Social Affairs Correspondent Kitty Holland explains the background to this ongoing failure and why the increasingly loud comments from the bench just might effect change.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

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