“Just what does the spooky season mean in 2025?” So asks Pat Kenny (Newstalk, weekdays) on Wednesday. Given the times we’re living through, it’s the kind of open-ended question that could invite all manner of chilling answers. As it turns out, Kenny is introducing an item by reporter Sarah Madden on Halloween customs past and present, which covers Samhain celebrations in chipper fashion. Listeners who enjoy a good fright at this time of year need not fret, however, as Kenny has plenty of scary material to hand.
Accordingly, the host hears from American journalist Terry Sheridan about the terrifyingly destructive potential of Hurricane Melissa, and talks to Prof Paul Rogers of Bradford University about the latest horrors to befall Gaza. These items are suitably grim, but perhaps more disturbing are Kenny’s discussions on ominous changes in societal behaviour.
On Tuesday, the host speaks to Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri of the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council, about how hate speech is escalating racial tensions in Ireland. In the light of a new EU report recommending legislation on such speech, Dr Al-Qadri recounts his own experience of being abused on a flight from Poland: he reported the passenger to aircrew but did not press charges, preferring “healing and understanding” to escalation.
But it is not an isolated incident. “Racism and hate-based insults are becoming very normalised, unfortunately,” says Al-Qadri, who thinks the proliferation of hate speech is increasing extremism and racist attacks, as well as undermining social cohesion: “In the past two or three years, I’ve seen the country changing rapidly.” It’s a disturbing segment, which Kenny handles with awareness and forthrightness, though there’s the odd awkward moment. He recounts the vile insults aimed at his guest to highlight the “grossly offensive” nature of the abuse, but it feels somewhat unnecessary.
Pat Kenny’s unguarded observations are now almost endearing
Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to stream in November
Hector OZ/NZ review: Not original but comfort telly that hits the spot more than it misses
Patrick Freyne’s guide to the biggest horror TV shows, from Stranger Things to Sesame Street
But that’s the price of open discussion. Al-Qadri supports hate speech legislation – to draw a line between criticism and incitement rather shut down debate, he says – but thinks it important to hear out people’s concerns about immigration. “They need space to have dialogue,” he says. “If you do not engage with people, there is only more misunderstanding.” Kenny may not always take the subtle approach, but he isn’t one to avoid difficult conversations.
The host examines another very contemporary, very corrosive issue on Wednesday, when he examines the phenomenon of toxic masculinity. Reporter Dylan Hand tells Kenny about the so-called manosphere, the ill-defined online world where influencers spew out “misogynistic and homophobic material under the guise of self-improvement” for an often impressionable audience of young men. Family therapist Richard Hogan, meanwhile, deems such influencers “grifters” and draws attention to the troubling prevalence of online porn among boys, but equally is wary about painting males as inherently malevolent: “We want to celebrate our boys.”
Kenny deserves credit for dealing with the subject, but it’s a somewhat baggy, shapeless item, more primer than analysis. As so often, the host’s unwitting disregard for tact comes to the rescue. When Hogan worries that pejorative language affects how people talk about each other, Kenny ventures that matters have improved since his schooldays. “If someone was a little bit on the skinny or chubby side, they got nicknamed accordingly,” he cheerily recalls, “Or someone wearing glasses was ‘speccy four-eyes’.” Once upon a time, such moments might have been cringeworthy or even creepy, but with Kenny’s tenure on his weekday slot coming to a close, his unguarded observations are now almost endearing: less trick than treat.
Change is afoot too on Drivetime (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), with current co-anchors Cormac Ó hEadhra and Sarah McInerney due to be replaced by Katie Hannon and Colm Ó Mongáin. As a consequence, a slightly jerry-rigged air prevails on the show: with both McInerney and Ó hEadhra sporadic presences during the midterm break, a skeleton crew helps take the slack, starting with Barry Lenihan on bank holiday Monday.
But it’s Claire Brock who does the most heavy lifting. A regular stand-in for McInerney since the summer, Brock steers the show in a solo capacity on Wednesday, in time to interview RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst on the network’s annual report. It’s not quite a case of an intern grilling the boss on the accounts – formerly a presenter of The Tonight Show on Virgin Media TV, Brock is an experienced current affairs broadcaster – but it’s still a pretty thankless task. (Coincidentally, Brock’s erstwhile on-screen colleague Ciara Doherty is helming Newstalk’s rival show The Hard Shoulder for the week.)
After the obligatory mantras about institutional trust and transparency, Bakhurst is quizzed by Brock about eight irregular pension top-ups revealed in the report. The DG’s briskly explanatory manner suggests he’d rather talk about RTÉ’s recent fiscal surplus; but while the payments may seem like minor distractions in the greater scheme of things (albeit with large sums), they remain emblematic of wider failings, à la the Leinster House bicycle shed.
In a further sign of the times, Brock raises the point that the list of RTÉ’s 10 highest earners is now dominated by executives rather than presenters, with the director general himself topping the chart. In response, Bakhurst praises his team, citing their performance in a “very competitive market”. Fair enough, but it’s nonetheless notable that while the RTÉ supremo lauds individual executives, he scarcely mentions the network’s creative talent: an odd omission, given they’re the main reason audiences tune in to begin with.
The one exception is Ray D’Arcy, whose acrimonious exit from Radio 1 is raised by Brock. Bakhurst is diplomatic in tone – “I feel sorry personally for Ray”- but resolute in his defence of how the presenter’s departure was handled. “It’s always difficult when you make changes,” he says. True, though again one can’t help noticing that those at executive level appear to have landed in comfy lifeboats when waters get choppy. Brock, who navigates her way through the interview’s trickier straits without any major mishaps, asks if Bakhurst has spoken to D’Arcy. “No,” comes the succinct reply. No difficult conversations here.
Moment of the Week
Ever alive to potentially mischievous items, Seán Moncrieff (Newstalk, weekdays) sounds particularly gleeful when talking to Italian academic Simone Sulpizio about a new study into swearing across different cultures. Surveying profanities across 17 countries, Sulpizio spots common characteristics – every language uses slurs and sexually-related insults – as well as distinctive traits. Blasphemy, for example, is only widespread in Italy, while Thai and Chinese curses often relate to families. Germans, meanwhile, deploy a rich variety of insults, thanks partly to the language’s use of compound word. Thus Moncrieff suggests that Germany is best at swearing, much as the country once was world champion in other spheres. His guest demurs, opting for another national stereotype. “I wouldn’t know if they’re the best ones or not,” Sulpizio chuckles, “but they’re the most productive.”
