Stormont Sources

DUP's Deborah Erskine: Maternity Leave, Late Nights, and Stormont Reality

Stormont Sources

Show Notes

In this episode of Stormont Sources, David McCann, Tim Cairns, and Michael McKiernan break down the latest "Ireland Thinks" poll from the Sunday Independent. Irish Unity failed to make it near the top list of concerns for voters in the Republic. Does this signal a cooling of the "inevitability" narrative, or is it just the reality of the cost-of-living crisis?

Later we are joined by the DUP’s Deborah Erskine MLA. Having recently returned from maternity leave, Deborah shares a refreshingly honest look at the "mad, crazy job" of being an MLA while caring for a newborn with medical challenges. We discuss whether Stormont is truly family-friendly, the "unfiltered" tone of the chamber, and her outlook for the next Assembly election in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

In this episode: Why housing and immigration are trumping the border question in the South. Is the opposition’s flagship policy failing to cut through? Deborah Erskine on the "chamber substitute" system and the lack of childcare.

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