'Can't recall being asked' about Pres campaign work...and 'client confidentiality is his golden rule'

Yesterday, Mr Yates defended his decision not to declare the coaching and said: "I had a golden rule and that was a client confidentiality.

- BY CILLIAN SHERLOCK

Asked if he had breached the trust of his audience, Mr Yates said he had not. He added: "I tell you what I'm really good at and with the podcast, I am the best back-channeler in the business because politicians speak to me because I'm not a journalist. They can trust me because I understand and I empathise with politicians, I even like politicians.

"And so therefore I was getting material that 'Ivan, this is your opinion, you didn't hear from me', and that was the X Factor, the gossipy nature of it."

Speaking on RTE's Today with David McCullagh, he said his “hundreds of” clients “have to rely on the fact that I won't go blabbing about my previous coaching”.

POLICY