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InvestigatesThanks To YouThis is an extract from Uncovered, the newsletter of The Journal Investigates. Sign up here to receive our regular updates straight into your inbox.
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OUR INVESTIGATIVE UNIT is different. Not only is our team based outside Dublin, we have reporters in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
That means we can really focus on lifting the lid on how the whole of Ireland works, not just in the capital, but across the country.
This is evident since we launched The Journal Investigates in September.
The eight investigations we published so far all hit the airwaves – local and national. Our findings were raised by politicians. NGOs called for change.
Watch some of our highlights:
Investigations like this don’t happen without your support… Impactful investigative reporting is powered by people like you.
Our first investigation discovered numerous military health and safety issues in the months leading up to the Glen of Imaal explosion.
Reporter Cormac Fitzgerald also spoke to survivors of the 1979 Army range blast that killed three boys and injured 10 other children.
This was raised in the Dáil by Gino Kenny following publication. Survivor Ron O’Neill shared his story for the first time on radio and called for a State apology.
Just yesterday, we also reported that newly elected TDs have said they are willing to meet with survivors.
In October, Patricia Devlin revealed how foxes, rabbits, badgers and hares are being sold as live bait to illegal hunting networks.
The animals were being used to ‘blood’ vicious hunting dogs, whose owners engage in brutal acts of wildlife cruelty.
Following our work, a number of illegal hunting Facebook groups were closed down. Our findings were also investigated by animal rights NGOs.
The investigation was raised by politicians, including Jennifer Whitmore TD on RTÉ Drivetime.
We also received feedback from a number of contributors to The Journal readers’ fund including one who wrote:
Thank you for highlighting the lack of conviction rates for animal cruelty. I am appalled and have reached out to the Minister involved in the hope others will do the same and he will take notice.
In November, Conor O’Carroll uncovered that over 135,000 tonnes of CO2 was emitted from data centres across the country in the last five years from generators not on the electricity grid.
This amount of carbon dioxide is comparable to running roughly 33,750 cars for a year in terms of the climate pollution produced.
Published on the eve of the general election, our findings were spotlighted on social media by a number of politicians as well as environmental advocates and NGOs.
A number of our investigations were also republished by outlets in the United States and Europe.
This included a project examining Lough Hyne in Co Cork that took Olive Heffernan over a year. She revealed that the recent influx of thousands of Mauve stinger jellyfish into the protected area is just the latest of many threats facing this delicate ecosystem.
Our work found that pollution, fishing, poaching and heavy recreational use are ongoing and could be having detrimental impacts on the lough’s wildlife.
This was republished by the Pulitzer Center in the United States which supported the investigation.
A separate investigation into deaths in police custody, done in collaboration with Spanish outlet Civio was also republished – this time by the European Data Journalism Network.
As the year comes to a close, we want to say thank you to our contributors. We couldn’t have done this without your support as our investigative unit is funded by readers of The Journal.
We really want to continue delivering this type of impact in 2025… And you can help by becoming a monthly supporter of our work:
Hope you had a lovely break last week and Happy New Year!
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