Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

Iain Dale has written books profiling prime ministers, monarchs and dictators. Next up from the LBC broadcaster and podcaster is a book on the people - all men - who have served as taoiseach. The Taoiseach: A Century of Political Leadership profiles all who have held the office and explores the evolution of the role. But Dale didn’t write it himself this time, instead drafting in a roster of Irish writers to take on a taoiseach each. Dale talks to Hugh about Ireland’s political leaders and what examining them has taught him about Irish history and politics. Along the way they they take a lengthy diversion into Iain’s real area of expertise: UK politics. 

Ellen Coyne and Naomi O’Leary join Pat Leahy to look back on the week in politics:·      In the wake of Catherine Connolly’s emphatic presidential election win, could there now be a legitimate prospect of a left-wing government arising from the next general election?   ·      With anger still simmering in Fianna Fáil’s ranks after a disastrous presidential campaign, is party leader Micheál Martin looking at a leadership challenge down the line? Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1 this week, the Taoiseach criticised “unacceptable” and “hurtful” comments about him from Fianna Fáil rebels like fellow Cork TD James O’Connor.  ·      The coalition partners are becoming more openly critical of immigration. Perhaps they are now following the example of other European countries? ·      And Naomi O’Leary discusses the Dutch political scene with reports suggesting the centrist D66 party caused a big upset in Dutch elections this week.Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·      Mary ‘Mae’ McGee who successfully fought the ban on contraception in Ireland, and Newton Emerson on how Fine Gael’s anti-British rhetoric came back to bite Heather Humphreys.

This week’s Inside Politics podcast with Hugh Linehan explores what a united Ireland would actually involve, Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole and Belfast Telegraph journalist Sam McBride have written a new book that addresses the case both for and against Irish unity.The structure of the book is unusual. Each journalist writes two long chapters: one arguing for unity, and one arguing against. O’Toole says the aim is to “give people a sense of what a decent argument looks like”. Too often, he suggests, the subject becomes a referendum about identity rather than a discussion of consequences. McBride agrees, saying most people “don’t get beyond the binary of are you for or against it” even though “none of us know what it would mean”.Practical questions run through the book: healthcare integration, welfare harmonisation, education, taxation and policing. McBride stresses the range of possible constitutional models. Northern Ireland could remain semi-autonomous within a united Ireland; or the island could adopt a more federal structure. “We don’t even know the most basic elements of this,” he says.Their conclusion is that everyone on the island will soon need to make an informed choice. And that requires informed understanding, not simplistic assumptions.For and Against a United Ireland is published by the Royal Irish Academy.

Pat Leahy joins Hugh Linehan for the final episode of Election Daily for this campaign. They look at the impact of Connolly's victory on left-wing politics, wonder if Ireland is about to have a more outspoken president than ever before and consider Simon Harris and Micheál Martin's political futures. Thanks to everyone who listened to Election Daily. Inside Politics will return on Wednesday.

Votes are still being counted but it is already clear that Catherine Connolly has won the presidency by a huge margin. Connolly's victory will be confirmed at Dublin Castle this afternoon. Hugh, Jack Horgan-Jones and Ellen Coyne are there and sat down to discuss the emerging results and what they mean. How did Catherine Connolly get her campaign so right and Fine Gael theirs so wrong? What does the unprecedented level of spoiled votes really signify? And how will the government parties interpret and respond to this loss?

Cormac McQuinn and Jack Horgan Jones join Hugh Linehan to talk about the final day of campaigning before voters go to the polls.They look at how the Connolly campaign has managed to create momentum that sustained her push for the Áras since July and why the Humphreys campaign did not live up to expectations. Finally they pick their high and low points of the campaign.

What does a two-horse race look like in our PR-STV electoral system? What happens when you throw a zombie candidate and a 'spoil your vote' campaign into the mix? And what about turnout? Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan nerd out with a look at how the count could play out this weekend.

The two remaining candidates in the presidential election came into the final televised debate of the campaign needing different things.Well behind in the polls, Heather Humphreys needed to come across convincingly while landing some blows. Catherine Connolly needed not to slip up. So how did they do?On today’s episode of The Irish Times Election Daily podcast Ellen Coyne, Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan analyse how the battle-weary candidates handled questions from hosts Miriam O’Callaghan and Sarah McInerney and whether the programme will have moved the dial for voters ahead of polling, now just two days away.

Harry McGee and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh to talk about today's news from the presidential campaign trail:A concert in support of Catherine Connolly's campaign brought top musical artists and thousands of young people together in Dublin's Vicar Street on Monday night. The event also brought together Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, the Social Democrats’ Holly Cairns, Paul Murphy of People Before Profit-Solidarity and Labour’s Ivana Bacik, who were photographed hand-in-hand on stage. Could the left's new-found unity be an image of the political future?The panel also look at the ongoing fallout from 'the video' and ahead to tonight's RTÉ debate.