Throughout the 1980s, two men dominated the Irish political landscape. Charles Haughey and Garret FitzGerald embodied and articulated very different visions of Ireland and its future. Born a year apart, one a Northsider, one a Southsider, both sons of Civil War veterans, divided by social class, personality and beliefs, they came to epitomise their two respective parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. In the first instalment of a special three-part Inside Politics podcast series, Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan trace their stories from childhood to the early stages of their political careers until the end of the 1970s when they each rise to become party leader.

Produced by Declan Conlon.

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Jack Horgan-Jones and Jennifer Bray join Hugh to tie up political loose ends as the summer finally arrives.

With a General Election around the corner, Sinn Féin and Fine Gael have tricky tasks. Mary Lou McDonald must reset the party's message after disappointing results in June, while Fine Gael must select candidates to replace the 15 TDs who will not stand again.

The panel also looks at the prospects of the proposed defamation reform bill progressing in the lifetime of this Government, Paschal Donohoe's future plans and how the outcome of the US presidential election may impact politics here in Ireland.

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Can Kamala Harris win against Donald Trump? Former Irish Times Washington correspondent Suzanne Lynch covered Harris's unsuccessful 2020 primary and the early part of her vice-presidency. She joins Hugh Linehan and Irish Times columnist Fintan O'Toole to look at who Harris is and how her White House experience has changed her, and at the shape of the race for the presidency after an extraordinary period in US politics.

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The Republican National Convention is taking place this week in Milwaukee, just days after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Irish Times Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan is attending the four-day event and talks to Hugh Linehan about the “celebratory spirit” among Republicans who believe “the election is over in many ways”.

The pair also discuss the appointment of Trump’s new running mate J.D Vance, who was once one of the former president’s fiercest critics. 

Later on, Hugh is joined by Irish Times Europe Correspondent Jack Power who reports ahead of tomorrow’s vote on the EU Commission President. 

Ursula von der Leyen will be hoping for a second term, but will she secure the European Parliament's vote?

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Hugh Linehan is joined by Harry McGee and Cormac McQuinn to look back on the week in politics. They discuss the end of the Dáil term, the timing of the next general election (of course) and the Government's outstanding legislative agenda.

In part two we hear some of Harry's conversation with newly-elected leader of the Green party Roderic O'Gorman. He talks about his attitude to electoral pact with parties like Labour and the Social Democrats, the use of focus groups to hone his party's message to voters and the abuse he has sometimes experienced in politics.

They also talk about the release of Tori Towey, the Irish woman detained in Dubai, and George Clooney's intervention in the debate over Joe Biden's fitness to run for reelection.

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After depicting the musical culture of Dublin's northside in his acclaimed documentary North Circular, director Luke McManus is now looking at the area's politics.

His new documentary The Locals follows a range of candidates in the run-up to the June 2024 local elections, painting a picture of a diverse area and an equally diverse group of politicians.

Luke talks to Hugh Linehan about making the documentary, the people it portrays and the issues they care about.

The Locals is on RTÉ One on Monday, July 15th at 9:35pm and will also be available on the RTÉ player.

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Labour has won the 2024 UK general election with a massive landslide. Beyond that, huge shifts have taken place across the political map of Britain and Northern Ireland.

To take a look at what has happened and what comes next, Hugh talks to London correspondent Mark Paul, Northern editor Freya McClements and Denis Staunton.

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Political commentator with The Guardian Rafael Behr returns to the podcast to talk about the UK general election. By Friday we will know if the widely-expected Tory implosion and Labour majority have materialised. But what comes next?

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Washington correspondent Keith Duggan joins this week's wrap to discuss what could turn out to be one of the year's most consequential political developments: US president Joe Biden's disastrous performance at Thursday's debate with former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump. In a debate format that accentuated Biden's weaknesses, he handed the momentum to his rival and prompted intense debate about whether he should remain the Democratic candidate.

After that Jennifer Bray looks at the big Irish political stories of the week, including the outcome of a mini Fianna Fáil reshuffle that saw junior ministries assigned, the latest from the Green party leadership contest and the fallout from the Cathal Crotty sentencing controversy.

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Hugh Linehan is joined by Irish Times columnist Gerard Howlin and political editor Pat Leahy to discuss the appointment of Jack Chambers as Minister of Finance and other political news.

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