Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

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’ momentum and popularity across party lines makes her a strong favourite to win the race for the nomination. ·       And while Fine Gael can count three legitimate potential candidates, Taoiseach Micheál Martin is playing his cards close to his chest with Fianna Fáil yet to put anyone forward. Perhaps former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will eventually get the nod?  ·       Will Sinn Féin throw their support behind Catherine Connolly in the absence of an obvious candidate in their own ranks? Mary Lou McDonald aside of course. Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Walking the Boyne Valley Camino, and Rose of Tralee winner Katelyn Cummins. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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, resulted in one potentially major win for Ukraine: Trump's suggestion the US could play a role in providing security guarantees for Ukraine in a post-war era.But how reliable is Trump’s support, and what would such security guarantees look like?Eastern Europe correspondent Dan McLaughlin and Europe correspondent Jack Power join Hugh to talk about the details of the discussions and why the path towards any sort of peace deal remains difficult and unpredictable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Ireland’s modern history. The events of November 2010 and the subsequent general election in 2011 would reshape Irish society and politics forever.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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? Would Dr Tony Holohan's Covid record be an asset or a liability if he decided to run? Could McGuinness's withdrawal carry downsides for independent candidate Catherine Connolly? And who exactly is Gareth Sheridan? The panel also pick their favourite Irish Times articles of the week, including an emotional preview of Oasis at Croke Park, a review of the pro golfers appearing in Happy Gilmore 2 and a dispatch from a small Welsh town that hit the jackpot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 cuts and tax rises were introduced in a series of hair-shirt budgets.As a result, confidence in the government was already on the floor when Cowen made an infamous appearance on Morning Ireland in September 2009. But what did Cowen actually say in the interview, and what impact did it have?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 short, turbulent time in power. The podcast follows his early promise as the heir to an Offaly Fianna Fáil dynasty, through his rise to power and his doomed attempts to fix the banking crisis and the chaotic end of his political career. Parts two and three will be published on Wednesday August 13th and Monday August 18th.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 one of the safest cities in Europe to one of its most dangerous. His basis for this was a survey conducted by the Online Betting Guide (OLBG) entitled European Nightlife Index Casinos. In it, Dublin was ranked ninth in Europe with Birmingham, Naples and Paris placed among the most dangerous cities. ·       A group of 16 members of the House of Representatives have sought to exert pressure on Ireland’s Government by writing to US treasury secretary Scott Bessent to request he consider adding Ireland to a list of countries boycotting Israel if the proposed Occupied Territories Bill is passed. ·       Billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond feels Artificial Intelligence will make Dublin’s planned MetroLink obsolete and has urged the Government to shelve the €10 billion project. ·       And Independent ministers are not happy with the current rules around inheritance tax. Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Diarmaid Ferriter and Stephen Collins on the legacy of Daniel O’Connell, Cliff Taylor on how Ireland’s economy still remains suspended between Boston and Berlin, and Sonia Harris Pope on Jewish identity in Ireland at the moment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 in the Anglo-Irish Treaty come to carry the weight of nationalist aspirations and unionist fears? Why did so many believe that the commission would redraw the map of Ireland in favour of the Free State – and how did those expectations unravel so completely? Was the commission’s failure inevitable, or did political miscalculations and miscommunications seal its fate?Moore, historian-in-residence with Dublin City Council, brings a forensic eye to the detail and a deep sense of the human stakes involved. He unpacks the central roles played by figures such as David Lloyd George, James Craig and WT Cosgrave.What lessons does the Boundary Commission hold for how borders are made – and unmade – in contested spaces? And in a world where the political future of Northern Ireland is once again up for debate, is this century-old episode a cautionary tale of how not to manage competing nationalisms?What happened in 1925 offers lessons for anyone interested in the deeper roots of partition, the evolution of identity on this island, and how historical decisions continue to cast long shadows.Produced by Declan Conlon with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Connolly. Elsewhere, presidential hopeful Michael Flatley had to explain why he wasn’t a threat to great white sharks everywhere. ·       The ongoing debate over the Occupied Territories Bill and whether it will include services in its final iteration, and the continuing Government move towards getting rid of the so-called triple lock governing overseas deployment of Irish troops will likely be two issues that will be put to any presidential candidates. ·       The Social Democrats readmitted Dublin Bay South TD Eoin Hayes after his eight-month suspension from the party. ·       And Donald Trump is intent on more trade chaos as he announced a slew of new tariffs. But will Ireland come out of it all relatively unscathed? Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Rosie O’Donnell’s new show at the Olympia gets a stinker of a review, the inside story of JP McManus’s failed €30m Irish Rugby Experience, and Ryan Tubridy living his best life in London. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.