Ahern to anchor 'Road to Croker' for RTÉ

OUT OF the limelight since he departed from office, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern returns to our screens next week - as a guest presenter of the GAA show, The Road to Croker.

The sports-mad Dublin Central TD will travel to An Gaeltacht in Co Kerry to present the RTÉ TV show on Thursday week while regular anchor Des Cahill attends the Beijing Olympics.

Guests on the show will include Kerry football icon Páidí Ó Sé and his three GAA All-Star nephews, Darragh, Tomás and Marc.

Despite his recent step back from public life, Mr Ahern said he was looking forward to getting in front of the camera. "I've always watched The Road to Croker . It's a great show and I'm delighted that I'll have the opportunity to present it on August 21st," he said.

Mr Ahern also has experience as a pundit on RTÉ's The Premiership . In September 2001 he discussed clashes between his beloved Manchester United and Everton and Arsenal and Chelsea, alongside regular pundits John Giles and Eamon Dunphy.

"I love soccer, I love Gaelic. In my job I read a lot about the economy and politics. Football is excellent because it can get your mind off other things," he said during the show.

Despite his love of the game, many viewers felt Mr Ahern's performance was somewhat wooden and his football knowledge lacking the depth of the regular panellists.

However, never one to jump on the public bandwagon, fellow panellist Dunphy jumped to his defence. "Bertie was a real fan and not a prawn sandwich and champagne merchant," he said.

Mr Ahern will return to TV screens later this year when the three-part documentary series, Bertie , which tracks his years as taoiseach and the path of Irish politics since 1992, airs on RTÉ.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times