Inside Politics The Irish Times

The upcoming US election will see a presidential rematch for the first time since Eisenhower and Stevenson in 1956. That contest is between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the two most unpopular candidates in living memory. But who is likely to prevail once the votes are finally counted?
In a special live event last week, Head of Polling at Ipsos US, Cliff Young, joined Hugh Linehan to dig into some of the big questions that have defined the presidential race thus far.
Why is Joe Biden performing so poorly in the polls? Why have so many minority voters who would traditionally have voted Democrat, decided to make the move towards the Republican party? And despite his legal woes, does Trump’s anti-establishment stance still retain its potency?
And in terms of what issues are front and centre for US voters, Cliff explains why it’s the economy, more specifically inflation, that is having a ‘nasty effect on the political calculus’. But can that be changed in any significant way before election day?
Produced by Declan Conlon.

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Hugh Linehan is joined by Cormac McQuinn and Jennifer Bray to discuss the week in politics:
 
·     The last fortnight has seen several incidents of councillors being verbally and physically attacked while out canvassing for the forthcoming local elections. A disturbing trend that hasn’t been a feature of previous elections.
·     The panel dig into what the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll results say about the volatility of public opinion right now.
·     And neither current First Minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, or former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, came away from the UK Covid-19 inquiry unscathed.
 
And the panel pick their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:
 
·     Ronan McGreevey writing 50 years on from the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.
·     Laura Kennedy does the arithmetic of emigration.
·     Stephen Collins writes of Micheál Martin’s political enemies  postponing their big move.


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The latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A opinion poll shows Sinn Féin support has slumped again while there has been a recovery for Fine Gael. The poll also shows that Micheál Martin is the most popular party leader, while support for independents remains at a high level. But what lies behind these trends? Hugh was joined by Cliff Young from Ipsos as well as podcast regulars Pat Leahy and Jennifer Bray to discuss the poll results before a live audience in Dublin city centre.
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Disinformation is a concern in the run-up to the local and European elections. And the combination of new AI technology and complex social media networks make it easier than ever to spread misleading information to a global audience. But who polices disinformation, and is the term sometimes misused or abused for political ends? To debate this, Hugh talks to Eileen Culloty of DCU, Freddie Sayers, editor of UK news and opinion website Unherd, and Jack Horgan-Jones from The Irish Times politics team.
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Hugh is joined by Harry McGee and Jennifer Bray to discuss the week in politics:
This week saw a rare and notable victory for student politics at Trinity College Dublin, where protestors secured a victory in their campaign for the college to divest from companies linked to Israel.
Meanwhile the Government’s moves towards recognising Palestinian statehood are still underway.
The asylum seeker accommodation crisis trundles on.
It is a month out from the European elections and Jennifer and Harry have their ear to the ground. Could high-profile first-timers like Ciaran Mullooly and Niall Boylan claim seats in Strasbourg at the expense of more established politicians?
And the panel pick their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:
Patrick Freyne reviewing Jennifer’s favourite TV show.
Laura Slattery’s excellent live coverage of Bambi Thug’s quest for Eurovision glory.
Barry Roche on the many outstanding mysteries surrounding American passport fraudster Randolph Kirk Parker, who was arrested in Cork last year.

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Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin is in studio to talk with Hugh Linehan and Pat Leahy about his party's apparent decline in support in the past year, his views on housing and how to handle high numbers of asylum seekers, and the political landscape ahead of forthcoming local and European elections.
Eoin also denies the suggestion, recently made by Davy Stockbrokers, that Sinn Féin has more in common with the New Labour of Tony Blair than the socialism of Jeremy Corbyn.

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