The Candidate

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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Finance Minister Simon Harris has outlined (again) what his much-flagged personal savings and investment scheme is going to going to look like. Well, kind of. We still don't know the exact details but we have the broad strokes: it'll encourage people to put money into a government-run investment account, rather than letting it languish in a savings account. The Social Democrats aren't impressed so far, though. They say the scheme is basically a "tax break for millionaires".

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Rónán Duffy and Jane Matthews look at whether this might finally be the thing that moves Irish people away from savings accounts and buying property to make money.

Also: Do we have enough TDs? Michael McDowell thinks so. The Senator has called for a referendum to cap the number of TDs, saying if the population continues to grow, it'll cost a lot more money to accommodate them all in Leinster House. Should this happen? And more importantly: will it?

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The National Children's Hospital has just missed its 18th deadline, and when an Oireachtas committee asked when it would actually be ready, the answer was: we'll need another 15 days to come up with a new date. Meanwhile, 570 staff still need to be hired in a city where nurses struggle to afford to live.

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn and Rónán Duffy ask why the government keeps treating its most expensive project like something that's happening to someone else.

Also: the excise cuts on fuel have landed and barely made a dent, and Michael Healy-Rae got very annoyed about fox hunting on the radio,
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The reviews are in from the Oval Office, and the verdict is... it wasn't a disaster? Martin met Trump, defended Starmer, stifled a grin during a rant about windmills, and told the US president he's doing his bit for peace in the Middle East (gulp).

The bar for success remains firmly on the floor: don't poke the bear, don't make headlines, get out alive.

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews and Rónán Duffy debrief on the visit, with Christina reporting on her experience in Oval Office and Jane from Boston, where Joe Biden made a surprise appearance.
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