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John Creedon helps us express grief for Sinéad O’Connor through song. What a gift

Radio: As the country remembers Sinéad O’Connor, the RTÉ presenter knows how to let the music do the talking

John Creedon's tribute to the late Sinéad O'Connor struck a chord with listeners. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

Aoife Barry
Fri Aug 11 2023 - 05:00

It was a week of goodbyes on Irish radio, some more intense than others. The funeral of Sinéad O’Connor featured heavily on Tuesday, with reporters heading to Bray to speak to mourners awaiting her funeral cortege.

Journalist Ken Sweeney told Today with Claire Byrne (RTÉ Radio One, weekdays) that there was a “carnival atmosphere” in Bray alongside the sadness. Also in the town was reporter Barry Whyte for The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, daily). One woman, who had travelled all the way from France to pay her respects, told him: “It’s nothing weird to come here to say goodbye to a friend I never met.”

But while there were a lot of words shared in the wake of O’Connor’s death, another way to remember the musician is through her music. On the day of her death, The John Creedon Show (RTÉ Radio One, weekday evenings) paid tribute to her as only Creedon could - by letting her music speak. Since then, he’s continued to pluck from O’Connor’s back catalogue. O’Connor’s sound drew from rock, sean nós and reggae, and Creedon has shown his impeccable music selection skills by sprinkling some of her lesser-played songs and collaborations throughout his recent shows.

Creedon typically keeps the words to a minimum, often spinning two or three tracks by an artist to allow listeners to wallow in the joys of Ray Charles (as on Monday) or early Van Morrison (Tuesday). He can spark a mood or memory with just one song. The Corkonian is a gem on the RTÉ Radio One schedule, as proven by the stream of texts and requests he reads out nightly. His tribute on the day of O’Connor’s death was highly praised online, and by continuing to highlight her music he’s shown how in service to his listeners he helps them express grief through song. What a gift.

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While the gender quota has helped increase the number of women in Irish politics, just under a quarter of the Dáil is female

Away from national radio, a Tuesday discussion on North West Today (Ocean FM, daily) gave an insight into the issues faced by political parties as they prepare for the next local and general elections. In a surprisingly frank interview, businessman and former Leitrim Fine Gael councillor John McCartin told amiable presenter Niall Delaney that it’s getting difficult for parties to find local candidates.

While McCartin said that “people never had as much information at hand” thanks to the internet, he claims it’s getting harder to find the type of candidate who would have been champing at the bit years ago. “It would appear the standard of public discourse has deteriorated, particularly on social media,” said McCartin by way of explanation. As an example, he mentioned a photograph of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the Fleadh, which was published on Facebook recently to some “despicable” commentary.

McCartin said that the victimisation of people in the public eye is becoming normalised, and remembered a time where there was “a level of respect for those who put themselves forward”. He said that being a politician isn’t “done for glory because the glory isn’t there any more – you actually take a step down the social ladder when you get into politics nowadays”, not necessarily a sentiment people outside of politics would agree with.

Radio can be a tough industry, but Whelan and Moore made presenting look fun

Though McCartin didn’t leave politics because of abuse, he said social media amplifies negativity. But his concerns went further than that. He worried the local political environment isn’t “conducive” to attracting people who are young, rearing families or running businesses. In particular, he noted that there can be issues in attracting female candidates.

“We’re not asking ourselves why, if you go to a Fine Gael meeting – as I attended many of them – that invariably you’re sitting late at night in a room full of old men,” said McCartin. “And then they can’t understand why we’re trying to present to them a candidate that hasn’t been at the meetings.”

McCartin also claimed that it’s harder to get a councillor with a vocation now because people feel they can achieve more by staying out of politics. It was an intriguing interview, with comments that you might not hear from a sitting councillor, and which could be missed as they were made on local radio. While the gender quota has helped increase the number of women in Irish politics, just under a quarter of the Dáil is female. McCartin’s concerns should be paid attention to.

Creedon typically keeps the words to a minimum, and can spark a mood or memory with just one song

Finally, Dermot and Dave (Today FM, weekday mornings) announced this week that their partnership is coming to an end. Dermot Whelan told listeners that he is set to leave the show after more than 20 years working with Dave Moore (nine of them on Today FM) in order to pursue his Mind Full meditation business full-time.

Whelan said that the change had been on his mind “for years”, as these big leaps tend to be. It’s hard to find the sort of chemistry these best friends have, and to make a show that’s about high-energy “craic” but isn’t annoying (especially compared with other radio duos reviewed in this column), so it makes sense to leave Dave solo.

In recent years, some exits from Today FM have included presenters who didn’t choose to depart, such as Muireann O’Connell (who shines on the Ireland AM couch). But they’ve also included O’Connell’s replacement, Mairead Ronan,and Jessica Maciel, who left for work-life balance reasons. Radio can be a tough industry, but Whelan and Moore made presenting look fun.

Moore will host a new show, which will give him an opportunity to try a fresh style of presenting if he so wishes. It’s probably not wrong to assume he won’t be going down a sombre route, but hopefully he can keep the energy up while going solo. “I’m going to enjoy not being ‘and Dave’ for once,” he cheekily told his soon-to-be-former co-host.

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