Enda Kenny is likely to make history next year by becoming the first Fine Gael taoiseach in the history of the State to win re-election, The Irish Times ‘Inside Politics’ podcast has been told.

In a preview of what’s going to happen on the Irish political scene in 2016, Political Editor Stephen Collins, along with Fiach Kelly and Sarah Bardon from the Irish Times political staff, discuss the likely outcome of the general election, which they believe is most likely to be held on February 26th.

In this week’s edition of the podcast, all three agree that a Fine Gael majority is unlikely but Mr Kenny is likely to lead the next government.

With Fianna Fáil in disarray and lacking a clear message, and Sinn Féin seemingly set on a strategy of remaining in opposition, the panel agrees an opportunity exists for Labour to capitalise on fears of a Fine Gael-only government by presenting itself as the one party which can prevent that happening.

Collins points out that there are now 30 TDs in the Independents/Others category sitting in the Dáil. Despite their strong showing in opinion polls, he does not expect the proportion of independents and small parties to increase substantially from that number after the election. Both Renua and the Social Democrats will do well to retain their current numbers, he says.

The Inside Politics podcast is published every Wednesday on irishtimes.com. To subscribe on iTunes click here. To subscribe on Stitcher (for Android) click here.