O’Rourke’s post-budget coup over rival Kenny

RTÉ’s Sean O’Rourke has delivered rival Pat Kenny at Newstalk a pre-budget wallop by landing Minister for Finance Michael Noonan for the traditional post-budget phone-in next Wednesday.

Both organisations had fought it out over the past number of weeks to secure both Mr Noonan and Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin for the phone-in, which was traditionally hosted on Radio One by Pat Kenny.

However, before the Sean O’Rourke Show begins at 10am, both ministers are expected to head for Newstalk where they will appear on The Breakfast Show with Ivan Yates and Chris Donoghue. The interview is expected to last about 20 minutes.

The show, held the morning after Budget 2014, sees the public get the opportunity to pose detailed questions to both ministers about how the budget affects them, both tax increases and spending cuts.

“We’re absolutely delighted,” said an RTÉ spokeswoman, adding: “It’s a huge tradition for Radio One to do it and there were a lot of bids from other stations. We are delighted the ministers have kept with tradition.”

Yesterday, Pat Kenny told the Irish Examiner he had expected the outcome, as he was only six weeks in his new job.

“If I had left RTÉ last Christmas and was now nine months into the job, I think the outcome might have been different,” he said. “But I’m only six weeks into the new role and I suspect conservatism would rule the day among the ministers’ advisers.”

The Newstalk host said he first hoped one of the ministers might have gone on his show. “I thought it might have ended up one minister on either show,” he said. “I mean, I’d have thought Michael Noonan could have handled Brendan Howlin’s brief and vice versa. But it wasn’t to be.”

Mr Kenny introduced the tradition of hosting the finance minister over the past 10 years in RTÉ.

However, it is believed the sheer size of Sean O’Rouke’s audience, some 328,000, may have been a deciding factor for officials at finance.

Acting head of RTÉ Radio 1, Tom McGuire, said: “We welcome once again the annual RTÉ Radio 1 post-budget phone in. This is truly a national conversation where the people can talk directly to the decision makers and ask questions.”

The programme will be broadcast from 10am.