As we move from recent criticisms of his interviewing style to the drop in listenership since he took over Gerry Ryan’s radio slot, Ryan Tubridy leans against the side of the sofa and lets out a calm sigh: “It’s been a long year, hasn’t it?”
Well, yes. First there was the loss of 100,000 listeners from 2fm between 9am and 11am. Then came media accusations of a “soft touch” approach to Late Late Show guests such as Ronan Keating and Eamon Dunphy. Not long afterwards came renewed criticism of the chat show’s guest list — most notably from presenter Síle Seoige, who sent a well-publicised tweet pondering whether “the days of the likes of Peter Ustinov, Spike Milligan and Germaine Greer [are] gone forever”. Tubridy’s