Yates to tell of bankruptcy woes as Kenny makes Newstalk debut

RTÉ has it all to do this morning to stop listeners twiddling their radio dials towards rival station Newstalk.

Having already scooped broadcaster par excellence, Pat Kenny, Newstalk kicks off his new programme with an item RTÉ has little hope of trumping.

Ivan Yates will be Kenny’s first guest in a kind of fiscal “Kiss & Tell”, where he has promised the low-down on his year in Welsh financial wilderness, after he sought bankruptcy in the UK.

Yates sought bankruptcy after he was pursued by AIB for the repayment of almost €3.7m when his betting shop empire, Celtic Bookmakers, went into receivership.

Fortunately for Newstalk, Yates was discharged from UK bankruptcy last Saturday, freeing him up just in time for a chat with Kenny about what is bound to be a riveting ordeal.

In the face of such radio gold, rival RTÉ presenter Seán O’Rourke has it all to do to keep listeners tuned in as he takes over today in the slot that Kenny defected from.

Yates, himself an accomplished broadcaster, has promised to divulge the kind of nuggets that a nation obsessed with house repossessions will find compelling.

A press release from Heneghan PR yesterday said Yates will answer questions “about his 16 months in Wales”.

This will include “how he was compelled into bankruptcy by AIB Bank, despite his desire for a negotiated settlement from the liabilities of Celtic Bookmakers; the forfeiture of all his assets, including the family home and farm in Enniscorthy; describing life in bankruptcy with the bank appointed trustees, Baker Tilly and the Official Receiver (the UK State Insolvency Service); his legal obligations; work completed on his book manuscript; other aspects of ‘bankruptcy tourism’; and his future aspirations”.

The former Fine Gael minister was automatically discharged from UK bankruptcy one year after his bankruptcy order from Swansea County Court, as per the UK Insolvency Act of 1986.

Yates’s ordeal has not dampened his appetite for work. On Wednesday, he returns to Newstalk as co-host of its breakfast show where he will team up once again with Chris Donoghue in the slot he occupied prior to heading to the UK.

He will also step in for Vincent Browne on TV3 this week.

“Having completed my discharge from bankruptcy, which I have done in full compliance with all relevant regulations and legal requirements in both the UK and Ireland, my aim now is to make a fresh start in Ireland with a new media career, and insofar as possible, to put behind me the difficulties of the past three years since the failure of my family bookmaking business,” Yates said.

“I look forward to getting down to work and to rebuilding my home in Ireland with my wife Deirdre and my family.”

RTÉ were keeping schtum yesterday about its line-up for O’Rourke’s new show. “We’re not announcing any guests, things change all the time,” a spokesperson said.

The Pat Kenny Show kicks off this morning at 10am on Newstalk, in tandem with Today with Seán O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1.