The Candidate

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy hand out their now-traditional end-of-year political awards, from the Michael Myers Award for Hanging On In There to the MGMT Difficult Second Album Award. The team reflect on the wins, flops, scandals, and surprises of 2025.

A video aimed at young people moving back in with their parents, shared by the Department of Housing, was meant to be helpful... but it didn't land like that. At all. No sir. Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews and Rónán Duffy unpick why the backlash was so immediate and the lessons needed for the government on talking about the housing crisis. Do decision makers really understand just how hard things have become for an entire generation of renters?Also: If you don't understand why Ireland’s nitrates derogation is controversial, you will after this episode.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first visit to Ireland was smooth, symbolic, and tightly stage-managed. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, and Jane Matthews unpack the carefully curated optics of the visit, and examine what was said vs what wasn't.Also: how we are still talking about the Occupied Territories Bill?

A judicial review filed against the long awaited MetroLink has sparked a backlash from both government and a public fed up with delays. Ministers are treading carefully, defending the right to object while clearly hoping the residents of Dublin's leafiest of leafy suburbs back down. Will this be a short planning skirmish or a defining infrastructure war?Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, and Jane Matthews look at why this case has touched a nerve and what comes next.Also: a shift in tone and policy on migration raises questions about what’s driving the government’s tougher stance. Public pressure or EU alignment?

In a move that has raised some eyebrows across Leinster House, Simon Harris has made himself the country's new Minister for Finance. This meant skipping over the entire Fine Gael front bench team in his search to fill the gap left by Paschal Donohoe’s high-profile exit to the World Bank.Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy unpack why Harris did it, and how this could shape the next two years of government. The team also examines what Donohoe’s departure will actually mean for the Fine Gael party, and whether the upcoming by-election means a certain Monk might make another surprise appearance...

Catherine Connolly’s first speech as president was careful, critical, calm, with just a few pointed lines that hinted at how she’ll approach the role. But for such a major democratic moment, it felt stilted and oddly empty.Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy examine why the inauguration itself felt so disconnected from the public, in contrast with Connolly's people-first outlook.Also: Fianna Fáil eagerly await Micheál Martin's promised review of the election campaign.

John Collison, billionaire Stripe co-founder, lobbed a political bombshell in the direction of Kildare Street with a 2,500-word Irish Times think piece (manifesto, perhaps). Is it a bold vision or simply Silicon Valley naivety?Sinead O’Carroll, Christina Finn, and Rónán Duffy break down the response to Collison’s 'Make Politicians Powerful Again' call, from ministers nodding along to critics pointing out all the things he left out. They also ask: why can Irish governments deliver for the Ryder Cup, but not for housing? What does that say about leadership, blame, and priorities?Also: will we have a new taoiseach this time next week?

Catherine Connolly’s presidential victory was more than decisive (but we're not going to call it stonking because Christine hates that word).In this post-election episode, the team unpack what went so right for Connolly, and but where to even begin about where it went wrong for Heather Humphreys? Between Fine Gael’s incoherent campaign and the truly remarkable scale of spoiled votes, this race was far more revealing that anyone expected.