FIANNA FÁIL HAS broken its silence on Ivan Yates’s role in its presidential campaign after it emerged over the weekend the former Fine Gael minister had been involved in debate preparation for its candidate Jim Gavin.

In a statement this morning, the party said it has “for many years” used the services of media skills consultants, “like all political parties”.

“The party currently works with a number of providers, all on an ad-hoc basis,” it said.

In the presidential campaign, it retained the services of Yates to provide interview and debate training. 

“The focus of the training was on the practicalities of in-studio interviews and was centred on preparations for two specific programmes,” it said, adding that Yates had provided two sessions in the early stage of the campaign – between 23 and 29 September.

“There was no further training or intervention provided after 29th September. Ivan’s training totalled approximately four hours.

“He did not provide any campaign advice, nor was he involved in the campaign team.”

The first presidential debate occurred on 29 September on Virgin Media.

Yesterday, Newstalk said it would be reviewing Yates’s work at the station throughout the presidential campaign as it was previously unaware of any conflict of interest. Yates had filled in on the Pat Kenny Show on 23, 24 and 25 September.

“Ivan Yates did not inform Newstalk of any conflict of interest relating to the presidential election campaign,” a spokesperson for the broadcaster said.

“This matter is currently under review by Newstalk management.”

TodayFM presenter Matt Cooper, who co-presented political podcast Path to Power with Yates since December 2023, said he was “gobsmacked” to learn of Yates’s work for Fianna Fáil during the campaign. 

He has ended his podcast partnership with Yates, saying it was a “serious omission” on Yates’s part and he believes he should have been informed.

Political fallout from the revelation continues this morning; yesterday former Justice Minister Alan Shatter called on the Taoiseach to clarify the extent of Yates’s work, and today Sinn Féin’s deputy leader Pearse Doherty said he was “absolutely shocked” to learn of Yates’s work.

“I’m shocked that a seasoned former politician, broadcaster would put himself in this position, would – in a way – dupe people into believing that he had no skin in the game,” he said on Newstalk Breakfast.

“I’m also shocked that the Taoiseach Micheál Martin stayed schtum [on the issue].”

Asked if Fianna Fáil had questions to answer in relation to this, he was “without a shadow of a doubt”.

He said he didn’t believe the “day could finish” without the Taoiseach clarifying the situation.

The statement from Fianna Fáil was released shortly after 10am this morning. Over the weekend, the party would only say that as a matter of policy it does not confirm the existence of any relationships with suppliers or contractors.