It’s hard to hoodwink Pat Kenny. But this week he sounded strangely naive about politicsRadio: Newstalk’s seasoned broadcaster was probably kicking himself for an uncharacteristic misfiring over Paschal Donohoe’s election expensesFri Jan 27 2023 - 05:00
A Brad Pitt lesson in making the most of a brief encounter with a Hollywood starRadio: Ireland is beautiful, Bono’s extraordinary – Dermot and Dave masterfully spin a five-minute chat into a three-hour show on Today FMFri Jan 20 2023 - 05:00
Nose picking, pimple squeezing and expectorating: Newstalk’s stomach-turning breakfast radioCiara Kelly and Shane Coleman test their listeners’ appetites, but their theatrical chalk-and-cheese act is strangely comfortingFri Jan 13 2023 - 05:00
Jolly Marty’s new year cheer is quickly displaced by Liveline tales of hospital horrorsRadio: Marty Morrissey’s on-air geniality fades from memory as Katie Hannon hears callers’ stories of woeFri Jan 06 2023 - 05:00
Ronan Collins’s voice catches, then he weeps for a moment before signing off after 37 yearsRTÉ DJ is not the only one shedding a tear, judging by the correspondence he has received since announcing he’d be stepping down from his Radio 1 showFri Dec 23 2022 - 14:31
RTÉ’s historic changing of the guard is going off without a hitch. Well, almostAs Ronan Collins prepares for his final regular weekday show on Radio 1, Montrose management has been solving the succession questionThu Dec 22 2022 - 05:00
Cormac Ó hEadhra’s mad scientist comes out to play on DrivetimeRadio: The Drivetime host is enjoyably giddy presenting solo this week, but a special zing returns when he’s side by side with his cohost Sarah McInerneyFri Dec 16 2022 - 05:00
Normality bites: falling audiences and stagnant schedules challenge post-pandemic radioRadio review of 2022: RTÉ stations lost listenership as lockdown eased and interests fractured, while Today FM and Newstalk were stable without being stagnantSat Dec 10 2022 - 05:00
Ryan Tubridy bores into Wonderful Life stories Radio 1 host successfully uses his cultural obsessions to draw out a guest, and there’s a rare outbreak of optimism on LivelineFri Dec 09 2022 - 05:00
Unapologetic, unrepentant and scornful, Seán Moncrieff hits his strideRadio: The host’s off-beam but engaging broadcasting style has seen him become Newstalk’s most durable fixtureFri Dec 02 2022 - 05:00
‘Compare the cowardice of Harry Kane and his chums to the Iranian team they played against’Radio: The England soccer team’s abortive armband protest in Qatar exercises the Newstalk host Kieran CuddihyFri Nov 25 2022 - 05:00
Matt Cooper rarely makes a slip on The Last Word. But this week he FX up Radio: That a minor error is even notable testifies to the steady, assured way the journalist has hosted Today FM’s drivetime show for nearly 20 yearsFri Nov 18 2022 - 05:00
Raw tales from Blackrock College are as disturbing as anything from the Magdalene laundriesRadio: Liveline and Documentary on One’s cataloguing of sexual abuse is public-service broadcasting in the truest senseFri Nov 11 2022 - 06:03
Gut-wrenching, essential radio: Blackrock College sexual abuse accounts are tough to listen to Radio review: Documentary on One recounts the horrific experiences of Dublin brothers Mark and David Ryan at the hands of a trusted priestTue Nov 08 2022 - 13:05
Ian Dempsey is in his usual irrepressibly good cheer. Then he drops the H-bomb Radio: It’s a shock to hear the habitually buoyant Today FM presenter express hatred on Wednesday morning’s breakfast showFri Nov 04 2022 - 05:00
‘This is the grimmest item we’ve ever done, but we’re laughing. It’s Irish people’s idea of entertainment’Radio: Brendan O’Connor ranges across social, political and deeply personal matters with John Banville, Tara Flynn and Rory O’NeillFri Oct 28 2022 - 05:45
Flippant filler and hot-button issues: Joe Duffy brings us the upmarket tabloid of Irish radioRadio: On Liveline, the midweek downpours bring out Duffy’s inner stand-up, as he showers listeners with permachuckling bonhomieFri Oct 21 2022 - 05:00
‘In the 1980s, almost everyone in the National Front came from an Irish family’Author and activist Matthew Collins was once a self-described ‘bootboy’ who grew disenchanted with his erstwhile comradesMon Oct 17 2022 - 05:20
Ooh ah... Ireland’s World Cup party seems well and truly poopedRadio review: The celebrations of the Republic of Ireland women’s soccer team reverberated across Newstalk’s programmes this weekFri Oct 14 2022 - 05:00
George Hook, bumptious and off-colour, returns to NewstalkRadio: The retired presenter divides opinion, as always, but he brings a palpable lift to Newstalk BreakfastFri Oct 07 2022 - 05:00
Jennifer Zamparelli doesn’t normally censor herself. Then she reaches a line she won’t crossThe RTÉ 2FM host’s personal taboo might seem curiously genteel for a broadcaster with such an irreverently lippy personaFri Sept 30 2022 - 05:30
‘It’s like a different planet,’ says an awestruck Ray D’Arcy. ‘You have to experience it for yourself’Radio: The National Ploughing Championships is a fixture on the airwaves for the first time since 2019Fri Sept 23 2022 - 05:00
We Are an Archipelago review: Island lives collide in an entrancing performance piece Dublin Fringe Festival 2022: Blending poetry with music, Erin Fornoff weaves a beguiling tale of an unlikely friendshipWed Sept 21 2022 - 10:06
Drivetime encounters are often bruising. This week they turn particularly fractiousRadio review: A tetchy tone runs through Cormac Ó hEadhra’s discussion with Neale Richmond and Richard Boyd Barrett of rising energy costsFri Sept 16 2022 - 05:00
Hotel Happiness: Big ideas get lost in an anticlimactic productionDublin Fringe Festival 2022: Despite its intriguing premise, Chaos Factory’s two-handed drama is disappointingly prosaicTue Sept 13 2022 - 09:25
Oops, This Is Toxic review: Candid revelations and cultural observations make for a riotous comic show Dublin Fringe Festival 2022: Comedian Julie Jay uses a conventional stand-up format to deliver uncomfortable truths and irresistible laughsMon Sept 12 2022 - 13:03
Pig Brain review: Dystopian farce takes aim at online paranoia and digital moresDublin Fringe Festival 2022: Ambitious drama promises more than it delivers but is powered by Emma Finegan’s kinetic performanceMon Sept 12 2022 - 11:13
In the face of horror, Claire Byrne is calm, Ryan Tubridy uncharacteristically emotionalRadio review: Byrne manages to find some light relief in a week of unimaginable darknessFri Sept 09 2022 - 05:00
Sean Spicer on Newstalk: An intriguing interview with Trump’s disarmingly gormless press guyRadio review: Kieran Cuddihy's interview with the ex-White House press secretary lacked his usual peppery zealFri Sept 02 2022 - 05:00
There’s a frisson of one-upmanship between Ryan Tubridy and Joe DuffyRadio review: Tubridy favours portentousness, Duffy a more personal angle. One works better than the other for their Michael Collins commemorationsFri Aug 26 2022 - 05:00
With his jaundiced eye and sarky humour, it’s business as usual for Brendan O’Connor. Then his poise deserts himRadio review: The Radio 1 presenter keeps his head when all about him are losing theirs. But awkwardness can creep inFri Jul 29 2022 - 05:00
‘Witch with a capital B’: Edwina Currie takes aim at Liz Truss on NewstalkRadio review: The former Conservative MP was one of Pat Kenny’s guests this weekFri Jul 22 2022 - 01:10
Ryan Tubridy, always ready to laugh at himself, confesses he’s a big fan of the Trumps Radio review: RTÉ presenter laughs at nerdy pastimes but wears his values on his sleeve, while Matt Cooper gets mad as hellFri Jul 15 2022 - 05:00
‘I’m going to call it a day’: Boris Johnson’s father Stanley gets a grilling on Newstalk Radio review: Jonathan Healy interrogates Johnson about his son, in a striking piece of radioFri Jul 08 2022 - 06:24
Claire Byrne, now free of TV, delivers deft radio Radio review: When a prime time RTÉ slot becomes vacant, Katie Hannon is ready for itFri Jul 01 2022 - 06:00
Ray D’Arcy dives into a particularly piddling subject, even by his standardsRadio review: The RTÉ host needn’t sweat the wee stuff given visits by the A-listers Jessie Buckley and Marian KeyesFri Jun 24 2022 - 06:00
Joe Duffy sounds wounded after Liveline’s transgender discussion. Selflessness or a self-inflicted injury?Radio review: Joe Duffy courts controversy but sounds wounded as contentious discussion draws fireFri Jun 17 2022 - 06:15
The Jackie Healy-Rae way to liven up a three-hour radio showRadio review: Newstalk presenter sometimes hits the wall in his lengthy show, while Pat Kenny can still go the distanceFri Jun 10 2022 - 05:00
Dublin Airport delays: ‘Major catastrophe’ or ‘first-world problem’? Cormac Ó hEadhra grilled guests and Joe Duffy calmed listeners on radio this weekFri Jun 03 2022 - 05:00
With Joe Duffy frequently absent, Katie Hannon sounds increasingly at home on LivelineRadio: Liveline’s guest host dissects the aftermath of the Texas school shootingFri May 27 2022 - 05:00
Pat Kenny’s bad news diet: ‘There’s only so much you can take’Radio Review: Newstalk host tackles tricky topics in characteristic fashionFri May 20 2022 - 05:00
Today with Claire Byrne can sound more like a Dáil committee than a flagship radio showRadio: She’s an assured interrogator of current affairs, but a certain stolidity creeps inFri May 13 2022 - 05:00
Stephen Donnelly and Simon Harris get a breakfast grilling on Morning IrelandRadio: The Ministers are unconvincing despite – or because of – their detailed explanationsFri May 06 2022 - 05:00
Lucy Kennedy and Colm Hayes don’t sound like they miss RTÉ at allRadio: The hard-working Classic Hits duo are just different enough to create on-air chemistryFri Apr 29 2022 - 00:00
Anton Savage always sounded incongruous on Today FM. He’s found his voice on NewstalkRadio: The Saturday morning host provides an agreeable start to the weekendFri Apr 22 2022 - 05:00
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
