Former Minister and Newstalk’s own Ivan Yates thinks the nature of being a TD means they all “bleed insecurity”. 

Ivan took a trip down memory lane with The Anton Savage Show, thanks to Nifti Business, driving through some of the locations most important to him. 

Starting unsurprisingly at Leinster House, where Ivan served as a TD and then minister for 21 years, he recalled he was terrified starting out at age 21. 

“I had no background in politics,” he said. 

“I actually didn't know how to drive my way to Leinster House.” 

As so many TDs take up their seats for the first time, here’s a clip of @IvanYatesNT on his first day in Leinster House in 1981. Sound a bit different? pic.twitter.com/0pRqCSqboY

— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) February 20, 2020

Over his 20-year career, Ivan waded through eight general elections, each one just as scary as the last. 

“If you scratch any TD enough, they’ll bleed insecurity,” he said. 

“They can be turfed out at the next election on a whim. 

“I never actually bought accommodation in Dublin because I believed it would put the mockers on me that I’d lose my seat.” 

Broadcasting

Ivan and Anton headed over to Schoolhouse Road, where an impromptu meeting in 2009 started a 12-year broadcasting career with Newstalk. 

He credited his work on analysing the 2007 general election as the kickstarter to his journalism career. 

“I was marketed as the only bookmaker who was betting on every constituency and every conceivable outcome of the election,” he said. 

“I was a pundit who talked in earthy terms, having walked the walk. 

“You know, ‘This is what the leader is saying – this is what he’s really thinking’ and sort of exposing the kind of bullshit element of politics.” 

Ivan Yates presenting The Hard Shoulder. Image: Newstalk

Ivan said he enjoyed his career in broadcasting after the seemingly higher states of Leinster House. 

“The decisions you take have consequences [in Government],” he said. “You can lose votes, you can gain votes, you can be a good government, you can make mistakes. 

“In media, you don't have any of those responsibilities. You have all the fun and excitement and drama, but you have none of the responsibility. 

“You don't have to be right - your job is to drive opinion and to be absolutely out there because we want reaction.” 

'It's not a good idea to go back'

Looking to the future, Ivan does not even want to comtemplate whether he would win a seat in Government if he ran today. 

“The drive and the commitment that got me into politics – the 24/seven voracious appetite for constituency work for everything to do with politics – it does not last a lifetime,” he said. 

“In life, it’s not a good idea to go back.” 

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