John Downing

speaker

506 appearances 6 recordings 1 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 10 Sep

John Downing’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 6 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 2.

Appearances

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The Indo Daily · Trump meets Catherine Connolly: What could possibly go wrong? · 10 Sep 2026 podcast

So it is mercifully short, I think, most of the p of the people who ha have to organize it, police it, and deal with it.

But you are right.

Your initial question.

Four thousand quite senior people at various levels in the political and administrative system in Ireland.

That's a heck of a lot of people.

That is a very big distraction.

But it must be done and they'd better get on with it.

It does mesh with the presidency.

There is no doubt it cannot be other than a distraction from the main day job of running the country.

I think the main thing uh before, during, after, um and i it cannot be stressed more, is to get him in and out safely and all of his personnel and that there is no breach of security, no trouble, and that of itself is very fraught.

I was reading recently about JFK nineteen sixty three that the

US Secret Service tasked with protecting the President didn't really rate on Garda Shiachana or the Irish Defence Forces.

I'm sure that hasn't changed one whit uh arrogant sods that they are.

So there are kind of tense tense uh what's the posh word interfaces between the two security groups uh with the the uh

US usually arrogantly claiming, you know, first divs on absolutely everything.

All of these things have to be managed.

I think in the past we've seen a few kind of Mickey Mouse incidents.

Uh we had twenty twelve, the beast got stuck on a ramp at the US Embassy.

Two thousand and four somebody hit the wrong video button and relayed footage of President George W.

Bush at the window of his bedroom with Drumoland in his night attire, and that went out for consumption by television internationally.

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