Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:It was revealed this week that the planned Dublin Metrolink could cost up to €19 billion. The last Metrolink estimates from 2022 suggested €9.5 billion as the midpoint of a “credible” cost range of between €7.16 billion and €12.25 billion. The increasing cost echoes the National Children’s Hospital and its umpteen budget increases – a saga that damaged the public’s trust in the State’s ability to deliver large necessary projects in a timely and cost-effective manner. The latest data from the Climate Change Advisory Council suggests the Government’s target of 400,000 heat-pump installations by 2030 is all but impossible at this stage. They are calling for a twentyfold increase in the pace of delivery, plus a surge in general home retrofits. The German chancellor Friedrich Merz was welcomed to Dublin by Taoiseach Micheál Martin on Tuesday where he delivered a speech on the need for a more austere approach to the common EU budget. The decision to speak entirely in German was not helped by malfunctioning translation devices given out to the Taoiseach and those present.  The State has been urged to buy the lands of former Bessborough mother and baby home to create memorial park. This comes after planning permission was granted for more than 100 apartments on the Cork site. And more than 300 former members of the Christian Brothers will be summonsed through an advertisement in a national newspaper. The move was prompted by the fact that the Christian Brothers is an unincorporated association, meaning there is no legal entity that can be directly sued by people taking it to court.

Narendra Modi’s 12 year rule of India has never looked so fragile.Weeks of protests have engulfed the country following the leak of a medical entrance exam paper, which forced nearly two million students to resit the test. Protestors hailed victory from the resignation of the education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday.On today’s podcast, Hugh asks our contributor in New Delhi, Rahul Bedi, to explain the significance of the movement.What had fanned the flames, he said, was the description of unemployed young people as “cockroaches” by one senior government minister.Then, out of the ootheca hatched the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical movement that has channelled the frustrations of millions of young Indians who, in the words of Bedi, believe the country is increasingly dominated by corruption, privilege and vested interests.They’re not alone.Farmers have again been protesting at the state of the rural economy. And another campaign has emerged against the government’s ethanol-blended fuel policy, with some motorists arguing that petrol containing 20% ethanol reduces fuel efficiency and may damage engines.Bedi explains what these large movements mean for the strength and future of the Narendra Modi administration. 

Ellen Coyne and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:Budget season has already started with the Summer Economic Statement pointing to less cash being available for new spending measures in Budget 2027. Minister for Finance Simon Harris and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers have announced that Government spending on infrastructure and services will increase by €7 billion next year to €125.5 billion. It seems that Government commitment of a maximum of €200 per child per month will have to wait a little longer.And while the Government stopped short of an outright ban on e-scooters, there will be new regulations coming into effect as early as next month that will extend the existing ban for under-16s to a ban for under-18s, and the mandatory wearing of helmets and high-visibility vests for everyone using an e-scooter. The end of private maternity care in publicly funded hospitals might be arriving sooner than expected with news this week that about 150 women have been turned away for private care by consultants at the National Maternity Hospital over the last six weeks.And it is all change in the annual RTÉ salary top ten as the on-air talent have been largely replaced in the list by ‘faceless executives’, with RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst occupying top spot. Who will think of the poor radio presenters?

Returning to the podcast today is UK political commentator, broadcaster and author Iain Dale to talk to Hugh about the arrival of Andy Burnham as prime minister and the death of Iain's friend Ann Widdecombe. Burnham's excellence as a communicator and a political salesman means there's a strong contrast between him and his predecessor. But after being swept to office unopposed, it's not yet clear what he is offering to the British public. How will he handle issues like immigration, defence and the economy, and what have we learned from his cabinet picks? In part two: The killing of Ann Widdecombe has shaken British politics. Despite disagreeing with many of her convictions, Iain and the former Conservative MP had a close relationship. He talks about her life, her views, the growing threat politicians perceive to their safety and the role of social media in coarsening political debate and encouraging extremism.

Michel Barnier is best known in Ireland for his central role in the EU's negotiations with the UK over Brexit almost ten years ago. But Barnier has also played a central role in French politics for decades, including a brief stint as prime minister. Today he is a member of the French parliament. Last week he was in Dublin for a series of political meetings with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee and other senior figures, and on Wednesday Hugh interviewed him at Europe House, the European Commission's Dublin base, in front of an audience. Their conversation ranged from Barnier's first political awakening as a teenager in the 1960s through to his verdict on Brexit 10 years after the referendum, figures like Nigel Farage who led the UK out of the EU, the rise of France's far right and the prospects for the French presidential election which takes place in April of next year.

Harry McGee and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:The Government’s report into Aughinish Alumina is expected to say that material produced there may or may not have been used in Russia’s war machine, citing a lack of evidence either way. Half of the alumina produced in the plant in the first quarter of this year went to Russia, up from 43 per cent last year. Will the Limerick plant’s days be numbered eventually?The calls to ban e-scooters grew louder this week with Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly saying society would be “better off” without them. On Tuesday Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he is “leaning towards” a total ban on e-scooters as the Dáil discussed the issue following incidents resulting in deaths and serious injuries. The high cost of deportation flights was laid out in figures supplied by the Department of Justice to the Public Accounts Committee. They showed that the State paid more than €1 million for a single deportation flight when returning 42 adults and children from Ireland to South Africa in June.Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan shows no sign of backing down in the row over legal aid solicitor fees. Now more than 100 solicitors have made it known that they intend to resign from the criminal legal aid panel, with solicitors continuing to refuse to provide advice to suspects detained for questioning in Garda stations.And it is goodbye to Keir Starmer as the UK prime minister defended his record and offered his support to Andy Burnham who succeeds him as Labour party leader.

As the Dáil shuts down for the summer it's time for Hugh, Pat and Jack to take stock of the term gone by. But the biggest political event of the year didn't happen in Leinster House. The April fuel protests left their mark on Irish politics as few other events of recent years have. In part two: How have the various parties navigated the term? Has Mary Lou McDonald steadied the SF ship, and could a forthcoming book by a former party insider cause renewed problems? Can the Social Democrats maintain their recent momentum? Has Simon Harris dialled down his high-energy approach to politics? And when Harris rotates back into the taoiseach's office next year, will Micheal Martin still be the man he’ll take over from? Finally: Martin has repeatedly said this Government will be about results, delivery and substance. But will there be enough of that to satisfy voters? On the cost of living issue in particular, the challenge is steep - even with the next election a long way off.

Last week an appeals court opened the way for Marine Le Pen of French far-right party National Rally to stand in next year's presidential election. If the far right comes to power in Paris it will be the culmination of a long journey that is outlined in The Dark Side of France: A History of the Far Right, a new book by Irish journalist Enda O’Doherty. Hugh talks to O’Doherty about his book and what a Le Pen victory would mean. They discuss tensions within National Rally between economically liberal conservatism and its working-class base and trace the far right’s roots from the Dreyfus Affair and antisemitism through Action Française, Vichy collaboration, the Algeria crisis and how Marine’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen built up National Rally, then called Front National.

Ellen Coyne and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       Sinn Féin’s Planning for Constitutional Change Bill, which obliges the Government to draft and publish a Green Paper on unification within 18 months, failed to win support from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, or independents.  ·       All Government TDs also voted against a PBP Bill to ban hare coursing. The Bill presented an issue where the party whip could have been spared in favour of a free vote, given the public’s clear support to outlaw the practice. The Bill was overwhelmingly defeated by 125 votes to 24. ·       And this week saw Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and far-right French leader Marine Le Pen take the biggest political gambles of their respective careers.Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Graham Platner crashes and burns, dwindling swag bags for visiting journalists, and the derelict ‘Carlton’ site on O’Connell Street is snapped up by MetroLink.