The Irish Government this week confirmed that it intends to raise the age of sale of tobacco from 18 to 21.
On Monday, ahead of the announcement, I appeared on RTE Radio 1 and The Tonight Show (Virgin Media). I also gave some soundbites to Newstalk for use on their news bulletins.
The following day (Tuesday) I was interviewed by two local radio stations, Live 95 in Limerick, and LMFM which is based in Drogheda, County Louth, north of Dublin.
And yesterday I was on the daily Opinion Line (phone-in) on Cork’s 96FM.
The reason I did those interviews is because we have yet to find someone to replace John Mallon who was our spokesman in Ireland from 2010 until his very sad death in December following a long battle with ill health.
No-one is irreplaceable but John was (almost) perfect for the role, not least because he genuinely believed in and supported smokers’ rights, even after he quit smoking and switched to vapes.
He also came without any political baggage or ‘history’, so in that sense he was a blank canvas.
Anyway, he was clearly liked by many of the presenters on whose shows he often appeared, and when I notified one of John’s death, I received this reply:
‘I’m so sorry to hear that devastating news. I have spoken to John many times over the years and he was a wonderful man and passionate in his field.’
On Tuesday I received a text from a radio producer. ‘Where’s John?’, it asked, and after I explained the situation the reaction was one of genuine regret.
People may not have agreed with him on the subject of smoking, but John was an amiable man and most of the people he met or talked to seemed to like him.
Also, thanks to his annual media tours when he would travel to radio stations around the country to be interviewed in person, he was a familiar face to many broadcasters.
This week John’s absence has been felt even more keenly, not least by me, but in stepping in to his shoes - temporarily - it is actually a reminder of the days before we recruited John to be Forest’s spokesman in Ireland.
Before and after the introduction of the smoking ban in March 2004 I did quite a few interviews on Irish radio and, very occasionally, on TV too.
It’s far better though to have an Irish voice representing Forest in Ireland, which is why we are currently advertising for John’s successor.
Fingers crossed, I shall be interviewing candidates in Dublin next month so if you know someone who might be interested in the role, do send them the link.
Nine years ago we placed a similar ad in the hope of recruiting someone to assist John. We received quite a few applications and ended up interviewing four or five candidates.
Unfortunately the person we gave the job to left ‘by mutual agreement’ after two months, but that’s another story.
PS. PJ Coogan, host of the Opinion Line on Cork’s 96FM, paid a very nice tribute to John on air yesterday, describing him as very “affable”.
As a resident of Cork, born and bred, John appeared many times on the Opinion Line so it was nice of PJ to say something.
Below: Me being interviewed at the RTE studios in Dublin many years ago
