Irish Times Inside Politics

Ellen Coyne and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics: ·       With polling day expected to be October 24th, nominations are now open for the office of president and to close on September 24th.  Another date to keep in mind is next Tuesday September 9th which will see a vote among Fianna Fáil’s 71-strong parliamentary party to...

The absence of a coherent international response to the crises in Gaza and Ukraine has raised questions about what used to be called the international rules-based order. Does it still exist at all, or has the reality of raw military and economic power trumped every other consideration? Against that backdrop, what role, if any, does the United Nations have to play? And what is Ireland's role within...

Today we bring you a recording of a live episode that took place yesterday in the Mindfield area of Electric Picnic. Hugh talked to Ellen Coyne, Jack Horgan-Jones and Pat Leahy about the meaning of the presidency, the prospects of all the potential candidates and the political calculations being made by the big parties as the race begins. Thanks to everyone who attended and to Electric Picnic. Wou...

Jack Horgan-Jones and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:   ·      It seems highly likely that former Dublin football manager Jim Gavin has the blessing of Taoiseach Micheál Martin to seek a nomination to contest the presidential election for Fianna Fáil. Cork MEP Billy Kelleher is also seeking support for a nomination through parlia...

Éamon De Valera died on August 29th, 1975. Fifty years on, the Ireland of today would hardly be recognisable to the revolutionary leader, taoiseach and president who famously extolled the simple virtues, comely maidens and frugal comforts of the traditional Ireland he wished to see. But in many ways, argues Irish Times reporter and historian Ronan McGreevy, we are still living in De Valera's Irela...

Harry McGee and Ellen Coyne look back on the week in politics: ·       The presidential race is the only show in town with Fine Gael recovering remarkably well from the news last week that Mairead McGuinness was dropping out for health reasons. Within days of that bombshell, Heather Humphreys and Seán Kelly emerged as rivals for the party candidacy, but Humphreys...

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed Monday’s summit at the White House with US president Donald Trump as a “major step forward” towards ending Europe’s deadliest conflict in 80 years and towards setting up a trilateral meeting with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and Trump in the coming weeks. The meeting, attended by European leaders as well as Zelenskiy and Trump, result...

Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan bring the story of Brian Cowen’s ill-fated 2008-2011 government to its conclusion. Following Cowen’s embarrassing appearance on Morning Ireland in late 2010, many in the country and within his own party gave up on him. For Cowen and Fianna Fáil, the writing was on the wall. But first, the country’s worsening fiscal situation would lead to one of the lowest moments in Ire...

The surprise withdrawal from the presidential election race of Fine Gael candidate Mairead McGuinness on health grounds has introduced even more uncertainty to an already unpredictable contest. On today's podcast Ellen Coyne and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh to assess the state of the campaign. Who will Fine Gael choose to replace McGuinness on their ticket? When will Fianna Fáil nominate a candidate?...

In part two of a three-part series on Brian Cowen’s ill-fated 2008-2011 government, Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan continue the story. After the fateful 2008 decision to bail out Ireland’s banks, Cowen and his Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan spent the next year struggling to shore up Ireland’s worsening finances. Throughout 2009 and 2010 the mood in the country darkened as recession bit. Spending c...

Brian Cowen became Taoiseach in 2008, just as Ireland’s economy was going into free-fall. For the next three years he struggled to lead the country through some of its darkest days, with public opinion quickly souring against him and Fianna Fáil.  In a new three-part series from The Irish Times Inside Politics podcast, Hugh Linehan and Pat Leahy look back at how Cowen became Taoiseach and his...

Pat Leahy and Harry McGee join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:   ·       Fox News and its standard of journalism were highlighted during an episode of The Will Cain Show this week that featured media commentator and author Douglas Murray talking about open borders migration. During the segment Murray claimed Dublin had gone from being...

In today’s episode, Hugh is joined by historian Dr Cormac Moore to discuss one of the most consequential but little-known episodes in modern Irish history: the Irish Boundary Commission. Based on Moore’s new book The Root of All Evil, the conversation explores the hopes, fraught negotiations, and ultimate anticlimax that defined the commission’s work 100 years ago this year. How did a clause&...

Cormac McQuinn and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:   ·       The Labour Party has backed Independent TD Catherine Connolly’s bid for the Áras. And there is little appetite in Sinn Féin for Mary Lou McDonald to run for president as party figures move closer to the idea of also backing Con...

It's part two of our summer Ask Me Anything, with the panel tackling questions sent to politicspodcast@irishtimes.com by listeners. Hugh, Pat, Jack, Ellen and Cormac address topics from disapora voting rights to the lack of representation of migrant communities in Dáil Eireann, the meaning of populism and the efficiency of government spending. Would you like to receive daily insights into world ev...

It's summer holiday season and that means it's time to open the floor to questions from the Inside Politics audience. Hugh, Pat, Jack, Ellen and Cormac sift through the politicspodcast@irishtimes.com inbox and pick out questions on the presidency, Gaza, the State's struggle to solve complex problems, and more. Thanks for listening to Inside Politics throughout the political year. Would you like to...

Ellen Coyne and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics: ·       With Independent TD Catherine Connolly and former MEP Mairead McGuinness having declared their candidacy, there will now be at least two names in the race for the Áras. But with no sign yet of a clear candidate for Fianna Fáil or Sinn Féin, are any of the potential names cur...

The Government’s updated National Development Plan (NDP) proposes to spend a vast sum of money on capital infrastructure. But beyond three ‘mega projects’ there is little detail and the vagueness of the document has led to some skepticism. In part one of today's podcast Pat Leahy joins Hugh Linehan to discuss the NDP and whether the Government's promise to prioritise infrastructure could survive a...

Cormac McQuinn and Jack Horgan-Jones join Pat Leahy to look back on the week in politics:   ·       The latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll shows Sinn Féin on 22 per cent (down four), with Fianna Fáil on 22 per cent (no change) and Fine Gael on 17 per cent (up one). Given just 14% of voters feel Government is successfully tackling the country’s pro...

EU negotiators thought a deal with their US counterparts on trade and tariffs was near. Then US president Donald Trump ended those feelings of optimism by threatening to apply 30% tariffs from August 1st. Is this another negotiating tactic or does he mean it this time? And what is the mood in Dublin and Brussels about Trump's threats? Jack Horgan-Jones and Jack Power join Pat Leahy. In part two: I...

Ellen Coyne and Harry McGee join Pat Leahy to look back on the week in politics:   ·       When Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald was asked on Monday if she was ruling herself out of this year’s contest to succeed Michael D Higgins, she replied, “we’re not ruling anything in or anything out.” But could a tilt at the presidency be a potential career-ender fo...

This month marks 30 years since the Srebrenica genocide, when more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys were massacred by Serb forces in Bosnia. In today’s episode, Irish Times Eastern Europe Correspondent Daniel McLaughlin joins Hugh to reflect on his recent visit to eastern Bosnia. They discuss the enduring legacy of the atrocity, how the town is preparing to commemorate the 30th anniversary and the p...

It is just over a year since Keir Starmer’s Labour Party won a huge majority and took power in London, but Starmer’s political capital is already at a low ebb.  It hasn’t all been bad: most noticeably here, he has managed to repair the UK’s relationship with Ireland after the fractious Brexit years. But he has also handled the Trump administration and the EU with skill.  It’s at home whe...

Jack Horgan-Jones and Harry McGee join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:   ·       The drive to inject some impetus into the Irish presidential race has not yielded anything of note just yet with the starter pistol not expected to sound until Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael,  and Sinn Féin nominate their candidates.   ·   &nb...

Money always matters in politics. Just ask UK prime minister Keir Starmer, whose attempt to cut UK welfare payments is on the rocks thanks to Labour party rebels, leaving a multibillion pound hole in his economic plan.  Over here, the various departments are currently working out how much money they need to operate in advance of the Summer Economic Statement, the report that outlines the para...