Inside Politics The Irish Times

Patrick Radden Keefe is an American writer and investigative journalist. His book Empire of Pain is a detailed history of the Sackler dynasty and their role in the American opioid epidemic. Known for their dedication to cultural philanthropy, the family built their wealth on pharmaceuticals, starting with tranquillisers like Librium and Valium, before eventually moving on to the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin. In this episode, the award-winning author talks to Hugh about the origins of the addiction crisis, the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy trial and the mark the family left on the world.
First published in August 2021. Inside Politics will return with a new episode next week.



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"It is not a question of whether, but when and how Ireland will be united", is the provocative opening argument made by author and journalist Frank Connolly in his recent book United Nation: The Case for Integrating Ireland. But he concedes it won't be easy.
The book explores the steps that would be necessary in advance of a border poll and the changes that unity would bring, North and South. He talked to Hugh Linehan about his book recently.


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Jack Horgan Jones, Jennifer Bray and Pat Leahy join Hugh Linehan, back after a two-month absence, to talk about the week's politics including tension within the the Government coalition over climate measures.
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The Government this week moved swiftly to tighten Ireland's immigration and asylum regime, when it revoked automatic permission to enter Ireland for people granted asylum in other European countries. 
It comes as the system struggles to deal with the number of refugees arriving each week from Ukraine.
Will it make a difference to a system that is in danger of toppling over? And, is it a sign of a greater shake up of Ireland’s immigration policy to come?
Also in this episode of The Irish Times Inside Politics podcast, Pat Leahy is joined by Harry McGee and Jack Horgan-Jones to discuss the political challenges facing the coalition as the Greens seek to secure the agreement of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael for deep cuts to greenhouse gas emissions in the agriculture sector.

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Pat Leahy talks to guest host Mary Minihan about the results of this week's series of Ipsos opinion poll results.
Read about the poll here: https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/poll/

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Jennifer Bray and Cormac McQuinn join Pat Leahy to discuss the confidence debate and vote that the Government handily won yesterday.
Plus, a look ahead to the autumn and beyond when Leo Vaaradkar's return to the Taoiseach's office will coincide with a winter of discontent over the cost of living.

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