RADIO REVIEW:HOW MANY frontbenchers does it take to change a light bulb? Or to attempt to change the leader of a political party who hasn't had that many light-bulb moments?
Nine. That’s how many Fine Gael frontbenchers stood in the garden of Leinster House and said they’d lost confidence in their leader, Enda Kenny.
That doesn’t include Richard Bruton, Kenny’s former deputy. That’s the thing with deputies. Sooner or later they will want your job. Choose them wisely, people.
Fine Gael's James Reilly was a spokesman for Kenny on Tuesday's Morning Ireland(RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays). "I have the height of respect and regard for Richard Bruton," he said. Wait a . . . "But also I have the height of regard and respect for Enda Kenny and all the work he has done. He has led us through three elections."
Reilly had Kenny’s back sure enough, but he had Richard “Brutus” Bruton’s back, too. “Enda has done his best to try and patch things up,” Reilly added. “He’d three talks with Richard over the weekend and one meeting for which he drove three hours from Castlebar.”
That made Kenny sound like he was the weaker man: driving three hours to hold talks with Bruton, rather than summoning Bruton to him, didn’t exactly cast him in a powerful light. “People are now going to see the steel that is Enda Kenny and the steel that is Fine Gael, too.”
We never really got to see the former, as Kenny faced down his opponents in private, and, as for the latter, one could argue that it doesn’t take much steel for nine people to stand up at once.
On Lunchtime(Newstalk 106-108, weekdays) Daire O'Brien summed up Fine Gael as "the Lindsay Lohan of political parties", lurching from one embarrassment to another.
Reilly popped up there, too: “They’re seeing the real Enda now, for anyone who had any doubt.”
In that case, expect a lot of more talk about the kind of leader he could be one day. Regardless of the result, it’s all a bit late for that.
Fine Gael's Simon Coveney had little reason to celebrate on Wednesday: "It's a memorable birthday for all the wrong reasons this year." Sounding like Tyra Banks on America's Next Top Model, Coveney said: "We need to take the party on to the next level."
He added: “So far both sides have been very respectful of each other.”
Again, we were given an insight into Enda Kenny the gentleman. This was a time for him to roll up his sleeves and pack a few punches. His reluctance to do so has always been part of his problem.
As Kenny said during Eileen Dunne's RTÉ 1 interview, replayed on Wednesday's Morning Ireland:"Richard has been a friend of mine for many years, and I'm not going to lose that friendship."
There was more talk of changing of the guard on The John Creedon Show(RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays). Creedon got a text from Dave in Wicklow on Monday to say he now works the late shift and gets home in time for Arena(RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays).
Dave said it makes him feel like it’s 4pm because of his years spent listening to Rattlebag. “Happy heady days, John!” he said.
“It’s funny,” Creedon said. “Radio 1 can have that effect on people. It’s amazing. You take something that is really well established, and you move it to another time, and the whole country kind of goes out of sync. It’s like, say, when Marian Finucane moved from weekdays to weekends. People would hear her on a Saturday morning and jump out of bed, thinking they were late, but after a while we settle back down again.” It did seem crazy at the time, but Finucane is now an integral part of the lazy Saturday- or Sunday-morning ritual for many.
Ryan Tubridy’s forthcoming move from weekdays at 9am on Radio 1 to weekdays at 9am on 2fm should be a smoother transition. He always sounded more comfortable on 2fm.
His Radio 1 magazine- cum-news-show had middle-child syndrome: a conflicted adult-child personality caught between Morning Irelandand Today.
In fact, when Tubridy chatted with Evelyn O’Rourke during the radio tribute to the late Gerry Ryan last month, he spoke about how he used to sit with Ryan after their shows ended for the day. He then said something interesting about 2fm: “I was always much more able to be myself here than I am on my own. Because it’s Radio 1 you have to be a bit more cognisant of the fact that there are adults listening.”
Maybe Tubridy was half joking, but he did have a point. Still, he now has a big void to fill, and all of my personalities wish him well.
