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When news broke that Ivan Yates was to return to Newstalk after a 16-month hiatus, one listener on twitter commented: “Yes! The band is back together.”

There is no doubt that Chris and Ivan, as well as the whole Newstalk Breakfast team, including Business Editor Ian Guider, have an easygoing chemistry that permeates their on-air offering.

Having filed for bankruptcy in the UK last year, Ivan and his financial affairs have been the subject of much commentary. But for the former Minister and bookmaker, it’s now business as usual.

And that business involves taking politicians and corporations to task as well as regularly tormenting his co-presenter with on-air jibes. The duo spoke to Newstalk Magazine a few weeks into Ivan’s return to the airwaves.

How does it feel to be back on air together?

Ivan: “It’s good to be back working with Chris. He knows how everything works. So it’s great that one of us does. He is my carer and there are a few chores that are still outstanding that need to be worked out, but other than that we’re doing fine.”

Chris: “A friend of Ivan’s described it best for me when they said, “It doesn’t sound like you were 16 months apart. It sounds more like 16 minutes apart.” But that’s more to do with the whole team behind the programme and that everyone has slotted back together. There is a difference in that Ivan is just slightly more humble, less ministerial. He makes a round of tea now which he never used to do. Yates [as Chris often refers to his co-presenter] acts like he doesn’t give a sh*t but the only way he can act like that is because he understands it, both politics and business, he understands it inside out. So there’s a huge amount of value and work being brought back and it’s something that we missed a lot.”

How has it been coming back to broadcasting after being away for such a long time?

Ivan: “I am a bit rusty [at which point Chris interjects: “You were never slick”] and the show is more of a techno-blizzard insofar as there are far more audio clips, teasers, liners and stings. It’s definitely more technically agile than it used to be. The fundamentals of the show are the same, however. You still have to get up at 4.30am. Well, I actually come in at 6.55am but Chris sets his alarm for 3.50am so for that alone he deserves special commendation.

“The thing I love most about being back is the interaction with the listener through texts and social media comments—even the most waspish ones, murdering me—that actually stimulates me. Or you could have two polar opposite texts on the same topic and they both have a germ of a point there. And one of the key points of difference between us and the State broadcaster is that we don’t take it all so seriously.”

What issues are you tackling on the show in the year ahead?

Chris: “We’re on three hours a day, five days a week. That’s 15 hours of broadcasting a week. That’s a huge enterprise and a huge machine to fill. We have our bits we like, such as history and movies that have great value, but it’s also important that on ‘big issues’ we don’t turn into a conveyor belt. We have to cover things with depth and passion and that is something we both feel strongly about. We’re always having that conversation behind the scenes about where is Ireland at? Where is his [Ivan’s] generation at, and where’s my generation at? We are steadfast in promoting hope but not false hope and if a policy or agenda comes out going against that we’ll call that out as well.”

Ivan: “For me there is a definite angle. It is partly anti-establishment. It is partly holding the government to account because I think there is a bubble of ‘Official Ireland’, of senior decision makers including senior civil servants, politicians, bankers and corporations. Some have survived the recession better than others so I think it’s important that we stimulate the debate, sometimes in a contrarian way, about where Ireland is going.

“Ireland has had five years of really tough times. We have to move on from that but what is our new future? Where are the opportunities?  What are the policy shifts that need to be done? We are not afraid to swim against the tide in terms of public opinion. We mean what it says on the tin about Newstalk, it’s not just news, facts, figures and information. It is about analysis, comment and opinion and that is all part of the national conversation.”

What is the biggest challenge for the government?

Chris: “I think the biggest challenge for them is to remember why they were put there, and the people that put them there; because so many of them have paid lip service to that and have allowed themselves get into that ‘Leinster House’ bubble—politics gets so caught up with politics and it’s so self-congratulatory. Look at how many first time T.D.s have given up already. They need to remember why they were there, or get the hell out of there.

“My generation of Ireland—people in their thirties—all they have is debt on their backs. They have not created the current political leaders. Lots of them or their friends have left. And that is the challenge, not to just feather the nest of a certain generation of Irish people. You are supposed to want to leave a Republic to its younger people, and that’s been forgotten somewhat.”

Ivan: “For me, I actually don’t believe in a lot of the politicians. I’ve been there done that. I think they’re quite self-serving. Their main priority is their own re-election. For me, the big issue is beyond the bust; from Malin Head to Mizen Head, how do we generate economic activity? There is no simple answer to that. That for me is the big goal, to push things, policy-makers, public policy in that direction.”

Who would you like to interview over the coming months?

Chris: “Top of my list would be Buzz Aldrin or Stevie Wonder.”

Ivan: “I’m just happy to talk to myself most of the time. Ah no, I’d like to speak to Patrick Honohan, as Governor of the Central Bank. I think they are not solving the banking crisis in terms of lending and there could be re-capitalisation of the bank. He’s in my crosshairs for sure.”

Chris: “Another one for me would be to do a no-holds barred interview with the Taoiseach Enda Kenny.”

Ivan: “He won’t do it though...you can have 12/1 from me as a former bookmaker. There’s no way.”

Chris: “Well let’s see. So far his interview record has been cosy. You think they’re running scared from us?”

Ivan: “Absolutely, I think the Taoiseach’s advisers wouldn’t let him near us in [the] studio. Put it like this; I don’t think you need star political guests to make political points.”

Who has the most annoying on-air habits?

Ivan: “Can we do a top ten? Actually he must be a woman because the way he multitasks with his incessant tweets and Facebook updates is unbelievable. Although he absorbs it all and really, I think we should just let him do it on his own and I’ll just watch him.”

Chris: “Just the unprovoked and unexpected attacks...and describing cartoons from the newspaper on the radio.”

Ivan: “As well as lying on the floor instead of standing up (Ivan has a chronic back problem that means he is required to conduct interviews while standing).

Listen back to Ivan’s interview with The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk.

This article originally appeared in Newstalk Magazine for iPad in October, for more details go here.