Shows / The Candidate
The Candidate
Podcast by The Journal
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Episodes
- The Candidate
The unsolved mystery of Simon Harris's phone call to Patrick O'Donovan
Since Simon Harris returned from paternity leave earlier this week he has been hounded with questions about a mysterious phone call Culture Minister Patrick…
- The Candidate
The culture war over grandparents and justice on trial
Jim O’Callaghan’s stand-off with criminal solicitors just keeps on escalating. The justice minister has now accused striking solicitors of deliberately…
- The Candidate
The politest strike that has nobody losing face...yet
The public sector strike that saw 300,000 workers on the picket lines is the dominant political story of the week, but as yet nobody is getting pilloried over…
- The Candidate
Budget 2027: grand, we suppose
Budget 2027 has landed, and the reaction has been... well, extremely flat. There were tax changes, sure, and welfare increases too. Even a new savings scheme…
- The Candidate
The past is still hanging over Garvaghy Road
The Garvaghy Road standoff has dragged Northern Ireland back into a dispute many thought we left in the 1990s. A proposed way out has failed, the Orange Order…
- The Candidate
Trump's visit was grubby, weird, but apparently a success
Donald Trump came to Ireland for 36 hours, watched a lot of golf, charmed the crowds at Doonbeg, promised to scrap tariffs on Irish whiskey and unexpectedly…
- The Candidate
Jim O'Callaghan on the M9 collision, migration, and wanting to lead Fianna Fáil
Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan joins us in studio for a sit-down interview. We asked him what needs to change after the M9 collision, whether the State is…
- The Candidate
The politicians who thrived this term, and the ones who had a nightmare
The Dáil has risen, Leinster House is quiet, and TDs are all off doing constituency work (as they tell us every year), so it's time for our political awards…
- The Candidate
Farage wanted a coronation. He got Count Binface.
Nigel Farage resigned as an MP on Tuesday to trigger a byelection in which he's going to run in, and waited for the establishment to line up against him. They…
- The Candidate
More houses in rural Ireland sounds great until you ask about the buses
Housing Minister James Browne has announced the biggest shake-up to rural planning rules in two decades. It should be easier for people to build homes in the…
- The Candidate
Parking Wars and parking the War on Drugs
An Oireachtas committee spent years researching drug policy in Ireland and came back with a clear recommendation: decriminalise possession of all drugs for…
- The Candidate
The surprise abortion vote that broke government ranks
Something unusual happened in the Dáil this week when a Sinn Féin proposal to scrap the three-day waiting period for abortion passed. An opposition bill…
- The Candidate
We sat down with Tánaiste Simon Harris
The Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris joins us in studio for a sit-down interview. We asked him why a man on a doorstep in Dublin Central called him…
- The Candidate
Michael Healy-Rae follows the Donald Trump playbook
When Michael Healy-Rae resigned as minister in April, he walked out of the Dáil, put his fist in the air outside the gates, and told reporters he was standing…
- The Candidate
Just how big could the Social Democrats get?
Byelection fallout continues for Sinn Féin as Labour says Mary Lou's party is left-wing no more. And while Holly Cairns says a left-wing government is within…
- The Candidate
Byelection results! What we know so far
It's count day and we have the latest analysis live. In Dublin Central, Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats has opened up a comfortable lead in what could…
- The Candidate
What a byelection silver medal would mean for Sinn Féin
Polls open on Friday in Dublin Central and Galway West, and both races are still wide open. The cost of living is the dominant issue on the doorsteps, rents…
- The Candidate
British psychodrama and Bertie's big blunder
The vultures are circling Keir Starmer in a way that just doesn't happen in Irish politics. We ask why, and whether the difference between a prime minister on…
- The Candidate
Charles wants to visit but we're not sure what to do with him
Reports suggest Britain's King Charles is likely to visit Ireland on an official trip, possibly as soon as next year. His mother's visit in 2011 was a landmark…
- The Candidate
Two byelections, three weeks out, and nobody can call either of them
In Dublin Central, Sinn Féin should be the favourites but the Social Democrats are quietly eating into their vote, and Gerry Hutch is back with a…
- The Candidate
Who is the former TD who gave a controversial character reference?
It's been nine days since a court heard that a former TD gave a character reference for a man convicted of sexually exploiting a 13-year-old boy at a…
- The Candidate
Fianna Fáil Always Chickens Out
The fuel protests may be over but the fallout inside Fianna Fáil is only getting started. Young TDs are issuing statements about the need for radical change…
- The Candidate
The fuel protests escalated faster than anyone expected
It started on Tuesday with tractors and trucks on major roads. Dublin city centre ground to a half. By Thursday, protesters were blockading Ireland's only oil…
- The Candidate
Does Simon Harris want to create a nation of investment bros?
Finance Minister Simon Harris has outlined (again) what his much-flagged personal savings and investment scheme is going to going to look like. Well, kind of…
- The Candidate
The government treats the Children's Hospital like someone else's problem
The National Children's Hospital has just missed its 18th deadline, and when an Oireachtas committee asked when it would actually be ready, the answer was…
- The Candidate
The bar for the White House visit is on the floor
The reviews are in from the Oval Office, and the verdict is... it wasn't a disaster? Martin met Trump, defended Starmer, stifled a grin during a rant about…
- The Candidate
The government can't keep ignoring fuel prices
Fuel prices have been climbing higher, and higher... and higher. The government's response? We're monitoring it. Wait and see. Let's not make any knee-jerk…
- The Candidate
Ireland can't say two words: illegal war
It's day six of the US-led war on Iran and Ireland's government still can't bring itself to say two crucial words. With the White House visit just weeks away…
- The Candidate
Dublin Central didn't want a parachute candidate (even a popular one)
Sinn Féin's Dublin Central selection convention was meant to be a formality. Campaigner Gillian Sherratt was widely tipped to get the nod. Instead, the party's…
- The Candidate
The SNA own goal everyone saw coming
The government's plan to review how SNAs are allocated lead to a U-turn that was almost as sharp as the backlash. Letters landing in principals' inboxes…
- The Candidate
The illusion of safety for 'undocumented Irish'
Another St Patrick's Day trip to the White House, another thorny issue to navigate. This time, it's the detention of an Irish citizen in a US immigration…
- The Candidate
The political culture war over cycling
The government wants e-bike and e-scooter users to wear helmets and high-vis gear, but critics say that’s missing the point. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn…
- The Candidate
Met Éíreann issues Status Yellow politics warning
The most powerful political force in Ireland? Flooding. Storm Chandra has kicked off a public row between Housing Minister James Browne and Met Éireann. After…
- The Candidate
Only an invasion will stop Ireland's day at the White House
The annual St Patrick’s Day trip to the White House used to be a low-stakes photo op. Now? It's a perennial (somewhat tiresome, perhaps) news story and moral…
- The Candidate
If this doesn't lead to action on Big Tech, nothing will
It's a new Dáil term and a new season of The Candidate, but issues at home are taking a back seat right now. Non-consensual, AI-generated sexual imagery has…
- The Candidate
Our picks for the political dramas to binge during Twixmas
Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy share their favourite political shows - the ones that helped them escape (or make sense of)…
- The Candidate
The Candies: Our political awards for 2025
Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, and Rónán Duffy hand out their now-traditional end-of-year political awards, from the Michael Myers Award for…
- The Candidate
What not to say to adults forced to move home
A video aimed at young people moving back in with their parents, shared by the Department of Housing, was meant to be helpful... but it didn't land like that…
- The Candidate
A careful visit with an even more careful message
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first visit to Ireland was smooth, symbolic, and tightly stage-managed. Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, and Jane Matthews unpack the…
- The Candidate
Twenty people stall a €9.5 billion project
A judicial review filed against the long awaited MetroLink has sparked a backlash from both government and a public fed up with delays. Ministers are treading…
- The Candidate
Simon Harris keeps Finance for himself
In a move that has raised some eyebrows across Leinster House, Simon Harris has made himself the country's new Minister for Finance. This meant skipping over…
- The Candidate
The presidential inauguration needs an overhaul
Catherine Connolly’s first speech as president was careful, critical, calm, with just a few pointed lines that hinted at how she’ll approach the role. But for…
- The Candidate
When political training becomes a political problem
Fianna Fáil’s hiring of Ivan Yates to help prep Jim Gavin for grillings during the presidential election rate has sparked (or perhaps fanned) tensions with…
- The Candidate
John Collison’s tech-bro idea: be a little more Haughey
John Collison, billionaire Stripe co-founder, lobbed a political bombshell in the direction of Kildare Street with a 2,500-word Irish Times think piece…
- The Candidate
A landslide for Connolly - but the story of this election is protest
Catherine Connolly’s presidential victory was more than decisive (but we're not going to call it stonking because Christine hates that word). In this…
- The Candidate
We sit down with Catherine Connolly
With just days to go before the public go to the polls, we sit down with presidential candidate Catherine Connolly. She joins Christine Bohan, Christina Finn…
- The Candidate
Can Heather catch Catherine?
We're turning the corner into the final stretch of the presidential election. Catherine Connolly is pulling ahead in the polls, and it's starting to look a lot…
- The Candidate
Fianna Fáil's biggest WTF moment in years
Eh... what just happened? Jim Gavin’s shock, abrupt, and unprecedented withdrawal from the presidential race has sent an earthquake through Fianna Fáil and…
- The Candidate
Presidential debate raised many questions (why doesn't Gavin talk GAA?)
The first presidential debate is unlikely to be one that anyone will ever really remember, but it gave voters their first real close-up look at how the three…
- The Candidate
What each candidate needs to do to win the presidency
As the presidential election campaign kicks off in earnest, we're back with a new season of The Candidate. However... we have just three candidates in the…
- The Candidate
Micheál Martin's big presidential gamble
After a summer of speculation, six-time All-Ireland winning Dublin manager Jim Gavin has emerged victorious in the race to be Fianna Fáil's candidate for the…
- The Candidate
The presidential race was just blown wide open
The unexpected withdrawal of Mairead McGuinness has left a massive hole in the presidential race, one that has yet to be filled by any of the three major…
- The Candidate
The Candidate Awards: Best row, best clanger and best politician so far this Dáil term
Ministers held their last Cabinet meeting this week, while TDs and senators have already cleared out of Leinster House for their break. That means it's time…
- The Candidate
The government is spending billions (on what, exactly, isn't clear)
The government unveiled its updated infrastructure spending plan this week and its plans to splash billions on projects around the country. But on what…
- The Candidate
TDs are gaslighting us about their holidays
The Dáil has wrapped up for the summer... again. But with a housing crisis, major legislation pending, and just 33 sitting weeks a year, should TDs still be…
- The Candidate
Mary Lou, Mairead and Catherine would be the election we've been waiting for
Mary Lou McDonald is finally sailing us out of the presidential election doldrums... without saying much at all, really. Her non-denial that she would be…
- The Candidate
The government brought this student fees mess on itself
As Micheál Martin woos Japan with harp performances and pints of Guinness, back home the government is floundering over student fees. Christine Bohan, Jane…
- The Candidate
How to talk to Trump: call him daddy, apparently
It was already going to be a tense Nato summit, but when the alliance's secretary general referred to Donald Trump as “daddy”, and the White House embraced it…
- The Candidate
The housing crisis needs a movement, not a moment
Is Ireland on the brink of another wave of public protest, or will it fizzle out, as so often before? Christine Bohan, Christina Finn, Jane Matthews and Rónán…
- The Candidate
A long-term bet on housing that renters can’t afford
Anticipation had been growing for months over what the government's new rent plan would deliver. Could it bring about solutions that really help renters and…