Irish Times Inside Politics

Political scientist and polling expert Dr Kevin Cunningham joins Hugh, Pat and Fiach to discuss a report he co-authored for the think tank, the European Council on Foreign Relations, on the shape of the next European Parliament. The study found that anti-EU parties are likely to form the second largest bloc in the parliament after next month’s elections. How will their opposition to EU initiatives impact on how the other pro-EU parties work together? They also talk about how the European elections will play out in Ireland, two wildly different opinion polls in Irish Sunday papers last weekend and what effect the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry will have on politics in the North. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Independents 4 Change TD Clare Daly joins Hugh and Fiach to discuss her decision to run for a seat in the European parliament. Why has the TD some see as one of our most accomplished parliamentarians decided to leave the Dáil? They also discuss Garda reform, Francis Fitzgerald's ouster, the rise of far right politics and her own criticism of the media. After that, there's time for Fiach's overview of the many runners and riders in the European parliament race. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The new October Brexit deadline impacts British politics in myriad ways, obvious and subtle. But it also has implications for politics here in Ireland and across Europe. First Denis Staunton and then Fintan O'Toole join Hugh and Pat to talk it through and take stock, as one Brexit chapter ends and another begins. Warning: this podcast contains major spoilers for Flann O'Brien's 'The Third Policeman'. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Theresa May waits to find out what Brexit extension EU leaders will offer her, we ask what, if anything, Irish society can gain from Brexit. To do that Hugh is joined by economist David McWilliams, Dr Shana Cohen, director of think-tank Tasc, and columnist Cliff Taylor. They also discuss property tax and the Irish obsession with property ownership. Is a unique Irish mindset or government policy chiefly to blame? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As Theresa May sends a letter to Brussels seeking another extension, Hugh and London Editor Denis Staunton are joined again by Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge and co-host of the Talking Politics podcast, to assess the difficulties facing Prime Minister May and Jeremy Corbyn as they seek to strike a deal on Brexit that will pass muster with enough members of their own parties. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg made a flying visit to Dublin this week, during which time he met with politicians including Green Party leader Eamon Ryan on the issue of fake news. On today’s podcast the Dublin Bay South TD joins Hugh and Pat to discuss what Zuckerberg said and what it really means. They also talk about why a greater focus on the issue of climate change hasn’t improved the Greens standing in the polls and how to prevent the carbon tax going the way of water charges. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It was meant to be the day when "church bells were rung, coins struck, stamps issued and bonfires lit to send beacons of freedom from hilltop to hilltop", to paraphrase Boris Johnson. Instead, UK PM Theresa May has suffered another defeat of her withdrawal agreement, albeit by a slimmer margin of only 58 votes. Our London Editor Denis Staunton and Ronan McCrea, Professor of Constitutional and European Law at University College London, talk about what comes next, and some longer term Brexit problems we haven't even begun to think about. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

First: Later today in the UK House of Commons, 'indicative votes' - designed to show how much support different Brexit options enjoy - will be held, upending the normal, natural state of government-led parliamentary procedure. The various votes will encompass a range of options from revoking Article 50 entirely to a straight-up No-Deal Brexit. Denis Staunton in London and Pat Leahy on what it all means and how different factions might vote. Then: Fiach Kelly and Jennifer Bray on the Fine Gael party conference, political ground clearance for a carbon tax in the next budget, and the efforts of Bill Browder to build support for a Magnitsky Act in Ireland. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Taking a break from the chaos of Brexit, we turn to a rather chaotic and already crowded field of candidates for the Democratic Party nomination to take on President Trump in next year's US presidential election. There are many factors at play and to help us understand them we talk to Suzanne Lynch, The Irish Times's Washington correspondent. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

First: Patrick Smyth in Brussels joins Hugh and Pat to talk about the thinking behind the EU's stance on a potential Brexit delay. Then: Jennifer Bray on why councillors in Donegal, using one of their few regulatory powers, have voted to legalise gaming machines despite the risks of addiction. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Western democracies are beset by a variety of problems: fractured legislative bodies, the rise of the far right, the erosion of norms and the dangers posed by technology. But we shouldn't confuse those with the problems of the past, according to David Runciman in his book How Democracy Ends. Ahead of his talk at the Mountains to Sea festival on Sunday March 31st, he talks to Hugh about his ideas. And about Brexit too, of course. David Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and host of Talking Politics podcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Prime Minister Theresa May has failed spectacularly in her bid to pass a Brexit deal through the House of Commons. The Guardian's Brexit correspondent Lisa O'Carroll on the fallout in Westminster, the few paths forward and the 'atomisation' of conventional politics.Fintan O'Toole on the characteristics that have brought Theresa May and the nation she leads to this point of political breakdown. How much blame for Brexit is hers? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The second set of results from the Irish Times / Ipsos MRBI poll reveals attitudes to Brexit and Irish unity across the island of Ireland, north and south. Among the most significant findings: respondents from all communities in Northern Ireland are heavily in favour of "the softest of soft Brexits". A majority of voters would choose to remain in the EU in a second referendum. And majorities of both Catholics and Protestants feel the DUP and its leader Arlene Foster are not representing Northern Ireland's interests well. Pat Leahy is back with more analysis. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Political Editor Pat Leahy is here with the latest Ipsos / MRBI poll which brings bad news for most political groups but especially for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, support for whom has dipped significantly. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

First: Fiach Kelly explains what we've learned from a cache of documents featuring exchanges between Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, his party colleagues and an international umbrella organisation for socialist politics, while Jennifer Bray has the latest on internal divisions within the Social Democrats. Then: Is there any version of the backstop that could be accepted by the EU, Ireland and Britain? In part two we're joined by Peter Foster, Europe Editor of British newspapers The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, who says the political realities of Brexit and the implications of the backstop mean the border issue still looks completely irreconcilable. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Finally it seems that meaningful moves are being made in Westminster toward some sort of conclusion to the Brexit saga. Denis Staunton and Pat Leahy analyse the public shifts in position made in recent days by Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and hard Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, and the private strategising of the Irish government, the DUP and the European Union. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The EU-Arab League summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, today has been dominated by talk of Brexit. And it has turned out to be a more eventful day than promised, with expectations growing that UK Prime Minister Theresa May will take steps to avoid 'No Deal', reports our Deputy Political Editor Fiach Kelly. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At the Fianna Fáil ardfheis in City West, everyone, from the regular delegates on up to the party leader Micheál Martin, wants to take the fight to Fine Gael in a general election. But not right now, of course. As all are at pains to point out, the party must hold off in the national interest. Harry McGee and Pat Leahy were there to assess the party mood. They were joined by the party's Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers and European candidate Barry Andrews to talk about the party's direction, the Brexit waiting game and working with the SDLP. After that, Pat and Harry analyse the speech delivered on Saturday evening by Micheál Martin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jennifer Bray and Fiach Kelly join presenter Harry McGee to discuss the big political stories this week: the continuing National Children’s Hospital controversy, the government's Brexit omnibus, UK Labour resignations and Fianna Fáil's Ard Fheis this weekend.Later: Historian Dr Marisa McGlinchey talks to Harry about her book, Unfinished Business - The Politics of 'Dissident' Republican Groups, for which she spoke to 90 members of paramilitary groups about their motives and ambitions. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As a professor of economic history at Oxford University, and an Irishman, Kevin O'Rourke is well placed to explain how the different economic experiences of the UK and Ireland have led both nations to very different views of the European Union. His book on the subject, A Short History of Brexit, holds plenty of surprises for Irish and British readers. And Professor O'Rourke has a message for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar when it comes to the issue of the border. A Short History of Brexit is published by Pelican. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.