Eamon Ryan on his new documentary

0:00You've worked hard since you arrived in the city, gained loads of experience, developed your skills. Everywhere you look, you see something you have built. But now, you're looking to the future. And maybe you think about where you come from. In Ireland, we need planners, carpenters, plumbers, roofers, engineers, architect site managers, and more. We need you, with all your skills and knowledge, to help us build thousands of homes. You've built the world. Now come back and build the home that built you. For more information, visit gov.ai forward slash building Ireland. Brought to you by the Government of Ireland. News talk breakfast with Anton Savage in association with Air. Damon Ryan is with us, form a leader of course, of the Green Party and former Cabinet Minister, who is now the subject of a fly on the wall documentary that looks at his last 18 months in government,

1:00though the documentary team didn't necessarily know it was his last 18 months in, not just government, but in politics, because they just asked for access and he provided it. And it is called Forever's. Now, it's a national release from this Friday the 16th in 10 cities and tens around Ireland and also in London. You gave access to the documentary crew to see your work in politics. You also gave access to aspects of your family, specifically your son Tom, who is part of the reason that you, when you stepped out of politics, you said you were stepping down from politics to be able to provide more support to him. Why did you allow him to be in it? Well, that came second. I mean, the first was to allow access into government buildings and into the UN negotiations that I was involved in. And that was to provide transparency and accountability. I knew in the last two years in my office, I knew I wasn't going to be running again. I knew I was going to be doing some interesting work in the UN and in the international energy agency and in government.

2:01I thought it's a good thing in principle to open the doors of government as it were to be allowed people behind the scenes. Now, once they started doing that and they're filming for 18 months, they realized that's desperately difficult boring filmmaking. It's like geese are tuned the morning in a gray conference room, waiting for a text to come out. It's not exactly gripping. But and I thought the filmmakers knew as well that my son Tommy was, had special needs, autism, intellectual disabilities. And I suppose they wanted to show that side of life as well. It's not just you're not just working in a conference room the entire time. You are at home or you're are. Now, we don't ordinarily kind of advise anyone politics. Don't use your kids. Don't don't don't allow them in the picture. But in this instance, we decided that well, Tommy is our star, our joy. And yeah, providing some sense of that was a was a pro.

3:07It makes for an odd duality. I mean, not negatively. It just makes for an unusual duality because you see scenes where you have come from, let's say, cop. And you're there trying to get 15 minutes of FaceTime with John Kerry. And the next moment, you're sort of on an easement or what did you call the garden? An allotment holding hands with Tommy and discussing whether or not various different flowers needed to be watered. Was that a welcome respite from politics that oh, God yeah. And not just there, but going for a walk or a for a cycle very lucky in terms of, you know, I'm very lucky. Tommy still today comes home at three or four o'clock from his daycare center and we'll go for a walk. And it is a release like for everyone. They know what that's like. So yeah, it is a part of the balance. And I suppose for the filmmakers and it's their film. Like I to certain extent, it's nothing to do with me in terms of what they decided to show where you know, we just gave them access.

4:10And they have obviously that's their editorial decision. But I guess it is also about connection to nature and the and I think which I think is inextricably linked this climate question. How do we how do we how do we raise ourselves and what to do we need to do. And one of the ways is to by bringing back nature by in our own local place. You know, if that's walking down a local river or a canal or a beach or that is actually an important part of the climate story. Well, can I ask on that because you will have watched it back that there is there is an evident idealism. So you you see you and you see your family doing things like cleaning up river banks and doing that in your own spare time. And there's these moments where that idealism hits real politic where you're in places talking about the climate crisis, seeing the biggest power stations that the world has ever created. Where you're getting deals done and the deals come as disappointments do you think that the the idealism that drove you in terms of climate didn't deliver did it get you where you needed to get us a politician.

5:13And not as far as fast as I would like, but it does work. I mean, I would stand up by left politics because I've been in for 30 years. I've been leading a party for 13 years. And it was time to let the next generation take over that and to step away from it. But I'm really proud of our time and politics of the green parties role in Irish politics and internationally. And I would always encourage anyone to get into politics. Don't be you can affect change. It takes time. But but it's incredibly rewarding. It's an incredible honor. Oh, God, yeah, it's a privilege. It's an absolute privilege. It has a size. It's excited to cut across you. But you see two things in the documentary. One, you see you saying that in 13 years your wife hasn't had a day off in terms of helping Tom. And that you have rarely had a day off. You at the end of the documentary, there is a line that goes up that says at the following election, the green party lost, whatever 11 of its 12 seats and all of its MEPs. And you think, I got that's a big price to pay.

6:14It is a price for family. I think as families don't run for election. And they're not, they're not as much a control. And they see a lot of abuse you get and they can't do anything about it. And that's really difficult. But from myself, I suppose I went in with the purpose and I had a chance to deliver on that mistakes made failings in many ways, but lots of stuff delivered. So the one compensates the other, but it is, it is tough on families and it is tough in terms of time and just the addictive nature, but you know, you're working all the time. Is it worth it for the family you talk in the documentary you say when the kids are at that special age of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and that you are at best able, maybe once in a while to put them to bed and even then your head is still in the days media and what's coming up tomorrow. Is that trade off worth it and hindsight? No, I think that's probably not just politics. I said there's a particularly man and fathers who probably would look back in a similar way and think, for the time and it's not just where you spend your time, it's where your head is when you get home, you know, so that you, you can okay, I'm at home now. I'm going to focus. I'm not going to listen to the radio. Excuse me for a second.

7:26I'm not going to listen to the news. I'm going to focus on what's happening at home and that's a tendency a lot of us have, I think, not to switch off. It is unusual for somebody to be able to look at a year and a half of their own life through somebody answers literal lens. Did it provide you an insight into yourself that you had in that? Yeah, I need to die at more. I think. And also I was surprised in terms of I was well able to cope the pressure. I was well very experienced, you know, knew what I was doing, very happy what I was doing. I did look at and think, I'm I look stressed there. It's interesting. And in the moment you didn't feel it, but I could see it my own face, which surprised me. Are you still glad that you decided to do it? Yes, I trusted the movie filmmakers and it's their film. I think it was interesting to see the craft of filmmaking because it is it's incredible long laborious process, bit like politics. But it was done with the view of opening the door behind the door behind the scenes in government and in the international negotiations. And I think that was the right thing to do.

8:31Well, the documentary is out as of Friday the 16th and it is titled forever is now and it gives both an insight into politics. And it also gives a very interesting in revealing inside into aspects of your own personal and family life and some of the joy and challenges therein. That is pretty much it for us. I should say thank you very much. News talk breakfast with Anton Savage in association with air weekday mornings at seven news talk conversation that counts.