The Candidate

Nigel Farage resigned as an MP on Tuesday to trigger a byelection in which he's going to run in, and waited for the establishment to line up against him. They didn't. A handful of minor parties have put their names forward, but the candidate getting all the headlines is Count Binface, an Oxford graduate in a bin costume who has previously stood against Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Theresa May. I...

Housing Minister James Browne has announced the biggest shake-up to rural planning rules in two decades. It should be easier for people to build homes in the countryside, but there's no target for how many new homes this will deliver and no new transport or services to go with it. These changes were "imminent" in 2021. Now, five years and one Green Party exit later, here they are. Christine Bohan,...

An Oireachtas committee spent years researching drug policy in Ireland and came back with a clear recommendation: decriminalise possession of all drugs for personal use, a shift from treating drug use as a criminal justice issue to treating it as a health one. The committee was cross-party and had extensive evidence to draw from. The government's response? Lukewarm at best. Christine Bohan, Jane M...

Something unusual happened in the Dáil this week when a Sinn Féin proposal to scrap the three-day waiting period for abortion passed. An opposition bill getting through is rare enough, but this one came with a free vote that split the government parties wide open. Micheál Martin and Simon Harris both voted in favour. Most of their TDs voted against. Senior ministers like Jim O'Callaghan, Norma Fol...

The Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris joins us in studio for a sit-down interview. We asked him why a man on a doorstep in Dublin Central called him the minister for press releases, about how Ireland is a country that's never been richer but has never felt poorer, and what his guiding philosophy is as finance minister He told Christine Bohan, Christina Finn and Jane Matthews that childcar...

When Michael Healy-Rae resigned as minister in April, he walked out of the Dáil, put his fist in the air outside the gates, and told reporters he was standing with the people of Kerry. This week, he told a different story, that it was his brother Danny's surprise interview calling on the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to resign that cost him his job. Two versions, two months apart... and Michael somehow m...

Byelection fallout continues for Sinn Féin as Labour says Mary Lou's party is left-wing no more. And while Holly Cairns says a left-wing government is within 'touching distance', the question being asked now is just how big could the Social Democrats get and could they end up eating everyone's lunch? Aside from the opposition benches, the government is in a spin over its climate targets. Hosted on...

It's count day and we have the latest analysis live. In Dublin Central, Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats has opened up a comfortable lead in what could potentially be a big moment for the party. Sinn Féin's Janice Boylan is in second but the transfers don't look like they'll save her, meaning the party could miss out on a crucial seat. And yes - Gerry Hutch is in the mix. In Galway West, it's...

Polls open on Friday in Dublin Central and Galway West, and both races are still wide open. The cost of living is the dominant issue on the doorsteps, rents have just hit record levels, and the fuel protests are still fresh. But that anger hasn't settled neatly behind any one party or candidate. Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews and Rónán Duffy make their (reluctant) predictions, look at how Fine Gae...

The vultures are circling Keir Starmer in a way that just doesn't happen in Irish politics. We ask why, and whether the difference between a prime minister on 19% approval and a Taoiseach on 38% is less about likability and more about having an economy on performance enhancing drugs. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy compare the Starmer psychodrama with Micheál Martin's version of th...

Reports suggest Britain's King Charles is likely to visit Ireland on an official trip, possibly as soon as next year. His mother's visit in 2011 was a landmark moment, but it had a clear purpose along the lines of healing and 'turning a new page'. This one doesn't have a script yet.  Christine Bohan, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy discuss what kind of visit this should be, and whether Ireland...

In Dublin Central, Sinn Féin should be the favourites but the Social Democrats are quietly eating into their vote, and Gerry Hutch is back with a first-preference base that nobody should be ignoring. In Galway West, Catherine Connolly's seat is up for grabs and the left parties that united to get her into the Áras have gone straight back to fighting each other. Sinéad O'Carroll, Christina Finn, an...

It's been nine days since a court heard that a former TD gave a character reference for a man convicted of sexually exploiting a 13-year-old boy at a children's camp. We still don't know their name, their party, or why they wrote it. The Tánaiste has called on them to come forward, but there is no law, no mechanism, no compulsion that can make them reveal themselves. The legislation that was suppo...

The fuel protests may be over but the fallout inside Fianna Fáil is only getting started. Young TDs are issuing statements about the need for radical change. Malcolm Byrne is on television saying Micheál Martin is a good Taoiseach but a bad party leader. There was a four-hour marathon meeting on Monday. Yet nobody is actually willing to do anything about it. A lot of grumbling and then walking bac...

It started on Tuesday with tractors and trucks on major roads. Dublin city centre ground to a half. By Thursday, protesters were blockading Ireland's only oil refinery, the army had been called in, and the Taoiseach was calling it an act of national sabotage. Three days! That's how fast this has escalated, and nobody seems to know how it ends because nobody's entirely sure who's leading it. Christ...

Finance Minister Simon Harris has outlined (again) what his much-flagged personal savings and investment scheme is going to going to look like. Well, kind of. We still don't know the exact details but we have the broad strokes: it'll encourage people to put money into a government-run investment account, rather than letting it languish in a savings account. The Social Democrats aren't impressed so...

The National Children's Hospital has just missed its 18th deadline, and when an Oireachtas committee asked when it would actually be ready, the answer was: we'll need another 15 days to come up with a new date. Meanwhile, 570 staff still need to be hired in a city where nurses struggle to afford to live. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy ask why the government keeps treating its most...

The reviews are in from the Oval Office, and the verdict is... it wasn't a disaster? Martin met Trump, defended Starmer, stifled a grin during a rant about windmills, and told the US president he's doing his bit for peace in the Middle East (gulp). The bar for success remains firmly on the floor: don't poke the bear, don't make headlines, get out alive. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthe...

Fuel prices have been climbing higher, and higher... and higher. The government's response? We're monitoring it. Wait and see. Let's not make any knee-jerk decisions. But as one of our team puts it: everyone can see what's happening in Iran, everyone can see what's happening at the pumps, so how much more evidence do you need that this isn't going to blow over? Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Chri...

It's day six of the US-led war on Iran and Ireland's government still can't bring itself to say two crucial words. With the White House visit just weeks away, Micheál Martin is leaning hard on phrases like "rules-based international order" - but what rules do we need to actually pay attention to? The government called out genocide in Gaza, but has suddenly gone quiet. Christine Bohan, Christina Fi...

Sinn Féin's Dublin Central selection convention was meant to be a formality. Campaigner Gillian Sherratt was widely tipped to get the nod. Instead, the party's own members backed long-standing local councillor Janice Boylan. Was it a grassroots revolt against a parachute candidate? Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy dig into why Irish politics keeps rejecting outsiders,...

The government's plan to review how SNAs are allocated lead to a U-turn that was almost as sharp as the backlash. Letters landing in principals' inboxes triggered a political firestorm, TDs lined up to call it an own goal, and the plan was shelved. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy ask: how did the government walk into this one? Also: is there a snobbery problem with...

Another St Patrick's Day trip to the White House, another thorny issue to navigate. This time, it's the detention of an Irish citizen in a US immigration centre. Despite reports of grim conditions and rising concerns for other undocumented Irish people, Micheál Martin seems reluctant to put it front and centre with Donald Trump. Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Rónán Duffy and Christina Finn unpack...

The government wants e-bike and e-scooter users to wear helmets and high-vis gear, but critics say that’s missing the point. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews and Rónán Duffy dig into the backlash to this latest safety proposal and why the cycling debate in Ireland seems to hit a nerve every time. Also: Should politicians be using AI to write speeches? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...

The most powerful political force in Ireland? Flooding. Storm Chandra has kicked off a public row between Housing Minister James Browne and Met Éireann. After Browne suggested Met Éireann 'guarded' information and should change how it issues warnings, question are now being asked: is the warning system fit for purpose, and who is accountable when flooding hits? Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews and R...