The versatile historian

Historian, media darling and Bertie biographer Richard Aldous is one of UCD's brightest stars. Admirers praise his coherent world view, but some critics cast him as an ambitious neocon, writes Louise Holden

THE “PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL” plays a vigorous role in Irish media discourse. The boffin in broadcasting is usually cast as disinterested expert, offsetting the hysteria of politics and public with his cool testimony.

UCD historian Richard Aldous, however, stepped out of the box and is making his voice heard on a variety of hot political topics.

The Mahon tribunal, the Lisbon Treaty, the war in Iraq: Aldous has stuck his neck out on these and other divisive issues and has been variously described as a Fianna Fáil hack, a neocon, a hawk and a media luvvy. None of these descriptions comes close to summing up a man of so many facets – from boy chorister to Bertie Ahern’s biographer, with rich pickings in between.

Aldous, who was born in Essex and educated at Cambridge, was made head of school at the department of history and archives in UCD in 2006. By then he was a familiar name in Irish broadcasting, often called upon to comment on US foreign policy. According to a media source who worked closely with him, Aldous could be relied upon to provide counterweight to the commonly held negative views of George W Bush and Tony Blair in the Irish liberal media. As a result, Aldous gained a reputation as a hawk – an unfair assessment, according to his peers.

One associate described as “depressing” the media tendency to ascribe the word neocon to anyone who doesn’t fit the liberal pigeonhole. “If you have anything positive to say about Blair or Bush in Irish media you are labelled. It’s an example of how the balance of debate has shifted so far. Aldous is so intellectually curious that he could never fit into a narrow ideological framework, but he understands how the media works and how shades of grey are not tolerated.”

Another colleague believes his nationality confers objectivity: “Because he’s not Irish he is able to raise issues that rise above parochial positions.” And Aldous is not shy of wading into local disputes. He has put out an APB on Charlie McCreevy and PJ Mara, who he believes can rescue Irish consumer confidence and the Lisbon Treaty, respectively. He has advised Brian Cowen to put a smile on his face and has put in a good word for Micheál Martin. His most strident local campaign, however, is his assault on the Mahon tribunal.

"[The Mahon Tribunal] was set up to restore confidence in politics," Aldous wrote in the Sunday Independentin December. "In that regard, at least, it has failed. The only tangible result so far has been the downfall of a taoiseach who had been elected less than a year previously."

Aldous has made no secret of his admiration for Bertie Ahern. Last November it was revealed that Aldous was to assist Bertie Ahern in writing the story of his life, to be published by Random House. While neither the publisher nor the former taoiseach have issued statements about the arrangement, they haven’t kept it quiet either. The usual mystery surrounding ghostwriters has been eschewed.

“Richard Aldous is the obvious man for the job,” says one historian. “Not all academic historians would be comfortable dealing in current events, but Aldous has an instinct for it.”

From Ahern’s perspective, it just makes sense. Aldous has stated in the past that any credible biography of the former taoiseach would commit no more than a couple of paragraphs to the subject of his financial affairs. On that the ghostwriter and his subject will agree.

ALDOUS'S PUBLISHING RECORD distinguishes him as an able and creative biographer. His 2001 biography of British conductor Malcolm Sargent brought together the writer's extensive knowledge of history and music to provide not just a life story but an important study of the cultural history of 20th-century England. Aldous has since taken further unusual approaches to the biographical genre by combining the lives of Gladstone and Disraeli in his twin study, The Lion and the Unicorn. He is now working on a study of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher for publication in 2012.

The history professor has an entrepreneurial bent. His 2007 collection, Great Irish Speeches, was a bestseller, and he followed it up with another coffee-table classic on great Irish documents. This is history-by-numbers, and the public love it.

Other historians have been less effusive. His colleague in UCD, professor of modern Irish history Diarmuid Ferriter, reviewed Great Irish Speechesfor The Irish Timesin 2007, writing that it was "polished and accessible but is somewhat safe and predictable, and it lacks in-depth analysis".

Aldous has also drawn heat for his continuing love affair with the Irish media. He is a regular contributor to the Sunday Independent, The Irish Timesand, until recently, the Sunday Tribune. He is a frequent guest presenter on Newstalk and has his feet under the table on RTÉ's Questions and Answers.

One media professional, who says that he wouldn’t always agree with Aldous’s politics, applauds his professionalism. “Richard will always engage openly and calmly in any debate. I think he is more to the right than others in Ireland, but wherever he stands he is a top-class media performer and has a genuinely coherent world view.”

A colleague takes a balanced view of Aldous’s engagement with the media. “There’s a perception in the university sector that you get your hands dirty if you get involved in media. Richard regards it as part of his remit. He wants to make scholarship accessible.”

But, characteristically, there’s more to Aldous’s motives than a simple sense of academic duty. “He wants to talk about ideas in public,” says an observer. “He chooses positions that are attractive to media. He’s not terribly ideological and he’s not your average academic. He’s very ambitious. There’s a price to be paid for being part of mainstream media, and he’s prepared to pay it.”

His very public involvement in the forthcoming biography of Bertie Ahern has raised a number of questions.

How can Aldous, with his stated admiration for Ahern, square academic objectivity with his new role? Why is the ghostwriter, usually a shadowy figure, so public in this case? And why choose a historian to write about ongoing events?

The first two questions, say his supporters, are easy to answer. “‘Ghostwriter’ is an inappropriate term for Richard. He will not passively transcribe Ahern’s softer reminiscences. He will ask difficult questions and bring a professional sense of inquiry to the task. This is the first time that such an approach has been taken to the presentation of a political biography in Ireland. Richard is putting his professional expertise at the disposal of a different community.”

Supporters say that the very public choice of Aldous is a statement of intent about the project – it will be something more valuable and challenging than a simple record of Ahern’s musings.

The third question – why a historian was chosen to write about contemporary events – can draw a more cynical perspective. Other historians have expressed surprise that Ahern would emerge so quickly to get historians involved in writing up his story.

Could it be a sign that Ahern wants to move himself out of the harsh current affairs spotlight and into the sepia tint of history as quickly as possible? Aldous himself has suggested that time and distance will flatter Ahern – perhaps the former taoiseach wants history to look kindly on him while he’s still around to enjoy it.

Whatever the outcome, Aldous’s profile in Irish public life is assured. Even if it wasn’t, the man has a great deal to fall back on.

He is an athlete who swam for England. He’s a passionate music-lover who lectures on the history of music and is married to a violinist in the National Symphony Orchestra.

His knowledge of US and UK politics has won him international respect and his forthcoming book on Reagan and Thatcher will likely catch an even wider audience.

He has doubtless made a tidy profit from his two published stocking fillers (not to mention his more serious works, many of which have gone to paperback), and while his fee for Bertie’s memoirs is unknown, Random House is said to have agreed a six figure deal for the whole project.

When he finishes his tenure as head of history in UCD at the end of this year, there’s no telling where he’ll go next. If he chooses to stay in Ireland, however, he will remain a big fish in academia and beyond.

Packed CVThe many lives of Richard Aldous

AcademiaHead of school, department of history and archives, University College Dublin.

Writer and historianBooks include:

The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs Disraeli; Great Irish Speeches; Macmillan, Eisenhower and the Cold War; Tunes of Glory: The Life of Malcolm Sargent; Harold Macmillan: Aspects of a Political Life.

Punditry"Bertie Ahern historically will go down as one of Ireland's finest taoisigh . . . a partnership approach is his defining characteristic.[By not] revealing too much of his hand to anybody he managed to make important deals, such as those in relation to Northern Ireland. It is not going too far to say he brought greatness upon himself."

(On RTÉ1's Questions and Answers, November 2008)

"Mr Cowen could do worse than bring Charlie McCreevy back from Brussels. More than any other individual in Fianna Fáil, Mr McCreevy has the ability to get the Government on the front foot again. And to cheer everyone up." ( Irish Independent, December 28th, 2008)

"History, like public opinion at the time, will debate whether the US should have gone to war with Iraq in 2003. But the surge will be seen as politically courageous and militarily astute. Even unpopular presidents can make right decisions." ( Sunday Tribune, September 7th, 2008)

BroadcasterGuest presenter on Newstalk programmes, including The Right Hook, The Wide Angle, Saturday Edition and The Breakfast Show

SportsmanSwam competitively for England at national schoolboy level

HobbiesHe was a bishop's chorister in Chelmsford Cathedral in Essex