Gavan Reilly: 'The last couple years have proved silly season really doesn't exist anymore'
Michael Bolton
Anytime big political news breaks across the country, never far from the action is Virgin Media's Gavan Reilly, who has become a regular on our television screens through the years.
From the evening news to podcasts to challenging politicians on a regular basis, he has had an action-packed few years.
The last six months have seen a new adventure, with his show on Monday nights, Monday with Gavan Reilly.
In what is a career highlight for Gavan, he could not hide his joy when Virgin Media asked him to present his own political talk show.
"It is almost a corny thing to admit, but I did always want to get into the thing that I am doing now. It is a bit of a dream that I get to do it.
"One thing that I have been gratified by is when the idea was floated and when Virgin was looking to do something on a Monday to complement the Tonight Show on a Tuesday and Wednesday, not only did they tap my shoulder to say I am good enough for this, but they put my name over the door.
"One thing you are always nervous about when starting off is if you are able to land the grade of interviewee that you are looking for on a Monday night.
"We have been very lucky, and it is a great tribute to the show that we have had nine members of Cabinet. We have had the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, and six or seven other ministers.
"It really communicates to the rest of the world that this is a programme worthy of their time."
As times change, everyone gets their news differently.
From social media clips, to podcasts, to radio on the way to work, and television in the morning and evening, the news is everywhere.
Yet, late-night talk shows have survived the test of time, and Reilly enjoys viewers taking their time to take stock of the day's biggest events.
"There is something very precious about being able to take an hour on a Monday night and to know what you are getting is a meditative take on what is going on.
"There is a real attraction for people to take it in a slightly different gear at the end of the day. This is the lay of the land tonight. Let's figure out how we got here, and let's figure out what that means, and where we might go next.
"People like having that Oasis of having one hour at night, because it is a chance to digest what happened throughout the course of the day rather than taking on new information all the time."
As the Dáil is currently not sitting, politics may not be to the front of people's minds.
With summer coming to an end, families are enjoying the last of the holidays.
However, as fuel costs continue to rise, the stress of back-to-school costs provides more stress for parents, and social media and anti-social behaviour at the forefront following the tragic M9 crash, the political world continues.
As Gavan has realised through his career, there is never a quiet time.
"It has been interesting doing the programme when you don't have the dynamics of the Dáil week.
"I think sometimes people shy away from doing programmes like this in the middle of August because they think 'it is silly season, you are going to be scraping around always looking for content, you are going to be scraping together things that wouldn't justify your time otherwise.'
"The last couple of years have proved that silly season really doesn't exist anymore. I am not sure it ever did exist.
"People are coming back to school again, and there are surveys from Barnardos that people are eating into their savings and borrowing and going without meals to pay for back-to-school expenses.
"People are frightened about their tanks with the fuel, which could go back up again on September 1st. We saw the issues on the M50 and M9 in the last couple of weekends; they are massive societal issues.
"The news does not stop. Just because the pace of it might change, it doesn't mean people aren't concerned about the cost of living or the direction of society."
