Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

As war in the Middle East rages on, the world's superpowers are making diplomatic representations to end it, and contingencies to protect their economies from the knock-on effects, namely oil and natural gas prices.China, which buys oil from Iran, would rather the conflict hadn’t begun and would like to see it concluded, according to Irish Times Beijing correspondent Denis Staunton. However its reliance on foreign oil is small in comparison to other nations.On today's podcast Hugh is joined by Denis and Political Editor Pat Leahy who says European governments, including Ireland, have a much greater problem with the volatility of the energy markets.The Irish government was one of the few incumbent European governments that was re-elected after the volatility brought on by the war in Ukraine. How will European politicians handle the Iran war challenge?

The Irish-American experience fitted seamlessly into the story of the United States as a “nation of immigrants”. In the Trump era that narrative has fallen out of favour. Family ties are weakening over time and the old political associations are changing too. So where does that leave our relationship with the 38.5 million Americans who ticked “Irish” in the last US census? On today’s Inside Politics podcast Professor Liam Kennedy talks to Hugh Linehan about how Irish American identity has changed over the decades, how traces of it persist through popular culture and the contrast between the liberalism of Joe Biden and the nationalism of Steve Bannon. They also discuss the "soft power" of the Irish-American relationship, as exemplified by the shamrock ceremony that takes place next week in Washington, and whether it too is on the wane. Professor Liam Kennedy is director of the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin.

Naomi O’Leary and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       After six days of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, the conflict is escalating and has spread to Lebanon which has experienced sustained airstrikes from Israel. Iran has vowed to continue targeting Gulf countries having fired missile and drone attacks into Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The US has entered into a conflict with no clear focus or potential resolution. Trump’s demands on social media for an ‘unconditional surrender’ from Iran seem like wishful thinking at this point.·       Irish consumers are already feeling the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East as the average cost of 500 litres of home heating oil was put at just under €800 on Thursday, an increase of nearly 60 per cent in less than a week. The Government was quick to react, asking the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to launch an immediate investigation of domestic suppliers here.·       And research into last year’s presidential election by the Electoral Commission threw up some interesting results, not least that almost half of those who spoiled their vote, more than 12 per cent of the total ballot, did so because they didn’t like any of the candidates. Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Horse manure sparks tension in the Liberties, mobile phones can be ageing over time, and does an arts degree retain any value these days?

While the world’s attention is focused on the Middle East, Inside Politics looks at the US sphere of influence on Cuba, which is facing ever tightening economic sanctions.Cuban governments have survived attempts to overthrow it by multiple US administrations going all the way back to Dwight Eisenhower following the revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959.Over the decades, Cuban governments have managed to survive crippling economic sanctions largely because of its allies in the region, namely Venezuela.In recent weeks, the US Navy has amassed a huge number of vessels in the Caribbean Sea to stop oil imports to Cuba, and the US government has threatened sanctions on Mexico if it tries to deliver oil to the island. But why now? And what impact will it have on the Cuban government, and on the lives of the people there.The journalist Hannah McCarthy travelled to Cuba to find out.“What we’re seeing is just a grinding halt of daily life” she said.“Buses not running. Rolling blackouts that were already happening before are increasing" and "people's lives have contracted to finding food or running water"."Cuban's are fed up" she added.

Denis Staunton, author of The Irish Times Global Briefing newsletter on international affairs, joins Hugh to talk about the escalating war in the Middle East. They talk about how Iran gradually lost its status as a regional heavyweight, America's unchecked and unrivalled military power, the shift under Trump to a strategy of decapitation when dealing with enemies, the potential economic fallout from Iran's strikes on Gulf states, potential scenarios for a post-war Iran and Europe's timid response to America's breach of international law.

Ellen Coyne and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       In the Dáil on Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin issued an apology on behalf of the State to survivors of abuse in industrial and reformatory schools. Nobody doubts the sincerity of such apologies, but given the number of them over the years, perhaps their rhetoric should be matched with the practicalities and supports survivors need.·       With the Residential Tenancies Bill comes into effect from March 1st, Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty was accused of “scaremongering and misinformation” by Tánaiste Simon Harris in the Dáil on Thursday. Doherty pointed to research carried out by I-Res Reit, the State’s largest corporate landlord, which suggested a potential increase in rent returns of up to 25 per cent resulting from the new rent rules. The new rules are designed to attract new investors into the rental property sector, and what could be more attractive than charging higher rents?·       The glacial speed at which vital infrastructure projects such as the Greater Dublin Drainage Project are delivered here could be accelerated by the establishment of a new Infrastructure Regulatory Simplification Unit in Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure Jack Chambers’s department.·       And the upcoming byelections in Dublin Central and Galway West, with seats vacated by Paschal Donohoe and Catherine Connolly respectively, are looking increasingly hard to call.

Campaigner Maria Steen, whose failed bid to launch a run for the presidency last year put the spotlight on the nominations process, talks to Hugh and Ellen Coyne about that campaign. She talks about whether she could have won had she got that nomination and why not enough councils supported her.She also talks about Catherine Connolly's first 100 days in office, why she is uncomfortable with the labels 'conservative' and 'right wing' and whether Catholicism is a hindrance to taking part in public life.

Under this coalition Government Ireland's climate ambitions are colliding with political reality. Hugh talks to Climate and Science Correspondent Caroline O'Doherty about how the current Government is retreating from its own climate legislation even as energy-hungry data centres multiply, agricultural emissions remain stubbornly high and extreme weather batters the country. From Europe's looming fines to the politics of wind farms, “herd culling” and airport expansion, they look at why Ireland is falling far short of its legally-binding 2030 targets and what that means for the future.