Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

Hugh Linehan is joined by Alex Kane to discuss the double life of disgraced politician Jeffrey Donaldosn and its broader impact on the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) as well as Ulster unionism overall.

Alex Kane is an Irish News columnist and a political commentator as well as a former director of communications for the Ulster Unionist Party. The pair discuss a recent wave of stories that reveal the hypocritical behaviour of self-professed christian Donaldson over the course of his career; from projectile vomiting on the Mayor of Beijing to swigging from a wine bottle in the House of Commons and being spotted entering a gay sauna.

Kane says it seems as if no one in the DUP attempted to address this highly inappropriate behaviour. He also highlights a growing conspiracy theory among unionists who believe the British government may have used this information to blackmail Donaldson to return to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In today’s episode, they discuss what all of this spells for the future of unionism in Ulster.


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Last week Pat Leahy sat down with former Labour leader Pat Rabbitte for an interview about his life in politics.

Rabbitte is now retired but for decades he was one of the most recognisable faces and voices of centre left politics in Ireland.

As a minister in the 2011 Fine Gael-Labour coalition, he witnessed first hand the events explored in our recent mini series on the subject.

He talked about the decisions he made as party leader and as a minister, as well as his formative years in the west of Ireland and 1960s America, and what he thinks of today’s splintered centre-left.
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Harry McGee and Cormac McQuinn join Pat Leahy to look back on the week in politics:

All anyone can talk about this week is the weather. While the country enjoys the warmth, the Government still has to find balance between spending to prevent climate change and spending to mitigate the impact of change that has already arrived.

Keir Starmer may be gone but the UK's biggest problem remains: the lack of growth in their economy.

Proposed “reform” (read: scrapping) of the “triple lock” restriction on Irish overseas military deployment has run into trouble due to disquiet among Fianna Fail backbenchers. If not a rebellion, there was certainly “a renewed amount of grumbling” over the issue. But will it be a real problem for Taoiseach Micheal Martin?

Plus the panel pick their IT stories of the week including a plea for underground bins, Michael McDowell’s bold predictions and the divestment of Catholic church patronage.
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Next week Ireland takes over the presidency of the EU Council. But what does that mean? What exactly is the EU Council anyway? How does this council and this presidency fit in among the numerous other European councils and presidents? And how is Ireland going to approach the challenges and opportunities the six-month position brings? To find out Pat Leahy talks to Jack Horgan-Jones and Jack Power.
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Jack Horgan-Jones and Mark Paul join Harry McGee to look back on the week in politics:

· Taoiseach Micheál Martin is in Brussels for the EU summit this week, also in attendance is Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy who is pushing for serious peace negotiations with Russia. Will Vladimir Putin come to the negotiation table? And could Ukraine’s EU membership be fast-tracked during Ireland’s upcoming EU presidency?

· Security, competitiveness and the EU budget are some of the issues that will come into focus as Ireland becomes a deal maker and parks parochial affairs for the duration of its six-month presidency starting July 1st.

· And with Andy Burnham justifying the hype by crushing Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the Makerfield byelection, will prime minister Keir Starmer go quietly or hang around for a leadership battle he stands little chance of winning?

Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.
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