We need to talk about Vincent

TO SAY that Vincent Browne’s reputation precedes him would be something of an understatement.

The legendary broadcaster and journalist recently found himself making the headlines, instead of just discussing them, when he led a posse of reluctant hacks into the grounds of Gorse Hill in Killiney.

Ignoring the protestations of members of the New Land League, Vinnie was a man on a mission as he stormed the gardens of the mansion at the centre of solicitor Brian O’Donnell’s epic battle with the bank.

The assembled reporters looked on in bemusement and disbelief as Browne implored them to join him in his crusade, before dismissing them all as

“wimps

?. Sheepishly, some of them eventually began to shuffle in behind Ireland’s journalist-in-chief.

Not for the first time, Browne had turned himself into the story. Memorably, he was the fly in the ointment at Fianna Fáil’s election manifesto launch in 2007 when he repeatedly asked then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern awkward questions about his finances.

“It ain’t credible,

? Browne thundered as Fianna Fáil’s heavy-hitter PJ Mara and the assembled party faithful tried but failed to silence him.

It all made for brilliant television, as did Browne’s recent TV3 show featuring the New Land League’s Jerry Beades who found himself in a hole and just couldn’t stop digging.

Beades was already on the ropes before he unwisely suggested that Gorse Hill was just a

“bog standard

? house. But Browne’s patience was wearing wafer thin and we saw him explode in a characteristic apoplectic rage after one too many interruptions from his guest.

It’s hard to imagine any other current affairs show in Ireland or the UK where the presenter would abruptly tell a guest to

“shut up

? and threaten to evict them from the panel. It certainly wouldn’t happen on

‘Prime Time’ or

‘The Week in Politics’, that’s for sure.

Browne had gone all Jeremy Kyle on us and it was gloriously entertaining. This was car crash television at its best: hard to watch but ridiculously compelling. Now in his early seventies, Browne is more relevant than ever and is proof positive that age should not be a barrier to career advancement.

There is no such thing as a soft interview on his show, as a trail of traumatised politicians will attest. We won’t be seeing Enda Kenny on his programme any time soon.

Regardless of your opinion of Vincent Browne, one thing is for certain: Irish journalism would be all the poorer without him.