Ryan Tubridy still has the Tiggerish verve and breezy name-drops. So why does it feel sour?Radio: An upbeat air on his London-based show contrasts with RTÉ’s continuing struggles Fri Aug 01 2025 - 05:11
Seán Rocks: Ireland has lost one of its great cultural championsLate broadcaster’s easy wit and big-hearted spirit belied a lifelong devotion to our rich cultureThu Jul 31 2025 - 11:41
Review: Pat Kenny gets curious, angry and finally jaundiced; an explosively argumentative DrivetimeRadio: If Kenny’s attitude to splashy Government spending plans is jaded, he sounds sickened by the horrors in GazaFri Jul 25 2025 - 06:00
Oliver Callan gets acidic about the Orange OrderRadio: The Radio 1 presenter is in jolly form during outside broadcasts, while Ray D’Arcy shows his serious sideFri Jul 18 2025 - 05:10
Ivan Yates swaps ranting for raving, showing unexpected knowledge of nightclubsRadio: Newstalk’s opinionated guest presenter bemoans young people’s abstemiousnessFri Jul 11 2025 - 05:00
Matt Cooper glugging wine and playing cards on air: who’d have thought?Radio: The Last Word host reveals his knowledge of wine and talent for fortune tellingFri Jul 04 2025 - 05:00
Joe Duffy’s last Liveline: A rare acerbic shot at the Taoiseach, then the fabled phone-in show goes full end-of-pierRadio: Saying goodbye with cabaret comedy rather than concerned callers, the departing host’s valedictory variety show is oddly appositeFri Jun 27 2025 - 18:04
Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman excel at jaded on-air grumblingRadio: Newstalk Breakfast duo adopt a resigned air while Joe Duffy celebrates his retirement with grim nostalgiaFri Jun 27 2025 - 05:00
‘Dublin city centre is turning into an unadulterated kip’: Joe Duffy’s Liveline highlightsThe veteran presenter was always adept at tapping into his audience’s concerns. People talked to Joe, after allWed Jun 25 2025 - 14:07
Cormac Ó hEadhra is a smart guy but he asks some pretty dumb questionsRadio: The RTÉ Drivetime host shouldn’t be startled by the number of people who prefer to avoid the newsFri Jun 20 2025 - 05:16
‘Burn them all out’: The prejudice bubbling under Ireland’s thin veneer of normalityRadio: Newstalk and RTÉ cover unrest in Ballymena and Los AngelesFri Jun 13 2025 - 05:00
‘God’s feet’ bring a pungent odour to Tom Dunne’s Newstalk studioRadio review: Helming proceedings at a leisurely, good-natured pace, Dunne makes Seán Moncrieff sound like a Stasi interrogator in comparisonFri Jun 06 2025 - 06:11
Midway through his interview with Brendan O’Connor, Bono confessesThe RTÉ Radio 1 host eventually asks if the U2 frontman was wrong to accept a medal from Joe Biden given US support for Israel’s invasion of GazaFri May 30 2025 - 05:00
Under cover of flimsy filler, Ray D’Arcy gets politicalRadio: Radio 1 host’s show lays it on thick and thin, while former boxer Bernard Dunne hears compelling tales of sporting highs and lowsFri May 23 2025 - 05:00
Even Claire Byrne is alarmed by what she hears about life for Irish teenagersRadio: ‘This was a tsunami coming our way,’ Dr Harry Barry tells the RTÉ Radio 1 presenterFri May 16 2025 - 05:30
Skorts: Newstalk’s Andrea Gilligan gives the Camogie Association’s pig-headedness short shriftRadio: The Newstalk host covers the camogie controversy in her signature styleFri May 09 2025 - 05:30
Joe Duffy retirement: Liveline host presided over Ireland’s court of public opinionThe departing RTÉ host gave witness to Irish life on his phone-in show and exits the stage as one of the most influential, and distinctive, figures in Irish broadcastingThu May 08 2025 - 19:40
Radio review: ‘It sounded like a big mosquito’ - anger over drones fills the airwaves Radio: RTÉ presenter is a likable substitute for Joe Duffy, while Newstalk’s Kieran Cuddihy launches an unusual free-speech crusadeFri May 02 2025 - 05:00
Death of Pope Francis: Derek Mooney leads RTÉ’s coverage to intermittently jaw-dropping effectRadio: The shocked host sounds vaguely peeved at the disruption to his wildlife specialFri Apr 25 2025 - 05:00
Radio review: Bertie Ahern’s talent for mangling everyday phrases is undimmedRadio: The former taoiseach joins former tánaiste Simon Coveney to analyse the turmoil surrounding Donald Trump’s tariffsFri Apr 18 2025 - 05:00
Oliver Callan’s mood darkens: ‘In this incredibly rich country of ours we get this’Radio: RTÉ host hears about waiting-list misery as Kieran Cuddihy exchanges tart words with Minister for HealthFri Apr 11 2025 - 05:00
Pat Kenny unleashes on ‘dictatorial and despotic’ Donald TrumpRadio: The Newstalk host rejects the Tánaiste’s tact as a trade war looms, and a poetic Drama on One provides welcome inspirationFri Apr 04 2025 - 05:00
Radio review: No sheepishness as Katie Hannon decries bleating TDsRadio: Liveline guest host adoitly covers Dáil speaking-time fiasco as political divisions are laid bare on DrivetimeFri Mar 28 2025 - 05:00
Radio review: Newstalk Breakfast duo Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly make for sane companyRadio: Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly remain reassuringly sensible presenters, while Ivan Yates plays puckish guest hostFri Mar 21 2025 - 05:00
Claire Byrne’s inner klaxons sound when a former Trump ambassador raises Enoch Burke’s imprisonmentRadio: Michaél Martin’s White House visit gives a dispiriting glimpse of the prism through which the Maga movement sees IrelandFri Mar 14 2025 - 05:20
As Fergus Finlay and Tom Clonan’s spat escalates, Sarah McInerney relishes the radio goldRadio: The whiff of cordite in the RTÉ studio is strong enough to warrant a UN peacekeeping mandate of its ownFri Mar 07 2025 - 06:00
Carl, Roz & Aisling’s on-air vibes trump cookie-cutter formulas on 2FM’s new breakfast showRadio: The new presenters get off to the good start the station needs after the calamity of its biggest stars leaving in a single weekFri Feb 28 2025 - 05:00
Doireann Garrihy restores some celeb lustre to troubled 2FM with larky verve Radio: The host, who quit the RTÉ station nine months ago, triggering an exodus, is back in the drivetime seatTue Feb 25 2025 - 05:32
‘Would the credit union give me a loan?’: Joe Duffy gets constructive about garden cabin housing planRadio: Liveline host also celebrates the work of neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire with enlightening, even inspiring discussionsFri Feb 21 2025 - 05:00
‘If the asteroid hits Dublin, everything is gone’: A chastened Kieran Cuddihy hears about the end of the world Radio review: Odds of its hitting Earth turn out to be far shorter than those of winning Newstalk’s Cash Machine contestFri Feb 14 2025 - 05:10
Radio review: Seán Moncrieff’s on-air persona cracks, and a dishwasher meltdown followsRadio: Newstalk host Seán Moncrieff is at his best when discussing niche subjects that allow stimulating digressionsFri Feb 07 2025 - 05:00
Radio review: Ray D’Arcy conjures up a Storm Éowyn image that would leave anyone feeling disconcertedRadio: At least the RTÉ host is doing his bit to help out. Government Ministers seem caught in the headlightsFri Jan 31 2025 - 05:00
As Claire Byrne gets caught up in the Leinster House chaos, Richard Boyd Barrett almost chokes on his outrageRadio: Reporter Barry Lenihan colourfully describes the political spectacle as having ‘descended into scenes more akin to Camden Street at 2am on a Saturday night’Fri Jan 24 2025 - 05:00
Pat Kenny’s outrage at imaginary injustices raises his show to jaw-dropping heightsRadio: The veteran presenter grows ever more outraged by imaginary injustices as he highlights potential shortcomings of the new builders’ registerFri Jan 17 2025 - 05:00
Winter wedge issue: On Oliver Callan, icy weather is one of Ireland’s ever-growing urban-rural dividesRadio: ‘I can tell you Dublin is getting off very lightly in the cold snap so far,’ Oliver Callan notes on Tuesday’s show, ‘much to our relief here’Fri Jan 10 2025 - 05:00
‘It’s the first compliment I’ve got in 48 years.’ David O’Doherty and his dad’s familial jam isn’t overly sweetDavid O’Doherty and His Dad Do Jazz is joyful, offbeat radio that’s perfect for any seasonFri Jan 03 2025 - 05:35
When Claire Byrne confronts Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary on RTÉ, the atmosphere is seriously tetchyRadio 1 host clashes with airline boss over high airfares, while Ray D’Arcy captures a frazzled festive atmosphereFri Dec 20 2024 - 05:00
2024 in radio: chaotic exodus of Doireann Garrihy, Jennifer Zamparelli and the 2 Johnnies hangs over 2FMMany presenters left RTÉ's pop station but Radio 1 had a much more stable year and Newstalk sailed serenely on. The online sphere and the threat of podcasts looms ever largerSat Dec 14 2024 - 05:15
Radio review: At Newstalk, Ciara Kelly gets righteously annoyedThe breakfast host seems to court listeners who once complained about the PC brigade but now prefer to decry the woke mobFri Dec 13 2024 - 05:00
Radio review: A darkly farcical incident on Liveline ends up exposing a hot-button issueRadio: The Liveline host gleefully performs the audio equivalent of nudges and winks after a general-election weekend that leaves him hoarseFri Dec 06 2024 - 05:30
Radio review: Newstalk’s interview with Gerry Hutch is an anticlimax after Kevin Myers’s inflammatory opinions fill the airRadio: The Hard Shoulder host Kieran Cuddihy gives his guest’s talent for inflammatory opinions full rein – all while discussing his favourite booksFri Nov 29 2024 - 05:00
Radio review: Ray D’Arcy offers an intriguing glimpse into a dirty industryRadio: When the RTÉ host talks to Pat and Aisling Ryan, it’s an intriguing glimpse into an unseen and unglamorous yet vital industryFri Nov 22 2024 - 05:00
Radio review: Matt Cooper gets strict as election campaign tempers flare over immigrationRadio: Today FM host bemoans uneventful general election, as Pat Kenny hears two sides of the charged migrant issueFri Nov 15 2024 - 05:00
Sage Bertie Ahern, wry Joe Duffy and stoned-sounding Irish Maga fan: Radio reactions to Trump’s US election winRadio: Ciara Kelly hears differing takes on Trump victory while Kieran Cuddihy meets jubilant Maga fans in New YorkFri Nov 08 2024 - 05:00
Radio review: Being interviewed on national radio is hard, especially when the host is RTÉ Drivetime's Cormac Ó hEadhraRadio: The combative RTÉ host is good-naturedly determined to come out on top in a grilling about Dutch dairy produce in Irish schoolsFri Nov 01 2024 - 05:00
Joe Duffy’s Liveline can sound unmoored when not anchored by weighty subjectsRTÉ presenter hears rambling nostalgia and minor gripes, while Myles Dungan keeps history freshFri Oct 25 2024 - 05:00
‘Your phone’s probably bugged’: how a joke became a life-changing nightmare for Trevor BirneyJournalist, who also produced Kneecap and RTÉ's Seán Quinn documentary, has written a book on a decade of delving into the 1994 Loughinisland massacreSat Oct 19 2024 - 18:22
Savaged by Anton: Easy questions for Seán O’Rourke, gentle inquisition for Lynn BoylanRadio: The former RTÉ presenter joins Anton Savage on Newstalk. Sinn Féin is under fire everywhereFri Oct 18 2024 - 05:00
Pat Kenny stokes fears of dystopian Dublin with accounts of rampant criminalityRadio: The Newstalk host hears lurid tales of urban crime. Over on Today FM, Matt Cooper has a more upbeat take on the capital’s futureFri Oct 11 2024 - 05:00
Radio review: Plodding Jack Chambers makes Paschal Donohoe sound like an unhinged Donald TrumpRadio review: With robust public finances allowing Ministers a Teflon complacency, the fireworks of old are missing from the post-budget airwavesFri Oct 04 2024 - 05:00
