"A lot of people think that RTÉ news is incredibly serious," RTÉ deputy director general Kevin Bakhurst noted at the RTÉ Player International launch by way of an opening line. "I have to say that most of this morning's news conference was dominated by a discussion of a weasel riding on the back of a woodpecker."

Indeed, the weasel story – a startling, amateur wildlife photograph that went viral – had been covered on Radio 1's News at One the day before, which meant, of course, that presenter Áine Lawlor had to explain the image to listeners. "By the way, we've tweeted this . . . It's amazing, so it's become the talking point of the day – not the stripey dress, but a weasel," Lawlor said, the dress being a reference to the previous week's media meme.

After discussing the image’s authenticity with a professional photographer, she signed off the item with: “Have a look at it anyway, if you can get yourself to a phone or a TV screen, some way of looking at that picture.” But don’t go turning off the radio, presumably . . .