Irish Times Inside Politics

Oliver Sears, founder of Holocaust Awareness Ireland, joins Hugh to talk about his growing alarm at the rise of anti-Semitism in Ireland and what he sees as the failure to take it seriously. They discuss whether the political response to Israel's actions since October 7th 2023 has complicated that debate. The conversation covers questions such as where legitimate criticism of Israel ends and anti-Semitism begins, whether anti-Zionism can be distinguished from antisemitism, and what Ireland's institutions should be doing differently.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.

Seán Lemass is remembered as the man who changed Ireland.Several opinion polls have noted Lemass as the country's most admired taoiseach.He never left any papers of autobiography, but rather twenty-two hours of private interviews.Hugh speaks to Irish Times reporter Ronan McGreevy who has gathered these lost interviews and collated them into a memoir in Lemass's own words.Produced by JJ Vernon and Andrew McNair.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.

Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       Israeli strikes on Iranian natural gas infrastructure marked an escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran. With global oil and gas prices climbing, could we soon see Government measures to offset the cost to consumers?·       Opposition parties were less than impressed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s showing during his St Patrick’s Day meeting with US president Donald Trump, but the world’s media praised Martin’s polite pushback on certain points.  ·       The demolition of an illegally-built Co Meath home has captured the public imagination this week. It has served to highlight the urban-rural divide when it comes to one-off housing during the current housing crisis.·       And the monthly payments to those housing Ukrainian people in their spare rooms will be wound down over the coming year.Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       Ronnie Delaney’s Olympic gold medal win inspires Frank McNally to victory, the generational talent of Oscar winner Jessie Buckley, and the enduring fascination around JFK jnr.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.

Ellen Coyne and Harry McGee join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s St Patrick’s Day visit to The White House to meet US president Donald Trump could prove awkward should he face questions about the US and Israel’s military action against Iran, and its impact on the Middle East, Gulf regions and soaring fuel prices. Last year’s meeting was a minefield to be navigated – perhaps Martin has learned from that experience.·       A far less fraught meeting took place on Friday when the Taoiseach welcomed Britain's prime minister Keir Starmer to the UK-Ireland summit at Fota House in Cork. Security and co-operation were the order of the day, as Anglo-Irish relations continued to improve from a post-Brexit low.·       And the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided this week, after a mere fifteen years, not to bring criminal charges against anyone arising from the Moriarty tribunal’s final report in 2011. Michael Lowry and Denis O’Brien no doubt welcomed the decision.Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·       The brave and anonymous women we all owe a debt, the beef between farmers and Government, and Patrick Freyne’s golden age of male role models.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 Irish-American experience fitted seamlessly into the story of the United States as a “nation of immigrants”. In the Trump era that narrative has fallen out of favour. Family ties are weakening over time and the old political associations are changing too. So where does that leave our relationship with the 38.5 million Americans who ticked “Irish” in the last US census? On today’s Inside Politics podcast Professor Liam Kennedy talks to Hugh Linehan about how Irish American identity has changed over the decades, how traces of it persist through popular culture and the contrast between the liberalism of Joe Biden and the nationalism of Steve Bannon. They also discuss the "soft power" of the Irish-American relationship, as exemplified by the shamrock ceremony that takes place next week in Washington, and whether it too is on the wane. Professor Liam Kennedy is director of the Clinton Institute for American Studies at University College Dublin. 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.

While the world’s attention is focused on the Middle East, Inside Politics looks at the US sphere of influence on Cuba, which is facing ever tightening economic sanctions.Cuban governments have survived attempts to overthrow it by multiple US administrations going all the way back to Dwight Eisenhower following the revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959.Over the decades, Cuban governments have managed to survive crippling economic sanctions largely because of its allies in the region, namely Venezuela.In recent weeks, the US Navy has amassed a huge number of vessels in the Caribbean Sea to stop oil imports to Cuba, and the US government has threatened sanctions on Mexico if it tries to deliver oil to the island. But why now? And what impact will it have on the Cuban government, and on the lives of the people there.The journalist Hannah McCarthy travelled to Cuba to find out.“What we’re seeing is just a grinding halt of daily life” she said.“Buses not running. Rolling blackouts that were already happening before are increasing" and "people's lives have contracted to finding food or running water"."Cuban's are fed up" she added.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.

Ellen Coyne and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:·       In the Dáil on Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin issued an apology on behalf of the State to survivors of abuse in industrial and reformatory schools. Nobody doubts the sincerity of such apologies, but given the number of them over the years, perhaps their rhetoric should be matched with the practicalities and supports survivors need.·       With the Residential Tenancies Bill comes into effect from March 1st, Sinn Féin finance spokesman Pearse Doherty was accused of “scaremongering and misinformation” by Tánaiste Simon Harris in the Dáil on Thursday. Doherty pointed to research carried out by I-Res Reit, the State’s largest corporate landlord, which suggested a potential increase in rent returns of up to 25 per cent resulting from the new rent rules. The new rules are designed to attract new investors into the rental property sector, and what could be more attractive than charging higher rents?·       The glacial speed at which vital infrastructure projects such as the Greater Dublin Drainage Project are delivered here could be accelerated by the establishment of a new Infrastructure Regulatory Simplification Unit in Minister for Public Expenditure and Infrastructure Jack Chambers’s department.·       And the upcoming byelections in Dublin Central and Galway West, with seats vacated by Paschal Donohoe and Catherine Connolly respectively, are looking increasingly hard to call.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.