Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

Jack Horgan-Jones and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:Jack reports from Brussels where EU leaders have been meeting to discuss issues including defence and rearmament.Paschal Donohoe used the sidelines of an EU summit to deliver a stark warning on the impact of tariffs on the economy. Conor McGregor’s appearance at the White House on St Patrick’s Day has heightened anticipation of a presidential run of his own.This week also saw more bad news on the issue the Government can’t get away from.Plus the panelists pick their favourite Irish Times articles of the week, including Miriam Lord on Web Summit, Gerry Thornley on Ireland’s Six Nations and Newton Emerson on Unionism discovering its Irish identity. 

The idea that a country can't increase the size of its territory by taking it over another has been a principle of Western foreign policy for decades. If that changes it will be a profound shift. "Once that genie's out of the bottle, it will be very hard to put back in", says Tom Wright, the Irishman who was a member of Joe Biden's National Security Council and is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a foreign policy think-tank. He talks to Hugh about foreign policy under Biden and Trump.

Cormac McQuinn and Sarah Burns join Jack Horgan Jones to look back on the week in politics: ·       Most analysis of the Taoiseach’s extraordinary meeting with US president Donald Trump this week has called it a success - but the underlying economic threat remains. ·       A brief intrusion by three members of the Burke family at a gala dinner attended by the Taoiseach in Washington DC made headlines. But how did they get in? Pat Leahy was there. ·       This week marked five years since Covid lockdowns began. Has the pandemic had any lasting impact on politics? And where is Ireland’s long-awaited inquiry? Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week.

Pat Leahy reports from Washington where Taoiseach Micheal Martin met US president Donald Trump this afternoon. How did the Taoiseach do?In part two, Harry McGee talks to political scientist Dr Kevin Cunningham about the evolution of polling and what data reveals about Irish political trends.

A report last week made a stark forecast: Ireland will be subject to EU fines and costs ranging from from €8 billion to €26 billion for failing to meet its 2030 climate goals. So why are we not taking more action, more swiftly to avoid this fiscal calamity - or indeed to avoid the underlying catastrophe of climate change? Hugh talks to Hannah Daly, Professor of Sustainable Energy at University College Cork, and former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan.

Jack Horgan-Jones and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh to look back on the week in politics: ·       Did Simon Harris put his foot in his mouth when he contradicted the US account of a phone call between him and Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio? The comments added to jitters over the Taoiseach’s visit to Trump’s White House next week. ·       Security and Ireland’s defence have roared onto the political agenda. Is our political system ready for the debate about how to respond? ·       This week left wing parties including Sinn Fein, Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit and Greens held talks to explore running a joint candidate in this year’s presidential election. But will the idea fly? Plus, the panellists pick their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week, including Ireland’s unintelligent intelligence services, the fight back against Ireland’s Covid grade inflation and hope for Ireland at next year’s Oscar winners.

US president Donald Trump's hard line with allies and his overtures to Russia have upended assumptions about the transatlantic security alliance. So where does it leave Europe and Ireland? Hugh talks to Edward Burke from UCD's Centre for War Studies and Irish Times security correspondent Conor Gallagher. They discuss Ukraine's ability to fight on without US assistance, the future of European security architecture and what these changes mean for Ireland's defence policy.

How ready are citizens of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for a border poll? What role would economics play in the debate? And what impact has Brexit had? The Irish Question, a new documentary by Alan Gilsenan and John Walsh, considers these questions through interviews with key players including former US president Bill Clinton. Alan and John talked to Hugh about their documentary and what they learned while making it. 

Harry McGee and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan on today’s Inside Politics podcast to discuss the week in politics:·      Micheál Martin will likely have taken notes following the visits of Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer to the White House this week, each having enjoyed positive relations with US President Donald Trump. Trump congratulated the Taoiseach on his recent appointment as he issued an invitation for March 12th to mark St Patrick’s Day.·      The row over additional speaking rights for Independent TDs who back the Government rumbled on this week with Opposition unhappy with the decision by Government to use its majority on the Dáil Reform Committee to push through proposals to change Dáil rules.·      An X-ray scanning machine purchased by the National Gallery of Ireland eight years ago, and valued at €124,805, was never actually used. Instead it laid idle because no suitable room to house it has been found. Arts minister Patrick O’Donovan questioned the rationale behind the National Gallery’s decision to buy the scanner if they had nowhere to put it.·      And will Irish neutrality become an issue in Brussels after suggestions from the Trump administration that it will no longer honour European security commitments? Is Irish military spending about to soar? Plus, the panel pick their favourite Irish Times articles of the week, including the secret behind far-right AfD’s growth in Germany, the funeral of former senior IRA member Brendan ‘Bik’ McFarlane, and Donald Trump revives Canada’s Liberals.