ELECTION DAILY - Inside Politics

Pat Leahy and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh to discuss the day's political action from the campaign:

• As discussed in this morning's regular podcast, there is growing uncertainty over Ireland's economic model thanks to the reelection of Donald Trump. At a Cabinet meeting this morning, there were warnings over what the future could hold.

• Sinn Féin's manifesto included the suggestion that RTÉ's coverage of Gaza and other international conflicts should be subjected to a "peer review" of its editorial standards. But where is the idea coming from?

• Yesterday's podcast featured discussion of Labour leader Ivana Bacik's plan to negotiate with the big parties on government formation only in conjunction with other small parties of the left. Labour got in touch with the podcast about the item to take issue with something Hugh said...

• Green leader Roderic O'Gorman provided a cutting response when asked why voters should pick his party over Labour.

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Thanks largely to corporation tax receipts from multinationals, the Irish state has plenty of money. And so far this election campaign has been largely about how to spend it - on capital investment, on tax cuts and on new spending on all sorts of programmes and projects.

But with the threats to Ireland's economic model growing, will such spending be sustainable?

Hugh is joined by Professor John McHale, Shana Cohen and Cliff Taylor to discuss Ireland's economic position and whether election spending promises could lead to yet more boom and bust.

Shana Cohen is Director at Tasc, a progressive think-tank.

John McHale is Professor of Economics at University of Galway's J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics and a former chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council.

Cliff Taylor is an economics columnist with The Irish Times.

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Harry McGee and Jennifer Bray join Hugh to talk about all today’s news on the election campaign trail:

Standing side by side during last night’s leaders debate on RTÉ, Micheal Martin and Simon Harris countered Mary Lou McDonald’s criticisms, sometimes aggressively. The optics favoured the Sinn Féin leader.

On the subject of government formation, Labour leader Ivana Bacik spoke of her intention to only negotiate with the big parties in conjunction with other parties on the left, including the Greens and Social Democrats. But will the other parties play ball?

Sinn Féin has released its manifesto and, while most of the content had been trailed, there were some surprises.

And Harry McGee reveals his major role in the history of this election’s most notorious candidate.

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Sarah Burns and Pat Leahy join Hugh to discuss the day’s politics on the campaign trail:

• Today saw party leaders give their views on the behaviour of Fine Gael candidate for Louth John McGahon, who was acquitted of assault in 2022. Is he now a problem candidate for the party?

• Labour’s weekend manifesto launch revealed a big commitment to expanded state intervention in housing construction.

• The Social Democrats likewise have ambitious plans for housing, also announced at the weekend. Are differing approaches to housing becoming the major policy fault line in this campaign?

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Jack Horgan-Jones and Cormac McQuinn join Hugh for our daily discussion of the election campaign:

·      With the first week of the general election campaign coming to a close, Fine Gael are making a strong pitch for the law-and-order vote with their campaign promises. Policing and justice seem to be a key area for both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, but will it mobilise voters?

·      Is the cost-of-living crisis being underpriced in this general election campaign? There are plans like phasing out third level fees and the double child benefit payment, but high prices are bad news for politicians, so is enough noise being made about addressing it in the next government?

·      Mick Wallace has confirmed that he will run for a seat in a Wexford constituency that will be hard to predict.

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Jennifer Bray and Pat Leahy join Hugh for our daily discussion of the election campaign:

Simon Harris says Fine Gael would remove the means test for recipients of the carer's allowance. It is a move already supported by many opposition parties. But it would be expensive - potentially much more so than the €600 million per year figure mentioned by the Taoiseach.

Sinn Fein launched their immigration policy. It's much like the one published by the party in the summer - with some interesting additions.

Calls for an end to the sniping between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil

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Today's panelists are Jack Horgan-Jones and Jennifer Bray, who join Hugh Linehan to discuss:

Housing is the issue of the campaign so far - we recap how the debate has evolved

Mary Lou McDonald spoke about how Sinn Féin is unfairly questioned about the past. Does she have a point?

Former Fine Gael Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy's frank account of how his party 'didn't make housing a priority' could be one of the talking points of this campaign.

The gloves are off between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Could their increasingly bad-tempered debates turn off voters?

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Fears that the use of AI deepfakes would disrupt the flow of accurate information in a general election campaign have not come true. Instead we have been treated to a digital manifestation of someone who barely resembles Taylor Swift endorsing the Healy-Raes: welcome to the cheapfake era.

On today's Inside Politics podcast Hugh Linehan is joined by Liz Carolan to discuss the influence of digital media in the 2024 general election, current trends in digital campaigning and the changing role of platforms like X and TikTok.

Hugh and Liz compare the different strategies of political parties, the significance of viral moments and the real challenges posed misinformation and AI.

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Harry McGee and Sarah Burns, who have accompanied politicians from several parties as they have canvassed for votes in the past week, join Hugh to talk about the issues that are coming up on doorsteps.

In Dublin South Central and Dublin West, Sarah has noticed a less negative sentiment towards Sinn Féin. That's good news for the party as it seeks to add second seats in constituencies where it dominated in 2020 but lost support in local elections and opinion polls.

Sinn Féin will also be happy to hear that housing is the issue coming up most often, with immigration a less prominent concern than during the summer.

In Dun Laoghaire, Harry was on the canvas with Green Party TD Ossian Smyth, who faces a challenge to hold onto his seat in a constituency that could tell us a lot about which way the 2024 general election is going for the coalition parties.

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