First, it was Covid restrictions that called off Micheál Martin's visit to the White House for St Patrick's Day in 2021. Then, during his second chance, he ended up actually catching Covid on the trip. Will it be third time lucky, or, after last week's Oval Office scenes, will this be one of the biggest tests of his political career? Will Trump unleash some pent-up anger directed at Ireland, or will Martin have perfected his plámás in order to keep him on side?

Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews (who is off to Washington next week), and Rónán Duffy also dissect the latest climate warning for government (will they listen to this one, now that there's euro signs involved?) and how it's clear from the repeated pleas from parents that disability services is an area where there is the opportunity to affect real change.

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News about the National Gallery's never-used x-ray scanner worth €125,000 sparked 'fury' across the country... apparently. Did it really? If it did, how can that fury be used constructively? If it didn't, have we become numb to this type of wasted cash — or was this simply not that big of a deal?

On this week's episode, Christine Bohan, Jane Matthews, Rónán Duffy, and Sinéad O'Carroll examine the latest spending controversy. Have Elon Musk's ham-fisted DOGE efforts in the United States put the critique of how budgets are spent in vogue?

The team also look at the latest in the speaking rights row, which will not go away and has set the Dáil up for a potentially turbulent few days (again).

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Europe is in disarray, to say the least, over Trump's rumblings about distancing the United States from all us on this side of the Atlantic, and his new spat with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It will leave a massive hole in European defence if that happens, and that means Ireland is facing renewed attention over its military spend (or lack thereof).

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy sit down to look at the political reaction at home to this, and what it could mean for the future of the Defence Forces. The team also look at calls for the use of counselling notes and character references to be banned in gender-based violence trials.

And what podcast about Irish politics this week would be complete without a look at the plans — for better or for worse — to allow more back garden cabins to be built?

• Read more of Jane's reporting on the counselling notes here.
• Read more about the back garden cabin fever here.

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Housing remains the single biggest issue for the Irish public. People want to see the crisis brought to an end or, at the very least, real action being taken. Any missteps are amplified. We saw that this week with talk of scrapping Rent Pressure Zones and the controversy around housing figures provided during the general election.

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy look at the new Dáil's handling of the housing crisis so far, and what tone has been set. The team also examine the significance of the Arts Council overspend on an IT project, and what the future holds for Martin Conway and Eoin Hayes.

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It's almost March, and you know what that means: all political attention turns to one particular bowl of shamrock. Trump's second-term actions so far leave Ireland faced with a renewed dilemma: go ahead with the traditional St Patrick's Day trip to Washington in the name of using it to make our case on the world stage, or face the new realities of politics in 2025 and call off the Trump meeting.

That is, of course, if he will even have us.

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy sit down to look at the careful political chess that will need to be played out. The team also have a (surprisingly energetic, it must be said) chat about the Seanad elections, and look at who was the real winner in the Dáil speaking row.

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With the help of a column in the Sunday Times, Leo Varadkar has casually lobbed a grenade at the new Dáil: are the positions of some new junior minsters constitutionally sound? It now looks like likely that their status could be tested in the courts, and for the first time. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, and Jane Matthews have a look at this, as well as who exactly has been appointed to head up the various side portfolios.

Also: Many parts of the country are still picking up the pieces after the disruption caused by Storm Éowyn, and the government is feeling the brunt of this anger. Insert your own pathetic fallacy of choice here. There are now huge questions to answer about how to avoid a repeat of such widespread damage to energy and communications infrastructure.

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What a week. An unprecedented start to the Dáil term. A temporary and perhaps uneasy truce over speaking rights that allowed the government to get off the ground. The Opposition putting forward a rare, united front. Again, this is week one; there are five years left to go.

Fully remote this week due to Storm Éowyn, with the occasional atmospheric wind gust in the background, the team look back on the week and try to answer the biggest question: will this government survive for a full term?

Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and – making his grand return — Rónán Duffy also look at the new Cabinet team and assess how they might perform. Who has been given the poisoned chalice?

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The process of voting in a new taoiseach is usually a fairly routine affair. The opposition parties have their say, the government parties and their supporters have theirs, the vote is ultimately passed by the party with the most seats, and then it's time for a day out in the Áras. All very tidy.

Instead, Leinster House has been plunged into unprecedented chaos and remains suspended into tomorrow after a row over Regional Independents potentially getting opposition speaking rights. Christina Finn and Jane Matthews found a few minutes in 'a day that felt like a week' to bring us up to speed on what exactly is going on.

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Something we're enthusiastic about: we're back for a new season! Something we're not enthusiastic about: the new Programme for Government.

Our team — Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, and Jane Matthews — examine the 162-page document which outlines the government's plan for the next five years. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Regional Independents Group list their priorities across all areas of the society, but the final result? Maybe a little dry. Maybe a little uninspired.

And that's saying something, given the unexpected involvement of a Healy Rae in a junior ministerial position.

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... well, we're afraid you'll have to wait until our producer/barman counts the votes in accordance with PR-STV and reveals the winner at the end of the episode.

The team — Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Sinéad O'Carroll — break out the non-alcoholic mulled wine and alcoholic mystery red cocktails and decide on the winners of The Candidate's 2024 Politics Awards.

From Whoopsie of The Year to The Late Debate Debater Award, we look back on the year that was and look at the moments and people that really mattered.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in to The Candidate over the past year. We'd love to hear any thoughts or suggestions you have on the podcast — just drop a message to [email protected].

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