From out of left field: Ireland’s election
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 7 February 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After the adulation, the discontent. Voters are abandoning the party of the young, progressive leader Leo Varadkar, with many supporting Sinn Fein, a party with a violent history. Our obituaries editor looks back on the life of Homero Gómez, a renowned logger-turned-butterfly-activist. And the coyotes invading America’s cities. For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/radiooffer
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence on Economist Radio. |
| 0:07.0 | I'm your host, Jason Palmer. |
| 0:09.0 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:17.0 | Each year millions of monarch butterflies make an astonishing migration from Canada to a remote corner of Mexico |
| 0:24.0 | and no one was more excited to greet them than Omedo Gomez. |
| 0:28.0 | We look back on the life of a longer-turned activist. |
| 0:32.0 | And the coyote is thought of as America's predator of the prairie, or maybe as a figure of fun in cartoons. |
| 0:39.0 | But ecological pressures are driving them into cities across the country, and inevitably that makes for conflict with humans. |
| 0:48.0 | First up, though. |
| 1:00.0 | Few Irish leaders have gained the global recognition of the current Prime Minister or T-Shock, Leo Veradker. |
| 1:07.0 | The son of an Indian immigrant, he's Ireland's first openly gay leader. |
| 1:11.0 | And it's youngest. He first took office three years ago at the age of 38. |
| 1:16.0 | And I think if my election as leader of Finne Gayle today has shown anything, it is the prejudice as no hold in this republic. |
| 1:23.0 | He's overseen the abolition of abortion laws and stood up to the British over Brexit. |
| 1:29.0 | The UK is only one country, and we have a population and a market of 450 million people. |
| 1:35.0 | These were two teams up against each other playing football. Who do you think has the Tronger team? |
| 1:40.0 | But despite being well-liked abroad, at home there's discontent over soaring housing costs and a faltering health service. |
| 1:47.0 | Tomorrow there's a general election, and if the polls are to be believed, Mr Veradker faces the sack. |
| 1:53.0 | We're in the grips of a housing crisis. It's absolutely chronic out there. It's heartbreaking out there. |
| 1:59.0 | And something has to be done, something radical has to be done, and I firmly believe that we are the people to do that. |
| 2:07.0 | And to widespread surprise, the party that looks to gain the most is the one closely associated with the violence that gripped Ireland in the late 20th century. |
| 2:15.0 | Sinn Fein led by Mary Lou McDonald. |
... |
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