Gubu, episode eight: remembering 1982 and the ‘air of menace’ in Irish politics

Veteran reporters recall the notorious Gubu affair

Listen | 39:46
Malcolm Macarthur in January 1983. Photograph: The Irish Times
Malcolm Macarthur in January 1983. Photograph: The Irish Times

Two veteran journalists, Stephen Collins and Joe Joyce, sit down with Irish Times political correspondent Harry McGee to talk about how they remember the shocking events of 1982, when murderer Malcolm Macarthur’s crime spree impacted Irish politics and the man at its centre, Taoiseach Charles J. Haughey.

This bonus episode of GUBU was recorded to mark the publication of a book that builds on the podcast. The Taoiseach and the Murderer by Harry McGee is available now.

GUBU was a seven-part podcast series about the Malcolm Macarthur affair published by The Irish Times in 2022. You can listen to the entire series here - or wherever you get your podcasts.