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The Irish Passport

The election that changed history

The Irish Passport

The Irish Passport

Society & Culture

4.8652 Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2020

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A seismic result has emerged in the Irish election: the left-wing nationalist Sinn Fe’in are the most popular party, sweeping away the traditional dominance of Fine Gael and Fianna Fa’il for the first time in the history of the republic. What caused the political earthquake? And what happens now? Naomi joins Tim from the main voting count centre in Dublin to break down the results. The housing crisis, what went wrong for Leo Varadkar, the peculiar nature of Irish nationalism, and options for the next government: it’s all up for discussion. We speak to Dessie Ellis, who spent time in prison for his involvement with thetime Provisional Irish Republican Army, after he swept to the top of the poll in his constituency of Dublin North West. Naomi brings context from the campaign trail as voters tell us their concerns. And we hear from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar, and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald to tell you all you need to know about the election that changed history. For bonus episodes including an interview with Mary Lou McDonald about the meaning of left-wing nationalism, support us on Patreon: https://www.theirishpassport.com/podcast/what-the-uk-election-means-for-ireland-brexit-and-the-union/ Follow us on Twitter and Facebook: @PassportIrish.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello, welcome to Irish Passport.

0:02.3

Let's do it.

0:03.1

Welcome to the Irish Passport.

0:04.8

I'm Tim McInerney.

0:06.0

I'm Naomi O'Leary.

0:07.0

We're friends.

0:07.7

Can you both to Naomi?

0:08.5

Anwar Fat, Tim.

0:09.9

This is your passport to Irish culture, history and politics.

0:13.2

Uh-huh.

0:13.5

I'm recording.

0:14.2

One, two, two, three.

0:16.6

Okay.

0:16.8

Okay. Okay. Hello, Oh, Roshir-Hawalya, Oh, Roshed-Hara-Waliyah,

0:41.3

Oh-Rosh-Lah-Walya,

0:45.3

and this your Hockman's-Sah, Hello listeners and welcome to a very special bonus election episode of the Irish Passport podcast.

1:03.9

I know we already finished up for season three, but we couldn't resist running back to the microphones today because there's an Irish general election that has just disrupted a century of political traditions on the island.

1:14.6

The final results, as you might be able to hear, are still coming in as we record, but it's already clear that this election has changed all the rules of Irish politics.

1:22.6

For the first time in generations, the two main parties in the Republic have lost their iron

1:28.3

grip on the country and are coming face to face with a major new rival in Sinn Féin.

1:33.7

So listeners, you might be wondering about that hubbub, and that is because Naomi, you are coming

1:37.7

to us straight from the RDS Count Centre in Dublin, where the votes are still being tallied.

...

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