Mooney on Irish Politics

In this episode I argues for reforming Ireland's Triple Lock military deployment system by updating... not scrapping... multilateral criteria to include UN General Assembly resolutions and regional organisations.
Indeed the whole Triple Lock debate is meaningless without addressing recruitment crises and investment shortfalls of the past decade and a half. Ireland's defence capability crisis was government made... it will not be sorted by Triple Lock three-card-chicanery.
You can read the core script from this podcast on my website.

In this final podcast of 2025 I look at a most consequential (but messy) year in Irish politics. I assess how the parties of government and opposition performed. I then conclude with a very personal league table of the newly elected TDs politicians who impressed most over the past 12 months.

In this penultimate podcast of 2025 I look at the fallout from Fianna Fáil's review into the disastrous Áras 2025 campaign and which of the several competing analyses of what happens next, I agree with. (Spoiler Alert... I take some elements from each).
I also explain why I cannot see Martin making it through 2026... and why its in no one's interests that he does.

In this very short episode (based on a recent local radio interview) I wonder if Fianna Fáil is still a serious political party?
The leadership's mishandling of the presidential campaign is now compounded by its mishandling of what should have been a simple report into that fiasco.
Ironically... when I am asked which new TD has impressed me most... I reply that it is a Fianna Fáil one... Albert Dolan... proving that there is still some future hope for Fianna Fáil

In this week's episode Derek throws an eye over the impact on government stability of the departure of Pascal Donohoe for the World bank... and wonders why Taoiseach Micheál Martin now questions the linear nature of time and why a delay is not actually a delay... or of any consequence