Eamon Ryan reveals he developed stutter following 'bad row' between his parents

Minister Eamon Ryan with Patrick Kielty on the Late Late Show

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has revealed how he developed a stutter after witnessing “a bad row” between his mother and father as a child.

The transport minister was a guest of tonight’s Late Late Show, when host Patrick Kielty asked him about the fact that he had a speech disorder when he was younger but had managed to overcome it.

“A lot of people have stutters or stammers, and I had a bad one when I was a young kid,” Mr Ryan admitted.

He recalled that his mother had tried everything to cure the problem but nothing worked until he saw a child psychologist in Rathfarnham when he was around 15 years old.

The psychologist used a pocket watch to hypnotise him and ‘brought him back’ to when he was six or seven years old in a hypnotic state.

“I was in my bedroom and my parents were rowing outside in the landing. A bad row,” said Mr Ryan.

“And I wanted to go out and speak and say ‘Stop’, but I felt I couldn’t and, under the hypnosis, I was balling crying. I was back in the moment as a six [or] seven-year-old boy.

“And [the psychologist] said, ‘You can say whatever you want.’ He just reassured me,” he added. “I know that sounds a bit corny, but literally, throw away your crutches, my stutter started to go away.”

The politician told Patrick Kielty that his mother was very proud of his success in overcoming his stutter, and her “proudest possession” was an award he won around a year later.

“A year after that moment when I started to lose the stutter, I won an award for the most improved debater in school. It was a tiny little plaque. And that was on her mantelpiece,” said Mr Ryan.

He also revealed that he still occasionally stutters, but only on certain words, such as the name of his mother’s home town – Macroom. “For me, it was psychological,” he explained.

Separately, Mr Ryan also said recent public criticism from Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary – who held up a cardboard cutout of him wearing a “dunce” hat during a press conference – “doesn’t bother” him.

“I’m looking forward to meeting him,” he added. “I’ve asked to meet him a couple of times but it never happened for whatever reason but I think we’re going to meet next week or the week after.”

Mr Ryan said he wouldn’t let the criticism get in the way of good relationships, because “there are serious things we need to talk about”.

He also indicated that the Green Party would be willing to work with any party in government after the next election, including Sinn Féin, in order to advance efforts on the environment.

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