Today FM messers Dermot and Dave? Must try harderBlokey gags fail to mask deeper failings. For a lesson in radio control, tune in to Pat KennySat Sept 06 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Scandalous tales from the past point back to the presentDespite a misfiring narrator, ‘The Scandal of Mrs Leeson, Lyric FM’s documentary about a madam in Georgian Dublin, is compelling fare. And after a year of finding his feet, Sean O’Rourke’s future looks goodSat Aug 30 2014 - 01:00
Radio: ‘Liveline’ chronicles the inferno between Dublin’s canalsJoe Duffy’s show on RTÉ Radio 1 turns the capital’s descent into the abyss. Over on 2FM, Ryan Tubridy has an unexpectedly global outlookSat Aug 23 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Nicky Byrne and Jenny Greene – talking loudly in a show about nothingNicky Byrne and Jenny Greene are cheery hosts but stunningly banal. It’s a chirpy John Murray who provides more substanceSat Aug 02 2014 - 01:00
Radio: ‘Drivetime’ balance reveals one side to Gaza storyImpartiality unintentionally skews RTÉ news show’s coverage of Palestinian conflict, while Jon Snow’s outrage is more deliberateSat Jul 26 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Aran sweaters and surfboards to catch a brotherly waveA documentary on four Donegal brothers with a passion for surfing has a romance of its ownSat Jul 19 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Garth coverage brooks no dissent from the ‘tragic’ scriptThe debacle surrounding the Croke Park concerts gets serious attention, with only Ray D’Arcy striking the right noteSat Jul 12 2014 - 01:00
Radio: D’mammy happily plugs away in Marian’s chairBrendan O’Carroll brings a big heart into studio – he’s like a modern-day ‘Danny Boy’Sat Jul 05 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Presenters playing the World Cup for laughs are scoring an own goalIt’s bad enough that the soccer agnostics complain incessantly about the soccer tournament, but do we need so many wacky items on air?Sat Jun 28 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Summertime, and the living ain’t easy for Tubridy and coThe seasonal news lull is certainly a challenge for talk-radio hosts, but last week’s items sank like a saggy mattressSat Jun 21 2014 - 01:00
Radio: How to make a Mafia clan look like the WaltonsFrom first communion to the Tuam home, some Irish rites and institutions are enough to confound anyoneSat Jun 14 2014 - 01:00
Radio: A shock jock who’s not inured to the horrors of the pastNiall Boylan of 4FM has a personal angle on the Tuam scandal while John Bowman revisits an anti-jazz campaignSat Jun 07 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Hazy ‘Liveline’ logic about why Labour isn’t workingRTÉ Radio 1’s phone-in, hosted by an election-fatigued Philip Boucher-Hayes, is high on opinion but low on coherence. For a quietly devastating talk, tune in to John Murray’s talk with Derry Clarke of l’Ecrivain RestaurantSat May 31 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Hare-brained gags and musical diversity, together at last on ‘Marty in the Morning’Marty Whelan is an odd fit on Lyric FM, but even his wacky style is a good deal more inspirational than daytime on 2FMSat May 24 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Donoghue is no sidekick in this ‘Breakfast’ double actIvan Yates is the big name on Newstalk’s morning show, but his quietly relentless co-presenter steals his thunderSat May 17 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Shatter provokes a slip from Adams and pining from WallaceSympathy for the former minister comes from unexpected corners and water charges remain stubbornly opaqueSat May 10 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Tubridy and D’Arcy are both dab hands at the crying gameLacking celebrity guests, the RTÉ host goes for the emotions, but his Today FM rival produces stars as well as tearsSat May 03 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Music’s potent role in the incitement of violence in RwandaKathryn Thomas is a vivid if surprising guide through the country’s rich musical heritage and brutal recent historySat Apr 26 2014 - 01:00
‘You can’t really be a Viking if there isn’t a bit of bloodshed’The Vikings are back on our screens and in our galleries but the romantic notions of their wild spirit is a cheerful distortion of their cultureSat Apr 19 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Good grief, Moncrieff – surely you aren’t waffling?The Newstalk presenter marries the trivial and the serious to bracing effect, but Miriam O’Callaghan’s witty remarks fall flatSat Apr 19 2014 - 01:00
Blanket coverage risks putting listeners to sleep, and Duncan Stewart loses his coolRTE’s coverage of State visit may be a good omen for Anglo-Irish relations but it was bad news for listenersSat Apr 12 2014 - 01:00
Radio: One foot in the grave, the other foot in their mouthsUndertakers could teach Pat Kenny and Ray D’Arcy a thing or two about tact and discretionSat Apr 05 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Everybody’s getting tangled up by the Garda tapes storyConfused commentators were tied in knots trying to unravel the Garda controversy. Maybe RTÉ’s new science series could help make sense of it allSat Mar 29 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Oddly hypnotic tales of earworms and ‘doo-doo’John Murray’s jocular style often masks an inventive approach on his RTÉ programmeSat Mar 22 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Proud to be Irish on St Patrick’s Day? These new citizens areWhen Ray D’Arcy meets people who have taken citizenship it’s a telling snapshot of Irish life. Shock jock Adrian Kennedy’s daytime talk show makes you want to emigrateSat Mar 15 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Flying without wings – will Nicky Byrne help 2FM take off?The Westlife singer is a chirpy on-air presence, but his weekday radio show is as bland as his former boy band’s hitsSat Mar 08 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Gaybo grills the Garda while Sharon snaps back at the paparazziGay Byrne’s Sunday anecdotes suggest the veteran host is as stimulating as ever; Sharon Ní Bheoláin proves her mettle on ‘Liveline’, hitting out at tabloid intrusionSat Mar 01 2014 - 01:00
Radio: 2FM serves up another unappetising breakfast‘Breakfast Republic’, the RTÉ station’s new morning show, is as forced as it is unfunny. Its presenters, Bernard O’Shea, Jennifer Maguire and Keith Walsh, could learn a thing or two from Pat Kenny, who’s showing that an old hand can thrive in new placesSat Feb 22 2014 - 01:00
Radio: ‘Liveline’ taps into the public mood, so what’s bugging Joe?Covert surveillance and official arrogance: Joe Duffy plays to the gallery, and Matt Cooper handles Kenneth Egan with kid glovesSat Feb 15 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Friends in low places, but how many friends in gay places?RTÉ celebrates country music with abandon but approaches the homophobia controversy with cautionSat Feb 08 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Merry John Murray doesn’t always hit the right noteThe RTÉ Radio 1 host’s lighthearted style has its appeal, but a more thoughtful interview technique wouldn’t go amissSat Feb 01 2014 - 01:00
Radio: ‘Cover their little ears’: Mooney grows up with adult contentThe RTÉ presenter’s usual quirky cosiness gave way to sympathetic space for an outsider’s tale, while a garda whistleblower yielded a timely documentarySat Jan 25 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Globe-trotting Cooper keeps his focus close to homeThe ‘Last Word’ presenter said little about his trip to North Korea to meet Dennis Rodman, but he didn’t hide his annoyance at the National Independent Party, a new anti-immigration groupSat Jan 18 2014 - 01:00
Radio: Ray D’Arcy’s mock outrage masks an eye for hypocrisyThe Today FM host showed he can still outrage and entertain. As for George Hook, he has begun his long goodbyeSat Jan 11 2014 - 01:00
Radio review: Kenny goes private for his publicThe Newstalk presenter provided a welcome presence during the holiday period, while a guest host shone in an RTE star’s absenceSat Jan 04 2014 - 01:15
Radio: Sudden exits and welcome returns mark a year of changePat Kenny’s move to Newstalk was the big story, but there were more notable presences - and absences - on radio in 2013Sat Dec 28 2013 - 01:00
Radio: Rahoo, rahoo, rahoo – Hector bows out of breakfast radioThe ‘commander of the dawn’ Hector Ó hEochagáin signed off in bolshie fashionSat Dec 21 2013 - 01:00
Radio: Racial discrimination versus gushing tributes to Nelson MandelaOn Newtalk, George Hook tackles a black-and-white issue while Ivan Yates airs some shibboleths of his ownSat Dec 14 2013 - 01:00
Poaching listeners and presenters is becoming a habitRay D’Arcy proved his mastery of popular radio, while John Murray took a wrong DirectionSat Dec 07 2013 - 01:00
Radio: If you’re going to run off at the mouth, do it like Dave: with flair and perceptionHe may talk a mile a minute, but Dave Fanning’s quickfire chat is always entertainingSat Nov 30 2013 - 01:00
Radio: The longest fortnight finally ends with Miriam O’Callaghan’s return to the RTÉ airwavesFor fans of the presenter’s soft-focus style, two weeks away seemed like a lifetime, but now she’s back in the cosy seat in ‘Sunday with Miriam’Sat Nov 23 2013 - 01:00
Radio: The claws are out for a week of bitchy chat and baby talkIt was weird hearing Ryan Tubridy using the B-word in a discussion about women, but at least he showed a little bite. Elsewhere on RTÉ, ‘Pregnant on My Lunchbreak’ was an enlightening documentary about artificial inseminationSat Nov 16 2013 - 01:00
Radio: Money talk is taxing, but happy talk doesn’t come cheapSean O’Rourke still has a newsreadery tendency on his RTÉ show – but his colleague John Murray made a poignantly light return to the airwaves this weekSat Nov 09 2013 - 01:00
Radio: Why Sean Moncrieff’s never short of ammoThe Newstalk host’s irreverent approach shed new light on a lethal subject while Marian Finucane heard a troubling hidden historySat Nov 02 2013 - 01:00
Radio: Roma kids get a new bogeyman for Halloween. David Norris gets a clean shaveArmageddon, abduction and aliens: amid the scary stories on The Last Word and Drivetime, the senators appearance on The Ray D’Arcy Show to talk about his cancer provided unexpected reliefSat Oct 26 2013 - 01:00
Radio: Cold blood and hot airRyan Tubridy preferred crime stories to budgetary matters as Sean O’Rourke hosted an awkward encounter for Minister HowlinSat Oct 19 2013 - 01:00
Radio: Marty Morrissey takes the middle-of-the-road route to radio stardomThe sports presenter brings a new degree of inanity to the ‘Mooney’ slot on RTÉ, but Tom Dunne’s move to night time has helped the Newstalk presenter find his rock ’n’ roll voice againSat Oct 12 2013 - 01:00
Fear and loathing in BuncranaFrank McGuinness’s new play, The Hanging Gardens, and Arimathea, the novel he thought he should write as research for it, draw deeply on his experience of growing up in a threatening, oppressive IrelandSat Oct 05 2013 - 01:00
