Taking a detached attitude to coming home for ChristmasRADIO: At this time of year, more than any other, there is an uncomfortable ring of truth to Robert Frost’s dictum that “Home…Sat Dec 15 2012 - 00:00
George's grandstand performance lets the Minister off the hookRADIO: George Hook’s on-air jousting with Michael Noonan was a lively and irreverent pantomimeSat Dec 08 2012 - 00:00
A shoulder charge to the media's tragic image of emigrationRadio: As Gaelic football rivalries go, the fixture is not as renowned as Dublin versus Meath or Cork against KerrySat Dec 01 2012 - 00:00
Marching season comes in like a lion but out like a lambRADIO: It was a case of contempt breeding familiarity and fatigue in the coverage of this week’s protestsSat Nov 24 2012 - 00:00
It's fun, social, engaging and inventive - but is it art?All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, runs the old proverbWed Nov 21 2012 - 00:00
Let's all agree to confine Hitler to the bunker for a whileRADIO: Whatever the programme, there is always room for discussion on the NazisSat Nov 17 2012 - 00:00
Obama wins the day, but Philo delivers the 'waaooow' factorFiachna Ó Braonáin's programme was a valuable reminder of Lynott's immense talentSat Nov 10 2012 - 00:00
Hard choices for hard news showsRADIO REVIEW: WITH THE AUDIENCE for Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) slipping in the recent national listenership survey…Sat Nov 03 2012 - 00:00
The fine art of being economical with the truthThe contemporary Irish economist has a public image that politicians lack, clerics have lost and artists envy – but we need a…Fri Nov 02 2012 - 00:00
From soft soap to hard knocksRADIO REVIEW: HE HAS BEEN chided for his soft-soap approach, but Ryan Tubridy seemed to reveal a harder side to his on-air persona…Sat Oct 27 2012 - 01:00
Iron will, a raw nerve and all that jazzRADIO REVIEW : BE IT DUTY, honour or toughness, the robustly male values of military service can appear anachronistic in a civilian…Sat Oct 20 2012 - 01:00
Plenty of hot air on Hook but little fireWHEN IT COMES to courting controversy on radio, the ability to spew bile is an important component of the on-air provocateur’…Sat Oct 13 2012 - 01:00
Making allowances for middle earnersRADIO REVIEW: AS HE INTRODUCED a report on the possibility of the children’s allowance being slashed, Pat Kenny asked the question…Sat Oct 06 2012 - 01:00
'We're haunted by the lives we didn't lead'Declan Hughes’s new play featuring teenagers in south Dublin in 1977 – and the same people 30 years later – takes a snapshot …Mon Oct 01 2012 - 01:00
City boys' field trip yields mixed resultsTHERE WAS A sly tone to Damien O’Reilly’s voice as he opened last weekend’s edition of Countrywide (RTÉ Radio 1, Saturday). “…Sat Sept 29 2012 - 01:00
No topping the dead donkey storyRADIO REVIEW: AS HOT-BUTTON topics go, the publication of topless photographs of a woman married to the heir to a foreign throne…Sat Sept 22 2012 - 01:00
A clue for RTÉ in Danish drama seriesThe uncannily true-to-life storyline of Danish political drama ‘Borgen’ is the talk of Denmark and the toast of international…Mon Sept 17 2012 - 01:00
'Birdbrain' is a real hoot for Joe DuffyRADIO REVIEW : JOE LAUGHS! It might not have the same ring as “Garbo laughs”, but so singularly wondrous was Joe Duffy’s chortling…Sat Sept 15 2012 - 01:00
The smoking sock puppet mysteries‘Sock puppeting’, in which writers use pseudonyms to promote their own work and denigrate rivals, has hit the headlinesThu Sept 13 2012 - 01:00
Elliott lets the facts speak for themselvesRADIO REVIEW: AS ANYONE WHO has endured the phrase “going forward” will know, meaningless jargon is an unavoidable irritation…Sat Sept 08 2012 - 01:00
A lesson in gutsy broadcastingMUCH AS PARENTS naturally want the best education possible for their children, the experience of actually sending them to school…Sat Sept 01 2012 - 01:00
The perils of stepping on Irish turfRADIO REVIEW: DURING THE 1970s, Frank Kelly wrote and recorded a series of sketches for The Glen Abbey Show on RTÉ radio which…Sat Aug 25 2012 - 01:00
A little chutzpah clearly gets resultsRADIO REVIEW: IT’S THE moment that Leaving Cert students dreadSat Aug 18 2012 - 01:00
Sideburns and scooters: why the mod enduresWHEN HE triumphed in the Tour de France last month, Bradley Wiggins not only joined the select band who have won the famed yellow…Sat Aug 11 2012 - 01:00
A clear winner among radio lightweightsRADIO REVIEW: AMID THE excitement of the past week’s boxing, it was easy to miss the action in another arena, which saw two …Sat Aug 11 2012 - 01:00
A restaurant, a dinner and a side-serving of shockFOUR YEARS ago, after Herman Koch finished writing The Dinner, his sixth novel, the Dutch author asked several friends to read…Wed Aug 08 2012 - 01:00
Maeve's circle of friends out in forceRADIO REVIEW: AS A MEDIUM that essentially operates on a small-scale, subjective basis – a voice or two talking about random…Sat Aug 04 2012 - 01:00
Scrutinising the myths of the pastONCE AGAIN the airwaves were thick this week with lurid accounts of casual violence and riotous behaviourSat Jul 28 2012 - 01:00
Let's take a good look in the mirrorRADIO REVIEW: THE OUTCOME OF the Michaela McAreavey murder trial, in Mauritius, may have evoked an understandably indignant …Sat Jul 21 2012 - 01:00
Between a rock concert and a jail cellRADIO REVIEW: The programme challenged the widespread portrayal of the concert as the ninth circle of hellSat Jul 14 2012 - 01:00
A new arrival and not so fond farewellsIT’S THE TIME of year when the holiday exodus from the workplace kicks off in earnest, but there was at least one person who …Sat Jul 07 2012 - 01:00
Julian Gough: acting the goatThe writer has never been afraid to make a statement – or to step on a few reputations – and there are clear targets in his ‘…Fri Jul 06 2012 - 01:00
Ewe say it best when you say nothingRADIO REVIEW: LAST WEEK CAME with a stark reminder of how far we have come in 20 yearsSat Jun 30 2012 - 01:00
Turning on and off the stereotypesRADIO REVIEW: IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE there could be a more irritating radio ad than those TV licence spots – the ones that go, “…Sat Jun 23 2012 - 01:00
Following Rosanna on a race to the bottomRADIO REVIEW: GIVEN THE SENSE of deflation that descended after last weekend’s disappointing results, it was no surprise that…Sat Jun 16 2012 - 01:00
On the road to nowhere - and PolandRADIO REVIEW: AS THE RESIGNATION and apathy of the fiscal-treaty campaign suggested, our attitude to Europe has become increasingly…Sat Jun 09 2012 - 01:00
Curious case of Bishop and Mrs BrownRADIO REVIEW: THE OLD MAXIM about laughter being the best medicine is, at the best of times, a debatable propositionSat Jun 02 2012 - 01:00
Chewing on the hand that feedsRADIO REVIEW: EVEN BY RTÉ’S prodigious standards of self-promotion, a radio interview plugging a television programme about …Sat May 26 2012 - 01:00
Racism gets the green lightRADIO REVIEW : AT THE RISK of never being able to hail a cab again, it is probably safe to say that the prospect of agitated…Sat May 19 2012 - 01:00
Rash acts and savage wordsRADIO REVIEW: CONTRARY TO POPULAR opinion, not all politicians are congenital liarsSat May 12 2012 - 01:00
Stories of abuse hit homeRADIO REVIEW: IT IS A GRIM SIGN of the times that once-taboo tales about authority figures abusing their young charges have …Sat May 05 2012 - 01:00
The curse of morning radioTHE ECONOMY IS IN tatters, a succession of reports have uncovered abuses of power in civic and clerical life, and countless numbers…Sat Apr 28 2012 - 01:00
The unsinkable might of MontroseRADIO REVIEW: IT MAY HAVE been due to satiety of chocolate eggs or the holiday absence of some of our more provocative broadcasters…Sat Apr 14 2012 - 01:00
Irish happiness, and other delusionsRADIO REVIEW: THE ABILITY TO GET into a lather about newspaper stories is an obligatory part of every radio host’s armoury, …Sat Apr 07 2012 - 01:00
Sunshine boy Gaybo tootles off againRADIO REVIEW: ASIDE FROM CAUSING an unseasonable outbreak of alabaster limbs protruding incongruously from skimpy clothing, …Sat Mar 31 2012 - 01:00
Rage is all the rageRADIO REVIEW: THE GOVERNMENT suffered another embarrassing defeat in a key vote last weekSat Mar 24 2012 - 00:00
When Joe Duffy sees an elephant cryNEVER ONE TO RESPECT outdated shibboleths, Joe Duffy again proved his credentials as a fearless iconoclast last week, when he…Sat Mar 17 2012 - 00:00
From no food to no tasteRADIO REVIEW : BACK IN THE grim days of the H-block protests there was a joke about the UDA’s abortive 1980 effort to be segregated…Sat Mar 10 2012 - 00:00
We're consumed by alcoholRADIO REVIEW: IN TERMS OF predictable answers, asking whether Ireland has a problem with alcohol is up there with inquiries …Sat Mar 03 2012 - 00:00
Mooney gets seriousRADIO REVIEW: FOR ALL the guises Derek Mooney has adopted in his career, from nature broadcaster to gameshow host, he is not…Sat Feb 25 2012 - 00:00
