''Tonight with Vincent Browne'', (formerly ''Nightly News with Vincent Browne''), was a news analysis, current affairs and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

programme which was broadcast on

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's TV3 from 2007 to July 2017. Its time on air coincided with the premierships of

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...

and

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...

, bookended by the conclusion of

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

's premiership and the initial weeks of

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...

's. ''The Tonight Show'', hosted by

Ivan Yates Ivan Yates (born 23 October 1959) is an Irish broadcaster, businessman and former politician. He was elected as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wexford constituency at the 1981 general election and at each election until his retirement fr ...

(initially) and Matt Cooper, replaced it in mid-September 2017. It was moderated by

Vincent Browne Vincent Browne (born 17 July 1944) is an Irish print and broadcast journalist. He is a columnist with ''The Irish Times'' and ''The Sunday Business Post'' and a non-practising barrister. From 1996 until 2007, he presented a nightly talk-show ...

— a journalist noted for his rather acerbic style, with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' describing him as "Ireland's

Jeremy Paxman Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and television presenter. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ne ...

Format

It was broadcast on Monday to Thursday nights, usually from 23:05 to 23:55, though it was occasionally extended during referendums and general elections. When Browne was absent, another person presents instead: this was typically one of

Ger Colleran Gerard Colleran is an Irish journalist, the editor of the ''Irish Daily Star'' from 1999. to 2014, and since 2017 the editor of ''Kerry's Eye''. In 2009, ''Village'' listed him as one of Ireland's 100 most influential people.. He is a native of M ...

Declan Ganley Declan James Ganley (born 23 July 1968) is an English-born Irish entrepreneur, businessman, and political activist. He was the founder and leader of the Irish branch of the Libertas Party. Primarily a telecommunications entrepreneur, Ganley has ...

Tom McGurk Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

Mary O'Rourke Mary O'Rourke (; born 31 May 1937) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Leader of the Seanad and Leader of Fianna Fáil in the Seanad from 2002 to 2007, Deputy leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2002, Minister for Public ...

Sam Smyth Sam Smyth is an investigative reporter, columnist and broadcaster. He works for the Irish Mail on Sunday and formerly worked for Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, Sunday Tribune newspapers. He is the only Irish journalist to twice win journ ...

. When anyone other than Vincent Browne hosted the show, it was simply called ''Tonight''. Each year, approaching the Christmas period, Browne gave out political awards to deserving recipients. ''Tonight with Vincent Browne'' moved to TV3's Sony HD studio but vacated it for two weeks while RTÉ borrowed it to film ''

School Around the Corner ''The School Around the Corner'' was a radio programme aired in the Republic of Ireland beginning at Easter, 1954, when Michael O h-Aodha gave the "idea" his blessing, Seamus Kavanagh took over as producer of the first short series. The producers ...

'', hosted by Ray D'Arcy.

History

''Tonight with Vincent Browne'' is noted for having coerced various experienced politicians, including

Joan Burton Joan Burton (born 1 February 1949) is a former Irish Labour Party politician who served as Tánaiste and Leader of the Labour Party from 2014 to 2016, Minister for Social Protection from 2011 to 2016, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2 ...

and

Conor Lenihan Conor Lenihan (born 3 March 1963) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Minister of State from 2004 to 2011. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South-West constituency from 1997 to 2011. He was from 2011 to ...

, into embarrassing meltdowns live on air. Burton asked Browne if he was "asking me a question or just trying to harangue me?" and then set about repeatedly interrupting Joe Higgins leading Browne to interject: "Joan, you get hyper-irritated when anyone harangues you so please don't harangue Joe", but to no avail as Burton continued to interrupt. When Conor Lenihan refused to resign over the

leadership vote, Lenihan stood up angrily, glared, pointed his finger at Browne and sneered, "It's easy for you to be cynical about people who go into public life and I really do resent the sneering insinuation that you're trying to put to me", with Browne responding, "Conor, you're not going to shout me down and you can take me full-on on this if you like" which is exactly what happened. Lenihan lost his seat dramatically in the general election the following February. After airing an interview with

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

politicians Charlie O'Connor and

Darragh O'Brien Darragh O'Brien (born 8 July 1974) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has served as Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage since June 2020. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Fingal constituency since the 2016 g ...

, recorded outside

Leinster House Leinster House ( ga, Teach Laighean) is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Ireland. Originally, it was the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, ...

following the vote of confidence in then Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Browne popped up onscreen back in the studio and remarked: "God, it would do your head in, wouldn't it?". Banking analyst Peter Mathews made a name for himself with regular appearances on the programme and was later elected to the Dáil. In August 2012,

Cian O'Connor Cian O'Connor (born 12 November 1979) is an Irish equestrian who competes in show jumping. He has competed at three Olympic Games, four World Championships and six European Championships, and has attained 133 senior caps for his country. He won ...

gave his first television interview since winning a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

at the London Olympics to stand-in presenter Tom McGurk, while lawyer Eddie Hayes was interviewed by Sam Smyth on the show the following week. The programme was critical in informing the Irish public about the

death of Savita Halappanavar Savita Halappanavar ( Savita Andanappa Yalagi; 9 September 1981 – 28 October 2012) was a dentist of South Asian people in Ireland, Indian origin, living in Ireland, who died from sepsis after her request for an abortion was denied on legal gro ...

as the news was breaking. On the night of 28 May 2015, with Browne mysteriously absent and the programme instead moderated by

(editor of

Independent News & Media Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...

's ''Irish Daily Star''), Colleran read a statement from TV3 management asserting that no discussion about Independent TD Catherine Murphy's comments in the Dáil that day would be permitted following letters from billionaire businessman and INM controller

Denis O'Brien Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for a period of several ye ...

's lawyers. O'Brien had earlier successfully applied for an injunction against RTÉ preventing the state broadcaster from airing a report on O'Brien was receiving, with the direct permission of former CEO of the

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) was the name given to the entity formed in 2011 by the court-mandated merger of the state-owned banking institutions Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society. Following a High Court ord ...

(IBRC)—the former

Anglo Irish Bank Anglo Irish Bank was an Republic of Ireland, Irish bank headquartered in Dublin from 1964 to 2011. It began to wind down after nationalisation in 2009. In July 2011 Anglo Irish merged with the Irish Nationwide Building Society, forming a new co ...

, a rate of approximately 1.25% when IBRC should have been charging 7.5%. This in turn led to outstanding sums of upwards of €500 million. O'Brien then wrote to special liquidator Kieran Wallace to demand that these same favourable terms that were granted him by way of verbal agreement be continued. The Irish government later appointed Kieran Wallace to conduct an investigation into these same dealings. Wallace then colluded with IBRC and Denis O'Brien to seek an injunction in Ireland's High Court to hide this information from the public. High court Judge

Donald Binchy Donald Binchy (born 1963) is an Irish lawyer who is currently a Judge of the Court of Appeal. He was formerly a solicitor and was the President of the Law Society of Ireland between 2011 and 2012. He was a Judge of the High Court between 201 ...

granted O'Brien the injunction and told the court that certain elements of the judgement would have to be redacted. The Irish media therefore could not report on details of the injunction. When Independent TD Catherine Murphy managed to successfully raise this in the Dáil on 28 May 2015, lawyers acting for O'Brien immediately forced the country's media to censor its own coverage. Foreign commentators covering these events for the international media suggested Irish democracy had been "wiped away at a stroke". Some enterprising citizens received a positive response by printing Catherine Murphy's speech from foreign media coverage and handing copies to passers-by on the streets of the nation's towns and cities in an attempt to inform those relying on state media. On Monday 27 July 2015, ''Tonight with Vincent Browne'' was temporarily replaced with ''The Late Review'' during the summer recess. Browne's programme returned that September. Frequently absent with illness and exhaustion brought on by a tour of the nation with '' The People's Debate'', (and substituted by such names as Ivan Yates and Matt Cooper), on 3 May 2016 Browne returned to the chair after a break that overlapped with the 2016 general election. Listening to

Damien English Damien English (born 21 February 1978) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Meath West constituency since 2007, and previously from 2002 to 2007 for the Meath constituency. He served as Minister of State f ...

speak well of his party, Fine Gael, on their stance over water, Browne declared "fucking amazing" that "the fella who made a real cock-up" (former environment minister

Phil Hogan Phil Hogan (born 4 July 1960) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade between 2019 and 2020, and previously European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development between 2014 and 2019. He previously ...

) had been promoted to the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

. Browne immediately explained his indiscretion as follows: "I'm sorry, I've been off for a few weeks". Media hailed it as a moment of "Classic Vincent!". Brown presented his last show on the 27 July 2017, when

(who had recently become Taoiseach) was a guest.

Contributors

While politicians often feature, other contributors have included: *

Robert Ballagh Robert Ballagh (born 22 September 1943) is an Irish artist, painter and designer. He was born in Dublin and studied architecture at the Bolton Street College of Technology. His painting style was strongly influenced by pop art. He is particular ...

* Peter Brown * Mick Clifford *

Eoghan Corry Eoghan Corry ( ga, Eoghan Ó Cómhraí; born 19 January 1961) is an Irish journalist and author. He is the lead commentator on travel for media in Ireland, having edited travel sections in national newspapers and travel publications since the 19 ...

Siobhan Creaton Siobhán is a female given name of Irish origin. The most common anglicisations are Siobhan (identical to the Irish spelling but omitting the acute accent over the 'a'), Shevaun and Shivaun. A now uncommon spelling variant is Siubhán. It is de ...

* Eamon Delaney *

Robert Fisk Robert Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stanc ...

* Constantin Gurdgiev * Justine McCarthy * Paul Anthony McDermott *

Patsy McGarry Patsy McGarry is the Religious Affairs correspondent with ''The Irish Times''. He succeeded Andy Pollak as editor in the mid-1990s. He also is the commissioning editor for articles which are published in the paper's '' Rite and Reason'' column eve ...

* Julien Mercille *

Senan Molony Senan Molony is an author as well as the ''Irish Daily Mails Political Editor. He was formerly Deputy Political Editor for the '' Irish Independent''. He broke the news of politician Michael Healy-Rae's ''Celebrities go Wild'' voting scandal ...

* Eoin Ó Murchú * Jim Power *

Kathy Sheridan Kathy Sheridan is a journalist with ''The Irish Times''. She won the title of features writer at the National Newspapers of Ireland's Journalism Awards for 2011. Her father Joe Sheridan was an independent Independent or Independents may refer ...

* Noel Whelan (Fianna Fáil adviser, though here in the role of political analyst) Past contributors at the time of the programme's conclusion included: *

Sarah Carey Sarah Carey is an Irish columnist, broadcaster and communications consultant. She writes for the Irish Independent. From March 2011 until August 2017 she presented ''Talking Point'' on Newstalk. She is a former columnist for ''The Sunday Times' ...

Derek Davis Derek Davis (26 April 1948 – 13 May 2015) was an Irish broadcaster. On television, he co-hosted '' Live at 3'', presented '' Davis at Large'' and '' Out of the Blue'' and won ''Celebrity Bainisteoir''. Early life Davis was born in Bangor, ...

Cassie Stokes Cassie Stokes (born 5 April 1987) is a television presenter with TV3. Career She initially joined TV3 as a Promotions Assistant. She appeared on-screen as the Twitter correspondent on ''Tonight with Vincent Browne'', helping the experienced journ ...

Ratings

Despite airing on what is usually considered a

graveyard slot A graveyard slot (or death slot) is a time period in which a television audience is very small compared to other times of the day, and therefore broadcast programming is considered far less important. Graveyard slots are usually in the early mor ...

, the show has been highly successful with on average 166,000 viewers. However, when TV3 temporarily replaced ''Tonight with Vincent Browne'' with UK celebrity reality show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' in November 2011, its RTÉ rival ''

The Frontline The Frontline is an American rap duo from Richmond, California, consisting of Left and Locksmith, also known as Lock.Hildebrand, Lee (2005)RICHMOND VIOLENCE FUELS HIP-HOP DUO, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 26, 2005, retrieved 2010-07-06 Th ...

'' gained nearly 70,000 viewers.

References

External links

''Tonight with Vincent Browne'' on the TV3 website

#VinB on Twitter
* O'Mahony, Andy
'I was a slow convert to Vincent Browne's style of broadcasting', ''The Irish Times'', 24 November 2016
{{VMTV ROI programming 2007 Irish television series debuts 2000s in Irish politics 2010s in Irish politics 2010s Irish television series Irish television news shows Virgin Media Television (Ireland) original programming