Carole Coleman

Carole Coleman (born September 1966) is an Irish journalist. Originally from Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim, she is a former Washington Correspondent for RTÉ. She is a journalism graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and presently teaches journalism at the University of Galway.

Interviews Coleman is best known in the U.S. for a probing television interview of President George W. Bush just before his official visit to Ireland in the summer of 2004.

The interview, for which questions were approved by the White House press office, led to complaints by President Bush and his press officers for the "disrespectful" manner of Coleman, who interrupted the President several times, and the cancellation of a Laura Bush interview with RTÉ.

The White House complained to the Irish Embassy about the interview. An Irish government spokesman commented that "within Government, there was an acknowledgment that the interview lacked respect." RTÉ, however, stated it "totally stands over the conduct of the interview and Carole's journalism."

Coleman stated that she resorted to interrupting the President because she was afraid his stock answers would eat up all time she had for interview: "It was a filibuster of sorts. If I didn’t challenge him, the interview would be a wasted opportunity". She also said she was surprised by the White House staff's reaction to the interview, but that she had no regrets:

Clearly the White House had thought they would be dealing with an Irish "cailin" bowled over by the opportunity to interview the Bushes

...

Had I been fair? Should I just have been more deferential to George Bush? I felt that I had simply done my job and shuddered at the thought of the backlash I would surely have faced in Ireland had I not challenged the president on matters that had changed the way America was viewed around the world.

In January 2009, Coleman published The Battle for the White House ... and the Soul of America (The Liffey Press), an account of the 2008 US presidential election.

In October 2021, Coleman published News from Under a Coat Stand ... A Diary March–June 2020 (Orla Kelly Publishing), an international and personal account of Covid's first 100 days.