Exploring how Irish public projects were executed in practice, focusing on implementation, lessons learned and the institutional memory often lost over time.
The title Memo to File refers to the once common practice in the Civil Service of adding a concise but comprehensive digest to project documentation, ensuring that any future civil servant reviewing the file would know the lessons learned.
The podcast is designed for listeners interested in how Irish institutions, infrastructure and public systems operate.
New episode every Thursday.
Memo to File is produced by Luke Fehily and Tom O'Connor.
Barrister Eimear Dooley BL considers our recent episode on the Criminal Assets Bureau, examining the in rem distinction at the heart of the Proceeds of Crime Act and what it means for legal practitioners engaging with CAB cases.
11 Jun 2026
Further Reading
We won't be exploring an Irish policy project this week, but we have added further reading to the show notes on the previous episodes to tide you over. A collated list of all those materials is also available on Substack @memotofile (https://memotofile.substack.com/).
We will be back soon with some more content and we would love to hear from you, so please do send any thoughts, critiques or questions to our email memotofilepodcast@gmail.com (mailto:memotofilepodcast@gmail.com).
Also be sure to like and follow Memo to File wherever you get your podcasts!
4 Jun 2026
Criminal Assets Bureau: How to Pursue Proceeds of Crime
Retired Garda Detective Chief Superintendent Pat Byrne discusses the Criminal Assets Bureau from his experience as the agency's first Detective Inspector and later as its Chief Bureau Officer.
Established in 1996, CAB is a multi-agency body tasked with tackling proceeds of crime, unpaid taxes and fraudulently obtained welfare payments. Over the past 30 years, CAB has returned hundreds of millions of euro to the state.
Pat considers the foundation of CAB, inter-agency collaboration and how the Bureau has developed in the decades since its establishment.
Credits: RTE Archives.
28 May 2026
Bord Snip: How to Manage Public Spending
Economist Colm McCarthy discusses infrastructure delivery, fiscal prudence, populism, accountability and more.
McCarthy was a member of the Expenditure Review Committee, often referred to as An Bord Snip, which was an advisory group established during a period of economic downturn in the 1980s to make recommendations to the the Irish government on cuts to state spending.
Colm later chaired the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, more commonly known as An Bord Snip Nua, which was a similar government advisory committee established following the financial crash in 2008.
Clip of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey's "living beyond our means" address courtesy of RTE Archives (https://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/0109/671262-haughey-warns-we-are-living-beyond-our-means/).
21 May 2026
Global Crossing: How Ireland Invested in the Internet
Former Secretary General Brendan Tuohy discusses the Global Crossing project.
With major backing from the Irish government, Global Crossing involved building two transatlantic fibre-optic cables and compatible landing points in Ireland.
The Irish government pre-purchased capacity on the cables as an anchor customer, with major multinationals and telecoms carriers expected to buy the capacity later.
Ultimately, the Global Crossing project contributed to Ireland being an international connectivity hub with direct and cost-effective transatlantic fibre links.
Tuohy also speaks about broader topics such as trust, collaboration and accountability.
For our digest segment, Conor Igoe considers the significance of Global Crossing today in the context of artificial intelligence.
Credits: RTE Archives.
14 May 2026
Cerebral Palsy Programme of Excellence: How to Scale Specialist Healthcare
Lily Collison and Professor Jennifer Ryan discuss the Cerebral Palsy Programme of Excellence, a five-year initiative that is improving care for those with cerebral palsy in Ireland.
The Programme of Excellence is advancing a national register and advocacy group, in addition to supporting the development of a coordinated, evidence-based approach to care and research.
Lily Collison co-founded the Cerebral Palsy Programme of Excellence and serves on its Steering Group.
Jennifer Ryan is one of the three leads of the Cerebral Palsy Programme of Excellence, with a particular focus on CP in adulthood. She is also the Director of the CP-Life Research Centre at the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland.
Junior doctor Beth Mallen joins us for the digest segment.
Archival clip during introduction: Then-Minister for Health, Mary Harney, discussing the Irish health system in a Progressive Democrats podcast.
7 May 2026
Luas: How Modern Light Rail Came to Dublin
This conversation with Frank Allen, former CEO of the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), explores the Luas light rail project in Dublin and considers what can be learned from it.
The RPA was established in 2001 to deliver the Luas and a separate tender process was established to select the operator. In 2015, The RPA was folded into Transport Infrastructure Ireland which now oversees major road and public transport projects.
Frank has had a wide-ranging career beyond Luas, having first started out at the World Bank and KBC Bank. He served as Chairman of Depaul, Irish Rail and now Translink in Northern Ireland. He also advises on infrastructure finance and operations globally, especially in Europe and Asia.
Matthew Wood joins us for our digest segment.
Credits to RTE Archives for snippets in the intro montage.
7 May 2026
Trailer: Memo to File
Memo to File releases weekly on Thursdays.
Join us for conversations with the people who made Ireland better about doing good work, lessons learned and the institutional memory often lost over time.
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