Ivan Yates

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Hiberno-English Template:Infobox officeholder Ivan Yates (born 23 October 1959) is an Irish broadcaster, businessman and former politician. He was elected as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency at the 1981 general election and at each election until his retirement from politics in 2002.<ref name=oireachtas_db>Template:Cite web</ref> He also served as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry from 1994 to 1997. Since 2009, Yates has been active as a political commentator.

Early life

Yates was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford.<ref name="retire"/> He was educated at Aravon School, Bray; St. Columba's Church of Ireland College in Rathfarnham, Dublin; and Gurteen College, County Tipperary.

Political career

Local politics

Yates first gained political office in 1978 at the age of 18 when he secured a seat on Enniscorthy Urban Council as a member of Fine Gael, capturing the post by just 13 votes.<ref name="Eolas Jan 2010"/>

National politics

When he was first elected to the Dáil in 1981, Yates was the youngest member of the 22nd Dáil and is also the fifth-youngest ever member of Dáil Éireann at the age of 21. He became involved in local politics when he became a member of Wexford County Council, serving until 1995 and again from 1999 to 2004. He joined the Fine Gael front bench in 1988 and was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when the party came to power in 1994.<ref name=elecs_irl>Template:Cite web</ref>

Yates oversaw a particularly difficult period for Irish agriculture. Farmers saw the prices they received for their produce plummet; he stopped live animal exports in response to controversy over cruelty in shipping, and took on the Irish Veterinary Union over the tuberculosis eradication scheme.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also had to deal with a sharp rise in the number of BSE cases during 1996, and the consequent banning of Irish beef by Russia. When John Bruton resigned as leader of Fine Gael in January 2001, there was much speculation that Yates would be a contender for the vacant position. Instead, he announced to his colleagues that he was leaving full-time politics to concentrate on his family and business interests and that he would not be contesting the next general election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He receives annual pension payments of €74,836 from his time in politics.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In October 2025, during the Irish presidential election, Yates attracted controversy when he said that if Fine Gael contacted him for advice, he would tell them to "smear the bejaysus out of" opponent Catherine Connolly. By that point in the campaign, Humphreys' campaign was lagging badly behind Connolly's (who would go on to win the election). Catherine Connolly described the comment as "absolutely shocked" and treated it as evidence of a hostile campaign tone, while Humphreys publicly distanced herself, saying "Ivan Yates has nothing to do with my campaign".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>https://www.thejournal.ie/ivan-yates-catherine-connolly-heather-humphreys-smear-the-bejaysus-6845710-Oct2025/</ref> Yates later rejected attempts to tie the remark to active campaigning, calling the reaction "all BS" and saying he was an analyst and pundit rather than a campaign operative.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, it later emerged in November 2025 that Yates had been involved with Jim Gavin's campaign in the same election.<ref name="Journal 2 Nov 2025"/><ref name="IT 1 Nov 2025"/>

Business career

Yates was the chairman and managing director of Celtic Bookmakers, an Irish chain of betting shops, and expanded the company from its Wexford base to a chain of 64 shops around the country at its peak. On 4 January 2011, it was announced that the company had gone into receivership.<ref name="receivership">Template:Cite news</ref>

He headed a group of bookmakers in a court case against the British Horseracing Board (BHB) over fees for licences to access a racing information database in 2005. The issue was resolved in the High Court with the termination of the BHB's licence agreement and a payment of €300,000 to the bookmakers, who were reported to have access to the BHB's former database until 9 January 2006.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2011, he described the Irish bankruptcy process as "purgatory", and publicly announced that he was contemplating moving to the UK to avail of the British bankruptcy process.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 21 August 2012, the High Court in Dublin dismissed an attempt by Allied Irish Banks to have him declared bankrupt.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In September 2013, it was announced that Yates was discharged from bankruptcy, having fulfilled the requirements set down by Swansea County Court, where he made his application for personal insolvency on 24 August 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Media work

Yates co-presented the Newstalk breakfast show from 2009, firstly with Claire Byrne and subsequently with Chris Donoghue. On 23 March 2012, he announced he would be leaving both the station and his column in the Irish Examiner with effect from 6 April 2012, to concentrate on his personal finances.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also presented Tonight with Vincent Browne on TV3 during summer 2011.

He returned to Newstalk in September 2013, once again co-presenting the breakfast show with Chris Donoghue.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Yates is a regular conference speaker, motivational speaker and MC at business events in Ireland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is a client of Noel Kelly, of NK Management.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Yates co-hosted The Tonight Show on TV3 and presented The Hard Shoulder on Newstalk until his retirement from broadcasting in July 2020.<ref name="retire">Template:Cite news</ref> Kieran Cuddihy replaced Yates as the host of The Hard Shoulder in September 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Cuddihy">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2025 Yates was dropped from the Path to Power podcast which he had co-hosted with Matt Cooper, this occurred after revelations that Yates had couched the Fianna Fáil candidate, Jim Gavin, in that years presidential election. Yates never disclosed this to his audience, his co-host, or the producers of the podcast.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Path to Power podcast

In December 2023, Yates began appearing on the political analysis podcast Path to Power alongside journalist Matt Cooper.<ref name="Journal 2 Nov 2025">Template:Cite news</ref>

Failure to disclose involvement in Jim Gavin campaign during the 2025 Irish presidential election

In October 2025, Ivan Yates was cut from the Path to Power podcast following revelations that he had privately assisted Fianna Fáil’s candidate Jim Gavin during the 2025 Irish presidential election. The disclosure, first reported by The Irish Independent, revealed that Yates, a former Fine Gael minister, had coached Gavin for the first televised debate. Podcast co-producer and co-host Matt Cooper said he had been "gobsmacked" and "quite shocked" to learn of Yates’s involvement, describing it as "a complete revelation". He told TheJournal.ie that after the shock subsided, "I suppose then I went to being a bit angry about it".<ref name="Journal 2 Nov 2025"/>

Cooper said Yates’s undisclosed work amounted to "a very serious omission", adding: "You can’t talk about a candidate's performance without disclosing that you have also been involved in the preparation for those performances, can you?". Cooper argued that "transparency in something as important as a presidential election race was absolutely essential". Both Cooper and NK Productions, which produced the show, confirmed that Yates’s role as co-host had been ended "with immediate effect", stating that neither had been aware of his work with Fianna Fáil.<ref name="IT 1 Nov 2025">Template:Cite news</ref> They said Yates "should have shared" that information with them and the audience. Cooper noted that "had he shared that information with us, we would have made sure that our audience was aware of the matter when we were discussing the election".<ref name="IT 1 Nov 2025"/> The Path to Power podcast is planned to continue without Yates, who will be replaced by rotating guest hosts alongside Cooper.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Yates faced further scrutiny when it emerged he had also acted as a stand-in presenter on Newstalk during three days of the presidential campaign without disclosing any potential conflict of interest. On 2 November, Newstalk confirmed the matter was under review, noting that Yates had not informed the station of his involvement with Fianna Fáil. Meanwhile, RTÉ stated that Yates had not contributed to their coverage during the official election period but that his advisory role should have been disclosed to audiences. Questions were raised about Fianna Fáil’s awareness of his work, with former Fine Gael minister Alan Shatter and Minister of State Colm Brophy calling for clarification and suggesting that broadcasting fairness and impartiality regulations may require review.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Persona

Reviewing Yates' media persona in 2018, Mick Heaney of the Irish Times summarised that while Yates presents himself as a quippy right-wing "Liberal-baiter", his tendency is to interview left-leaning guests and eventually concede to their points or praise them after being initially sceptical of their view. Heaney suggested that Yates is more interested in challenging political orthodoxy in Ireland than being an ideologue.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Political views

Speaking in 2010, Yates recalled how he decided which Irish political party he would choose to join in the late 1970s; Yates stated he wasn't a socialist, so that ruled out the Labour Party, and he didn't feel a deep connection to the Easter Rising of 1916, so that ruled out Fianna Fáil. That left Yates with Fine Gael. Yates was considered to be a part of the emerging liberal wing of the party which was being spearheaded by Garrett FitzGerald.<ref name="Eolas Jan 2010">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 2025 Yates identifies as centre-right and has stated that Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher are his ideological guiding lights.<ref>Template:Cite podcast</ref><ref name="IT 23 July 2023"/> Yates stated he is supportive to the American Republican Party and Donald Trump, although he disagreed with Trump's economic policies such as the use of tariffs.<ref>Template:Cite podcast</ref>

Detached from Irish nationalism, Yates has quipped that he is "rightly condemned as West British" and doesn't care for Irish republicanism.<ref>Template:Cite podcast</ref> In 2024 Yates stated he has no interest in learning the Irish language and felt too many resources are spent by the Irish state towards the upkeep of the language.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Yates is a member of the Church of Ireland.<ref name="IT 23 July 2023">Template:Cite news</ref> He is married to Deirdre (whom he credits for his success in multiple professions), and they have three children.<ref name="Eolas Jan 2010"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

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