Katie Hannon, alert and empathetic, knows what makes Irish life tickRadio Review: As Joe Duffy’s default Liveline stand-in, she never gets bogged downFri Apr 15 2022 - 05:00
Ryan Tubridy drops the politeness and gets blunt: ‘This is a horrible thing to have to share’Radio: The host is unabashed in his repugnance for Putin and admiration of ZelenskiyFri Apr 08 2022 - 05:00
Ciara ‘don’t call me Ciara’ Kelly and Shane ‘call me Shane’ Coleman hone their double actRadio review: The Newstalk Breakfast duo provide diversion as well as informationFri Apr 01 2022 - 05:00
Matt Cooper doesn’t like good news, but he cheers up when it turns badRadio review: The Today FM host refuses to get carried away by bad news or goodFri Mar 25 2022 - 05:00
Pierre Zakrzewski, my old classmate, was charismatic, selfless and loyalRadio review: Tributes to the late Irish journalist had a personal resonance for Mick HeaneyFri Mar 18 2022 - 05:00
The 2 Johnnies resume business as if nothing ever happenedRadio review: Back on 2FM after a short ban, the pair seem unchanged by the recent controversyMon Mar 14 2022 - 19:20
Newstalk’s petrol price debate loses perspective – there is a war going onRadio: Rising fuel costs receive extensive coverage on Kieran Cuddihy’s showFri Mar 11 2022 - 05:00
Joe Duffy, ever passionate, achieves maximum emotional impactRadio: From Liveline to Drivetime, war eyewitnesses convey moral clarity and mortal dangerFri Mar 04 2022 - 05:00
The 2 Johnnies lived up to their ‘cocky boyo’ image, but failed the ‘copped-on sound lads’ testRadio comment: RTÉ took the Tipperary duo off air after an outcry over a social media videoFri Feb 25 2022 - 14:00
Ray D’Arcy’s show is the lucky bag of Irish radioRadio: You never know what you’ll get, but it’s seldom of premium qualityFri Feb 18 2022 - 05:00
Seán Fleming drops the petrol can. Sarah McInerney hands him a matchRadio review: Minister’s tone-deaf interview on cost of living gains instant notorietyFri Feb 11 2022 - 05:00
Do not adjust your Telifís: A very Irish musical duoCathal Coughlan and Garret “Jacknife” Lee draw on formative memories of Irish TVSat Feb 05 2022 - 05:00
‘Going into the Leaving Cert, half-naked’ . . . Joe Duffy shares his recurring nightmareRadio: Duffy talks about the exams in detail so vivid it warrants a trigger warningFri Feb 04 2022 - 06:00
Claire Byrne gives Leo Varadkar the upper handRadio review: Things get tetchy when she raises his alleged leak of documentsFri Jan 28 2022 - 05:00
Bad blood between Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman on NewstalkRadio: The presenters argue over restriction. It is a welcome diversionFri Jan 21 2022 - 05:00
Newstalk’s guests all agree (irony alert) that cancel culture has killed free speechReview: Andrea Gilligan’s discussion of free speech includes no dissenting voicesFri Jan 14 2022 - 05:00
Baz Ashmawy, the manic student teacher covering for sensible history master Ryan TubridyThe stand-in presenter wings it with breathless enthusiasm and cheeky charmFri Jan 07 2022 - 05:00
The year of Ulysses: 2022 marks centenary of Joyce’s experimental masterpieceBeloved by millions, incomprehensible to millions more, the novel is now firmly embedded in Irish cultureTue Jan 04 2022 - 03:00
Claire Byrne is radio’s prefect, Cormac Ó hEadhra and Sarah McInerney its maverick copsRadio in 2021: Radio 1’s new guard found their voice, Newstalk stayed scrappySun Dec 19 2021 - 05:00
‘Everyone’s nerves are a little bit frayed.’ Ryan Tubridy pleads for patienceRadio: He can sound corny, but his dislike of bad manners has a genuine ringFri Dec 17 2021 - 05:00
‘With great hesitation, I’m going to talk of vaccine hesitancy’Radio: In a high-wire act, Newstalk’s Clare McKenna airs fears over child vaccinationFri Dec 10 2021 - 05:00
‘I just wish people would stop moaning and giving out.’ But what would Liveline do then?Review: Joe Duffy presides over tetchy debates on bungalows and masks in schoolsFri Dec 03 2021 - 05:00
Tony Holohan’s best is not quite good enough for Ciara KellyRadio: The Newstalk host presses the chief medical officer on his pandemic responseFri Nov 26 2021 - 05:00
‘Sobering’ Covid restrictions and a ‘dog’s dinner’ redress scheme. Only Ray D’Arcy had a good weekRadio: Disappointment at the mother and baby home redress scheme is unmistakableFri Nov 19 2021 - 05:00
Claire Byrne challenges Ireland’s climate strategy: ‘People are being asked to pony up a lot’Radio: The RTÉ host deftly turns a consumer item into a querying of government policyFri Nov 12 2021 - 05:00
The Michael Healy-Rae climate plan: ‘Save the planet but not at the expense of the farmer’Radio: Pat Kenny tries to sum up the Kerry TD’s view of the climate crisis in IrelandFri Nov 05 2021 - 05:00
Charlie Bird: ‘My voice will go first. And my voice has been me’Veteran journalist on coming to terms with his motor neuron disease diagnosisSat Oct 30 2021 - 06:00
Anton Savage needs to be a little more, well, savageThe Newstalk host has an appealing confidence. He just needs a pinch of brutalityFri Oct 29 2021 - 05:00
Ryan Tubridy for once appears winded, uncertain how to proceedRadio: His naturally upbeat manner plays a crucial role in a poignant conversationFri Oct 22 2021 - 05:00
‘Were we right in the head?’ Joe Duffy asks as free contraception proves a difficult pill to swallowRadio: Budget 2022 seems to have pleased no one, judging by reaction on airwavesFri Oct 15 2021 - 05:00
A Covid bonus? Pat Kenny can’t hide his irritationRadio: The Newstalk host also disapproves of sloppy attire and sloppy thinkingFri Oct 08 2021 - 05:00
Why Ray D’Arcy should have kept his mouth shutRadio: Only a vindictive soul would wish D’Arcy silenced in so cruel a wayFri Oct 01 2021 - 05:00
Cormac Ó hEadhra and Sarah McInerney air their dirty laundry in publicRadio: The ostensibly mismatched Drivetime hosts are a year into their on-air partnershipFri Sept 24 2021 - 05:00
Brendan O’Connor sharpens the skewers, helped by a hapless Conor LenihanRadio: RTÉ host does a good line in disdain when proceedings threaten to get too cosyFri Sept 17 2021 - 05:00
‘The right surname, school and rugby club’: Newstalk’s women tackle the old boys’ networkRadio: Andrea Gilligan is Newstalk’s only solo female weekday presenterFri Sept 10 2021 - 05:00
Paschal Donohoe waffles, Claire Byrne yawns, Catherine Martin bristlesRadio: The lifting of Covid restrictions runs a distant second to the Katherine Zappone controversyFri Sept 03 2021 - 05:00
Joe Duffy calls out Gemma O’Doherty, Dee Wall, Ben Gilroy and their anti-vaccine theoriesRadio: The Liveline host sounds furious at the ‘hijacking’ of Nicole Cahill’s deathFri Aug 27 2021 - 05:00
Go ahead, make my day: Pat Kenny gets all Dirty Harry about street ‘yobs’Radio: The Newstalk host hears lurid tales of ‘urban terrorism’ on the streets of DublinFri Aug 20 2021 - 06:00
Wide-eyed Joe Duffy: Wet behind the ears or dunked in amniotic fluid?Radio: Playing the naif is tricky when the topic is the glorification of criminality at a funeralFri Jul 23 2021 - 05:00
Ryan Tubridy: With sturdy self-belief, our best-paid broadcaster hits his summer grooveRadio: He knows his style isn’t for everyone, but his enthusiasm is infectiousFri Jul 16 2021 - 05:00
Affable, no-waffle Katie Hannon is a natural in the Liveline seatRadio review: Hannon is more comfortable than any of Duffy’s other replacementsFri Jul 09 2021 - 07:39
Claire Byrne applies the pressure, and Eamon Ryan snapsRadio: The interview underscores how quickly the optimistic mood has disappearedFri Jul 02 2021 - 05:00
Stephen Donnelly gives unconvincing National Maternity Hospital performanceRadio: Minister for Health is smooth on the Delta variant but rattled by the hospital sagaFri Jun 25 2021 - 05:00
Want a rude awakening? Switch from Morning Ireland to 2FM BreakfastRadio: Doireann Garrihy, Donncha O’Callaghan and Carl Mullan front the zany new showFri Jun 18 2021 - 05:00
Pat Kenny grills Eoin Ó Broin on Newstalk. RTÉ goes easy on Leo VaradkarRadio: Sinn Féin’s defence that it was merely following the example of others is trueFri Jun 11 2021 - 05:00
Oliver Callan’s even better at meaningless fluff than Ryan TubridyRadio: The talented mimic is adept at filling airtime but oddly reserved when talking to othersFri Jun 04 2021 - 05:00
RTÉ’s marauding army of zombies? It’s fake news, folksRadio: The national broadcaster's Truth Matters podcast seeks to unpick fact from fictionFri May 28 2021 - 05:00
Katie Hannon’s winning formula: sharp questioning and wry derisionRadio: The Late Debate’s quietly authoritative presenter is the show’s key assetFri May 21 2021 - 05:00
Pat Kenny witnesses a street brawl in Dalkey: ‘30 or 40 people at it full pelt’Radio: ‘Thinking about this reopening,’ the Newstalk presenter says. ‘Are we really prepared?’Fri May 14 2021 - 05:00
Claire Byrne isn’t just a rigorous interviewer. She’s a rigorous staycationerRadio: The RTÉ host’s trademark efficiency even extends to her leisure time planningFri May 07 2021 - 05:00
