Sunak’s doomed gamble and anger at Fianna Fáil’s election launch

Hugh Linehan is joined by Pat Leahy and Cormac McQuinn to discuss the week in politics: ·     Rishi Sunak’s decision on Wednesday to announce a snap election for July 4th, four months earlier than predicted, caught everyone off guard. Will it prove to be a gamble worth taking? ·     Cormac was present at Fianna Fáil’s European election launch this morning where tensions boiled over as Senator Niall Blaney got into a public disagreement with Fianna Fáil leader, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, over the level of support he was getting from the party amid their three-candidate strategy in the Midlands North-West constituency. ·     And on Friday, June 7th – the same day voters across the country will elect representatives to local councils and the European Parliament – the people of Limerick will decide who will be the country’s first directly elected mayor. But what powers will the successful candidate have to go with their €154,000 salary? And the panel pick their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:·     Laura Slattery writes about “king of the airwaves” Pat Kenny. ·     The passing of Ireland’s first business superstar, Tony O’Reilly. ·     Pedestrians best be on their guard against the quiet threat of electric vehicles as outlined by Shauna Bowers.Would you like to receive daily insights into world events delivered to your inbox? Sign up for Denis Staunton's Global Briefing newsletter here: irishtimes.com/newsletters/global-briefing/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.