The Mick Clifford Podcast

As polling day gets closer, the Irish Examiner and University College Cork have teamed up to present the Election Watch podcast. Have young people lost faith in Ireland’s politics? Is housing the number one issue this election? Will climate conversations really come up on the doorstep?Hosted by Irish Examiner columnist Mick Clifford, this podcast brings UCC experts and students together to examine these questions. This special podcast series comes direct from the UCC campus as we hear from a generation who could shape the result of this General Election.This week Mick talks to Dr Philip Murphy, Lecturer in Politics in UCC and 3rd Year BSc Government and Political Science students, Alice Bogue & Caitlin Holland and Mia Poland.

Donald Trump won the US presidential election in what many are describing as the greatest comeback in US political history. But how did he, a convicted felon, a man deemed by a civil court as sex abuser, a politician who induced multitudes to falsely believe that the electoral system in the USA was rigged. And what will a Trump presidency bring to the country and the wider world. Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute in UCD joins the podcast.

The Mick Clifford Podcast: US election on a knife edge - but who will win?Having gauged the temperature on both sides heading into next week's US presidential election, Mick Clifford tells Sean Murray about his experience at rallies for both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, rates both their chances and describes where this most pivotal of ballots could be won and lost. 

This week’s podcast comes from Pennsylvania, where Mick has gone to take the temperature and see what makes MAGA tick. We have contributions from some of those who attended a major Trump rally last Saturday in the crucial state and we also have an interview with Ray Wrabley, Professor and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, that gives a fascinating insight into what has changed in US politics in recent decades to an extent that a huge opening has been created for Donald Trump.

Catherine Cleary had spent her working life in journalism when in 2020 she gave it all up to grow trees. With a friend she set up a company called pocket forests, a social enterprise which caters for planting native trees and shrubs in small urban areas. She and her family also began looking for land in the west of Ireland where it might be possible to grow a forest. Her journey over the last four years has now been documented in a film, The Forest Midwife. Catherine is this week’s guest on the podcast.

In this week’s podcast focusing on the US election we look at whether having other candidates or issues on the ballot paper can impact on the vote for those running for president. Senate and House of Representative seats are up for grabs in this election and the party that emerges with the majority in each house will be in the driving seat for the next term. Also the issue of abortion is on the ballot paper in some states. Will this help Kamala Harris of Donald Trump? Joining us to read the runes is Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute.

Irish peacekeeping troops in south Lebanon are coming under pressure from Israeli defence forces as Israel moves into its neighbouring country, ostensibly to protect itself but actually killing indiscriminately as it goes. But what are the Irish soldiers doing there, what connection do they have to the local area and people and should they remain in situ. Irish Examiner journalist Colin Sheridan previously served in the country as part of the UN peacekeeping forces. He has been writing vividly about the area, the country and his experience and knowledge of its people. He is this week’s guest on the podcast.

The phenomenon of Donald Trump is often associated with the rust belt states and among those who have been economically left behind in the USA. Not so, according to the experience of the Irish Examiner’s Michael Moynihan who recently went in search of MAGA (Make America Great Again) on the east coast of the USA and found them in the unlikeliest of places. Michael Moynihan is this week’s guest on the podcast’s US Presidential Election special editions.