Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

RTÉ has been in the news again lately thanks to renewed controversy over payments to presenters. So it is a timely moment for the release of a new book on the institution. RTÉ: Saints, Scholars, and Scandals is the latest work by former TD, minister and journalist Shane Ross, who brings his dual experience of media and politics to bear on this unwieldy subject.

He talks to Hugh about the deep roots of RTÉ's structural problems, Fianna Fáil's dominance of RTÉ throughout its history (exemplified by Gay Byrne's cozy relationship with Charles Haughey) and the damaging recent scandals over payments and governance.

He tells Hugh the frustration politicians feel over negative coverage is the reason cash-strapped RTÉ has not enjoyed a licence fee increase since 2008.

Ross also talks about how illness (he is recovering from throat cancer) derailed the book for a few years.
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Journalist and author Helen Lewis has built a reputation for sharp analysis of politics, culture and the forces reshaping public life.

In one piece for The Atlantic she unpicks policies, and the figures promoting them, arguing against some rights for women.

On today’s podcast Helen tells Hugh about influential figures who would once have been considered “fringe” coming to the fore.

She explains why questions around women’s rights and gender identity have become so politically explosive, and how media and politics have become entangled in a cycle of outrage and performance.
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Pat Leahy and Harry McGee join Hugh to talk about the results of the Dublin Central and Galway West byelections:

As the day began Fine Gael were confident that their man, Senator Sean Kyne, would win the seat. That confidence wavered a little as Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas picked up significant transfers throughout the morning. In the end it wasn’t enough and Fine Gael leader Tanaiste Simon Harris was celebrating a rare byelection win for a party in power. But is he right to call it “a victory for centrist politics”?

Independent Ireland can be encouraged by Noel Thomas’s performance in Galway West.

Fine Gael and Social Democrats are the winners on this occasion. But can they turn these victories into long-term success?

There was evidence of “vote left, transfer left” behaviour in Galway. But many of Sinn Féin’s voters gave their second preferences to Independent Ireland rather than Labour or Social Democrats.

Fianna Fáil were the other big losers in this campaign. But how much do these byelections, both won by strong local candidates, really tell us about the strength of the party nationwide?

Should the counting of votes take so long? Hugh and Pat think not, but Harry McGee dissents.
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A picture is emerging in the byelection counts. Hugh is joined by Pat Leahy, Harry McGee and Jack Horgan-Jones to discuss what we have learned so far:

On the basis of the numbers available on Saturday afternoon, Social Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis and Fine Gael senator Sean Kyne look well placed to take seats in Dublin Central and Galway West respectively. But transfers could still shift result in Galway West where Independent Ireland's Noel Thomas is polling strongly.

The anti-establishment vote in Dublin Central has grown significantly with strong showings from both Gerry Hutch and Malachy Steenson.

Sinn Féin's apparent failure to top the poll in either constituency is a bad result for the leader of the opposition Mary Lou McDonald.

The results are even worse for Fianna Fáil, with its showing in Dublin Central, once a party stronghold, likely to be of particular concern to Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
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Pat Leahy and Naomi O’Leary join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:

· Taoiseach Micheál Martin arrived in Italy on Friday, meeting Pope Leo in the Vatican and Italian premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome. This is part of a round of meetings with leaders ahead of Ireland’s EU presidency starting in July, with Martin meeting French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday. An estimated 270 meetings with senior politicians are scheduled for the duration of Ireland’s EU presidency, expect a lot of traffic disruption around Dublin Castle.

· Naomi O’Leary has been covering the taoiseach’s tour, where he has been keen to highlight the mistreatment of Gaza aid flotilla activists detained by Israeli forces. Could this, coupled with the slowdown in humanitarian aid into Gaza and the continued killing and displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank, finally spark the EU into placing sanctions on Israel?

· And record rent surges in the first quarter of 2026. There was a 4.4 per cent increase between December and March as the Government’s new rent control system came into effect.

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

· Arsenal end 22-year wait for title win, the tragic death of Yves Sakila, and the issues foreign investment presents for Ireland.
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