Environmentalist Stewart threatens to walk out of live radio interview

Former RTÉ presenter and environmentalist Duncan Stewart threatened to walk out of a live radio interview yesterday unless he was given 10 minutes to speak about climate change.

His rant was broadcast on the Newstalk Breakfast show hosted by Shane Coleman and Ivan Yates.

“How much time have I got?” he asked Coleman. “Tell me how much time I’ve got. Do you want me to talk here? Then tell me how much time I’ve got.

“I want to know, I’ve a lot to say here. I can walk out of this studio this minute if you wish, unless you tell me how much time I’ve got. I have a lot to say here. Do I have to go to another radio station to say it?”

In an attempt to mollify his guest, Coleman said he would have seven or eight minutes more to speak.

Becoming more heated, Stewart responded: “I don’t think I want to stay here, OK? If you tell me I have 10 minutes I will agree with you, but if I only have seven minutes I’m not staying.”

Coleman eventually agreed to give him the 10 minutes airtime during which Stewart issued a broadside at all sections of media, claiming climate change was not being covered properly.

“We knew tobacco smoke was damaging health yet the deniers were allowed to keep the confusion and doubt going for years, and millions of people died in that time. The truth is we’re facing the biggest issue we’ve ever faced as humans beings. It is going to have devastating effects. The media don’t seem to get it.”

Asked by Ivan Yates about his political ambitions, Stewart revealed he may run in the European elections next month and will make a decision on the matter in a couple of days.

He says if he did run, it would be as an independent candidate, even though he shares many views on the environment with the Green Party.

“If I go into politics, even European politics, I know my future is going to be very different — I’m going into a dirty business.”

Stewart said he understands the sacrifices he’d have to make as a politician.

“I know it’s going to be dirty. I know people are going to knock me and going to judge me.”

He described getting himself elected to the European Parliament as a “simple matter” — even referencing the ratings for his TV show at one point. He said that, if he does run, he will not be putting any posters up.