The Candidate

Reports suggest Britain's King Charles is likely to visit Ireland on an official trip, possibly as soon as next year. His mother's visit in 2011 was a landmark moment, but it had a clear purpose along the lines of healing and 'turning a new page'. This one doesn't have a script yet.

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy discuss what kind of visit this should be, and whether Ireland has moved on enough that it's just another head of state dropping by.

Also: the byelections are two weeks out and the team have been out on the doors.
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In Dublin Central, Sinn Féin should be the favourites but the Social Democrats are quietly eating into their vote, and Gerry Hutch is back with a first-preference base that nobody should be ignoring. In Galway West, Catherine Connolly's seat is up for grabs and the left parties that united to get her into the Áras have gone straight back to fighting each other. Sinéad O'Carroll, Christina Finn, and Jane Matthews walk through both constituencies Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been nine days since a court heard that a former TD gave a character reference for a man convicted of sexually exploiting a 13-year-old boy at a children's camp. We still don't know their name, their party, or why they wrote it. The Tánaiste has called on them to come forward, but there is no law, no mechanism, no compulsion that can make them reveal themselves. The legislation that was supposed to prevent this has not done so.

Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy unpack the gap in the law.

Also: We're already talking about Budget 2027, and Sinn Féin head to Belfast.
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The fuel protests may be over but the fallout inside Fianna Fáil is only getting started. Young TDs are issuing statements about the need for radical change. Malcolm Byrne is on television saying Micheál Martin is a good Taoiseach but a bad party leader. There was a four-hour marathon meeting on Monday. Yet nobody is actually willing to do anything about it. A lot of grumbling and then walking back down the hill.

Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy ask why Fianna Fáil keeps flirting with a heave it never has the nerve to follow through on, and whether the party has managed to a national crisis into a party crisis.

Also: If some lads with tractors can cause such chaos, what happens when the EU presidency rolls around in July?
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It started on Tuesday with tractors and trucks on major roads. Dublin city centre ground to a half. By Thursday, protesters were blockading Ireland's only oil refinery, the army had been called in, and the Taoiseach was calling it an act of national sabotage. Three days! That's how fast this has escalated, and nobody seems to know how it ends because nobody's entirely sure who's leading it.

Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy dig into why the government came out with the strongest language we've heard in years, and whether they've boxed themselves into a corner by refusing to talk to the protesters.

Also, on a lighter note: would you like another bank holiday?
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