‘TIS THE MOST treacherous time of the year.

A year after it became a phenomenon on Irish screens, The Traitors is back this weekend with an entirely new cast of people drawn from various walks of life, ready to compete and deceive each other in the hopes of winning up to €50,000. 

The Irish version of the hit show, presented by Siobhán McSweeney, is finally back for a second season in Slane Castle this Sunday night. 

If you’ve been living under a rock since the UK version became a phenomenon when it premiered back in 2022, The Traitors is a reality competition show that sees a group of strangers enter a castle, each hoping to take home a share of a prize pot at the end.

But the catch is that hidden among them are the Traitors, who are secretly working to eliminate their opponents, the Faithfuls.

The UK version of the show did its first celebrity version last year which saw Alan Carr walk away with the prize money for charity in a stacked cast that included big names like Stephen Fry, Paloma Faith and Jonathan Ross. 

A second season of the celebrity edition of the UK show is set to premiere this autumn featuring more A-listers like Bella Ramsey, Maya Jama and even our very own Joanne McNally.

Though it doesn’t seem to be in the works (that we know of), all of this excitement got us thinking in The Journal about what our dream line-up for an Irish Celebrity Traitors might look like.

Here are our suggestions (and yes, yes, we know some of these are a long shot, but we can but dream).

Would Roy be keen? 

Who among us wouldn’t like to see Roy Keane on the show?

The former Man United star is my personal pick anyway. His trademark grouchiness would make him the perfect Traitor; no one would suspect him because that’s just who he is. 

Arguably, maybe his no-nonsense attitude would make him an asset to the Faithfuls and good at rooting out the Traitors among them?

Either way, any Irish Celebrity Traitors that doesn’t include him would be missing something. 

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I am also suggesting throwing Sonia O’Sullivan as a Faithful into the mix. 

The former Olympian would be a formidable Traitor-hunter, an asset in the various physical challenges and an excellent foil to a Keane Traitor.

The only possible downside here would be the likelihood of her being such a threat that she’d be ‘murdered’ early on. 

My final personal pick… How about include Enya? She already knows her way around a castle and could be something of a wild card candidate.

One of our team, Social Media Content Creator Cliodhna Travers, suggests entertainers Jedward “but only if one is made a traitor and the other is a faithful” (slightly more cruelly, our News Editor Daragh Brophy suggested just booking one of the pair and not the other, “purely for the novelty of only seeing one of them at the same time”).  

Cliodhna would also like to see Jim Gavin return to public life: “He might drop out after a brief stint but I’d like to see him do a roundtable or two.” 

She also threw Dermot Kennedy into the mix since as “he always finds a way to involve himself anyway”. 

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Another national treasure that should be included, according to reporter Andrew Walsh, is Dustin the Turkey. Andrew adds he should be treated as a “completely normal contestant with nobody addressing the fact that he’s a puppet”.

He also threw Tommy Bowe‘s name into the ring, if only so we could hear him announce when the prize pot has reached “TEN thousand euro”.

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Political reporter Jane Matthews would like to see Mary McAleese in the cast “because who wouldn’t want to see a former president on it”.

Her diplomatic chops would make her a good fit for a show all about negotiating for your survival. 

She also highlighted new Irish resident Rosie O’Donnell as a potential casting. With how much O’Donnell seems to love the Irish, it’s not hard to see her saying yes to a Traitors appearance. 

Though the show is about deception, an Irish celebrity version could also offer an opportunity for some celebrities to work out their differences.

For example Bertie Ahern and CMAT could discuss her song Euro Country, where she name-drops the former taoiseach, according to reporter Sophie Finn. 

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A happier meeting would be between old Derry Girls co-stars Nicola Coughlan and and McSweeney, a pick from Emma Hickey. 

She also suggests the dynamic duo of Twink and Louis Walsh because “they’d pair up and fall out with everyone else”, which would be entertaining viewing. 

Mairead Maguire proposed a member Irish rap group Kneecap should be included: “Going off their acting skills in their film I’d say they’d make good traitors.”

Though it feels unlikely one of the group would have the time (or the desire) to go on the show, she said they’d bring the craic if they squeezed it into their busy schedule. 

David Mac Redmond suggested former presidential hopeful Maria Steen “for her wardrobe game”. 

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He also named Ryan Turbidy for the cast “so he can get another RTE pay cheque”, Marty Whelan “because everyone loves him”, and Vincent Browne “because his bullshit detector is second to none”.

Lauren Boland named Fiona Shaw as a potential cast member “she’s acted in so many detective/mystery projects, it’d be fun to see how she’d do at solving one herself”. 

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Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar should be included in the cast according to reporter Conor Brummel, with his political experience probably making him a good contestant “when it comes to round table negotiations”.

Rónán Duffy felt Eamon Dunphy should be included in the line-up “to dramatically throw a pen across the round table”.

He also thinks a return to the spotlight should be on the cards for Tony Holohan:

“Given he considered running for president but ultimately decided against it, I think Tony Holohan is probably ready for a return to appointment television, turning the round table into his new NPHET.”