On today’s Inside Politics podcast Hugh Linehan is joined by Harry McGee and Jack Horgan-Jones from our political team to discuss this week’s stories, including:

• Focus on Sinn Féin’s links to discredited witness, convict and former councillor Jonathan Dowdall since the conclusion of the Regency trial this week. But will the connection harm the party come election time?
• Fine Gael TD John Paul Phelan’s intention to stand down at the next election is on the grounds of ill health. But there is also a broader trend of politicians leaving politics behind.
• A report into the botched appointment of Dr Tony Holohan to a state-funded position at Trinity College Dublin showed how surprisingly sloppy the process had been and revealed a major dispute among senior civil servants over who knew what, when.
• Will independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice really launch a new political party catering to farmers fed up with the Green agenda?