Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

The Irish Times and TG4 by Ipsos B&A poll shows Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan leads the byelection race in Dublin Central with first preference votes at 21 per cent, Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats is in second place on 18 per cent. But Ennis will be in line for a lot of transfers from the fragmented left-wing vote, with Labour, People Before Profit and the Green Party all having candidates in the race. Veteran criminal Gerry Hutch is running in third place on 14 per cent, growing his vote from 9 percent in the last general election. Could his transfers play an important role for Boylan’s path to victory?And Fianna Fáil’s John Stephens is way back in the field on 4 per cent. His cause won’t have been helped by Bertie Ahern’s comments on immigration, captured while the former taoiseach was out on a byelection canvass last week. The poll shows immigration trails cost-of-living and housing as an issue for voters ahead of election day on May 22nd.Produced by John Casey.

With just over a week until two by elections, host Hugh Linehan unpicks the race for Dublin Central in today’s Inside Politics.Political Correspondents Jack Horgan-Jones and Cormac McQuinn reflect on then race so far, and which candidates will benefit most from those critical transfers.Ahead of Irish Times polling for the consistence to be published on Thursday, where are the battlegrounds? And what are the issues on which they will be won and lost?Produced by Andrew McNair and Declan Conlon. 

In the week of Fianna Fail’s centenary Hugh and Pat are joined by reporter and historian Ronan McGreevy to trace the party’s origins and assess its legacy. Ronan explains how in 1926, with frustration growing at Sinn Féin’s ineffectiveness, Éamon de Valera and allies such as Seán Lemass formed Fianna Fáil, rapidly building hundreds of cumainn. He looks at how the party first entered the Dáil, helped create a two-party system and ultimately won power. The discussion also covers the party’s catch-all pragmatism, recent history of compromise with Fine Gael, and its mixed legacy of ties to corruption along with a commitment to democracy and state institutions.

Pat Leahy and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       The findings of the Irish Times/TG4 opinion poll on first preference votes, carried out by Ipsos B&A, suggests three leading candidates in the Galway West byelection. It shows Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) at 17 per cent followed by Noel Thomas (Independent Ireland Party) on 16 per cent and Helen Ogbu (Labour) on 12 per cent. ·       In Dublin Central, candidate and veteran criminal Gerry Hutch rejected claims that recent comments he made about immigrants were racist. In a social media post on Sunday Hutch said, “illegal immigrants”, including Somalis, who were “mooching” their way into the country, should be interned in the Curragh.·       And Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton’s recent confirmation that her department is facing a deficit of more than €500 million this year was dwarfed by the HSE’s decision to pause recruitment in non-frontline roles across significant parts of the country due to a projected €1 billion overspend this year.Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Mark Paul on nationalist-led administrations running Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Finn McRedmond is not a fan of ‘grotty’ Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, and Donald Trump’s boundless appetite for self‑memorialisation. 

Hugh Linehan hosts a live Inside Politics show in Galway’s Róisín Dubh with Pat Leahy, Ellen Coyne and Galway native Harry McGee ahead of the May 22nd Galway West byelection. Harry, fresh from his day of shadowing candidates on the canvass, profiles the constituency and what influences are at play in this huge electoral area, which spans urban, rural and Gaeltacht districts. The Irish Times politics team outlines why byelections are hard to predict, who the key candidates are, and what dynamics might shape the race; from Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas and the lingering impact of the fuel protests to the “vote left, transfer left” pact and Catherine Connolly’s influence. They also consider whether government candidates can break the usual byelection pattern, the Social Democrats’ momentum, and what the result could signal about longer-term shifts in Irish politics. Hugh also fields questions from our live audience, some of whom have travelled from as far away as Dundee in Scotland.

Ellen Coyne and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       There are now 14 candidates confirmed as running in Dublin Central and 17 candidates in Galway West in the upcoming byelections on May 22nd. And while it looks like a tussle between those representing centre-left parties in the capital, Independent Ireland councillor Noel Thomas already looks to be the frontrunner in Galway West.·       Sinn Féin are hopeful of a byelection win in leader Mary Lou McDonald’s own constituency of Dublin Central, not least because of reported unrest, albeit privately, over the party’s future direction under McDonald’s leadership.·       And the Government announced this week that it will begin a six-month process of withdrawing tourist and commercial accommodation housing up to 16,000 Ukrainians here from August, coupled with the winding down of the Accommodation Recognition Payment (ARP) scheme which will see the €600 monthly payment to hosts reducing to €400 in September and ceasing next March. What impact will this have on homeless figures and the number of integrated Ukrainians leaving the country?Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Gerry Hutch in sunny Lanzarote, the Ukrainian grandfathers fighting on the front line, and online misogynistic abuse thrives and proliferates. 

Fintan O’Toole talks to Hugh Linehan about Fianna Fáil as the party’s 100th birthday draws near. Fintan credits the party with helping create a vibrant Irish middle class - if only by accident. But in recent decades the party has undermined that legacy, he says, through short-sighted, reactionary politics and especially through its approach to home ownership. They also discuss the recent fuel protests. 

Hugh is joined by Irish Times Washington correspondent Keith Duggan to talk about the dramatic events at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, where an intrusion by a gunman interrupted what was supposed to be president Donald Trump's first appearance at the annual event where the worlds of politics, media and celebrity socialise. They then talk about Trump's complicated and contradictory relationship with the media: his contempt for mainstream outlets, his hunger for their approval and his administration's pivot to podcasters and social media influencers during the 2024 campaign.In part two they look at the evolution of conservative media figure Tucker Carlson and his recent public break with Trump over the Iran conflict. 

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 should have been to meet another head of state.Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Michael Jackson in Cork and the 10-year-old at his hotel, the ascent of Green Party leader Zack Polanski, and the cultural obsession with the 1990s.Correction: In the course of a conversation about the aftermath of the fuel protests, Hugh Linehan said that carbon tax is applied pro rata to the price of fuel. That is not correct. Carbon tax, as the name suggests, is calculated on the carbon emissions of a fuel, not the price. Therefore price fluctuations do not affect the rate of carbon tax which is charged.