TAOISEACH SIMON HARRIS was sent a lengthy list of 23 pre-interview questions ahead of an appearance on the 2 Johnnies podcast, despite government officials denying such a list had been received.
The advance outline was sent to one of Harris’ advisers ahead of the Taoiseach’s appearance on the podcast in November, just days before the general election was called.
The interview was to be separated into two parts covering the ‘personal’ and the ‘general’, according to an email released under Freedom of Information laws.
The Department of the Taoiseach at first said no records of the podcast existed, and the outline of questions was only released following a request for internal review.
During the episode of the hugely popular Spotify show, the 2 Johnnies were visited in studio by Harris, with the trio discussing the housing crisis, the high level of young people emigrating to Australia and immigration levels in Ireland.
In promotional posts on social media, Johnny B and Johnny Smacks described the episode as “the interview the nation didn’t know it needed”.
The podcast reguarly tops Irish charts, with an average of 750,000 weekly listeners, according to the digital audio marketplace Audio One.
The lengthy list of interview questions were sent in advance to former Irish Examiner journalist and government press secretary Ciara Phelan.
Many of the questions made it in to the official interview, which aired on 4 November 2024.
The ‘personal’ set of questions included such queries as: “When you become Taoiseach, can you have a personal life?”
This was followed by questions about Harris’ family, such as: “Do you still do housework now you’re leader of a country? Who’s harder to deal with, the kids or the Healy-Raes.”
A list of questions provided to Taoiseach Simon Harris ahead of his pre-election appearance on the 2 Johnnies podcast
— Ken Foxe (@kenfoxe) January 16, 2025
"Who's harder to deal with, the kids or the Healy-Raes?"
"Do you still do housework?"
Department of the Taoiseach originally claimed no such document existed. pic.twitter.com/KVwf7rvvxC
As well as broad questions about his sporting and music interests, the Taoiseach was also briefed to expect a question on whether he listened to the 2 Johnnies podcast.
Other items in the outline included: “Do people wreck your head when you’re out an about? Do you have to have security with ya all the time? What do you think of the newspapers?”
The ‘general’ section dipped into more controversial topics including immigration.
A suggested question was: “Johnny Smacks is from Roscrea, thoughts on the situation there? Closing the town’s only hotel to accommodate refugees.
In the episode, Harris said in response that “no one gets a veto as to who lives next door to them”.
Other ‘general’ questions sent in advance to Harris covered the lack of housing, emigration, and rural Ireland.
“Is there an urban-rural disconnect? Why do you think so many young Irish people are going to Australia? Yer plan to get them back,” said one question.
“Housing? Many young working couples are not able to afford to buy or build. Conditions for young nurses and guards.”
The Taoiseach was told of a possible question over ‘catfishing’ including the notorious case where somebody online tried to dupe one of the podcast hosts as well as high-profile GAA players.
“Will we see any changes to the rules of social media?” the interview outline said. “Your own approach to social media? Is it important as a way to communicate.”
The brief said there would likely be a question on whether “we’ll ever see a 32 county Ireland” and one on the Taoiseach’s biggest challenges and ambitions.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say