No off-switch: Hobbs rips through the Republic

IF the hugely successful viewing figures for Rip-off Republic indicate anything - one-in-two of the watching audience tuned in to the first show - it’s that Eddie Hobbs has come to be regarded as something of a people’s advocate; a “consumer campaigner”, as he terms it.

However, were it not for a change of heart while still a teenager, he could have been doing public service of a very different kind.

Born in 1962 on the southside of Cork city, Hobbs went to work for Cork Corporation (now city council) after finishing his Leaving Certificate at Colaiste Chríost Rí.