Fatima Al-Kassab

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468 appearances 76 recordings 2 series first heard Nov 2024 last heard 6d ago

Fatima Al-Kassab’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 64 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 14.

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Up First from NPR · Mideast Ceasefire Continues, Irish Elections, Texas Politics · 30 Nov 2024 podcast

Yeah, so I spoke to voters yesterday outside a polling station in Dublin and they pretty much all said that the biggest issue for them was housing, no matter their age or background. Here's Valerie Shields. Housing is the main issue and there's a lot of families with small children living in guest houses and hotels. And 24-year-old Owen McNeill said the same.

Ireland is actually a very rich country. It's generated a huge income from corporation taxes, which has made it one of the richest in Europe. But people aren't really feeling it. The high cost of living was actually the second biggest issue for voters, according to the exit poll.

Yeah, housing is the issue that's really helped propel Sinn Féin. In fact, commentators here this morning were saying we can even look at the vote for Sinn Féin as a housing vote, a single issue vote. And that's especially true among young voters. Sinn Féin has a lot of support among younger voters. And the party has made big gains in recent years because of its promises on housing.

Whatever happens in the next couple of days, it's clear that the days of Two parties dominating Irish politics are over. Sinn Féin was on the up in the last election in 2020 when it surprised everyone and it won the popular vote. And this time round, it looks like it's confirmed its place at the top with the two traditional parties.

So we're in for a long weekend of counting votes. It's a system of proportional representation, so it could take some time. Full results are expected by the end of the weekend, but it might not be until next week, potentially even in the new year, until we get a government formed. And that's because there needs to be negotiations about forming a coalition. And that can take some time.

The most likely scenario is that even if Sinn Féin wins the most votes, that's what happened last time, the two big parties, these are the traditional parties that have governed Ireland for over a century, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, will go into coalition again. Although this time the exit poll suggests that their vote share is down.

So it might actually be harder for them to cobble together a majority.

Thanks, Scott.

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