Isn’t every day comic relief day on RTÉ?
Ashmawy joins previously announced hosts Deirdre O’Kane, Nicky Byrne, Jennifer Zamparelli and Eoghan McDermott
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I’ll be disappointed if Syl Fox doesn’t make the line up.
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Alison Spittle is 1/50 to make an appearance
The 2020 COTY winner will come from this show.
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Does Joe Duffy still have Funny Fridays?
Bring it to the screen, give the people what they want
I was at White Hart Lane on Boxing Day 1985 when a rare and late Steve Perryman goal inflicted a 1-0 defeat on the Hammers. West Ham were flying going into that, hadn’t lost since August. I think they lost possibly 3 of their next 4 after that. In a season where they finished in 3rd, just 4 points off the top, it was really that Boxing Day defeat to Spurs that derailed West Ham title ambitions.
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When and what is boxing day?
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Wow
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And that probably doesn’t include the tax dodgers who aren’t employees but contracted consultants like Joe
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Will they do a prime time expose of the meat factories next week or just pick on a few more pubs?
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Depends what Larry says.
Tubbers and Darcy earn as much as the 5th and 6th highest earners on the bbc.
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Worth every penny
You don’t want them poached
You have to pay the big bucks to keep the talent.
Mick Heaney (son of Seamus) had a right crack at Darcy on Saturday
Listless Ray D’Arcy increasingly adrift in a sea of fresh voices
The staleness of the presenter’s sweet ‘n’ sour format is a long-running concern
Updated: Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 06:42
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It’s not a good look when a high-profile broadcaster like Ray D’Arcy can’t be bothered to hide his lethargy as he does his well-remunerated job
Just when you thought this year couldn’t get any worse, along comes the first news bulletin of the week. “Pull the duvet back up,” says Audrey Carville on Monday’s Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), “Brexit’s back.”
Even with new coronavirus restrictions looming as case numbers rise, the much-unloved soap opera that is the UK’s long goodbye to the European Union continues its interminable run, once again dominating news and current affairs shows as Boris Johnson’s government threatens to break the treaty it signed only last year. Carville captures the national mood of eye-rolling ennui when she adds: “Your holiday from Brexit is over.”
But there’s no need to panic, if the reaction of Ray D’Arcy ( RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays ) is anything to go by. Even as the politics of 2019 and the pandemic of 2020 turn the week into a real-life Venn diagram of nightmarish woes, the presenter shrugs in apathy. “Do you ever get those ‘nyeh’ days? I’m having a ‘nyeh’ day,” says D’Arcy, without defining what he’s talking about, though it’s probably what Americans would call a “meh” day. “I’ve nothing to complain about at all,” he adds, ascribing his demeanour to “the weather, the evenings closing in, Monday, all that sort of stuff”.
D’Arcy’s frank admission could be seen as an instinctive everyman touch – who doesn’t struggle to find their mojo, even during the most dramatic of times? Equally, it’s not a good look when a high-profile broadcaster can’t be bothered to hide his lethargy as he does his well-remunerated job. But it’s symptomatic of the aimless and indeed listless atmosphere that often pervades D’Arcy’s afternoon slot.
There are intriguing items on the show. On Tuesday, the host talks to Anthony Clery and Maria Gemayal, whose newlywed life in Beirut was shattered by the explosion that devastated the Lebanese capital last month. Their account of the blast’s aftermath is gory but gripping. Maria just missed being seriously injured, while Anthony was covered in blood after their apartment windows were blown out: he still has shards of glass embedded in his feet.
With their home destroyed, both are now living in Ireland, prompting D’Arcy to remark that Maria was lucky to have met Anthony: “He’s your knight in shining armour to bring you back to Bray.” It’s not the most sensitive thing to say to someone forced to leave their homeland, but otherwise the host is an attentive listener as the catastrophic tale unfolds.
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Elsewhere, D’Arcy talks to psychiatrist Dr John Kelly about a new clinical trial to determine whether depression can be treated with psilocybin, the chemical compound that imbues “magic mushrooms” with the Paul Daniels touch. The host eschews a sensationalist approach to the story, his interest sounding more piqued than usual as Kelly explains how psychedelics may help alleviate depression. There’s also delicate discussion around the abuse of such psychoactive substances and the ethical and legal issues that it raises: magic mushrooms are illegal, listeners are reminded.
Despite these and other stimulating items, such as an interview with a woman who lost her mother to coronavirus (D’Arcy doesn’t completely ignore the subject), the show is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Just when he seems to be getting in a groove, whether talking about ‘shrooms or chatting with author Carl Honore about the benefits of slowing our lives down, the host has to move on to segments on TikTok videos or DIY television programmes.
But while the staleness of his show’s sweet ‘n’ sour format is a long-running concern, D’Arcy now also seems increasingly adrift in a Radio 1 schedule freshened up by new voices. In this regard, D’Arcy has some cause for complaint, despite his protestations to the contrary. But expressing how jaded you feel is an odd way to make the case for your relevance.
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Even that article is dull
Mick is a dull writer.
He was perfect to assess that dull cunt so