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PODCAST

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

The Irish Times

The best analysis of the Irish political scene featuring Irish Times journalists, political thinkers and the occasional politician. Hosted by Hugh Linehan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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All Episodes

59:15

Is there real pressure on Sinn Féin to win at least...

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/04/24

Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·The posters are going up, and candidates are preparing their pitch, but could Sinn Féin come up empty-handed in both the Dublin Central (party leader Mary Lou McDonald’s constituency) and Galway West byelection when the votes are counted on May 23rd? And does a vote against Government no longer mean a vote for the republican party?·Given how many prominent Irish politicians retire and become silent, perhaps

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51:31

What the fuel protests meant

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/04/22

The country is moving on from the protests that dominated the national discussion over Easter, even as what the protests actually meant continues to generate debate.Leo Varadkar poured more fuel on the fire by telling rural dwellers that, far from them being the backbone that holds up the country, it is their city cousins who pay all the bills. Could these events mark the start of deeper urban-rural divide in politics? It seems very possible the protests will be looked back on as an important step

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42:10

Healy-Raes' departure caps a terrible week for the...

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/04/15

Hugh, Pat and Ellen are joined by columnist Gerard Howlin to talk about a tumultuous day in Leinster House that capped a terrible week for the governing coalition:The Government faced down a confidence challenge, as expected. But the loss of now-former minister of stateMichael Healy-Rae, along with the support of his backbencher brother Danny, cut its majority and underlined how the fuel protests have emerged as its biggest political challenge since the general election.The speed with which hundred

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53:34

How the Government bungled its response to fuel protests

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/04/10

Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:It was becoming clear towards the end of last week that protests over the price of fuel were coming. But the scale of what has unfolded seems to have caught the Government by surprise. Then there were missteps in the handling of the situation throughout the week. Now the battle lines have been drawn and positions have been given time and space to harden. Has the State’s authority been undermined? Jack and Ellen

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51:53

Could Labour have done anything to avoid electoral...

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/04/08

In the final instalment of our series on Labour’s time in government from 2011 to 2016,things get darker as it becomes clear economic progress will not be enough for voters to forgive the party for its role in austerity.Labour’s poor showing in the 2014 local and European elections leads to a change at the top. But Joan Burton’s leadership does not revive Labour’s fortunes.Then, when the disenchanted take to the streets to oppose water charges, the scale of public anger becomes clear - and much of

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43:00

Pressure builds on Labour as austerity bites:...

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/04/06

Inside Politics is coming to Galway in May for a live recording. Get your tickets here.In part two of this three-part series on Labour's harrowing experience in government from 2011 to 2016, Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan follow the story of the first three years of that austerity-delivering coalition. As punishing budget after punishing budget was delivered, Labour struggled to retain its political identity and principles while working with Fine Gael to present a united front to a world that saw

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44:16

Collapse: How Labour went from boom to bust

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/04/03

Inside Politics is coming to Galway in May for a live recording. Get your tickets here.When Labour came to power in 2011 Ireland was in the depths of an economic crisis that had several more years to run. Their coalition with Fine Gael spent the next five years struggling to fix the economy while satisfying the EU and the IMF, who had bailed us out.But it was Labour, led by Eamon Gilmore to its greatest ever number of seats in that election, who bore the brunt of voter frustration over the deep

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1:03:57

Is Ireland taking anti-Semitism seriously enough?

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/04/01

Oliver Sears, founder of Holocaust Awareness Ireland, joins Hughto talk about his growing alarm at the rise of anti-Semitism in Ireland and what he sees as the failure to take it seriously. They discuss whether the political response to Israel's actions since October 7th 2023 hascomplicated that debate. The conversation covers questions such as where legitimate criticism of Israel ends and anti-Semitism begins, whether anti-Zionism can be distinguished from antisemitism, and what Ireland's

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44:27

In the shadow of the war in Iran, inflation and...

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/03/20

Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·Israeli strikes on Iranian natural gas infrastructure marked an escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran. With global oil and gas prices climbing, could we soon see Government measures to offset the cost to consumers?·Opposition parties were less than impressed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s showing during his St Patrick’s Day meetingwith US president Donald Trump, but the world’s media praised Martin’s polite

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1:00:18

Taoiseach awaits his next dentist’s appointment at...

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/03/13

Ellen Coyne and Harry McGee join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s St Patrick’s Day visit to The White House to meet US president Donald Trump could prove awkward should he face questions about the US and Israel’s military action against Iran, and its impact on the Middle East, Gulf regions and soaring fuel prices. Last year’s meeting was a minefield to be navigated – perhaps Martin has learned from that experience.·A far less fraught meeting took place on

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36:32

How the Iran war is impacting the world's economies

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/03/11

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

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36:47

The modern face of Irish America

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/03/09

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

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1:01:32

Maria Steen: 'If you are in the centre and everybody...

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/02/25

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

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50:08

How climate slid down this Government’s agenda

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/02/24

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

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47:58

School SNA row teaches Government a valuable lesson

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/02/20

Jack Horgan-Jones and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·The sharp criticism that greeted a review of allocation of special needs assistants in schools around the country prompted a hasty retreat by Government. The review has now been paused which should buy the Government some time to soothe tensions.·The Government are yet to act on their own voiced concerns around under-16s using social media. The problems arising from children using these platforms has been

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58:22

Fintan O'Toole: What would fascism look like in the...

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/02/18

13 months in, Donald Trump's second term is proving to be a much more radical political project than his first. On today's podcast Hugh is joined by Fintan O'Toole to talk about whether the Trump administration's ideology, use of state power and rhetoric now make comparisons with the fascism of the 20th century appropriate. What wouldfascism looklike in today’s media, institutional and geopolitical context?Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up

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27:33

Are politics students getting too narrow an education?

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/02/16

Disputes over freedom of speech, censorship and the shifting norms of acceptable discourse are part and parcel of modern political debate. Now the debate has come to the Leaving Cert. A review of content of the optional Politics and Society subject is underway, with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessmentsaying consideration will be given “to potential risks associated with including theories that may be at odds with a human rights approach”. In response, one teacher wrote to Irish Times

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53:33

Have Sinn Féin adopted a populist stance on Ukraine?

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/02/13

Jack Horgan-Jones and Harry McGee join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·This week saw the European Parliament approve a € 90 billion package to support Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia. The loan was approved by a comfortable majority, but among those who voted against it were Sinn Féin’s two MEPs, Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion. The decision to oppose the measure put them in the company of the likes of Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland, Hungary’s Fidesz and

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55:57

Irish politics shifted left. Why?

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/02/11

How Ireland Voted is a regular publication featuring academic analysis of Irish elections. The latest edition looks at the 2024 general election and features an essay by Gail McElroy and Stefan Müller that puts party manifestos under the microscope, identifying which topics get the most attention and where the parties line up from left to right. The analysis suggests a major leftward shift in Irish politics over the past decade. Why has this happened, and who is filling the gap this move has left on

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40:45

John Mearscheimer: Why Europe still needs the USA

Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan ·

2026/02/09

John Mearscheimer returns to the podcast to talk to Hugh about his view of geopolitics and global security in 2026.They talk about DonaldTrump's unilateralism, the security architecture of Europe, the consequences for Europe of the war in Ukraine, US Middle East policy and threats to liberal democracy. Mearsheimer paints a pessimistic picture, warning that the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza will have poisonous long-term consequences that most people fail to grasp.Professor John Mearsheimer is a

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220 results

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