ELECTION DAILY - Inside Politics

Fears that the use of AI deepfakes would disrupt the flow of accurate information in a general election campaign have not come true. Instead we have been treated to a digital manifestation of someone who barely resembles Taylor Swift endorsing the Healy-Raes: welcome to the cheapfake era.On today's Inside Politics podcast Hugh Linehan is joined by Liz Carolan to discuss the influence of digital media in the 2024 general election, current trends in digital campaigning and the changing role of platforms like X and TikTok.Hugh and Liz compare the different strategies of political parties, the significance of viral moments and the real challenges posed misinformation and AI.

Harry McGee and Sarah Burns, who have accompanied politicians from several parties as they have canvassed for votes in the past week, join Hugh to talk about the issues that are coming up on doorsteps. In Dublin South Central and Dublin West, Sarah has noticed a less negative sentiment towards Sinn Féin. That's good news for the party as it seeks to add second seats in constituencies where it dominated in 2020 but lost support in local elections and opinion polls.Sinn Féin will also be happy to hear that housing is the issue coming up most often, with immigration a less prominent concern than during the summer. In Dun Laoghaire, Harry was on the canvas with Green Party TD Ossian Smyth, who faces a challenge to hold onto his seat in a constituency that could tell us a lot about which way the 2024 general election is going for the coalition parties.

Hugh Linehan is joined by Pat Leahy and Cormac McQuinn to discuss today’s events in the 2024 general election campaign:Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary’s comments about teachers at a Fine Gael TD’s campaign launch event have got the party off to a bad start.Fine Gael’s proposal to change a VAT rate in order to help the hospitality industry has some downsides, not least for the other industries who will actually come out of the change taxed more heavily. Another Fine Gael proposal, to use some of the Apple tax bonaza to boost Help to Buy, a scheme aimed at first-time buyers, also has its critics. And the confirmation that Gerry Hutch will be a candidate means Dublin Central looks set to be 2024′s most colourful constituency. But does he have a chance?

The Dáil has been dissolved and the 2024 general election is officially underway. Jennifer Bray and Pat Leahy join Hugh to discuss day one of the campaign:How Taoiseach Simon Harris addressed the countryPoster wars had begun prematurely on lampposts all across Ireland Mary Lou McDonald spoke about Sinn Féin's strategy for this campaign, to a soundtrack of Damien DempseyPlus: Tickets are now available for Inside Politics live in Dublin on Wednesday, November 20th at 6.30pm.

November 29th is now confirmed as the date of General Election 2024. Election Daily from The Irish Times Inside Politics podcast will update you on the campaign every weekday between now and then.Hugh Linehan and Jack Horgan-Jones are here to briefly update listeners on what to expect from the show, when to listen out for episodes and what the opening stages of the campaign will look like.Plus: Tickets are now available for Inside Politics live in Dublin on Wednesday, November 20th at 6.30pm.

Live from Palm Beach Florida, where Donald Trump is celebrating his historic victory in the 2024 US presidential race, Steven Carroll joins Hugh, Fintan O'Toole and Jennifer Bray to discuss what went wrong for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, why so many categories of American supported Trump and what his win means for politics and the wider world.

When will Simon Harris dissolve the Dáil and go to the Áras? Could he pull a surprise, or are there any final banana skins that could disrupt his plans?Jennifer Bray joins Hugh to talk about the choreography of the week. Plus they look at some pre-campaign skirmishes between Micheal Martin and his Fine Gael colleagues and Sinn Féin's bullish candidate selection decisions.