Mooney on Irish Politics

With the government planning abolition, Derek answers 7 critical questions:
Why it's not sovereignty loss,
Why reform, not abolition is sensible
How the Fianna Fáil leader shifted from 2020's "fully maintain" pledge to backing abolition
What public support means,
Why defence mustn't be politicised
Value of military neutrality, and
Brutal reality that the Defence Forces is at less than 70% of its 11,500 target strength.
Martin, Harris, McEntee and Byrne cannot Triple Lock their way out of their massive capability gap

In this episode I look at events and developments over the last few weeks, since the two bye-elections and consider the lesson for the leadership of Fianna Fáil... and remind TDs that several EU countries have changed prime minister during an EU presidency... and it didn't hurt anyone.

As Fianna Fáil marks its centenary, there are several lessons from the recent U.K. elections for the former big beast of Irish politics.
UK Labour’s current attempt at renewal and the SNP’s successful reinvention contrasts with drift and lack of ambition under Micheál Martin's leadership.
Fianna Fáil cannot wait much longer to change leader or to plan seriously for unity.

In this episode I use the famous Enoch Powell quote about political lives ending in failure "unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture" to ask if any of the three leaders will know when to go?
I consider Ireland's three main party leaders through Powell's lens: is Mary Lou McDonald in trouble as leader, is Micheál Martin now delaying the inevitable; and is Simon Harris, racing toward a juncture he may never reach.
Does any party have a succession plan... or even see the merit of one?

In this 6 minute long episode Derek sets out why the government response was wrong to focus primarily on a security solution to a political problem... a political problem which its own senior members had flagged weeks ahead.