Irish Times Inside Politics

From E-voting to water charges, there have been plenty of examples of governments getting into hot water over a 'sensible' plan emanating from the civil service. Could the controversial Public Services Card become another example? Or is it a summer story? Far from being a summer story, the housing crisis is very real. It's an acute problem with no short-term solution - the stuff of political nightmares and a major potential liability for Fine Gael. Finally, a look at the modern PR stylings of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Should he be replying to George Hook's criticisms on Twitter? And what exactly is the "Strategic Communciations Office"?Today's panel is hosted by Hugh Linehan, with Pat Leahy and Sarah Bardon. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Can we fix a housing market bedevilled by perverse incentives and bottlenecks?How important have lobbying, vested interests and ideology been in determining our housing policy?Why did the state lose faith in social housing? As the housing crisis gets worse and worse, we ask two experts how we got here and what needs to be done. Guests: Dr Michelle Norris, head of UCD's School of Social Policy, and Dr Lorcan Sirr, lecturer in housing studies, urban economics, and research methods in DIT's School of Real Estate and Construction Economics. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Britain has just released a negotiating paper with details of how it sees a future UK-EU border on this island operating. Here with hot takes are Fiach Kelly and Mary Minihan. After that there is time for a look ahead to the various votes the people could be asked to make in 2018, including referendums and a potential race for the Áras. Could Senator Gerard Craughwell's decision to run for presidency upend Michael D. Higgins' hope of a second term? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ghost estates - residential building developments began during the boom and abandoned when the crash came - became synonymous with the excesses of the Celtic Tiger. Hundreds still dot the Irish countryside: homes to rats, brambles and despairing residents, as reporter Simon Carswell tells Hugh Linehan.You can read Simon's long read at irishtimes.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson and Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole discuss how well Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is playing Dublin's hand in the rather complicated game of Brexit. They join podcast regulars Hugh Linehan and Fiach Kelly. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Former Progressive Unionist Party member and feminist academic Sophie Long gives her view on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s recent comments about Ireland’s post-Brexit border.Ms Long, who resigned as the PUP’s communications director after she came under fire for tweeting her condolences on the death of Martin McGuinness, joins Michael O’Regan and Fiach Kelly, with Mary Minihan on presenting duties this week.Taoiseach Varadkar travels to Northern Ireland this weekend where he will attend a breakfast Pride event in Belfast on Saturday morning, a move that might annoy the DUP according the Ms Long, but won’t have any major impact.Anthony Scaramucci’s short-lived stint as White House director of communications also gets a mention and the panel talk about Kevin Myers’s controversial column in the Irish edition of The Sunday Times last weekend and the public reaction to TD’s outstanding €5,500 Dáil bar bill. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When Government returns to its work in the autumn, the difficult and politically dangerous work of managing our economic recovery by means of the budget will begin, with much of the task landing on Paschal Donohoe's desk. What lessons will he take from past growth spurts in the nineties and noughties, and the problems that followed them? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In his book "The Road to Somewhere: The Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics", journalist David Goodhart attempts to provide a framework for understanding UK society that explains Brexit and the collapse of the political centre. Before appearing at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties this week, he talked to Hugh Linehan about his ideas. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fine Gael have found the money to repay water charges to those who complied back in 2014, marking perhaps the final chapter in a terrible humiliation for the party. The €170 million needed for that is coming out of €300 million that has been found down the backs of various departmental couches. Won't that money be missed by the Ministers?The country has finally moved on from the water debacle, and today on the podcast we also look ahead to two of the biggest problems facing the country: how we measure and control our economy, and the potential calamity of Brexit. Apart from showing our economy to be much smaller than we all thought, what does the new GNI measurement mean for political decision making? And, one year on, has the assessment of how damaging Brexit can be changed? Pat Leahy is on the line from the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, where Brexit despair and fiscal prudence are dominating this year's discussions, while Mary Minihan recalls the dispiriting lack of understanding of Northern Ireland di

The summer break is looming in Leinster House and TDs are rushing to get things legislation through after an underwhelming term. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is making his 'Summer Statement' on the public finances and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is settling in to his role. To discuss all this and more Pat Leahy is joined by Sarah Bardon and Harry McGee. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Harry McGee and Pat Leahy talk about the substantive issues addressed by An Taoiseach Leo Vardakar and Justin Trudeau on the occasion of the Canadian PM's visit, issues that were hard to discern with all the smiling, posing, praising and jogging going on. Then they turn to the issue of waste, which is a burning one on the left but not so much for the traditional establishment parties Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour. Why?Finally they call up Newton Emerson in Belfast to find out who really wants what in Northern Ireland, a day after talks to restore power sharing in Stormont were put on ice until the autumn. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Former Irish Times Legal Affairs correspondent and author of The Supreme Court Ruadhan Mac Cormaic joins podcast regulars Sarah Bardon, Pat Leahy and Fiach Kelly to discuss the controversy surrounding Shane Ross's push to reform the judicial appointments process. Why is he so obsessed with this particular issue, and is the Bill solving the right problems?There's also a few minutes to discuss the National Economic Dialogue event taking place today. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The grubby appointment of former AG Máire Whelan to the Court of Criminal Appeals, the glaring lack of females in the senior and junior Government ranks and the dropping of Love Actually references in Downing Street all add up to a lacklustre first week on the job for An Taoiseach. What could he have done differently? We also hear some spiky exchanges from the Garda Commissioner's appearance at the Public Accounts Committee yesterday, and wonder what exactly Theresa May was expecting when she opened negotiations with the hard-as-nails DUP.Guests: Fiach Kelly and Mary Minihan. Hosted by Hugh Linehan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hugh talks to Fintan O'Toole, who has just been awarded the Orwell Prize for Journalism for his writing on Brexit. Fintan explains why the Irish view on subjects like Brexit and the ascent of nationalism across the Western world is a useful one, and why David Cameron should have asked Enda Kenny for advice. They also discuss the unusual role of the DUP. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After another long day in Dáil Eireann, Irish Times politics team members Pat Leahy, Fiach Kelly and Mary Minihan trooped back to base to chat with Hugh Linehan about the ins and outs of Leo Vardakar's eventful first day as Taoiseach. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald returns to the podcast to share her views on Leo Varadkar and Fine Gael's place on the political spectrum, future coalition possibilities for Sinn Féin ("we will talk to everybody"), and whether the northern wing of her party might be convinced to drop abstentionism and support a Labour "Coalition of Chaos" in Westminster.But first we hear from Fiach Kelly and Pat Leahy about the feast of political theatre we can look forward to upon Leo Vardakar's elevation next week, and what whisperings they've heard about who will adorn the presumptive Taoiseach's cabinet. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Leo Varadkar has prevailed. At just 38, the new leader of Fine Gael is practically guaranteed to become our next Taoiseach. Simon Coveney, meanwhile, salvaged dignity by running him closer than looked possible in the early stages of the race. Harry McGee, Fiach Kelly and Pat Leahy look back on the two week campaign,and ahead to what kind of leader Mr Varadkar is likely to be and what early challenges he will face in the most scrutinised job in the land. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Academic and author Angela Nagle first came to many Irish Times readers' attention when she penned an opinion piece on the so-called Alt-Right, in response to the publication of a controversial glossary of terms used by those who so self-identify. Now she has published a fascinating book, 'Kill All Normies', that charts the origins and evolution of that movement and offers a provocative thesis on why the liberal left has largely failed to counter their nihilism. In this podcast she talks to Hugh Linehan about her ideas. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Blue blood stained the floor after the final Fine Gael leadership hustings in Cork on Sunday. Now there are just a few days left for Simon to overhaul Leo's lead. Coveney supporters are helpfully circulating numbers around Leinster House, showing the different ways he can win. Do they add up? What influence are yesterday's men, Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan, having behind the scenes? And is Leo really going to drag the party rightward? Today's guests are Mary Minihan and Sarah Bardon. They also find time at the end to talk about a very welcome Supreme Court decision on Direct Provision. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean FitzPatrick has been vilified for his key role in the economic crash that devastated the country. But has the State wronged him in its pursuit of a criminal conviction against him at any cost? Today we look at the disturbing things we have learned about a bungled investigation of his activities while at the helm of Anglo Irish Bank, an investigation led by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement. Colm Keena, our Legal Affairs Correspondent, talks to Hugh Linehan. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.