Radio station LBC, under its parent company Global, has launched a new podcast with award-winning political broadcaster Iain Dale on the history of Irish Taoiseachs.
The 15-part series titled The Irish Taoiseach Podcast will feature an episode dedicated to each of the men who have served as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland - the country’s head of government, equivalent to a Prime Minister - since the conclusion of the Irish War of Independence in 1922.
Dale will take listeners through a deep dive of the men’s lives and careers through interviews with journalists, academics, ex-politicians and historians. He said that the podcast is meant to appeal to all types of audiences, both diehard fans or critics of former Taoiseachs, or ones with zero knowledge on the topic, through its conversational tone and platform that allows guests to “talk freely and accessibly”.
“For the last thirty years, I have tried to widen people’s interest in politics and political knowledge through my political books, publishing and broadcasting – and I’m aware that In Britain, we know far too little about the politics of our closest neighbour, the Republic of Ireland,” said Dale. “Over the next 15 weeks, I hope it will encourage listeners to read more widely about both Irish politics and each Taoiseach, as each man is a fascinating character.”
The first episode launched today featuring observations from University of Hertfordshire political academic Dr Ciara Meehan, analysing the life and career of the Irish government’s first-ever post civil war leader, W. T. Cosgrave.
Dale has already been commended for his podcasting skills with the successful launch of Global’s highly-acclaimed political podcast The Presidents and Prime Ministers which launched in 2020. The podcast looked at the lives of 55 British Prime Ministers through interviews with the authors of 55 essays featured in Dale’s book - The Prime Ministers: Three Hundred Years of History
Global has launched numerous successful podcasts in the past that feature award-winning experienced journalists including daily current affairs podcast The News Agents with Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall, Sweeney Talks with investigative journalist John Sweeney, and Mugshots with journalist Michael Crick.
