Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

This week Pfizer announced positive early results from its coronavirus vaccine trial, but how optimistic should we be about this breakthrough and how will it affect the decisions taken by government in the weeks and months ahead? Joining Hugh and Pat to discuss the latest developments is Irish Times health editor Paul Cullen. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to...

The story of Supreme Court Justice Séamus Woulfe's attendance at the infamous Oireachtas Golf Society dinner has already taken many twists and turns. This week the crisis deepened with the release of an exchange of letters between Woulfe and Chief Justice Frank Clarke, in which Clarke calls on Woulfe to resign. Woulfe has refused, and the ball is now in the court of politicians who must consider w...

Irish Times columnist Stephen Collins and historian Ciara Meehan have written a book about the history of Fine Gael. "Saving the State" recounts the party's story, from the foundation of the state to this year's decision to go into coalition with its nemesis Fianna Fáil, and the party's periods in power as well as in the political wilderness. They talk to Hugh. Would you like to receive daily insi...

Fintan O'Toole and Simon Carswell join Hugh to talk over the results - so far - of the US presidential election. Right now Donald Trump seems on course to lose the presidency to Joe Biden. But those who have seen his presidency as a dangerous aberration and hoped for a repudiation of Trumpism at the ballot box will be disappointed. Trump expanded his base and his party look to have held the Senate...

Recorded at 5.30 am. Hugh talks to Suzanne Lynch about the night's events in the US presidential election. The Democratic Party's hoped-for landslide has not materialised and their candidate Joe Biden's paths to victory are now fewer - but still clearer than those for President Donald Trump. . Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Sta...

Jack Horgan-Jones and Jennifer Bray join Pat Leahy to talk about the day's events in the Dáil, where Taoisea... Tanaiste Leo Varadkar answered questions about his passing on of a confidential document to a friend of his back in 2019. For background information on the story go to irishtimes.com. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis St...

"I made no bones about the fact I was going to write a book", says former Independent Alliance TD Shane Ross, whose previous job as a feisty newspaper columnist marked him for suspicion when he joined Enda Kenny's Cabinet as Minister for Transport. He has now written that book, an entertaining inside-the-room account of recent events in Irish politics. He talks to Pat about his transition from ene...

LIVE US ELECTION SHOW: New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd joins Hugh and our Washington correspondent Suzanne Lynch for a special live online edition of Inside Politics, on Thursday October 29th at 7pm. If you're a subscriber, check your email to find out how to avail of a half-price ticket for just €10. Non-subscribers can buy a ticket for €20.To buy tickets, go here: www.irishtimes.com/inside...

Jack Horgan-Jones, Suzanne Lynch and Denis Staunton join Pat to talk about an eventful week in Ireland's Covid-19 response, the Brexit process and Donald Trump and Joe Biden's race to the White House. LIVE US ELECTION SHOW: New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd joins Hugh and our Washington correspondent Suzanne Lynch for a special live online edition of Inside Politics, on Thursday October 29th a...

So what is the national Covid-19 policy now? It seems to be: lockdown now, enjoy Christmas, lockdown again. But even that fairly bleak prospect is contingent on a lot of things going according to plan. To talk about the politics that led us to Level 5, the exclusively male composition of the Covid-19 decision makers and the rollercoaster we're facing over the winter months, today's host Harry McGe...

Hugh talks to economist and Irish Times columnist David McWilliams about the massive increase in spending announced in yesterday's budget and why this approach, the correct one as David sees it, won out against more conservative voices, or "economic jihadis". But first: the budget is an annual set piece of political theatre, but the stage of the National Convention Centre proved a poor one. Politi...

Once both sides in a two-party system start playing hardball - as we see in the battle over the US Supreme Court, for example - it's very difficult for either to stop, with potentially dangerous consequences. So can America's hyper-partisan politics deescalate a notch or two? Not easily, according to Steven Levitsky, a Harvard professor and co-author of How Democracies Die, a book about how health...

A short episode with analysis of the latest Irish Times / IpsosMRBI poll, which shows that public approval of the coalition Government and its party leaders has fallen, but support has remained relatively steady for the big three parties of Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil. The biggest losers: Eamon Ryan and the Greens. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to yo...

In today’s roundup, the team look ahead to next week’s budget. What has Paschal planned for the next twelve months? How can we live with Covid and keep the economy going? Which sectors will be prioritised? One thing is certain, this will be a budget like no other. Also on the agenda is the Climate Action Bill which was launched today and the aftermath of the Covid controversy. Pat, Cliff and Jen j...

It's been a significant few days in Ireland's Covid-19 response, with controversy erupting on Sunday over Nphet's recommendation that the country move to Level5 restrictions, much to the Government's annoyance. Pat tells Hugh how it all went down and what the deterioration in relations between our elected officials and health experts means. Would you like to receive daily insights into world event...

President Trump and his wife Melania have tested positive for coronavirus. This opens up a range of questions about how the next four weeks leading up to the election will unfold. If Covid-19 proves serious for Trump, what then? To discuss the latest developments from the US, Hugh is joined by Eric S. Heberlig, Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of North Car...

Following a disappointing election result and worrying trends in recent opinion polls, a huge challenge now lies ahead for Fianna Fail. Can this once all-powerful organisation ever hope to regain its popularity in a changed and newly fractured political landscape? Joining Hugh and Pat to discuss the past, present and future of the party is Professor of Modern Irish History at UCD Diarmaid Ferriter...

"Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism" is the new book by Atlantic magazine journalist Anne Applebaum. In it she writes about the "unbridgeable political chasm" that has opened between her and her former liberal and centre-right friends as they embraced populism and authoritarianism, and the personal motivations that drive people to adopt extreme politics. If you enjoy the...

It’s been another eventful week in politics with the reduction of the pandemic unemployment payment coinciding with the announcement of ten new advisors for junior ministers. All the while, four ministers are under restricted measures after coming into contact with a positive case of Covid-19. How will they get past this very ill-timed decision? Pat and Jen join Hugh to discuss. Would you like to...

Ireland has long been notable for its lack of a successful "far right" political movement. But the lack of political success has not been for the want of trying by a small number of activist groups. Now in the age of Covid-19, some such groups are exploiting divisions over the pandemic to reach a wider audience with their anti-establishment and anti-immigrant message, as well as racist conspiracy...

Health editor Paul Cullen and columnist Una Mullally join Hugh and Harry this week to talk about a Tuesday of drama, and occasional slapstick, with the Government introducing its five-stage plan for society to live with Covid-19 in the months ahead. The messaging on the day was universally panned, but beyond that, does the plan make sense? Would you like to receive daily insights into world events...

What is Boris Johnson's game? As the House of Commons debates Prime Minister Johnson's controversial Internal Markets bill, Pat and Hugh are joined by The Spectator's James Forsyth to discuss the levels of opposition and support the bill now enjoys, the strategy behind it and the impact it will have on negotiations with the EU. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered t...

This week in The Irish Times has featured a series of articles on the theme of "A Shared Island", with our journalists talking to people of different political persuasions north and south, looking at the future of the island and trying to answer questions, including: How advanced is the drive for border poll? What might a shared island actually look like? Is there any way to include Unionism in a...

The UK government will intentionally break international law with new legislation designed to let it off the hook for certain aspects of the Northern Ireland protocol, a part of last year's Brexit deal. It's a move that would have been unthinkable not long ago, but it shows just how much the Conservative party has changed under Boris Johnson, says Denis Staunton. From Brussels, it looks as though...

It's one of the defining relationships of the western world, but it is largely misunderstood - the special relationship between the UK and the US is not built on shared language, foreign policy goals, culture or ideals. It's built on money; specifically the global financial system that the two nations created together. So argues Jeremy Green, a political economist at Cambridge University, in his n...