Irish Taoiseach

This is the press release Global Radio have just issued.

LBC – the UK’s number one commercial news talk station – is launching a brand-new, 15-part weekly podcast hosted its award-winning evening presenter Iain Dale.

The Irish Taoiseach podcast will examine the life and political career of each of the 15 men who have held the office of Taoiseach (Prime Minister) since the civil war of 1922. Through interviews with journalists, academics, ex-politicians and historians, Iain will trace the development of the Irish state through the lens of the men who rose to the top of Irish politics. 

Available on Global Player from Monday 6th March, a new episode of The Irish Taoiseach will be released every Monday across a total of 15 weeks.

The series follows the highly acclaimed podcast, The Presidents and Prime Ministers, also hosted by Iain Dale, which accompanied his books of the same titles. The 100 podcasts covered each of Britain’s first 55 prime ministers and America’s 45 presidents.

Iain Dale said:

I could not be more pleased to launch The Irish Taoiseach podcast. For the last thirty years, I have tried to widen people’s interest in politics and political knowledge through my political books, publishing and broadcasting – and I’m aware that In Britain, we know far too little about the politics of our closest neighbour, the Republic of Ireland. The style of the podcast is very conversational, and my aim is to allow my guests to talk freely and accessibly. The podcast series is meant to appeal to those with a knowledge base of zero, but also to diehard fans or critics of the Taoiseach in question. Over the next 15 weeks, I hope it will encourage listeners to read more widely about both Irish politics and each Taoiseach, as each man is a fascinating character.”

 

Notes for editors:

 

  1. 6th March: W.T. Cosgrave – with Dr Ciara Meehan, Associate Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education, University of Hertfordshire
  2. 13th March: Éamon de Valera – with David McCullagh, RTE presenter and de Valera’s biographer
  3. 20th March: John A. Costello – with Dr Caiomhe Nic Dhaibheid, Senior Lecturer in Modern History, University of Sheffield
  4. 27th March: Seán Lemass – with Professor Bryce Evans, Professor of Modern World History, Liverpool Hope University and Lemass’ biographer
  5. 3rd April: Jack Lynch – with Stephen Collins, former political editor of The Irish Times and author of several books on Irish politics
  6. 10th April: Liam Cosgrave – with Dr Deirdre Foley, Lecturer at University College Cork
  7. 17th April: Charles Haughey – with Professor Gary Murphy, Dublin City University and biographer of Haughey
  8. 24th April: Dr Garret FitzGerald – with Dr Eoin O’Malley, associate professor in politics at Dublin City University
  9. 1st May: Albert Reynolds – with Martin Mansergh, former adviser to various Taoisigh, and former Fainna Fail TD and Minister
  10. 8th May: John Bruton – with Fionnan Sheehan, Ireland Editor of The Irish Independent
  11. 15th May: Bertie Ahern – with Fintan O’Toole, author and columnist
  12. 22nd May: Brian Cowen – with Theresa Reidy, lecturer at University College Cork
  13. 29th May: Enda Kenny – with John Downing, columnist for The Irish Independent and biographer of Kenny
  14. 5th June: Leo Varadkar – with Philip Ryan, political journalist with The Irish Independent and biographer of Varadkar
  15. 12th June: Micheál Martin