Stark differences between Seán Moncrieff and Pat Kenny in tackling immigration debate

As the migrants faced a hostile reception from the local inhabitants, many factors were driving the tension. But as Seán Moncrieff (Newstalk, weekdays) hears, one reason was paramount. “The economic argument is there, but really the cultural argument is much stronger,” the historian Irial Glynn says as he outlines the common charges against immigrants. “These people won’t assimilate, they’re different to us, their customs are too alien, they will change our character in a way we don’t want.” Having left their troubled homeland hoping for a better life, the new arrivals must have wondered what they did to deserve such resentment.

There may be a familiar ring to all this, but host and guest are discussing the frosty welcome once experienced by Irish emigrants to the United States rather than any current events. Even so, it’s obvious why Moncrieff has chosen the subject. “Go back a century and the unvetted males were Irish,” he says, lest anyone miss the parallels with the spate of protests outside refugee accommodation centres. Glynn sticks to his historical remit, though his tale contains some uncomfortable omens for contemporary politics: he recounts how the xenophobic Know Nothing party attracted 20 per cent of US presidential-election votes in the 1850s.

[ Fintan O’Toole: We know all about the fear of ‘unvetted’ single male migrants. We were their chief exporter ]

Either way, it’s a good example of the way Moncrieff approaches topical issues on his show. While never really the zany playground it’s pitched as – a previous Newstalk advertising campaign pictured the host with a plastic arrow stuck to his forehead – the longevity of the afternoon slot largely stems from its distinctive material. Drawing on esoteric academic studies, oddball news snippets and obscure historical curios, the host’s daily cocktail eschews current affairs (at least in conventional form) while avoiding the more tedious testimonies of Liveline, its rival on RTÉ Radio 1. Meanwhile, his laconic irreverence generally keeps proceedings from drifting into cookie-cutter chatshow territory, instead creating a more idiosyncratic and knowing appeal.

So while Moncrieff, who is also a columnist for The Irish Times, rarely deals directly with news matters – unless reporting on them himself from the likes of Ukraine and Somalia – he still tackles contentious issues in an off-kilter manner. So the ongoing carnage in Gaza is addressed by the question he poses on Monday, with perhaps a tad too much gusto: “What would be the definition of what genocide is, and how does that differ from things like ethnic cleansing?”

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The ensuing interview with Prof Ray Murphy of the University of Galway looks at the case being taken by South Africa at the International Court of Justice against Israel for its destructive assault on the Palestinian enclave. Focusing on the legal definition of genocide and the practical outcomes of a guilty verdict, it’s an informative and deeply relevant conversation, but without the same crushing grimness that necessarily accompanies reports from Gaza. Moncrieff, one suspects, is mindful that his show represents an oasis from the woes of the world for many listeners.

Hence he also manages to fill his quota of weird animal stories, hearing about a robin getting caught on a glue trap in Kildare and about why the world’s reputed oldest dog may be posthumously stripped of his Guinness World Records title. As for Moncrieff, he may not be barking mad, but his show has its own particular bite.

There’s no such offbeat filtering of difficult topics on The Pat Kenny Show (Newstalk, weekdays). On Tuesday its roving correspondent Henry McKean reports from Roscrea, where the arrival of refugees at a nearby hotel results in a standoff between protesters and gardaí. McKean hears from locals outraged at what they see as the heavy-handed police response to their blockade. They complain that their town’s services are already at breaking point and that using the all-too-aptly named Racket Hall to house asylum seekers has robbed the area of its only hotel. At the same time, (nearly) all concerned loudly insist they’re not racist while expressing sorrow that migrant children were upset by the blockade. That said, McKean’s interviewees take an exculpatory view of their role in the matter, instead blaming the authorities for bringing children through their blockade.

As so often with reports on anti-immigrant demonstrations, it’s a dispiriting listen. One sympathises with grievances about the area’s lack of amenities and the perception that it is otherwise ignored by Government. But the voicing of undefined fears about young male arrivals and anecdotes of foreign nationals selling heroin have echoes of the sly old argument about migrants not assimilating.

While the bulk of McKean’s participants are Roscrea residents, he also talks to a man who has “no problem” with the term “far-right agitator”. This protester, who has travelled to Roscrea to join the blockade, unfavourably compares the Irish of today with those who fought for independence, decrying people now for lacking “backbone”. This conflates taking up arms against the world’s biggest empire with reducing children on a bus to tears, but it nonetheless gives a telling insight into the mindset of those extremist activists seeking to inflame local concerns about arriving refugees.

McKean’s vox pop gives an unmediated snapshot of the protesters’ concerns, allowing listeners to judge for themselves. It also dispels any gripes about such voices being silenced on mainstream media: at times over the past week it has seemed as if there were few others on the airwaves. (Some of the those featured in McKean’s segment are subsequently interviewed on RTÉ Radio 1′s Today With Claire Byrne.)

As for Pat Kenny, he’s on something of a roll, the unvarnished Roscrea report sitting alongside his rematch interview with the Israeli ambassador or his grilling of Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien. Now the host might consider bringing a few more migrant voices on to his show: having heard the views of protesters, it’s time to get the other side of the story.