As if the skies opening and the schools returning aren’t reminder enough that summer is drawing to a close, up pops RTÉ’s Claire Byrne with a question that definitively dispels any lingering trace of carefree holiday vibes.
“The plague: is it back?” the host asks on Wednesday’s Today with Claire Byrne (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), her tone disconcertingly cheerful considering the disease killed off a third of Europe’s population during the Black Death.
The air of incipient dread isn’t helped by the fact that Byrne is joined by Luke O’Neill, the Trinity College Dublin biochemistry professor who was a daily fixture on the airwaves during the dark days of Covid.
As back then, O’Neill is in jaunty form as he parses this new outbreak of bubonic plague, mercifully confined to one person in California infected by a flea bite. “The good news is antibiotics kill it. It’s not like it was in medieval times,” he explains, lest anyone is tempted to start hoarding toilet paper and quicklime.
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RTÉ’s Claire Byrne asks a question that dispels any trace of carefree holiday vibes
Having allayed fears of impending doom, host and guest move the discussion on to the similarly jolly territory of climate change, with O’Neill suggesting that mosquitoes are likely now present in Ireland because of warmer weather. “I’m delighted to hear this,” Byrne chirps, again displaying a talent for incongruity, “because I’ve been telling everyone there are mosquitoes here this summer”.
It’s left to her guest to relate some actual good news: that any mosquitoes in Ireland don’t carry disease – so far anyway.
He also foresees a dividend for tourism as destinations such as Spain and Portugal experience soaring temperatures: “They won’t be going to Mallorca any more. They’ll be coming to Donegal or Galway in their droves.” At least until they see the prices here, which can be truly frightening.
Mostly, however, Byrne deals with more prosaic seasonal concerns, whether it’s the logistics of children returning to classrooms or the anxiety of school leavers awaiting college offers. The host is in upbeat mood as she talks to the author and chef Lou Robbie about preparing school lunches, even declaring herself a fan of her guest’s Instagram account, but adopts a more serious approach when discussing Central Applications Office (CAO) offers.
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Indeed, as she notes that a growing population and grade inflation have caused points to increase for many courses, the host sounds more sombre than she did when discussing the potential re-emergence of a deadly pandemic.
That aside, it’s an enlightening discussion, not just for anxious CAO candidates but also for the general listener. Prof David Malone of Maynooth University outlines how the “population bubble” caused by increased births between 2005 and 2010 has placed pressure on the number of third level places available, with the situation unlikely to improve until 2028. “If you’re banking on the population going down in the next couple of years, no,” Malone says. That’s assuming the plague doesn’t have other ideas, of course.
Over on The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, weekdays), Kieran Cuddihy is exercised by the shortage of places at another educational level. On Monday the host hears Josh Crosbie report how 40,000 children nationwide are on waiting lists for crèches. Childcare providers point to staffing as a big obstacle to alleviating the problem, with qualified creche workers seeking pay parity with teachers.
Rather than increasing salaries, however, Cuddihy floats another solution. “There is an alternative: you get rid of the need for all those qualifications,” he suggests, quietly chuckling at his own divilment. “Do we need to pay creche workers the same as teachers, or are creche workers overqualified in Ireland?”
As the host acknowledges, this may not be a good idea, but he says he’s raising it in the interests of debate. When one childcare worker texts to defend her profession, however, Cuddihy sounds more combative, as he points to the children minded in home settings: “Is it your contention that those kids are going to be held back in school because they haven’t been exposed to this amazing utopian atmosphere of education?” To hear such superciliousness from the usually personable host comes as a disappointing jolt.
In mitigation, Cuddihy is self-aware enough to admit that his contentious proposal has “opened a can of worms”. More crucially, when he returns to the issue the following day it’s in a spirit of investigation rather than provocation, as he talks to Elaine Dunne of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers and to Alison Pasquier, a primary school principal.
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Unsurprisingly, Dunne disagrees that childcare workers are overqualified, highlighting the importance of training in understanding child development. Speaking from a teacher’s perspective, Pasquier testifies that “early education isn’t babysitting, it’s laying the foundation of learning”. While noting that “there’s lots to be gained from being at home with mum”, the principal emphasises that new pupils from early-education settings are more practised at socialisation and sharing.
None of which solves the shortage of childcare places. Dunne says there’s a scarcity of crèches in some areas and an oversupply in others, which only serves to highlight the jerry-rigged nature of Ireland’s childcare system, where Government-funded early-education schemes are bolted on to a private system facing the pressures of a business.
Either way, what starts out as gleeful mischief-making by the host turns into a valuable examination of the sector, raising more questions along the way.
Cuddihy is in more wistful form on Wednesday, during Jessica Woodlock’s report on the first day of school for junior infants in Co Louth. “That’s lovely to hear,” he says of the contributions from teachers and parents. But, as the host notes, this day represents a landmark of another kind: “These are Covid babies.”
With children born during lockdown now reaching school age, the ramifications of the restrictions of their early years are becoming clear. The child psychologist Dr Elaine McCarthy tells Woodlock that this generation, having often been confined to home, can have higher levels of separation anxiety as well as greater challenges with behavioural and developmental issues. In short, many are “less ready” for school. Even amid the usual emotions that accompany the end of summer, the legacy of Covid continues to plague us.
Moment of the week
A broadcaster of the hail-fellow-well-met school, Anton Savage (Newstalk, weekends) is even more clubbable than usual when he chats to Fiachna Ó Braonáin, the Hothouse Flowers guitarist, on Saturday. As he recalls his life with the band, Ó Braonáin reminds listeners that he’s a radio natural himself: he can be heard earlier that morning as guest host on RTÉ Radio 1’s Rising Time.
Savage sounds enthused by his guest’s anecdotes, even when he’s bemoaning the lack of family communication when touring in the pre-internet age. “But I assume you were neck-deep in booze and groupies,” Savage quips. “Erm, knee-deep,” Ó Braonáin replies, a tad coyly. “You wouldn’t have time for that, because you’re heading off to the next town.” What happens on the road ...
