Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

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 state Michael 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 of millions of euro were found to fix the problem has not been lost on every other interest group in the country. Further militant protests and renewed public sector pay demands are likely to follow. Is the Dáil lacking voices calling for fiscal restraint?

Rural disillusionment is a slow-burning crisis for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with rural voters feeling abandoned by the big parties.

Jim O'Callaghan's stock has fallen within Fianna Fáil over his handling of the crisis.

And with the Government lacking a clearly articulated plan to steer citizens out of a painful cost of living crisis, the deep unhappiness on display over the past week is likely to persist.
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All agree that the scale of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s defeat in yesterday’s general election is hugely significant, for Hungary, Europe and beyond. But what exactly does the result mean? To find out Hugh talks to two journalists covering Hungarian affairs, Daniel Nolan and Ivan Nagy. They discuss how Orbán's populist playbook ran out of steam, why JD Vance's recent visit backfired and why Hungary now faces a painful economic reckoning.
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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 take us inside a week of crisis for the country and the coalition.

Some opposition politicians showed enthusiastic support for the protests in their early stages, but the mood has become much more cautious as the scale of the impact on daily life has become clear.

Donald Trump has claimed the two-week Iran war ceasefire as a victory for the US. In reality, the outcome is anything but.

Plus the panel pick their favourite Irish Times articles of the week, including the nuances of court reporting, Paris’s anti-Emily in Paris movement and the childlike wonder inspired by the Artemis mission to the Moon.
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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 it is still directed at Labour.

To wrap up the story, Pat and Hugh talk about the roads not travelled. Could Labour have avoided its 2016 general election wipeout, a political setback it has struggled to recover from ever since?
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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 Ireland as an economic basket case. Successes - exiting the EU-IMF bailout programme, securing legislation on abortion - are completely overshadowed by the harshness of austerity. For Labour and its party leader Eamon Gilmore, the political damage mounts.

Listen to part one here.

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