Inside Politics / Inside Story

Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       The posters are going up, and candidates are preparing their pitch, but could Sinn Féin come up empty-handed in both the Dublin Central (party leader Mary Lou McDonald’s constituency) and Galway West byelection when the votes are counted on May 23rd? And does a vote against Government no longer mean a vote for the republican party?·       Given how many prominent Irish politicians retire and become silent, perhaps former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s unguarded opinions should be viewed as refreshing. The recent release of his book Speaking My Mind and various podcast contributions point to someone unafraid to give their unvarnished opinion.·       And President Catherine Connolly made her first trip overseas, attending the Defence of Democracy conference in Spain. Traditionalists might argue her first visit abroad s

The country is moving on from the protests that dominated the national discussion over Easter, even as what the protests actually meant continues to generate debate.Leo Varadkar poured more fuel on the fire by telling rural dwellers that, far from them being the backbone that holds up the country, it is their city cousins who pay all the bills. Could these events mark the start of deeper urban-rural divide in politics? It seems very possible the protests will be looked back on as an important step in Ireland’s political evolution, wherever that leads.Today Hugh is joined by UCD political economy lecturer Michael Byrne and political correspondent Ellen Coyne to talk about what the events of April 2026 have revealed about Irish society, Irish politics and how Irish people look at democracy, protest and the urban-rural divide. You can read Michael Byrne’s Substack blog on housing here. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Globa

Cormac McQuinn and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       There were renewed questions about the future of Micheál Martin’s leadership in the aftermath of the fuel protests and the resignation of former Independent minister Michael Healy-Rae from Government. Fianna Fáil TDs James O'Connor, Ryan O’Meara and Albert Dolan outlined their “real and deep concern” with the Government’s response to the protests in a statement on Wednesday. However, any momentum behind a challenge to Martin had faded by Thursday night as Fianna Fáil Ministers and TDs rallied behind him.·       Another consequence of the Government’s response to the fuel protests has been the potential impact on Fianna Fáil’s relationship with rural Ireland. Will Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan’s announcement last week that the Army was being called in to clear fuel protest blockades come back to haunt the party?·  

Hugh, Pat and Ellen are joined by columnist Gerard Howlin to talk about a tumultuous day in Leinster House that capped a terrible week for the governing coalition:The Government faced down a confidence challenge, as expected. But the loss of now-former minister of state Michael Healy-Rae, along with the support of his backbencher brother Danny, cut its majority and underlined how the fuel protests have emerged as its biggest political challenge since the general election.The speed with which hundred of millions of euro were found to fix the problem has not been lost on every other interest group in the country. Further militant protests and renewed public sector pay demands are likely to follow. Is the Dáil lacking voices calling for fiscal restraint?Rural disillusionment is a slow-burning crisis for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with rural voters feeling abandoned by the big parties. Jim O'Callaghan's stock has fallen within Fianna Fáil over his handling of the crisis.And with the Government lacking a clea

All agree that the scale of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s defeat in yesterday’s general election is hugely significant, for Hungary, Europe and beyond. But what exactly does the result mean? To find out Hugh talks to two journalists covering Hungarian affairs, Daniel Nolan and Ivan Nagy. They discuss how Orbán's populist playbook ran out of steam, why JD Vance's recent visit backfired and why Hungary now faces a painful economic reckoning. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:It was becoming clear towards the end of last week that protests over the price of fuel were coming. But the scale of what has unfolded seems to have caught the Government by surprise. Then there were missteps in the handling of the situation throughout the week. Now the battle lines have been drawn and positions have been given time and space to harden. Has the State’s authority been undermined? Jack and Ellen take us inside a week of crisis for the country and the coalition. Some opposition politicians showed enthusiastic support for the protests in their early stages, but the mood has become much more cautious as the scale of the impact on daily life has become clear. Donald Trump has claimed the two-week Iran war ceasefire as a victory for the US. In reality, the outcome is anything but. Plus the panel pick their favourite Irish Times articles of the week, including the nuances of court reporting, Paris

In the final instalment of our series on Labour’s time in government from 2011 to 2016, things get darker as it becomes clear economic progress will not be enough for voters to forgive the party for its role in austerity.Labour’s poor showing in the 2014 local and European elections leads to a change at the top. But Joan Burton’s leadership does not revive Labour’s fortunes.Then, when the disenchanted take to the streets to oppose water charges, the scale of public anger becomes clear - and much of it is still directed at Labour.To wrap up the story, Pat and Hugh talk about the roads not travelled. Could Labour have avoided its 2016 general election wipeout, a political setback it has struggled to recover from ever since?Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inside Politics is coming to Galway in May for a live recording. Get your tickets here.In part two of this three-part series on Labour's harrowing experience in government from 2011 to 2016, Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan follow the story of the first three years of that austerity-delivering coalition. As punishing budget after punishing budget was delivered, Labour struggled to retain its political identity and principles while working with Fine Gael to present a united front to a world that saw Ireland as an economic basket case. Successes - exiting the EU-IMF bailout programme, securing legislation on abortion - are completely overshadowed by the harshness of austerity. For Labour and its party leader Eamon Gilmore, the political damage mounts. Listen to part one here. Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa

Inside Politics is coming to Galway in May for a live recording. Get your tickets here.When Labour came to power in 2011 Ireland was in the depths of an economic crisis that had several more years to run. Their coalition with Fine Gael spent the next five years struggling to fix the economy while satisfying the EU and the IMF, who had bailed us out.But it was Labour, led by Eamon Gilmore to its greatest ever number of seats in that election, who bore the brunt of voter frustration over the deep cutsLinehanx increases that the government then imposed. The party was decimated in the next election and voters, particularly of the working class, never fully trusted the party again. So why did Labour get the blame? Could Gilmore and Joan Burton, who succeeded him in 2014, have done things differently? In this series Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan relive the fateful events and decisions of that era and, a decade on, take a fresh look back at Labour’s collapse. In episode one they look at Eamon Gilmore, how Lab

Oliver Sears, founder of Holocaust Awareness Ireland, joins Hugh to talk about his growing alarm at the rise of anti-Semitism in Ireland and what he sees as the failure to take it seriously. They discuss whether the political response to Israel's actions since October 7th 2023 has complicated that debate. The conversation covers questions such as where legitimate criticism of Israel ends and anti-Semitism begins, whether anti-Zionism can be distinguished from antisemitism, and what Ireland's institutions should be doing differently.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the Government decided to unveil a €250 million package to help citizens meet the elevated cost of fuel. And this could be just the start of a series of new efforts to keep down the cost of living. After ending such supports in the last Budget, it seems there is a limit to the Government’s ability to resist helping when times get tough and the money is there. But what will happen when a crisis coincides with tougher fiscal times? The renewed threat of inflation is having an impact across the economic and political landscape. Inflation means unpredictable costs and that is especially bad for one key area.Other Government departments will be asked to bail out the Department of Education, which is facing another large budget overspend this year. Will this request brew inter-departmental strife? Our population is growing and our constitution stipulates there should be at least one TD for every 30,000 people. Should that rule be changed before we end up with excessive numbers of

Seán Lemass is remembered as the man who changed Ireland.Several opinion polls have noted Lemass as the country's most admired taoiseach.He never left any papers of autobiography, but rather twenty-two hours of private interviews.Hugh speaks to Irish Times reporter Ronan McGreevy who has gathered these lost interviews and collated them into a memoir in Lemass's own words.Produced by JJ Vernon and Andrew McNair.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eoin Drea is a senior researcher at the Wilfried Martens Centre, the official think tank of the European People’s Party (of which Fine Gael is a member), and an occasional contributor to the opinion pages of The Irish Times, where he is often critical of Ireland’s approach to Europe. Recently he wrote that “Ireland’s recent hissy fit at not being invited to a pre-EU summit meeting in Belgium speaks volumes as to where Dublin ranks in the minds of our fellow EU members”. On today’s podcast he talks to Hugh about how Ireland’s influence in Europe has declined, why he believes Ireland’s political discourse around Europe is naive and lacking strategic depth and what “two-speed” EU development could look like - with or without Ireland as a key player. He also talks about how Ireland is viewed as being "in the pocket of the US multinationals".Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here:

Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       Israeli strikes on Iranian natural gas infrastructure marked an escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran. With global oil and gas prices climbing, could we soon see Government measures to offset the cost to consumers?·       Opposition parties were less than impressed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s showing during his St Patrick’s Day meeting with US president Donald Trump, but the world’s media praised Martin’s polite pushback on certain points.  ·       The demolition of an illegally-built Co Meath home has captured the public imagination this week. It has served to highlight the urban-rural divide when it comes to one-off housing during the current housing crisis.·       And the monthly payments to those housing Ukrainian people in their spare rooms will be wou

Taoiseach Michel Martin has been meeting US president Donald Trump as part of the annual St Patrick’s Day pageantry. Martin once again faced the challenge of outlining Ireland’s positions on issues from tariffs to wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Iran while maintaining his personal dignity and without antagonising Trump to Ireland's detriment. It was no easy task, with the US president criticising UK prime minister Keir Starmer, attacking Europe on its migration and energy policies and misgendering President Catherine Connolly. So how did Martin do? Pat Leahy reports from Washington.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ellen Coyne and Harry McGee join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s St Patrick’s Day visit to The White House to meet US president Donald Trump could prove awkward should he face questions about the US and Israel’s military action against Iran, and its impact on the Middle East, Gulf regions and soaring fuel prices. Last year’s meeting was a minefield to be navigated – perhaps Martin has learned from that experience.·       A far less fraught meeting took place on Friday when the Taoiseach welcomed Britain's prime minister Keir Starmer to the UK-Ireland summit at Fota House in Cork. Security and co-operation were the order of the day, as Anglo-Irish relations continued to improve from a post-Brexit low.·       And the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided this week, after a mere fifteen years, not to bring criminal charges against anyone arising fro

As war in the Middle East rages on, the world's superpowers are making diplomatic representations to end it, and contingencies to protect their economies from the knock-on effects, namely oil and natural gas prices.China, which buys oil from Iran, would rather the conflict hadn’t begun and would like to see it concluded, according to Irish Times Beijing correspondent Denis Staunton. However its reliance on foreign oil is small in comparison to other nations.On today's podcast Hugh is joined by Denis and Political Editor Pat Leahy who says European governments, including Ireland, have a much greater problem with the volatility of the energy markets.The Irish government was one of the few incumbent European governments that was re-elected after the volatility brought on by the war in Ukraine. How will European politicians handle the Iran war challenge?Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.

The Irish-American experience fitted seamlessly into the story of the United States as a “nation of immigrants”. In the Trump era that narrative has fallen out of favour. Family ties are weakening over time and the old political associations are changing too. So where does that leave our relationship with the 38.5 million Americans who ticked “Irish” in the last US census? On today’s Inside Politics podcast Professor Liam Kennedy talks to Hugh Linehan about how Irish American identity has changed over the decades, how traces of it persist through popular culture and the contrast between the liberalism of Joe Biden and the nationalism of Steve Bannon. They also discuss the "soft power" of the Irish-American relationship, as exemplified by the shamrock ceremony that takes place next week in Washington, and whether it too is on the wane. Professor Liam Kennedy is director of the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin. Would you like to receive daily insights into world even

Naomi O’Leary and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       After six days of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, the conflict is escalating and has spread to Lebanon which has experienced sustained airstrikes from Israel. Iran has vowed to continue targeting Gulf countries having fired missile and drone attacks into Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The US has entered into a conflict with no clear focus or potential resolution. Trump’s demands on social media for an ‘unconditional surrender’ from Iran seem like wishful thinking at this point.·       Irish consumers are already feeling the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East as the average cost of 500 litres of home heating oil was put at just under €800 on Thursday, an increase of nearly 60 per cent in less than a week. The Government was quick to react, asking the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to launch an immediate in

While the world’s attention is focused on the Middle East, Inside Politics looks at the US sphere of influence on Cuba, which is facing ever tightening economic sanctions.Cuban governments have survived attempts to overthrow it by multiple US administrations going all the way back to Dwight Eisenhower following the revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959.Over the decades, Cuban governments have managed to survive crippling economic sanctions largely because of its allies in the region, namely Venezuela.In recent weeks, the US Navy has amassed a huge number of vessels in the Caribbean Sea to stop oil imports to Cuba, and the US government has threatened sanctions on Mexico if it tries to deliver oil to the island. But why now? And what impact will it have on the Cuban government, and on the lives of the people there.The journalist Hannah McCarthy travelled to Cuba to find out.“What we’re seeing is just a grinding halt of daily life” she said.“Buses not running. Rolling blackouts that were already happening