TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS has defended appearing on Ryan Tubridy’s podcast saying that he does not feel it is bad taste given the manner of the broadcaster’s departure from RTÉ.
Harris is the first guest on the second season of Tubridy’s podcast On The Bookshelf, in which the guests discuss their favourite books and the influence of books on their lives.
Since leaving RTÉ, Tubridy now hosts a daily show on Virgin Radio in London which is also broadcast on Q102. He also writes a weekly column for The Irish Daily Mail on Sunday.
RTÉ was plunged into crisis in June last year after it admitted understating the fees for its star presenter and previous top-earner Tubridy.
The fallout from the controversy has led to cash-strapped RTÉ facing a deepening funding crisis and a plan for 400 job cuts.
Asked by reporters yesterday why he had agreed to be a guest on the podcast in those circumstances, Harris said “because he asked me to”.
Asked does he think appearing on the podcast is in bad taste in light of the job cuts, Harris said: “No I don’t.”
Speaking on the podcast itself, Harris told Tubridy that he does not intend to move into Farmleigh as it would be “very disruptive” for his children, but he can “see it happening in the future”.
It comes following a series of incidents of alleged harassment at his family home in Co Wicklow in recent months, including a hoax bomb threat.
Gardaí arrested a man over the hoax threat in August.
It has raised questions on whether Harris should move to a location with heightened security. The Journal understands that armed gardaí were deployed to protect the Taoiseach’s house in the wake of an increased threat.
While there is no official residence for holders of the office of Taoiseach, Steward’s Lodge on the Farmleigh estate has been used by taoisigh for various reasons in the past.
However, Harris has said he has no intention of moving there.
Harris told the podcast host that the incidents at his home were a “form of intimidation and harassment”.
“I think it’s done to unsettle and unnerve people, and I think it’s done by people to let you know that they know where you live.”
Asked by Tubridy about the possibility for an official Taoiseach’s residence, Harris said: “This has been put to me on occasion.
“The challenge for me – apart from loving Greystones – is that my kids are of an age where one has just started in the local school, and it would be very disruptive.
I don’t know where the future brings us in relation to this but I can see it happening in the future.
Harris said he did not imagine that Irish people would be unsupportive of such a measure, but added: “It’s not something that I’m intending to do.”
During the episode, Harris also speaks about how he “gorged on books” as a child and raised money for MS Ireland by getting sponsored for the Readathon.
The episode is also expected to feature the conflict in Gaza and a gift he received from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The premise of Tubridy’s podcast involves asking guests to bring in three books: a cherished childhood book, a book which brought them to tears, and a book which changed their life.
Harris identified Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing as the book that made him cry.
“This book did make me cry within the first few pages, because it is a book that tells the story of the Troubles, particularly the Jean McConville abduction.”
The mother-of-10 was taken from her home in west Belfast in December 1972. Her remains were found by a walker in August 2003 on a beach in Co Louth.
“She was 38 years of age. She was abducted, murdered and then disappeared. Body buried. Disappeared, taken from her kids by the IRA and killed in the Troubles,” Harris said.
Promotional material for the episode also shows two other books in front of Harris.
These are David McKittrick’s book about the Troubles, Lost Lives, as well as Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, in which the lead character is widely regarded as an autistic boy – although this is not explicitly mentioned in the text.
Harris has attributed his campaigning for better school facilities for his autistic brother as his entry into public life.
The episode will be released tomorrow.
With reporting from Press Association
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