Mary, Mary, quite unwary

Radio review: There's a sort of irony that Mary O'Rourke spent quite a deal of air time in December explaining that although she was staring 70 in the face she wasn't too old to be going forward for election - and then, with one half-sentence this week, proved that part of her is stuck in an Ireland where the buses have conductors and all calls go through the operator.

Her use of the expression "worked like blacks" was, she said, "complimentary" ( Today with Pat Kenny, RTÉ Radio 1, Monday). "It's a very well-known phrase but perhaps in a different Ireland it's one that should be dropped."

Jamming her foot further in her mouth she described her election workers as "my three slaves, if you want to call them that" - you'd think if you were in the media spotlight denying that you'd used racist terminology, there are a couple of words you might just choose to steer clear of.

Never exactly publicity-shy, she was all over the air waves on Monday, getting progressively more bullish in her own defence - by the time she reached Matt Cooper on The Last Word(Today FM) there wasn't much contrition in her voice.

Pat Kenny ended what had been a skilfully handled interview with a caller comment: "Mary O'Rourke calls a spade a spade." Only joking, he said weakly, as the various meanings of what he'd just read dawned on him.

Also carrying the strong whiff of mothballs was The Car Show(RTÉ Radio 1, Thursday), a new evening series that's so old-fashioned a rundown on the merits of the Ford Anglia wouldn't be out of place.

It's presented by Seán Rocks, who is an arts presenter on Lyric FM. If ever there was an opportunity to give a new voice a chance it's on a specialist programme such as this, and Rocks sounds as if he knows as much about cars as I do. "Another important aspect of tyre maintenance is obviously the spare tyre," he informed us. Had you been listening while driving you'd be at serious risk of falling asleep at the wheel, and there wasn't a single female voice in the entire, dull programme.

I did want to hear more from contributor Paddy Comyn, editor of Car Buyer's Guide, who was blokey, knowledgable and fun - just the right mix for a car show presenter - and someone who sounds as if he could haul the programme into the 21st century.

Bang up to date was the second part in a fascinating series, Mobile Phones(BBC World Service, Monday), which examined mobile phones as agents of change and modifiers of behaviour and explored how they blur the boundaries between private and public lives. All that roaring into handpieces in public places can be found everywhere, from California to Calcutta. In Ghana, mobiles are such a status symbol you can buy a coffin in the shape of one. Lynne Truss of Talk to the Hand fame said that there's a self-importance attached to mobiles - "It's all about saying you are somebody, that you're so important you can't be out of touch for five minutes."

The information-crammed programme threw up some weird facts, such as it's possible to get a phone with a GPS function that will locate Mecca and beep when it's time for prayer - or for Catholics, there's a messaging service offered by the Vatican with three million subscribers receiving a text from the Pope every day.

The fox hunters on Hibernia Hunting(BBC Radio 4, Friday) talked to presenter Richard Hannaford with something approaching religious fervour about their sport. These are people who have moved to Ireland from England because of the ban there on fox hunting - not the exodus predicted when the ban came into effect last year, but it shows there are some diehards willing to change their lives for the sake of the hunt.

Some described Ireland as hunting heaven, but others were made to feel less than welcome. "I can't be doing with this sterile form of hunting," said Gilly, of the drag hunting now allowed in her native Britain, as she packed up her horseboxes and headed for her new home in Wexford. A far more pleasant voice to listen to was veteran journalist, novelist and one of Manhattan's "living landmarks", Pete Hamill (Documentary on One, RTÉ Radio 1, Sunday). The son of Belfast parents, the Brooklyn-born writer has held top jobs at the New York Post and the Daily News, which gave him "a life and a ringside seat on lots of things". He talked of learning his trade from old Depression-era hacks who wouldn't let the 16-year-old tyro journalist away with a superfluous word, and about hanging out with Frank Sinatra.

With Gershwin and New York street sounds in the background, Hamill took us on a powerfully atmospheric tour of the subject of his greatest love affair - "the skinny little island of Manhattan". Produced by Angela Ryan, it was the best listen of the week.