Mooney on Irish Politics Derek Mooney

There are no election predictions in this podcast as many voters have yet to decide - instead I focus on what to watch out for as we enter the last week of campaigning. I look at how party leaders will try to manage expectations, especially around seat losses and failed gains... but above all I stress that this is NOT a mid term election - the next general election is 9 months away, at most, and could be called within 4 or 5 months.

In this episode I return to a topic I have discussed many times - Irish Defence. Though there are some signs that things may be about to improve, the pace is no where near fast enough as the Minister responsible is more pre-occupied with positioning and messaging, than on tackling the real problems. There is also an article to accompany this podcast.

In this episode I analyze and examine the recent Árd Fheis speeches of Tánaiste Micheál Martin TD and [now] Taoiseach Simon Harris TD... and am not overly impressed by either, as pieces of political communications.

There is a text version to accompany this podcast

In this episode I ask why does the nation's business have to go on hold for another 12 days while Fine Gael struggles with who/what it stand for? I also comment briefly on the circumstances of the resignation of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson as DUP leader. Read the column on which this podcast is largely based.

Leo Varadkar's resignation as Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader has thrown Irish politics into turmoil... things will not just continue as they were... and the other government coalition parties need to grasp this reality... fast. This podcast is based on this recent column

Having critiqued the Tánaiste's party leader speech last week, I now turn my sights on the Sinn Féin leaders speech.

As a piece of writing, a piece of political communications, Mary Lou McDonald's speech was far better than those of the Taoiseach or Tánaiste... but style is one thing, substance is another. While the core message was change... how that change would be achieved was left undefined.

There is a blogpost to accompany this episode, you can read it HERE