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 Irish Times pieces of the week:

·       Mark Paul on nationalist-led administrations running Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Finn McRedmond is not a fan of ‘grotty’ Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, and Donald Trump’s boundless appetite for self‑memorialisation. 

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