Sean O’Rourke has ‘another spin on the Ferris wheel’ with new documentary series
For regular listeners of RTÉ Radio 1, it was a trip back in memory to hear Sean O’Rourke’s familiar voice on the radio last Sunday.
This is the first time the veteran broadcaster (67) has appeared on the station since his retirement in May 2020, which happened shortly before he was embroiled in the ‘Golfgate’ debacle.
Four people have been charged in connection with the August 2020 events but a trial cleared all of their wrongdoing.
Obviously before the court of public opinion, this did not go down well
Although O’Rourke’s post-retirement plans have been damaged by his attendance at the Clifden dinner, the February 2022 court ruling offered a glimmer of hope that he could can be returned to the world.
Former host of Today with Sean O’Rourke left RTÉ on a full-time basis shortly before he turned 65 due to his contractual obligations. But he’s been wildly successful, having also signed a two-year deal for several TV productions and a new weekend radio show, Saturday with Sean O’Rourke.
He seemed wistful on Sunday as he looked back at the events that led to those working plans going awry.
“In hindsight, I wish this event had not happened,” he told RTÉ’s This week.
“I wish I hadn’t gone there and obviously pretty quickly in public opinion, this didn’t go well and RTÉ had problems. I had a problem.”
After he met with the heads of RTÉ in August 2020, the station released a statement saying it was severing ties with O’Rourke and would no longer plan to work with him.
Leaving the organization at the top, it must have been a difficult decision for the father of six, but he insists he has “no regrets about what happened”.
“I took advice from our senior colleagues at the time – three wise men – and with over a century of radio/journalism experience between them, each of them said, ‘ Sean, this is really bad. You have trouble with credibility in the current environment doing this, at this stage.’
“So I basically said, ‘Whatever RTÉ wants, I’ll do it.’
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“And the next day, I was invited to a meeting and was told, ‘These projects cannot continue now or anytime.’
“And I said, ‘Okay. Why don’t we say we agreed that this is the position now.’ But that decision has been made.”
No promises were made but nothing was ruled out either and within a few months he spoke again to RTÉ and “needs some time to work things out”.
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Mary Harney, former leader of the Radical Democratic Party
Now, he’s been given “another spin on the ferris wheel, doing things that wouldn’t have happened if events had gone as planned”.
Clearly delighted to be back in the media spotlight, this week O’Rourke is presenting a new two-part political history documentary. Documenting the different paths of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in the post-Civil War setting, there’s an accompanying podcast to the series of 12 face-to-face interviews.
For the first time, we broadcast many interviews in long form on RTÉ Player
O’Rourke used his bulging contact book to invite some big political names for his return to RTÉ in the series made by Mida.s Production. He said it was “attractive to do”.
“The documentary is a great project and I think people will learn a few things that they didn’t know,” he told Independent.ie.
“What’s also very exciting is the added value we’ve brought to audiences on RTÉ’s newer platforms.
“For the first time, we’re broadcasting the many interviews we’ve done for the series in full-length form on RTÉ Player and podcasts.
“We can’t put everything into a documentary series and audiences will get a much deeper understanding of the views and perspectives of politicians from the additional material.”
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Former coach Brian Cowen. Photo: Mark Condren
Among those who have joined the series are top former politicians such as Dick Spring, Mary Harney and Brian Cowen, with O’Rourke promising “much more to come”.
And as he turns to a new chapter in his career, the broadcaster seems content with his fate, even if life after retirement has taken him on a different path from his son. the way he planned.
Along with his wife Caroline Murphy, a former communications consultant to Charlie Flanagan, he has recently been busy with his Avondale Media company and is also on the board of directors of the Druid Theater in Galway, where he moved to an early age from the house of the first family. in Portlaoise.
“If you asked me two and a half years ago or if you could turn back the clock, and I had to do what I have to do and what I am doing now, then I would definitely do what I want. ‘I’m doing it now,’ he said.
Two Tribes will air on December 21 on RTÉ One at 21:30 and 10:05 p.m. on December 22.
https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/tv-news/sean-orourke-gets-another-spin-on-merry-go-round-with-new-documentary-series-42231213.html Sean O’Rourke has ‘another spin on the Ferris wheel’ with new documentary series