No ordinary Joe
He’s one of the last great orators in Irish politics. But there’s more to Joe Higgins TD than firebrand socialism. In this candid interview, the man once described as a ‘nitwit’ by an enraged Bertie Ahern talks about his childhood, the role of the church in his life and explains why the Celtic Tiger has let Ireland down
Olaf Tyaransen, 18 Oct 2006
Do you admire him in any way?
I don’t, no. I don’t admire any political party or any political personage that would be responsible for the kind of society that this government has created.
What do you think of the standard of debate in the Dail?
It’s very poor in general – unfortunately. There’s a tendency on the government’s side – not a tendency but a practice – where everything is just read from scripts. So, you know, it’s presented in a very dead and boring way.
Do the Socialist Party have a spin doctor or a speechwriter?
No. I mean, maybe when the Socialist Party has a bigger parliamentary party – we hope to get our councilor in North Dublin, Claire Daly, elected, and we have two other councilors, Mick Murphy in Dublin South West and Mick Barry in Cork, who are very strong, credible candidates – we’ll need more political back-up in that sense. But for now, really, colleagues help me with research and with the constituency work very effectively. But in terms of the questions to the Taoiseach and the government, the issues and the fights, that would be mostly my own creation.
Do you still give most of your salary back to the party?
Yes. Our policy, which I have implemented from the very beginning, was to live on the equivalent of the average industrial wage. So my take-home pay would be around thirty thousand euros. The rest of it goes some to the Socialist Party, some to campaigns and a whole range of different issues right across the board. Now, if I travel for the party, those expenses would be covered quite legitimately.
Do you think TDs are overpaid?
Well, in my view, if TDs were on the average wage, they would be much closer to the life of working people. But obviously TDs in the parties that represent big business... they’re in it for something completely different than how the Socialist Party approaches it. It’s no wonder government Ministers get divorced from the feelings and the views of ordinary people, because they’re living on these hugely inflated wages and salaries. Government ministers are well over the €100,000 mark, and the prime minister or the Taoiseach is on €200,000 plus. That’s light years removed from the lives of most working people who, despite all the propaganda about the Celtic Tiger and all that, are still finding it tough enough.
Page 9/14 <Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next>
Olaf Tyaransen
Latest Articles by Olaf Tyaransen
She's the folkie who broke the heart of Noah and the Whale's Charlie Fink and then dated a Mumford and Son. Laura Marling discusses her move to LA, the degree to which her songs are personal and the challenge of being an introvert in a business full of larger-than-life personalities...
2013-05-22
She became a publishing sensation with The Time Traveler’s Wife but Audrey Niffenegger has never seen the movie adaptation. She discusses overnight fame, her background in art and her part time gig as a London tour guide...
2013-05-17
Powerful return from sleep deprived stadium alt. rockers...
2013-05-09
He made his reputation as a movie hearthrob. But Jared Leto has arguably turned his back on Hollywood to devote himself to his stadium emo group Thirty Seconds To Mars. He talks about the challenge of balancing music and acting and the decision to literally launch the band’s new single in outer space...
2013-05-07
When his marriage ended suddenly, Josh Ritter lost his way. He started drinking and wandering the streets. The only way to arrest the downward spiral was to pour his pain into his songs. The result is his most torrid album to date. He talks about the genesis of The Beast In Its Tracks and how he managed to banish the despair and build a new life...
2013-05-07
Galway Stories is an anthology set in Galway city and county, by writers who live, or have lived, there. The collection, edited by Lisa Frank and published by Doire Press, includes the work of such established writers as Kevin Barry, Mike McCormack, Celeste Auge, Julian Gough and Conor Montague. Also featured is Don't You Know Who I Am?
2013-05-03 - Reports
He coined the term ‘virtual reality’ and once played a support gig for Bob Dylan. In his new book, digital oracle Jaron Lanier explains why the online revolution has only benefited a select few and what the rest of us can do to change that.
2013-05-02 - Interview
Dublin’s answer to mumford and Sons arrive in style
2013-05-02 - REVIEW
He was a post-punk icon and New Romantic pin-up. Then came a long descent into mental illness. But now Adam Ant is back and ready to bring Antmania to a whole new generation...
2013-05-01 - Interview
She's the 'celebrity' dentist turned botox magnate who rose to fame through the reality show Dublin Wives. But Danielle Meagher insists she has no interest in being a household face and is the last person you will see at a high-profile social event. She discusses her spat with fellow 'Dublin Wife' Virginia Macarai, her soft spot for French rugby players – and her plans for breaking into international TV...
2013-04-24 - Interview
He’s the American comedian Irish and British audiences have embraced as one of their own. Reginald D Hunter discusses Ireland’s Commitments obsession, why stand-ups struggle with relationships and the unpleasant truth about the US and gun control...
2013-04-02 - Interview
Sex rights worker Laura Agustín has dared say the unsayable: that prostitution is a rational career choice by millions of women the world over. She explains why claims that women are being ‘trafficked’ against their will are wildly overstated and speaks of her fears that she may encounter violent opposition when she speaks in Dublin shortly ... photo: Orlando G. Boström
2013-03-27 - Interview
Back from a mysterious hiatus Stereophonics’ Kelly Jones explains how he almost became a judge on The Voice UK, the band’s decision to take a few years off and his unlikely foray into film-making...
2013-03-12 - Interview
Iggy, Keef, Shane & Tom Waits get their pirate on...
2013-03-12 - REVIEW
He’s rightly chuffed about his cracking new solo album but, a quarter of a century after The Smiths’ break-up, Johnny Marr remains testy about those never-ending reunion rumours...
2013-03-11 - Interview
Sick of playing two-men-and-a-dog open mic nights, Passenger’s Mike Rosenberg was about to jack in his music career. Then he swapped Brighton for Australia, started busking and became a sensation.
2013-03-01 - Interview
Goth godfather in reflective mood on cracking new record...
2013-02-18 - REVIEW
Former Virgin Prune Guggi has become one of Ireland’s most in-demand artists. On the eve of a major new exhibition he discusses his battle against shyness, his friendship with Bono and the sacrifices he’s had to make...
2013-02-05 - Interview
It’s the little European festival with the big, big heart. Over the years Eurosonic has also proved an important testing ground for such up and coming Irish talent as Villagers, Cathy Davey and, this year, newcomers Kodaline and Little Green Car
2013-02-01 - Frontlines
Olaf Tyaransen previews some of the most interesting tomes hitting shelves this year...
2013-01-24 - Interview
The rock photographer chats to Olaf Tyaransen about the expo, starting this week in Cork...
2013-01-21 - News
She was the winner of the first Choice Music prize and has been wildly feted on both sides of the Atlantic. But Julie Feeney sees her career as still a work in progress.
2013-01-09 - Interview
Icelandic elf-lady scores best - and weirdest - remix project yet...
2012-12-20 - REVIEW
An unsung hero of the singer-songwriter scene, with his latest album Adrian Crowley might finally be on the verge of mainstream success. He talks about his late start in music, a foray into composing for cinema and the pain and joy of life as a jobbing musician.
2012-11-13 - Interview
Down the centuries Ireland has produced its share of scoundrels and blackguards. In a new book Joe O’Shea delves into the dark world of Irish villains.
2012-11-02 - Interview
The JD Set is a well-established part of the music calendar. This year there was a difference as the bands taking part visited a rudely-named cave to knock out a racket. Olaf Tyaransen caught up with headliners The Vaccines...
2012-11-01 - Interview
They were the great lost band of Irish post-punk. Now, after years in the wilderness, Paranoid Visions are back, with typically uncompromising things to say about the state of Modern Ireland...
2012-10-25 - Interview
“Man, it’s just been really crazy!” Aniar restaurant’s Enda McEvoy looks proud and happy, but also slightly shell-shocked. It’s not simply that he married the mother of his two toddlers last month. Within a fortnight of his nuptials, the small but perfectly formed eaterie of which he’s head chef was awarded Galway’s first-ever Michelin star in the 2013 edition of food bible The Michelin Guide...
2012-10-19 - Frontlines
As director of The Abbey Theatre, Fiach Mac Conghail is one of the most powerful people in the arts in Ireland. In a rare interview he talks about the role of theatre at a time when the economy is in free-fall, his relationship with expenses-happy former arts minister John O'Donoghue and the financial chaos at the national theatre when he took over.
2012-10-05 - Interview
Scarily good third album from thinking person’s Florence Welch...
2012-10-04 - REVIEW
Twenty years ago, on October 3 1992, Sinead O’Connor ripped up a picture of the Pope on the iconic US television show Saturday Night Live. It was a moment that would change her career – and her life.
2012-10-03 - Interview
First original collection in four years worth the wait
2012-10-02 - REVIEW
Irish duo The Lost Brothers have found the time to make their darkest record yet, in between paying homage to Roy Orbison and getting on brilliantly with one another.
2012-10-01 - Interview
Having just released her fifth album, the stunning Sing, Maria Doyle Kennedy chills out and reflects on where it all went right.
2012-09-13 - Interview
New album from one of this country’s most unique and distinctive musical artists...
2012-09-10 - REVIEW
First record in four years from Scottish troubadour worth the wait
2012-09-04 - REVIEW
Performance artist Emily Aoibheann is planning a radical new show, entitled Constellations, which will be part of the ABSOLUT Fringe in September. Here she offers a unique insight into the creative process…
2012-08-29 - Frontlines
A rare example of a comeback not to be ashamed of, Tindersticks have proved that sometimes you can go back to the well. Frontman Stuart Staples talks about conjuring something from nothing and his new-found joy of playing festivals.
2012-08-28 - Interview
As the awkward squad previously known as Dexys Midnight Runners stage a dramatic return, Kevin Rowland talks about his reputation for perfectionism, putting the band back together and why he doesn’t regret appearing on an album sleeve in women’s underwear.
2012-08-28 - Interview
A frequently steamy tale of college shenanigans, Emily Gillmor Murphy’s debut novel You & I is a proper thrill-ride. But, she insists, her own student days weren’t nearly as outrageous.
2012-08-23 - Frontlines
They were one of the most influential bands of the past 30 years but the Pogues’ reputation for boozy bad behaviour has obscured their legacy. Accordion player James Fearnley offers a clear-eyed account of the trad-punks’ glory days in his startling new memoir.
2012-08-02 - Interview
Waterboy-in-chief Mike Scott has been there, done that and written a song about it. Now he’s chronicled it all in a funny, moving memoir. The biggest revelation? Being a raggle-taggle pin-up doesn’t attract many groupies
2012-07-05 - Interview
Andrew Montague is coming to the end of his one-year term as Lord Mayor of Dublin. In a refreshingly candid interview, the Labour councillor talks about God, love, addiction, the Dublin Bike scheme which he initiated – and why we should have an elected Lord Mayor for the city.
2012-06-27 - Interview
With what may well be their best album yet about to drop, Scissor Sisters’ frontman Jake Shears talks about the challenges of staying sexy as you get older, the attentions of obsessive fans and why he knew he’d made it in music when two murderers were named after his band.
2012-06-08 - Interview
John Sinclair was manager of legendary political rockers MC5. Then, in 1969, he was imprisoned for drugs offences, becoming a cause celebre for John Lennon and Allen Ginsberg, amongst others. Now, he is coming to Ireland to tour, alongside fellow outlaw, Howard Marks
2012-05-30 - Interview
With Trainspotting, he made underclass drug culture fascinating. Now Irvine Welsh has written a prequel to his bestseller, which also doubles as a rumination on how the soaraway capitalism of the ’80s may well have knackered society for a generation. He talks about being the bete-noir of the chattering classes, international popularity and saving Iggy Pop’s career.
2012-05-30 - Interview
His first book was a scandalous tell-all chronicling his stint as a Dublin medical journalist (albeit with the odd conflation). For the follow-up, Irish-based Texan Greg Baxter has served up a haunting rumination on American foreign policy, as told through the eyes of an ex-marine unmoored in Eastern Europe.
2012-05-18 - Interview
In 1982, a band emerged on Dublin’s northside that would go on to write some of the biggest songs in the Irish rock canon. Still going strong thirty years on, Aslan are about to embark on their busiest period ever. As they ready themselves for the fray, the iconic Dublin rockers tell their remarkable story.
2012-05-18 - Interview
The Mayor of Limerick, Jim Long, has been embroiled in a number of controversies recently. So who is he? What does he represent? And is he really a racist, as his accusers claim?
2012-04-18 - Interview
critics’ darlings shrug off writer’s block for long-awaited return
2012-04-12 - REVIEW
He’s best known for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s seminal Reservoir Dogs, but 54-year-old cult actor Michael Madsen is a complicated and controversial character. In the news last week following an incident which saw him being charged with child cruelty, the actor, writer and poet talks about his chequered past, movies, doing that infamous scene in Reservoir Dogs – but most of all about the importance of family.
2012-04-04 - Interview
She was the face of No Frontiers for a decade but when that show ended Kathryn Thomas had to reinvent herself. So she put away her rucksack and took a job presenting Winning Streak. Then Gerry Ryan passed away and she found herself stepping into his shoes on Operation Transformation. In a revealing interview she discusses her ‘rivalry’ with Grainne Seoige over hosting The Voice, losing her virginity at 17 – and why RTE needed to stop paying its stars so much.
2012-03-21 - Interview
When dreams of breaking the UK didn’t pan out The Walls decided to break all the rules and do things their own way. The former Stunning men have followed the same unconventional path ever since.
2012-03-20 - Interview
You may not recognise the face but Paul Butler is a rock star twice over. As a member of Neuro and ID he’s seen it all – tours with Phil Lynott, wild nights out with INXS, to say nothing of hit records and torrid spells in the wilderness. After packing several life-times into a few decades, he’s now at the helm of a new band Propeller Palms. In his first major interview in nearly 20 years the Waterford veteran talks about his roller-coaster career, and its attendant triumphs and heartaches.
2012-02-16 - Interview
With the unpleasant tabloid scrutiny she’s been under recently, it’s easy to forget that Sinéad O’Connor is one of Ireland’s most powerful creative musical forces. Her soon-to-be-released new album, How About I Be Me (And You Be You?), already has critics purring with delight. When Sinéad travelled to the City of Angels to perform at a pre-Golden Globe event, Olaf Tyaransen went with her to report on the latest chapter in her remarkable life.
2012-02-08 - Interview
When Gary Lightbody came down with writer’s block he wondered if he had another album in him. Then Michael Stipe popped around for a pep talk and he never looked back. The result? A return-to-form record from Snow Patrol that channels LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire whilst always sounding like the work of a bunch of lovable indie underdogs who somehow conquered the world.
2012-01-04 - Interview
Channelling the grief he has experienced over the long illness and death of his father into comedy helped Des Bishop cope with the loss of a loved one. Now he has written movingly about his dad, a New Yorker who turned his back on showbusiness – having auditioned for the role of James Bond – to support his family. But alongside the affection there is also a deep ambivalence to be found in his memoir.
2011-12-14 - Interview
They’re the comedy rap duo who have lit a fire under Irish music, brought the zeitgeist to Limerick and proved that it is possible to be funny, groovy and a little bit scary at the same time. Twelve months since 'Horse Outside', The Rubberbandits are STILL the plastic-bag bemasked twosome on everybody’s lips. Accompanying their exclusive seasonal photoshoot with Hot Press, they talk Christmas number ones, being shadowed by journalists and stuffing a flann under Dolores O’Riordan’s door...
2011-12-09 - Interview
With a date at the Olympia Theatre looming in December, and a much anticipated album on the way in the new year, these are crucial times for Sinéad O’Connor. In a remarkable interview, she also discusses her search for a man, the lovers she has known, sex, sex – and more sex. Plus: Ireland of the squinting windows and the Catholic Church...
2011-12-05 - Interview
To some, Liveline presenter Joe Duffy is the nation's unofficial agony uncle, a voice for the disaffected and downtrodden. But the programme’s ‘open mic’ policy has landed it in controversial waters on more than one occasion. As his extremely personal autobiography is published, the host of RTÉ Radio’s No.2 programme accuses Trinity College of elitism, talks about the crusade against head shops, discusses his brother’s addiction and hits out at David McSavage's send-up of Liveline.
2011-11-30 - Interview
Olaf Tyaransen hooks up with Plan B, Warpaint and Chicagoan rap sensation K-Flay at a special Tennessee howdown to celebrate the birthday of a certain Mr. Jack Daniel.
2011-11-23 - Reports
He was the cheeky chappy in Boyzone, the cheery one with the boy next door personality. Then the band broke up and he didn’t know what to do with his life. So Keith Duffy did what nobody expected: he became a well-regarded actor and soap star. As he prepares to make his debut with the acclaimed Druid Theatre company, he speaks frankly about his quest for meaning in life, the controversial break-up of Boyzone in 2000, their successful reunion and Stephen Gately’s tragic death.
2011-11-16 - Interview
What happens after your opinion-dividing indie band fades away and you find yourself back where you started? For Thrills’ sticksman Ben Carrigan the answer is clear: you reinvent yourself as a sensitive songwriter with aspirations to write for the screen.
2011-10-28 - Interview
His entry into the Presidential race came as a bombshell, throwing many political commentators, as well as the Fine Gael party, into a tailspin. It has also been the catalyst to a surge in support in the opinion polls for Sinn Féin. So who is Martin McGuinness? What is he like as a man? And can a self-confessed former IRA leader convince the Irish peope that he has what it takes to be the President?
2011-10-21 - Interview
At just 30 years of age, Lisa Hannigan has gone from being Damien Rice’s sidekick to establishing herself as one of the most important new artists in contemporary Irish music. With the release of her second album, Passenger, she is set to take the world by storm. But behind the natural beauty is a remarkable woman who is beginning to reveal the depth of her mysteries…
2011-10-19 - Interview
It has been the most dramatic Presidential election ever, with seven candidates finally lining up to go before the electorate. Among them is former Minister for the Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht Michael D Higgins. So who is the man about whom The Sawdoctors wrote ‘Michael D Rockin In The Dail’? And if he does find favour with the electorate, what kind of presidency can we expect from him?
2011-10-19 - Interview
He is the singer and songwriter with one of America’s most highly rated cult bands. He is also one of the most acclaimed US novelists to have emerged in recent times. But it would be hard to find anyone less driven by ego or a desire for celebrity than Willy Vlautin, frontman with Richmond Fontaine. In fact what he hankers after is the opportunity to slip off into the woods alone – and write.
2011-10-17 - Interview
One of Britain’s leading music journalists Charles Shaar Murray has taken the plunge into fiction. He talks about the challenge of moving from critic to novelist with his explosive debut The Hellhound Sample.
2011-10-03 - Interview
The word on the street is that RTÉ has a major hit on its hands with the new cookery competition show, MasterChef Ireland. It features two of the country's leading restauranteurs – the fiery Dylan McGrath of Rustic Stone and the genial Nick Munier of Pichet – who adjudicate on the efforts of 16 aspiring culinary stars. It’s a series in which the sparks are guaranteed to fly – and on occasion the tears to flow.
2011-09-16 - Interview
They blew Smashing Pumpkins off-stage and, with a little luck, could have been as big as U2. Now the great lost band of 90s indie rock Whipping Boy are on the reunion trail. From his new home in the depths of Leitrim, frontman Fearghal McKee talks about the group's colourful past and their future ambitions.
2011-09-08 - Interview
Thomas Walsh was the underappreciated genius of Irish rock until his Duckworth Lewis Method hook-up with Neil Hannon put him on the map. One Ivor Novello nomination later, his band Pugwash are signed to a major and he’s receiving fan mail from ELO’s Jeff Lynne. As he gears up for his date at the inaugural Homegrown festival at INEC Killarney, the songwriting wizard talks to Olaf Tyaransen.
2011-08-25 - Interview
Now we’ve got the obligatory primate pun out of the way, it’s time for an exclusive chat with Arctic Monkeys. Installed in a super-trendy London club, frontman Alex Turner and his bandmates discuss the media spotlight, an unlikely friendship with P. Diddy and why, despite their jet-setter lifestyles, these humble Yorkshiremen are just homebirds at heart. Words: Olaf Tyaransen
2011-07-25 - Interview
Tony Fenton is a larger than life figure. One of Ireland’s most experienced and widely liked DJs, he currently occupies the early afternoon slot on Today FM, where he attracts an impressive audience. Behind the mic, he is full of braggadocio – but off-air he is a different character entirely. So what really makes the Northside Dubliner tick?
2011-06-29 - Interview
Despite a series of major label knockbacks, Gemma Hayes has not only survived but established herself as one of the country’s most individual talents. She talks to Olaf Tyaransen about her new album, Let It Break, falling in love, courting Hollywood – and dancing a jig for Ronald Reagan.
2011-06-29 - Interview
Having worked with a host of big names, from The Beatles and Frank Sinatra to O.J. Simpson, Simon Cowell, Jade Goody and, currently, Imogen Thomas, he is one of the best-known PR men in the world, famous for breaking some of the biggest stories in newspaper history – and also for successfully suppressing ones that were ready to dominate the headlines. But behind the high level jousting with the hardened bootboys of the British media (and the decent types too), Max Clifford is a remarkeably straightforward and down to earth working class character, who – as it turns out – loves the life he lives.
2011-06-15 - Interview
Mani's accused him of "stuffing his walllet with Ian Curtis blood money", but Peter Hook is unrepentant about his decision to perform Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures live. Olaf Tyaransen meets the legendary Mancunian as he gears up for two Irish appearances.
2011-06-15 - Interview
In a special interview to coincide with the first visit of President Barack Obama to Ireland, Bono talks about the man who is currently occupying the White House...
2011-06-02 - Interview
After 30 years of hosting the Slane Castle Festival, the aristocrat of Irish rock’n’roll, Lord Henry Mountcharles, shows no sign of losing his enthusiasm for the fray...
2011-06-02 - Interview
A party boy whose conquests included Lindsay Lohan and a Girl Aloud, Calum Best seemed to be following the self-destructive example of father George when he became a fixture on the London social scene. Now in his 30s, the former model says he has turned over a new leaf and made peace with the dad who was never there for him. He talks about orgies, prostitutes, cocaine, his acting ambitions and why he’d desperately like to fall in love.
2011-05-17 - Interview
hotpress.com
Blogs on hotpress.com
Additional Sites on hotpress.com
- The Music Show
- The Jagermeister Freezer Sessions
- Hot Press Rock Photo
- The Philip Lynott Exhibition
- The INEC Homegrown Sessions
- HTC One Hotpress Photojournalist
- Genre Free Compilation
- MIX 13: Music Industry Xplained
- Shoot To Thrill: Make a Hot Press Cinema Ad
- Other Voices
- Best of Ireland
- The Big Break
- Hot for 2013
- Josh Ritter
- Eoin Glackin
- Bitter Rocc
Contact Us
Hot Press,
13 Trinity Street,
Dublin 2.
Rep. Of Ireland
Tel: +353 (1) 241 1500
Email:info@hotpress.ie
Click here for more contact information.
Click here to find out more about Hot Press
Hot Press always welcomes feed back so if you've got something to tell us click here.
Advertise With Us
For more detail on how to advertise with Hot Press click here or call us on +353 (1) 241 1540
©Hot Press 2012. Why be a member? | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | About Us Jobs @ Hot Press