Labour backs Connolly, and Flatley jumps the shark

Cormac McQuinn and Jack Horgan-Jones join Hugh Linehan to look back on the week in politics:

·       The Labour Party has backed Independent TD Catherine Connolly’s bid for the Áras. And there is little appetite in Sinn Féin for Mary Lou McDonald to run for president as party figures move closer to the idea of also backing Connolly. Elsewhere, presidential hopeful Michael Flatley had to explain why he wasn’t a threat to great white sharks everywhere.

·       The ongoing debate over the Occupied Territories Bill and whether it will include services in its final iteration, and the continuing Government move towards getting rid of the so-called triple lock governing overseas deployment of Irish troops will likely be two issues that will be put to any presidential candidates.

·       The Social Democrats readmitted Dublin Bay South TD Eoin Hayes after his eight-month suspension from the party.

·       And Donald Trump is intent on more trade chaos as he announced a slew of new tariffs. But will Ireland come out of it all relatively unscathed?

Plus, the panel picks their favourite Irish Times pieces of the week:

·       Rosie O’Donnell’s new show at the Olympia gets a stinker of a review, the inside story of JP McManus’s failed €30m Irish Rugby Experience, and Ryan Tubridy living his best life in London.

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