Irish Times Inside Politics

As voters go to the polls in 28 countries this weekend to select the new European Parliament, the expectation is of a significant surge in support for populist parties, from La Lega in Italy to Alternative für Deutschland in Germany. But what do we mean when we describe a political party as populist? Hugh talks to Jan-Werner Müller, professor of politics at Princeton University and author of the 2016 book, What is Populism? Jan-Werner was in Dublin to address the Institute of International and European Affairs on how modern democracies can combat what he sees as a threat to democratic norms and liberties.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 'climate emergency' has been declared in Dáil Éireann, and green issues are coming up on the doorsteps in this election campaign, putting pressure on our politicians from below to take the problem seriously. But even if they do, and even if the predicted 'Green wave' materialises, is our system really capable of tackling a problem the size of climate change? To discuss, Hugh and Fiach are joined by Gavin Daly of the European Spatial Planning Observatory Network and Sadhbh O'Neill, a former Green party councillor, PhD candidate in political philosophy and lecturer in environmental politics at the School of Politics and International Relations at UCD.But first Hugh and Fiach discuss the latest news from the local and European election campaigns.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To talk about what has been a rather low-key EU election campaign so far, Hugh is joined by Pat Leahy, Fiach Kelly and Jennifer Bray.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They are powerless, frustrated, underpaid and too often reviled by their constituents. Many local councillors have spoken out about how unattractive the role has become. Today we talk to two young, promising sitting councillors, Fianna Fáil's Frank Kennedy of Dublin City Council and Labour's Grace Tallon of Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown, about why they are not running for reelection in #LE2019. The Irish Times Dublin correspondent and council-watcher Olivia Kelly is also here with her analysis of what's going wrong in the DCC chamber.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the age of 76, Bob Woodward has now covered nine different American presidents. That's 20% of all presidents from George Washington to Donald Trump. Most famously he contributed to the downfall of one, Richard Nixon, with his reporting on the Watergate scandal. Fear: Trump in the White House is published by Simon and Schuster. A public conversation with Bob Woodward on the state of the US presidency, moderated by Fintan O’Toole, will take place in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin, on Monday, June 10thWould you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's Irish Times / Ipsos MRBI poll is actually three polls, with one conducted in each of our three European parliament constituencies: Dublin, Midlands-North-West and South. It gives us the first look on a candidate-by-candidate basis at who is winning the battle for European Parliament seats. If the numbers are right, we're in for some extremely close races.Political Editor Pat Leahy is here to explain the poll and its findings.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the topic none of you has been asking us to cover: the forthcoming plebiscites in Limerick, Cork and Waterford to see if those cities should have a directly-elected mayor. On the ground, journalist Patrick Freyne has found a total lack of knowledge of or engagement with the issue among voters. Has this process been designed to fail? Hugh and Pat are also joined by DCU's Jane Suiter to discuss the presence of right-wing populist candidates on the European ballot papers. And finally the panel worries about the future take-up of budget-busting rural broadband in the mistiest corners of Ireland and questions the wisdom of deciding on €3bn project spends right before an election.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest today is Irish-American writer Michael Brendan Dougherty, who is a journalist with the New York-based conservative magazine National Review. His new book 'My Father Left Me Ireland' examines his own relationship with his Irish roots, competing views of Irish history and Irish nationalism.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nearly a fortnight on from the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry, local elections take place in Northern Ireland tomorrow. Will those who come out to vote decide to make an appeal for compromise and moderation following her death, or hold to the polarised status quo? Belfast-based reporter Amanda Ferguson joins Hugh, Pat and Harry to discuss the New IRA and the political situation in the North, ahead of the planned resumption of talks on powersharing next week.In the second part of the show, Hugh, Pat and Harry also discuss the early rounds of campaigning in the local and European elections south of the border.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bret Easton Ellis, best known as a fiction writer of novels including American Psycho and Less Than Zero, has just published his first non-fiction book, White. The collection of eight essays responding to contemporary culture has caused a stir due to the writer's views on US politics, the overreaction - as he sees it - of middle class liberals to the presidency of Donald Trump, the shortcomings of movements like #MeToo and the moral and intellectual failings of millennials.Easton Ellis, who says he never votes, talks to Hugh about the book and about why the election of Trump has seen politics invade his otherwise apolitical life.Bret Easton Ellis will tonight - April 25th - be in conversation with Nadine O’Regan at the O’Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College, Great Demark St at 7pm as part of the International Literature Festival, Dublin. Tickets from www.ilfdublin.comWould you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Political scientist and polling expert Dr Kevin Cunningham joins Hugh, Pat and Fiach to discuss a report he co-authored for the think tank, the European Council on Foreign Relations, on the shape of the next European Parliament. The study found that anti-EU parties are likely to form the second largest bloc in the parliament after next month’s elections. How will their opposition to EU initiatives impact on how the other pro-EU parties work together? They also talk about how the European elections will play out in Ireland, two wildly different opinion polls in Irish Sunday papers last weekend and what effect the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry will have on politics in the North.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Independents 4 Change TD Clare Daly joins Hugh and Fiach to discuss her decision to run for a seat in the European parliament. Why has the TD some see as one of our most accomplished parliamentarians decided to leave the Dáil? They also discuss Garda reform, Francis Fitzgerald's ouster, the rise of far right politics and her own criticism of the media. After that, there's time for Fiach's overview of the many runners and riders in the European parliament race.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new October Brexit deadline impacts British politics in myriad ways, obvious and subtle. But it also has implications for politics here in Ireland and across Europe. First Denis Staunton and then Fintan O'Toole join Hugh and Pat to talk it through and take stock, as one Brexit chapter ends and another begins. Warning: this podcast contains major spoilers for Flann O'Brien's 'The Third Policeman'.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Theresa May waits to find out what Brexit extension EU leaders will offer her, we ask what, if anything, Irish society can gain from Brexit. To do that Hugh is joined by economist David McWilliams, Dr Shana Cohen, director of think-tank Tasc, and columnist Cliff Taylor. They also discuss property tax and the Irish obsession with property ownership. Is a unique Irish mindset or government policy chiefly to blame?Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Theresa May sends a letter to Brussels seeking another extension, Hugh and London Editor Denis Staunton are joined again by Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge and co-host of the Talking Politics podcast, to assess the difficulties facing Prime Minister May and Jeremy Corbyn as they seek to strike a deal on Brexit that will pass muster with enough members of their own parties.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg made a flying visit to Dublin this week, during which time he met with politicians including Green Party leader Eamon Ryan on the issue of fake news. On today’s podcast the Dublin Bay South TD joins Hugh and Pat to discuss what Zuckerberg said and what it really means. They also talk about why a greater focus on the issue of climate change hasn’t improved the Greens standing in the polls and how to prevent the carbon tax going the way of water charges.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was meant to be the day when "church bells were rung, coins struck, stamps issued and bonfires lit to send beacons of freedom from hilltop to hilltop", to paraphrase Boris Johnson. Instead, UK PM Theresa May has suffered another defeat of her withdrawal agreement, albeit by a slimmer margin of only 58 votes. Our London Editor Denis Staunton and Ronan McCrea, Professor of Constitutional and European Law at University College London, talk about what comes next, and some longer term Brexit problems we haven't even begun to think about.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: Later today in the UK House of Commons, 'indicative votes' - designed to show how much support different Brexit options enjoy - will be held, upending the normal, natural state of government-led parliamentary procedure. The various votes will encompass a range of options from revoking Article 50 entirely to a straight-up No-Deal Brexit. Denis Staunton in London and Pat Leahy on what it all means and how different factions might vote. Then: Fiach Kelly and Jennifer Bray on the Fine Gael party conference, political ground clearance for a carbon tax in the next budget, and the efforts of Bill Browder to build support for a Magnitsky Act in Ireland.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Taking a break from the chaos of Brexit, we turn to a rather chaotic and already crowded field of candidates for the Democratic Party nomination to take on President Trump in next year's US presidential election. There are many factors at play and to help us understand them we talk to Suzanne Lynch, The Irish Times's Washington correspondent.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: Patrick Smyth in Brussels joins Hugh and Pat to talk about the thinking behind the EU's stance on a potential Brexit delay. Then: Jennifer Bray on why councillors in Donegal, using one of their few regulatory powers, have voted to legalise gaming machines despite the risks of addiction.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Western democracies are beset by a variety of problems: fractured legislative bodies, the rise of the far right, the erosion of norms and the dangers posed by technology. But we shouldn't confuse those with the problems of the past, according to David Runciman in his book How Democracy Ends. Ahead of his talk at the Mountains to Sea festival on Sunday March 31st, he talks to Hugh about his ideas. And about Brexit too, of course. David Runciman is Professor of Politics at Cambridge University and host of Talking Politics podcast.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prime Minister Theresa May has failed spectacularly in her bid to pass a Brexit deal through the House of Commons. The Guardian's Brexit correspondent Lisa O'Carroll on the fallout in Westminster, the few paths forward and the 'atomisation' of conventional politics.Fintan O'Toole on the characteristics that have brought Theresa May and the nation she leads to this point of political breakdown. How much blame for Brexit is hers?Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The second set of results from the Irish Times / Ipsos MRBI poll reveals attitudes to Brexit and Irish unity across the island of Ireland, north and south. Among the most significant findings: respondents from all communities in Northern Ireland are heavily in favour of "the softest of soft Brexits". A majority of voters would choose to remain in the EU in a second referendum. And majorities of both Catholics and Protestants feel the DUP and its leader Arlene Foster are not representing Northern Ireland's interests well. Pat Leahy is back with more analysis.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Political Editor Pat Leahy is here with the latest Ipsos / MRBI poll which brings bad news for most political groups but especially for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, support for whom has dipped significantly.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: Fiach Kelly explains what we've learned from a cache of documents featuring exchanges between Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, his party colleagues and an international umbrella organisation for socialist politics, while Jennifer Bray has the latest on internal divisions within the Social Democrats. Then: Is there any version of the backstop that could be accepted by the EU, Ireland and Britain? In part two we're joined by Peter Foster, Europe Editor of British newspapers The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, who says the political realities of Brexit and the implications of the backstop mean the border issue still looks completely irreconcilable.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finally it seems that meaningful moves are being made in Westminster toward some sort of conclusion to the Brexit saga. Denis Staunton and Pat Leahy analyse the public shifts in position made in recent days by Prime Minister Theresa May, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and hard Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg, and the private strategising of the Irish government, the DUP and the European Union.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The EU-Arab League summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, today has been dominated by talk of Brexit. And it has turned out to be a more eventful day than promised, with expectations growing that UK Prime Minister Theresa May will take steps to avoid 'No Deal', reports our Deputy Political Editor Fiach Kelly.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the Fianna Fáil ardfheis in City West, everyone, from the regular delegates on up to the party leader Micheál Martin, wants to take the fight to Fine Gael in a general election. But not right now, of course. As all are at pains to point out, the party must hold off in the national interest. Harry McGee and Pat Leahy were there to assess the party mood. They were joined by the party's Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers and European candidate Barry Andrews to talk about the party's direction, the Brexit waiting game and working with the SDLP. After that, Pat and Harry analyse the speech delivered on Saturday evening by Micheál Martin.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jennifer Bray and Fiach Kelly join presenter Harry McGee to discuss the big political stories this week: the continuing National Children’s Hospital controversy, the government's Brexit omnibus, UK Labour resignations and Fianna Fáil's Ard Fheis this weekend.Later: Historian Dr Marisa McGlinchey talks to Harry about her book, Unfinished Business - The Politics of 'Dissident' Republican Groups, for which she spoke to 90 members of paramilitary groups about their motives and ambitions.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a professor of economic history at Oxford University, and an Irishman, Kevin O'Rourke is well placed to explain how the different economic experiences of the UK and Ireland have led both nations to very different views of the European Union. His book on the subject, A Short History of Brexit, holds plenty of surprises for Irish and British readers. And Professor O'Rourke has a message for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar when it comes to the issue of the border. A Short History of Brexit is published by Pelican.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amid apologies and ‘learnings’, the row over the massive overspend on the National Children’s Hospital rumbles on. Two big questions remain: What will the final bill be? And, which other projects will suffer as a result?Hugh is joined by Fianna Fáil deputy leader Dara Calleary, Pat Leahy and Jennifer Bray to discuss the controversy and how budgets on capital projects can be controlled better in the future.Later: the new SDLP-Fianna Fáil alliance, the nurses’ strike and Brexit.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon Carswell has been investigating the potential impact of Brexit on people - their lives, their communities and their businesses. He talks to Hugh Linehan about what he has discovered, including the fear of the return of violence, the threat to trade and the concerns of children in border communities.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: A subtle but deliberate shift was noted in Theresa May's position on the Brexit backstop during a trip to Belfast yesterday. As the two-day Northern Ireland visit draws to a close today, is her strategy any clearer and what are its chances of survival?Plus: The blame game over the dramatic cost overrun on the proposed National Children's Hospital is lurching from controversy to full-blown crisis. What might it mean for the government?Guests: Denis Staunton, Pat Leahy, Jennifer Bray and Harry McGeeWould you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Theresa May has united Tory MPs behind her plan to go to Brussels to seek legally binding changes to the Brexit withdrawal agreement, exploring 'alternative options' to the Irish backstop. The trouble is, the EU won’t reopen the deal and they’ve said so time and again. The Guardian’s Brexit correspondent Lisa O’Carroll, Irish Times Europe editor Patrick Smyth and Irish Times deputy political editor Fiach Kelly join Hugh to cut through the spin to explain what happened in Westminster last night and what it all means.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sunday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and to mark it Hugh talks to academic and author Deborah Lipstadt about her new book Antisemitism Here and Now. They discuss the growth of antisemitism in Europe and the United State, what distinguishes antisemitism of the political left from the political right, and why she has a problem with an initiative in the Seanad to boycott goods from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Deborah Lipstadt is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. Her book Antisemitism Here and Now is available now from Scribe.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: Pat Leahy on the comments yesterday by an EU Commission spokesperson suggesting that a hard border will appear in the case of a no deal Brexit, a suggestion flatly rejected by Simon Coveney. But what are our plans in the case of a no deal Brexit? Is a softening on the backstop being considered behind closed doors?Then: The Irish Times's Fintan O'Toole and Children's Rights Alliance CEO Tanya Ward join Hugh to talk about No Child 2020, an initiative of the two organisations to draw attention to the issues of child poverty and deprivation that still afflict Ireland 100 years after the first democratically elected Irish parliament promised to serve children as its "first duty".Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Public meetings to introduce pro-life TD Peadar Tóibín's new, as-yet unnamed political party have been drawing decent crowds around the country in recent weeks. Already 1,400 people have joined the party. Who are they, and what will the party stand for beyond opposition to abortion? Peadar sits down with Hugh and Pat to explain.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan joins Hugh and Pat to consider last night's historic House of Commons defeat for Theresa May's Brexit plan. Has the likelihood of a 'no deal' crash out increased? And, how prepared is the Irish government for such a scenario? Also on the agenda: Fine Gael's "old-fashioned environmentalism", the carbon tax and the Green Party's ambitions for the local and European elections.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As nurses prepare for days of strike action, our politics team consider the problem it poses for Minister Paschal Donohoe and how he is likely to respond. In part two the panel look ahead to the new political season and discuss the significance of upcoming European elections in an utterly changed European political landscape and the meagre legislative agenda. But as ever, it's all overshadowed by the B-word.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, for the benefit of those who recently discovered Inside Politics, we're reposting a podcast with one of our favourite interviewees: American author, historian and academic Timothy Snyder. In November 2017 Hugh interviewed Timothy Snyder about his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, in which he makes provocative and unsettling comparisons between today's politics and the rise of the Third Reich and suggests how we can avoid the terrible mistakes of the past.Timothy Snyder is a professor of history at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He has spent ten years in Europe, and speaks five and reads ten European languages. He has also written for The New York Review of Books, Foreign Affairs, The Times Literary Supplement, The Nation, and The New Republic as well as for The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, and other newspapers.He is the author of several award-winning books including The Red Prince: The Secret Lives of a Habsburg Archduke, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, and Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning. His latest book is called The Road to Unfreedom.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The second of two AMA episodes of Inside Politics. Answering your questions about politics and more are Pat Leahy, Fiach Kelly, Jennifer Bray and Harry McGee with host Hugh Linehan.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We invited you to submit questions for our politics team and we received a lot of responses, so today is the first of two episodes dedicated to answering them. Thanks to everyone who sent in a question!Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What did The Irish Times politics team expect to see happening in 2018 that failed to materialise? Which politicians impressed us? What disappointed us? Fiach Kelly, Jennifer Bray and Harry McGee join Hugh to look back on the year in politics.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This day 100 years ago, citizens (including, for the first time, women) across the entire island of Ireland voted together for the final time for a national parliament. To look back at that vote and its historic consequences, Hugh is joined by Diarmaid Ferriter, Irish Times columnist and Professor of Modern Irish History at UCD, and Dr Mary McAuliffe, a lecturer in Gender Studies who specialises in Irish women's history, also in UCD. But first Hugh shares some family history of his own.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's podcast focusses on Brexit and the Sinn Fein party's fortunes. London Editor Denis Staunton explains why UK Prime Minister Theresa May is unlikely to lose a confidence vote called by her own backbenchers and what the process means for Brexit, for The Tories and parliamentary politics in Britain. Sinn Féin's finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty is here to discuss his party's showing in the presidential election, the loss of TDs Peadar Tóibín and Carol Nolan over the abortion issue and why Fine Gael's budget arithmetic is "batsh*t crazy".Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Hugh to appraise all this week's political news (including high drama in Westminster, the personalised abortion legislation debate, Peadar Tóibín's new political movement and the Fiscal Advisory Council's reprimand of the Government's budgetary policies) are UCC political scientist Dr Theresa Reidy and Pat Leahy and Jennifer Bray from our politics team.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Putin and his regime are going to become more hostile, malicious and deadly to the rest fo the world, and we need to understand this".Since the murder in Russia of his lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, Bill Browder has been on a mission to highlight and punish corruption and crime in that country and beyond. He is in Dublin this week to push for the introduction here of a law to mirror the US Magnitsky Act that penalises Russian officials by targeting their assets. He talks to Hugh about Vladimir Putin, the Russian regime and the decade-long campaign that he believes has placed his life at real risk.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As we wait for UK parliament to vote on Theresa May's deal, Hugh talks to two people with thought-provoking and divergent ideas about what brought about Brexit in the first place: Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole and Professor Helen Thompson of Cambridge University. The conversation touches on everything from the Norman invasion to the nature of the EU single market, and even a fictional EU prohibition on prawn cocktail-flavour crisps.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Concerns are growing that the Government’s proposed abortion legislation will not pass through the Oireachtas in time for its planned introduction date in January. Was Minister Simon Harris naive in setting the deadline? Irish Times politics team new recruit Jennifer Bray joins old timers Hugh, Pat and Harry to talk about this and other matters including Brexit, Leo's tax cuts promise, and the national broadband scheme.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the floor at the Fine Gael National Conference, the Inside Politics team interviews Tanaiste Simon Coveney about Brexit, what happens if the deal is not approved by UK parliamentarians and the role of the DUP. Plus: A major policy announcement has been made by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in his speech: a pledge to raise the threshold for the higher rate of income tax from €35,000 to €50,000 over five budgets. Huge if true. But is it wise? Fiach Kelly and Pat Leahy analyse the news.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.