Ivan Yates says he did not 'contribute to public distrust' in media

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Ivan Yates has said he does not feel he “contributed to public distrust” as he defended his media training of Jim Gavin and other politicians.

Mr Yates, a former Fine Gael minister and ex-broadcaster, has been criticised for not declaring that he had provided around four hours of media training to the Fianna Fáil candidate during the presidential election.

Fianna Fáil said this took place from September 23th to 29th and focused on preparing for interviews on two programmes, and also revealed he had coached ministers in the past.

Newstalk said a review is under way after Mr Yates presented a programme on its airwaves on three dates during the presidential election campaign and did not inform it of “any conflict of interest”.

Path to Power podcaster Matt Cooper was critical of Mr Yates, his co-host, for not declaring the coaching while commenting on the election, and the show is now moving ahead with guest contributors instead.

Mr Gavin ultimately withdrew from contention following poor opinion poll results and revelations about thousands of euros he owed to a former tenant.

Mr Yates appeared before the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday and told politicians there was a “hysteria” inside an “absolute media-political bubble” about the controversy.

He said he was “flabbergasted at the volume of attention” on his media training activities over the last few weeks, which he said was a “small element” of his commercial activities.

Mr Yates, an entrepreneur involved in property development, was also engaged in coaching for Fianna Fáil housing ministers.

In a reference to a Fianna Fáil fundraiser in the 2000s, Fine Gael Senator Garrett Ahearn said this was like a “modern version of the Galway tent”.

Asked by Mr Ahearn if he could see the conflict in his coaching of housing ministers, Mr Yates said he totally separates his views on policy from his media coaching.

Mr Yates said this was evidenced in his repeated criticism of Fianna Fáil.

He said he would work for anybody, adding: “I’m freelance – but not free.”

Mr Yates’s appearance came in the second sitting of the committee on Tuesday, with politicians having earlier heard from the Department of Culture and media regulator Coimisiún na Meán.

Aoife MacEvilly, broadcasting and video-on-demand commissioner with Coimisiun na Meain, said the body was “sufficiently concerned” about the revelations around Mr Yates that it “immediately wrote to the broadcasters in question to understand more about what happened”.

However, Ms MacEvilly said the organisation was not going to comment specifically on that case but added: “We will follow that up. There are a number of steps that we can take pursuant to that.

“Obviously, we’re not pre-judging any of what we might get from the broadcaster, or what our analysis might be, or what our findings are.”

Asked if he had coached Mr Gavin and presented on Newstalk on the same day, Mr Yates said he was not going to comment on any matter that was subject to an investigation by Coimisiun na Meain.

He said the content, guests and tone of those Newstalk shows were decided by the editor and two producers.

“In my view, I was simply under orders, and they control the editorial policy of those programs, and I can absolutely assure you that they act impartially.”

Pressed on the matter by Fianna Fáil senator and former broadcaster Alison Comyn, Mr Yates said he was drawing “a line in the sand” and noted that he was not compelled to be before the committee.

However, he said he was open to co-operating with the regulator and would accept its adjudication.

Ms Comyn, who has also worked in media training, asked him if he had any regrets about not informing Mr Cooper about his media training of Mr Gavin.

Mr Yates said he deliberately did not tell his co-host because he did not want to put him in a “conflicted” and “very invidious” position.

“I took it upon myself. I took full responsibility for myself, and I took those decisions knowingly and in real time.”

Mr Yates said it would have been a “guaranteed mood killer” to preface all debates with Mr Cooper with a “disclaimer or a declaration of interests”.

He told the committee a “major attraction” for listeners of the podcast was that he had a different style and approach to Mr Cooper: “I approached issues from a very different perspective, with deep political experience and connections with relationships across the parties with a real-world experience of both the economy and politics.”

Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne told Mr Yates that he was aware that he had a “very good reputation” in media training, but added: “I’d maybe ask in the case of Jim Gavin, we might look for our money back on that one.”

Mr Yates, who stopped for photographers and video news cameras as he arrived at Leinster House for the hearing, told committee members it was a “pity” that he was the “only one” of several people invited to address the hearing who accepted the invitation.

The ex-agriculture minister said he had been doing media training for around four years and had not been engaged in the practice when he was a full-time broadcaster between 2009 and 2020, adding that he had left full-time broadcasting since then.

Mr Yates said his LinkedIn profile showed he was a media trainer and that it had been reported he engaged in this work with Fianna Fáil in early 2022.

The former Wexford TD said he has “always acted in good faith”, had “always thought to be legally compliant with all legislation”, and said his commentary has been based on “genuine independent opinions” and not altered by any training role.

Earlier on Wednesday, several committee members commented on a “legislative gap” that audio-specific podcasts are not included in fairness and objectivity regulations under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022.

Ms MacEvilly said: “The issues were as to whether the broadcaster – Newstalk, for example – that had him presenting news and current affairs programming during that period, did they follow the code, and were they compliant with the code in that respect?

“So that is, that is the question that we’re asking, rather than the activity on the podcast. Unless the activity on the podcast becomes directly relevant to that question.”

The regulator also contacted RTÉ about Mr Yates’s appearances.

RTÉ said he was not a guest on any of its television or radio programmes during the election periods for the general, local or European elections last year, adding that when he had appeared outside of those windows, he had not disclosed his association with Fianna Fáil.

Meanwhile, the committee was told that “none of the relevant media service providers” in the video on demand space has yet registered with Coimisiún na Meán.