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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 from politics in 2002. He also served as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry from 1994 to 1997. Since 2009, Yates has been active as a political commentator.
Yates was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. He was educated at Aravon School, Bray; St. Columba's Church of Ireland College in Rathfarnham, Dublin; and Gurteen College, County Tipperary.
Yates first gained political office in 1978 at the age of 18 when he secured a seat on Enniscorthy Urban Council as a member of Fine Gael, capturing the post by just 13 votes.
When he was first elected to the Dáil in 1981, Yates was the youngest member of the 22nd Dáil and is also the fifth-youngest ever member of Dáil Éireann at the age of 21. He became involved in local politics when he became a member of Wexford County Council, serving until 1995 and again from 1999 to 2004. He joined the Fine Gael front bench in 1988 and was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when the party came to power in 1994.
Yates oversaw a particularly difficult period for Irish agriculture. Farmers saw the prices they received for their produce plummet; he stopped live animal exports in response to controversy over cruelty in shipping, and took on the Irish Veterinary Union over the tuberculosis eradication scheme. He also had to deal with a sharp rise in the number of BSE cases during 1996, and the consequent banning of Irish beef by Russia. When John Bruton resigned as leader of Fine Gael in January 2001, there was much speculation that Yates would be a contender for the vacant position. Instead, he announced to his colleagues that he was leaving full-time politics to concentrate on his family and business interests and that he would not be contesting the next general election.
He receives annual pension payments of €74,836 from his time in politics.
In October 2025, during the Irish presidential election, Yates attracted controversy when he said that if Fine Gael contacted him for advice, he would tell them to "smear the bejaysus out of" opponent Catherine Connolly. By that point in the campaign, Humphreys' campaign was lagging badly behind Connolly's (who would go on to win the election). Catherine Connolly described the comment as "absolutely shocked" and treated it as evidence of a hostile campaign tone, while Humphreys publicly distanced herself, saying "Ivan Yates has nothing to do with my campaign". Yates later rejected attempts to tie the remark to active campaigning, calling the reaction "all BS" and saying he was an analyst and pundit rather than a campaign operative. However, it later emerged in November 2025 that Yates had been involved with Jim Gavin's campaign in the same election.
Yates was the chairman and managing director of Celtic Bookmakers, an Irish chain of betting shops, and expanded the company from its Wexford base to a chain of 64 shops around the country at its peak. On 4 January 2011, it was announced that the company had gone into receivership.
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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 from politics in 2002. He also served as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry from 1994 to 1997. Since 2009, Yates has been active as a political commentator.
Yates was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. He was educated at Aravon School, Bray; St. Columba's Church of Ireland College in Rathfarnham, Dublin; and Gurteen College, County Tipperary.
Yates first gained political office in 1978 at the age of 18 when he secured a seat on Enniscorthy Urban Council as a member of Fine Gael, capturing the post by just 13 votes.
When he was first elected to the Dáil in 1981, Yates was the youngest member of the 22nd Dáil and is also the fifth-youngest ever member of Dáil Éireann at the age of 21. He became involved in local politics when he became a member of Wexford County Council, serving until 1995 and again from 1999 to 2004. He joined the Fine Gael front bench in 1988 and was appointed Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry when the party came to power in 1994.
Yates oversaw a particularly difficult period for Irish agriculture. Farmers saw the prices they received for their produce plummet; he stopped live animal exports in response to controversy over cruelty in shipping, and took on the Irish Veterinary Union over the tuberculosis eradication scheme. He also had to deal with a sharp rise in the number of BSE cases during 1996, and the consequent banning of Irish beef by Russia. When John Bruton resigned as leader of Fine Gael in January 2001, there was much speculation that Yates would be a contender for the vacant position. Instead, he announced to his colleagues that he was leaving full-time politics to concentrate on his family and business interests and that he would not be contesting the next general election.
He receives annual pension payments of €74,836 from his time in politics.
In October 2025, during the Irish presidential election, Yates attracted controversy when he said that if Fine Gael contacted him for advice, he would tell them to "smear the bejaysus out of" opponent Catherine Connolly. By that point in the campaign, Humphreys' campaign was lagging badly behind Connolly's (who would go on to win the election). Catherine Connolly described the comment as "absolutely shocked" and treated it as evidence of a hostile campaign tone, while Humphreys publicly distanced herself, saying "Ivan Yates has nothing to do with my campaign". Yates later rejected attempts to tie the remark to active campaigning, calling the reaction "all BS" and saying he was an analyst and pundit rather than a campaign operative. However, it later emerged in November 2025 that Yates had been involved with Jim Gavin's campaign in the same election.
Yates was the chairman and managing director of Celtic Bookmakers, an Irish chain of betting shops, and expanded the company from its Wexford base to a chain of 64 shops around the country at its peak. On 4 January 2011, it was announced that the company had gone into receivership.