The weather has turned chilly, and politicians are trudging around the Ploughing Championships which can only mean that the Inside Politics digest is returning for the new political season.
It contains a round-up of the key political stories of day, as well as analysis and a look ahead to the day’s political business in the Dáil and outside it.
Our team will have our hands full during this political term to come, that’s for sure. Though the slate of candidates might not yet be finalised, the presidential election campaign is well underway.
This week, the contenders are pressing the flesh at the National Ploughing Championships; they face a daunting and high-octane seven weeks before polling day. We’ll keep up with them.
Heather Humphreys treated with ‘contempt’ over Orange background, says DUP leader
Sinn Féin will endorse presidential candidate with ‘plenty of Irish’, says McDonald
Government accused of acting as if all is ‘rosy’ while consumers are ‘hammered’ by soaring prices
Daniel Aruebose ‘was failed in life, let’s not fail him in death’, Dáil told
When the Dail returns the Government will face challenges on a variety of fronts not least in terms of cost-of-living pressures, sure to be a constant focus for the Opposition parties.
Then there’s the budget on October 7th, and with the Government committed to running a more prudent fiscal policy and eliminating the one-off payments of recent years, the politics of this is going to get scratchy.
The Government also must decide if the proposed Occupied Territories Bill will include a ban on trade in services with the occupied Palestinian territories, and is committed to abolishing the triple lock by legislation due to be passed before Christmas.
And all of this will happen as Ireland looks outward at a world that is increasingly uncertain, dangerous and unpredictable.
Aside from the busy few weeks ahead, political coverage is always central to the mission of The Irish Times, which is to inform our readers through quality journalism.
Our team of political correspondents; Harry McGee, Cormac McQuinn, Jack Horgan-Jones and Ellen Coyne; are among some of the best in the business: tenacious in their pursuit of the story, rigorous and even-handed in their presentation of the facts, incisive and balanced in their analysis.
Their coverage, combined with the parliamentary coverage by Marie O’Halloran, the peerless sketches of Miriam Lord, our twice-a-week (and sometimes more) Inside Politics podcast, hosted by Hugh Linehan, and our staff of specialist correspondents at home and abroad, means that Irish Times readers and subscribers are served with the best political coverage in the country.
Leo Varadkar speaks his mind on reunification, Covid, Eoghan Murphy and Phil Hogan
Leo Varadkar's new memoir promises readers an insight into what the former taoiseach really thought about the monumental events - Covid, Brexit, the housing crisis - that he was centrally involved in. He talks to Hugh Linehan and Irish Times Britain and Ireland editor Mark Hennessy about the book and his life and times in politics. He explains why Eoghan Murphy may have been suited to a government role other than Housing Minister, why he and Phil Hogan still don't speak, why a Covid inquiry still hasn't happened and why the question of reunification may need serious consideration more quickly than we think.
We’re committed to providing political coverage that is accurate, fair and insightful.
The digest is emailed every morning the Dáil sits, so Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during regular sitting weeks.
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