Michel Barnier is best known in Ireland for his central role in the EU’s negotiations with the UK over Brexit almost ten years ago. But Barnier has also played a central role in French politics for decades, including a brief stint as prime minister. Today he is a member of the French parliament.

Last week he was in Dublin for a series of political meetings with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee and other senior figures, and on Wednesday Hugh Linehan interviewed him at Europe House, the European Commission’s Dublin base, in front of an audience.

Their conversation ranged from Barnier’s first political awakening as a teenager in the 1960s through to his verdict on Brexit 10 years after the referendum, figures like Nigel Farage who led the UK out of the EU, the rise of France’s far right and the prospects for the French presidential election which takes place in April of next year.