Pressure builds on Labour as austerity bites: Collapse, part two

Inside Politics is coming to Galway in May for a live recording. Get your tickets here . In part two of this three-part series on Labour's harrowing experience in government from 2011 to 2016, Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan follow the story of the first three years of that austerity-delivering coalition. As punishing budget after punishing budget was delivered, Labour struggled to retain its political identity and principles while working with Fine Gael to present a united front to a world that saw Ireland as an economic basket case. Successes - exiting the EU-IMF bailout programme, securing legislation on abortion - are completely overshadowed by the harshness of austerity. For Labour and its party leader Eamon Gilmore, the political damage mounts. Listen to part one here . 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.

You can listen to Pressure builds on Labour as austerity bites: Collapse, part two online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Pressure builds on Labour as austerity bites: Collapse, part two is an episode from Irish Times Inside Politics by The Irish Times.

This episode is 43:00 long.

This episode was published on Apr 6, 2026.

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