‘I’d say the f***er would have come through the window’: angry bulls test Colm Ó Mongáin on Liveline

As someone who spends his working life dealing with the obfuscations of politicians, Colm Ó Mongáin is presumably used to putting up with a lot of bull. But surely nothing can have prepared him for his stint on Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays). Seconded from his role as presenter of Radio 1 current affairs show The Late Debate to stand in for Joe Duffy – a regular occurrence of late – Ó Mongáin hears of narrow escapes from angry bulls and stampeding cows. But there’s also a canine element to these accounts of bovine menace, as the more colourful stories veer into shaggy dog territory, even by Liveline’s non-linear standards.

Tuesday’s show starts on a serious note, with Cork farmer Peter telling Ó Mongáin how he was attacked by a bull. “I thought it was all over,” says Peter, though luckily the animal had no horns: “Big solid head, thank God.” Despite his close shave, Peter recalls the incident in lighthearted manner: being covered in manure helps speed progress through A&E, apparently.

The tone changes when Ó Mongáin’s next caller, Tom, joins the conversation. “I won’t stay talking,” Tom says, misleadingly. Until this point, there’s a been a vague public service undertone to proceedings, but from here on it’s unabashedly escapist entertainment, albeit inadvertently. Tom gives tips on how to bring relief to aching bones – a paste made from the wildflower comfrey and poitín – before launching into his own tale of a scrape with a bull, going off in all manner of directions in the process: his narrative has more diversions than a county council roadworks project. He tells of encountering an angry bull while working on a bog, before hiding in an abandoned digger to escape his attacker. “I’d say the f***er would have come through the window,” Tom cheerfully recalls.

To his credit, Ó Mongáin almost succeeds in concealing his chuckles as this unfolds, but also has the nous to hang back while his guest spins his yarn, intervening only when the anecdotal tangents threaten to hit a dead end. Indeed, he handles the whole programme with dexterity, unfazed by Peter’s descriptions of artificial insemination or Tom’s salty language. One can imagine Duffy adopting a different tenor in such instances.

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Ó Mongáin has an appealingly understated manner, able to shift from current affairs discussions to daffily meandering chats without grinding the gears

It’s been a busy few months for Ó Mongáin, who has become a conspicuous presence on Radio 1 since taking over from Katie Hannon on both the Late Debate and the Saturday show, as well as becoming Duffy’s current go-to stand-in. One can hear why: Ó Mongáin has an appealingly understated manner, able to shift from current affairs discussions to daffily meandering chats without grinding the gears.

That said, there are times when he sounds slightly awkward in the role of general interest broadcaster, as on Wednesday’s show, given over to the late Christy Dignam. The tributes from friends and fans testify to the remarkable outpouring of sadness triggered by the passing of the Aslan frontman, who died on Tuesday after a long illness with cancer. But while Ó Mongáin is full of praise for the singer, he sounds unsure of what tone to adopt when talking to callers such as Dignam’s old Finglas classmate Robbie. “Can you believe he’s gone?” the host asks, sounding oddly flat. Ó Mongáin hasn’t yet mastered Duffy’s ability to emote freely when the occasion demands, though it’s possibly unteachable.

There are flashes of annoyance amid the grief. One caller takes issue with Dave Fanning’s opinion on The Claire Byrne Show (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) that Aslan “blew it” on the international stage. Given the circumstances, it’s a harshly phrased verdict from Fanning – who seems to pop up on the airwaves more than ever since exiting 2FM – but essentially accurate, as the unflinchingly honest Dignam might have admitted: his old pal Robbie remembers the vocalist describing himself as “a big fish in a small pond”.

In allowing his guests express themselves with such abandon, the host not only elicits unfiltered snapshots of Irish life worthy of d’Unbelievables, but also captures why Dignam meant so much to so many people

But as the rawly sincere contributions make clear, popular affection for Dignam rested on his everyman charisma and his survival of addiction and abuse as much as his distinctive voice. Ultimately, Ó Mongáin’s approach pays off. In allowing his guests express themselves with such abandon, the host not only elicits unfiltered snapshots of Irish life worthy of d’Unbelievables, but also captures why Dignam meant so much to so many people.

Ebulliently pernickety

Elsewhere, Pat Kenny (Newstalk, weekdays) is in ebulliently pernickety form, as the famously detail-focused presenter gets exercised over all manner of minutiae. Discussing the number of insurance claims abruptly settled on the steps of court, Kenny runs through the data with a relish that suggests he missed his calling as an actuary. During his conversation with transport consultant Conor Faughnan on e-scooter legislation, he explains at length how electric bikes can surpass supposedly fixed speeds when pedalled downhill, sounding increasingly perplexed at his guest’s apparent indifference to this fact.

The host is at his most magnificently idiosyncratic when talking to People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith about proposals to abolish lower minimum wage levels for young people. When Smith says that jam companies “exploited” children during her stint picking fruit as a kid, Kenny chips in. Remarking that his wife picked hops during school holidays, he relates how such pay was related to performance. “If you were a great little picker, you got paid more than someone who was lousy,” he says breezily.

[ Minimum wage rise of €4 per hour by 2025 sought by unions’ chief ]

The TD sounds bemused by this sidebar – “It’s kind of going off the point” – but Kenny isn’t swayed, harping on the theme of better pay for better service in the hospitality sector, even as Smith attempts to push her policy plans. Kenny remains an applaudably thorough current affairs broadcaster, but it’s such quirks that make his shows memorable. Based on these performances, he deserves whatever pay he gets.