The Floating Voter

A trailer of this week's Floating Voter with new Minister of State for Local Govt and Housing, John Paul Phelan, defending Leo Varadkar's lack of female appointees to cabinet.

New Minister of State for Local Govt and Housing, John Paul Phelan, joins Niall O'Connor and Philip Ryan to discuss the controversy over the Maire Whelan appointment, if Leo Varadkar is anti-woman, and why Micheal Martin missed an open goal in the Dail and has been trying to make up for it ever since.

Change? What change? It's the same old, same old says INM's Philip Ryan on this week's Floating Voter.

The panel of Ryan, Kevin Doyle and Niall O'Connor ask what the new faces will bring to cabinet and whether Simon Coveney has been shunted off into Foreign Affairs.

Plus, as the new Taoiseach celebrated afterwards in Coppers, was this his way of reaching out to rural Ireland?

Fianna Fail's Willie O'Dea was on the Floating Voter this week and broke into the Rubberbandits rap about him.

'I swear on my 'tache it's decent hash,

...But I'm flat broke and I've got no cash.'

Fianna Fail's Willie O'Dea joined this week's Floating Voter to discuss what it's like to be Varadkar's opposition number, why he's a good politician and what he needs to do keep the government going.

And in a first, the Fianna Fail politician also does his version of the Rubberbandits Willie O'Dea rap.

'I swear on my tache it's decent hash but I'm flat broke and I've got no cash....'

Senator Michelle Mulherin explains why she's backing Leo Varadkar in the Fine Gael leadership contest.

On this week's Floating Voter, Fine Gael Senator, Michelle Mulherin, joins Kevin Doyle, Niall O'Connor and Philip Ryan. She explains why she is backing Leo Varadkar in the FG leadership race, believing he 'thinks outside the box' and crucially, will help Fine Gael win more seats in the next general election, including her own, which she lost in 2016.

On this week's Floating Voter, Enda has finally stepped down as leader of Fine Gael. It's the end of an era and now it's the battle between Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney for the leadership battle and future of Fine Gael.

Joining Kevin Doyle, Philip Ryan and Niall O'Connor is FG's TD for Dublin Bay South, Kate O'Connell, who was at the momentous parliamentary party meeting and who is backing Simon Coveney.

On this week's Floating Voter, Niall O'Connor is joined by Philip Ryan and Cormac McQuinn to discuss the week in politics from Brexit and the visit of Michel Barnier, the justice crisis continues and is Enda one step closer out the door?

Each week on the Floating Voter, INM's political team discuss the main issues affecting Irish politics, bursting the bubble around Leinster House.  New episodes on iTunes and Independent.ie every week.

The government is one year old this week.  After a year of new politics, first steps, unholy rows and uneasy alliances, are the Independents the only winners in all of this? 

Kevin Boxer Moran of the Independent Alliance gives the government a 'ten out of ten' but also reveals that he still helps out with taxiing around Athlone in the early mornings. 

'But I suppose I'll have to give that up when I become Minister he told the Floating Voter.

Plus, while Enda talks up Ireland-Canada relations across the water, the issue of his leadership follows him wherever he goes and he doesn’t like it one bit.  We why his succession is becoming a distraction for the Taoiseach, the government and Fine Gael.