Polls suggest three-way shootout in Galway West byelection

About this episode

The episode discusses the Galway West byelection and recent political developments in Ireland.

Pat Leahy and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics: ·       The findings of the Irish Times/TG4 opinion poll on first preference votes, carried out by Ipsos B&A, suggests three leading candidates in the Galway West byelection. It shows Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) at 17 per cent followed by Noel Thomas (Independent Ireland Party) on 16 per cent and Helen Ogbu (Labour) on 12 per cent. ·       In Dublin Central, candidate and veteran criminal Gerry Hutch rejected claims that recent comments he made about immigrants were racist. In a social media post on Sunday Hutch said, “illegal immigrants”, including Somalis, who were “mooching” their way into the country, should be interned in the Curragh. ·       And Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton’s recent confirmation that her department is facing a deficit of more than €500 million this year was dwarfed by the HSE’s decision to pause recruitment in non-frontline roles across significant parts of the country due to a projected €1 billion overspend this year. Plus, the panel picks their favourite…

People in this episode

Host: Hugh Linehan

Guests: Pat Leahy, Jack Horgan-Jones

Topics covered

• Galway West byelection
• opinion poll
• political commentary
• immigration
• education funding
• HSE overspend

Keywords

• Galway West
• byelection
• opinion poll
• immigration
• HSE
• education deficit
• politics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Fine Gael, Independent Ireland Party, Labour, HSE, Irish Times

Books & works: Mark Paul, Finn McRedmond, Donald Trump

More episodes of Inside Politics with Hugh Linehan

• Eruption of violence in Northern Ireland echoes the Troubles · June 12, 2026 · 54 min
• Is meaningful climate action possible in a democracy? · June 10, 2026 · 38 min
• Inside Politics Meets GD Politics: A crossover episode with Galen Druke · June 8, 2026 · 1h 10m
• Rotunda row pits public against private health care · June 5, 2026 · 55 min
• Darragh O'Brien on Ireland's missed climate targets, new help to buy EVs and Fianna Fáil's leadership · June 3, 2026 · 43 min
• Are Sinn Féin drifting away from an uneasy left-wing alliance? · May 29, 2026 · 54 min