Go behind the scenes of General Election 2024 with RTÉ's David McCullagh, Katie Hannon and Fran McNulty as they guide you through the campaign and what's really going on. Stay up to date as the battle begins for your vote.
Search for "RTÉ Behind the Story" in your podcast app for insightful and informed conversation as three of RTÉ’s top journalists, David McCullagh, Katie Hannon and Fran McNulty digest some of the news stories of the day. Expect deep dives, analysis, interesting guests and maybe even some laughs along the way.
2 Dec 2024
Winners, Losers and Florida David!
Fran and Katie analyze GE24 results with David McCullagh, exposing the winners, losers, and power struggles behind the scenes of a contentious election.
29 Nov 2024
Crunching the numbers - what does the exit poll tell us?
David and Katie analyze the exit poll with Mícheál Lehane and Joe Mag Raollaigh, revealing a neck-and-neck Sinn Féin and Fine Gael, with Fianna Fáil close behind and an unusual Limerick city ballot paper anomaly.
27 Nov 2024
Big spenders, FG's lingering Louth problem & No2s
Katie, Fran and David are joined by Liz Carolan to analyze big spenders on social media and the implications of FG's lingering problem in Louth.
27 Nov 2024
Memorable one-liners and 'coalition-ology'
David Butler, Katie Hannon and Fran McNulty are joined by Miriam O'Callaghan and Sarah McInerney to dissect the Prime Time Leaders Debate and reveal the behind-the-scenes dynamics of coalition politics.
25 Nov 2024
Harris in Kanturk, getting polled over, and Labour the greenest party?
David, Fran, and Katie analyze the fallout from Fine Gael's Kanturk exchange, two dropped polls, and Labour's climate policy ratings surpassing the Greens.
22 Nov 2024
Sinn Féin and RTÉ, Fine Gael's coddle and Independent challenges
Katie, Fran and David discuss the week's Irish politics with Paul Cunningham, analyzing Sinn Féin's spotlight on RTÉ, Fine Gael's coddle, and emerging Independent challenges.
21 Nov 2024
Bruised egos, Greens v Labour and social media eyeballs
Sinn Féin's Donagh Humphreys breaks down the surprising social media stats behind the Irish general election, revealing which parties are winning online and why.
20 Nov 2024
Attack ads, Foley defines a 'crisis' and posturing posters
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are criticized for their tactics as David, Katie, and Fran discuss the US-style attack ad and poster controversies with RTÉ Entertainment's Alan Corr.
19 Nov 2024
Missing McGahon and following the leaders
After a night of backstage chats, David is joined by Paul Cunningham to analyse a lively 24 hours. One person they've been wondering about is Fine Gael's John McGahon who is MIA on the campaign trail. Evelyn O'Rourke, Tommy Meskill, and Samantha Libreri also check in with their leader updates.
19 Nov 2024
Who impressed most in the TV debate?
In a special bonus episode recorded from backstage after the UpFront debate, David and Fran were joined by Alison O’Connor to figure out who'll be happy and who might be disappointed by their performance. And of course they were also joined by Katie who said she was surprised by a few things during the debate.
15 Nov 2024
Debate day preppers and McEntee/O'Callaghan shade
David and Katie take a look at Fine Gael’s Helen McEntee and Fianna Fail’s Jim O'Callaghan's shade-throwing after he suggested she took his ideas. And as Katie prepares to host Upfront's ten-way debate, the pod invited in Head of Training at the Communications Clinic Lorcan Nyhan to get an insight into how politicians themselves gear up for them.
14 Nov 2024
Buses ‘brake’ Limerick’s stride, Hutch saddles up, and getting nerdy with the polls
While David and Katie hold firm in the studio, Fran reports back from Limerick where the buses are proving a big issue. They also look to Dublin where Gerard Hutch became an official candidate, while TG4 has released its poll for Galway West – and it’s thrown up some interesting results.
13 Nov 2024
Friends now foes, or are they? Who knows!
Fran, David, and Katie discuss fake fights, proposed new Ministeries and RTÉ Entertainment's Alan Corr looks at how celebrities and politicians have mingled in the past and whether it has any influence.
12 Nov 2024
Agricultural assurances, Greens getting down with the kids, and how many votes for a jive?
Katie, David, and Fran analyse an eventful few days as FG Leader Simon Harris and SF Leader Mary Lou McDonald busted their best moves in Monaghan, made big promises to the farmers, while the Greens launched their manifesto in Dublin.
8 Nov 2024
FF/FG frenemies, SF’s parking wobble, and remembering the infamous Rumble in Ranelagh
Fran, Katie, and David dissected the tsunami of campaign messages that launched in sync as the Dáil was finally dissolved and the General Election was called. They’ll also look at Fianna Fáil and Fine Gaels’ quick transition from coalition partners to bitter rivals, and the Sinn Féin truck’s battle for space on Merrion Square.
6 Nov 2024
Introducing... Behind the Ballot
Go behind the scenes of General Election 2024 with RTÉ's David McCullagh, Katie Hannon and Fran McNulty as they guide you through the campaign and what's really going on. Stay up to date as the battle begins for your vote.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
373,663,812
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Podcast Authority Score: 38 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
38
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
0
Contact Behind the Ballot
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Behind the Ballot?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine