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Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan
Are Sinn Féin drifting away from an uneasy left-wing alliance?
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Ellen Coyne and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:
· The left-wing alliance that was formed during Catherine Connolly’s presidential campaign is already straining, with the Social Democrats, Labour and People Before Profit concerned with the policy direction of Sinn Féin on issues like migration and reproductive rights.
· Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins was not impressed by left-leaning voters neglecting to supply party candidate Noel Thomas with enough transfers to prevail in the recent Galway West byelection. Perhaps those voters did not want to give Thomas a preference given his far from left-leaning stance on immigration.
· The omission of services from the Occupied Territories Bill, which targets Israeli imports produced from Palestinian lands, came as a surprise to no one. After many months of mulling it over, the Taoiseach was accused by Opposition parties of reneging on promises to prohibit all trade with settlements. Government can expect many calls for amendments when it is brought to Oireachtas in the coming weeks.
· And the building of one-off rural housing could become easier with plans to relax the rules for rural housing, aimed at allowing for increased supply, expected to be brought to Cabinet next month.
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Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales believes the crisis of trust is still fixable
48:23|Jimmy Wales founded Wikipedia in January 2001, and almost nobody thought that an encyclopedia that anyone in the world was allowed to edit would actually work. But a quarter of a century later, Wikipedia is still one of the most visited websites on Earth and one of the few large-scale online institutions that people across the political spectrum broadly trust. In his new book, The Seven Rules of Trust, Wales argues that what made Wikipedia work was a set of principles encompassing human nature, reciprocity, purpose, civility, independence and transparency. He joins Hugh to talk about where Wikipedia came from, what those principles are and whether they offer any way out of the crisis of trust that is currently shaping politics across the democratic world.Eruption of violence in Northern Ireland echoes the Troubles
53:59|Cormac McQuinn and Harry McGee join Hugh to discuss the week in politics:The disorder in Northern Ireland since a knife attack in Belfast on Monday reached levels not seen since “the worst possible days of the Troubles”, the Police Service of Northern Ireland chief constable Jon Boutcher said. In a society with a history of sectarianism, there are complex layers to the events taking place.Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll McNeill won her battle with the Rotunda Hospital this week.The Football Association of Ireland has confirmed that Ireland’s Nations League clash with Israel on October 4th will be played at a neutral venue and behind closed doors.Plus the panel pick their favourite Irish Times stories of the week.Is meaningful climate action possible in a democracy?
37:43|In a new book coauthored with fellow political scientists, UCD’s Aidan Regan argues that the three goals of democracy, economic growth and effective climate action are at odds with one another, and that the resulting “trilemma” requires novel political solutions to solve. On today's podcast Aidan talks to Hugh about why it is so difficult to balance these goals and potential solutions. They also discuss why effective climate action should be linked to improved standards of living, not increased costs; whether regulations are really to blame for our failure to deliver infrastructure and housing; how China manages to achieve economic growth while leading in the transition to green technology; and whether “degrowth” is a realistic path to sustainability or a political impossibility. The New Trilemma of Advanced Capitalism: Democracy, Growth and Effective Climate Action by Aidan Regan, Hanna Schwander, Cyril Benoît and Tim Vlandas is available now. Aidan Regan is a professor of political economy at the school of politics and international relations at University College DublinInside Politics Meets GD Politics: A crossover episode with Galen Druke
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54:57|Pat Leahy and Ellen Coyne join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:· Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has come out this week to demand the Rotunda maternity hospital withdraw permission for consultants on public-only contracts to practise privately on its premises. If not, it could have its funding pulled.· An investigation by Swedish tax authorities alleges that Oligarch and Vladimir Putin associate Oleg Deripaska, who is under EU sanctions over his role in supporting the invasion of Ukraine, still controls Rusal, the company that owns the Co Limerick industrial plant Aughinish Alumina.· And an explosive interview from Michael Healy-Rae on Radio Kerry detailed how he was “pulled overboard” by his brother and fellow Independent TD Danny, resulting in him resigning his position as minister of state. Could the rift see the brothers run against each other in the next general election?Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:· The joy of your first World Cup, the Leaving Cert is a tough but valuable experience, and Andy Burnham’s byelection test in a Reform stronghold.Darragh O'Brien on Ireland's missed climate targets, new help to buy EVs and Fianna Fáil's leadership
43:10|Pat joins Hugh after interviewing Fianna Fáil's Darragh O'Brien about major issues related to his twin ministries, Transport and Climate, Energy and the Environment. They listen back to the interview and discuss what O'Brien had to say about a new scrappage scheme to encourage the purchase of EVs, Ireland's certain failure to hit its legally-binding emissions targets in 2030 and the financial cost to the state of that failure.They also discuss data centres and the future of Fianna Fail's leadership after a disappointing showing in the recent byelections.Shane Ross: Why politicians won't fix RTÉ - or let it fail
43:28|RTÉ has been in the news again lately thanks to renewed controversy over payments to presenters. So it is a timely moment for the release of a new book on the institution. RTÉ: Saints, Scholars, and Scandals is the latest work by former TD, minister and journalist Shane Ross, who brings his dual experience of media and politics to bear on this unwieldy subject.He talks to Hugh about the deep roots of RTÉ's structural problems, Fianna Fáil's dominance of RTÉ throughout its history (exemplified by Gay Byrne's cozy relationship with Charles Haughey) and the damaging recent scandals over payments and governance.He tells Hugh the frustration politicians feel over negative coverage is the reason cash-strapped RTÉ has not enjoyed a licence fee increase since 2008.Ross also talks about how illness (he is recovering from throat cancer) derailed the book for a few years.Why do these men want to strip women of the right to vote?
32:07|Journalist and author Helen Lewis has built a reputation for sharp analysis of politics, culture and the forces reshaping public life.In one piece for The Atlantic she unpicks policies, and the figures promoting them, arguing against some rights for women.On today’s podcast Helen tells Hugh about influential figures who would once have been considered “fringe” coming to the fore.She explains why questions around women’s rights and gender identity have become so politically explosive, and how media and politics have become entangled in a cycle of outrage and performance.