Hugh Linehan is joined by Cormac McQuinn and Jennifer Bray to discuss the week in politics:

· The last fortnight has seen several incidents of councillors being verbally and physically attacked while out canvassing for the forthcoming local elections. A disturbing trend that hasn’t been a feature of previous elections.

· The panel dig into what the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll results say about the volatility of public opinion right now.

· And neither current First Minister of Northern Ireland, Michelle O’Neill, or former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster, came away from the UK Covid-19 inquiry unscathed.

‘The skill is awesome’: How an Italian became one of Cork hurling’s biggest fans

---

Who are the Druze, and why does Israel say it is striking Syria for their benefit?

---

‘As an Irish person with an English accent in Ireland, you have to sit there and take it’

---

Epstein files are a new crisis for Donald Trump, as supporters blowtorch their Maga caps

---

And the panel pick their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:

· Ronan McGreevey writing 50 years on from the Dublin-Monaghan bombings.

· Laura Kennedy does the arithmetic of emigration.

· Stephen Collins writes of Micheál Martin’s political enemies postponing their big move.

• Sign up for Politics push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
• Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date