Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

Next weekend, French voters decide whether Emmanuel Macron should remain president or Marine Le Pen should replace him. The latter result would transform France and Europe. Next month, Northern Irish voters elect their MLAs in a vote that could see a Sinn Féin First Minister appointed for the first time. Freya McClements and Lara Marlowe report on these two consequential campaigns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is overwhelming support for a retention of Ireland’s current model of military neutrality, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos poll. Two- thirds of voters do not want to see any change in neutrality, with less than a quarter (24 per cent) saying they wanted to see a change. Pat Leahy explains the poll results in detail. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Part one: The political controversy over the appointment of Dr Tony Holohan to a position in Trinity College has raised some awkward questions for Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and his departmental Secretary General extraordinaire Robert Watt. Part two: The Dáil is in recess this week - time to run the rule over the performance of the various political parties and the challenges that lie before them in the rest of 2022. Guests: Harry McGee and Cormac McQuinn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Neoliberalism means different things to different people. As a set of economic policies it is mainly associated with reducing state intervention in commerce and society. In the course of its late 20th century heyday, neoliberalism transformed the world - for better or worse. But now its dominance is challenged by different models, such as the authoritarian capitalism of China. In his new book The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order, Gary Gerstle looks at how neoliberalism took hold, how it shaped society in the United States and beyond, and what its decline means. Gary Gerstle is Paul Mellon Professor of American History Emeritus and Paul Mellon Director of Research at the University of Cambridge. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh is joined by Jennifer Bray, Cormac McQuinn and Harry McGee to discuss the big political stories of the week, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s historic address to a joint sitting of the Oireachtas earlier this morning, the debate surrounding the impending carbon tax increase and the result of the recent Seanad by-election. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ivana Bacik’s uncontested election as Labour Party leader came after the swift removal of Alan Kelly from the role and her own relatively recent appointment as a TD in the Dublin Bay South by-election. She talks to Hugh and Pat about her recent elevation, her vision for the future of the Labour Party and the challenges it faces in re-establishing itself as a medium-sized force in national politics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hugh catches up with Pat Leahy, fresh from his trip to Washington for Micheál Martin’s ill-fated St Patrick’s Day visit. They’re also joined by Jennifer Bray to discuss the future of the coalition and the big political challenges it faces, including the resurgence of Covid, the war in Ukraine and inflation.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine enters its fourth week, with little sign of an outcome, the question of what an endgame of this war might look like is increasingly the subject of international debate. Former editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber, is one of the few Western journalists to have conducted an in-depth interview with Vladimir Putin. He talks to Hugh about Putin’s motivations, how this war could end and what the geopolitical consequences of it may be.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In her new book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century, Helen Thompson, a professor of political economy at Cambridge University, gets to grips with the overlapping geopolitical, economic, and political crises faced by Western democratic societies in the 2020s. She talks to Hugh about some of these moments and the disorder that emerged from them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty joins Hugh and Pat to discuss what his party's priorities and policies would be, if they were to lead the next government. They also discuss Ireland’s neutrality and security into the future, in light of the war in Ukraine, and whether cuts to excise duties on fuel, announced by the Government today, go far enough. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.