Letting people talk

Sunday at 2 p.m. may seem an odd time for Derek Mooney to go "Wild On One", as any environmentalist worth the muesli would be out fishing supermarket trolleys from the canal. But the programme is not just for the committed and appears from the phone-calls to have a much broader appeal. There's a helpline - what to do with bats in your attic or snails that come to dinner - features, studio debate, questions and answers and above all, an enthusiastic presentation.

Dick Warner and Tom O'Byrne were the guests last Sunday, although Eanna Ni Lamhna (regular panellist along with ornithologist Richard Collins) whose distinctive Louth accent is one of the programme's signatures, phoned in from Ballyvaughan to talk about dragonflies. (They and she are featuring in a programme coming soon to TnaG). What is it about enthusiasts that make them so watchable or listenable? You need have no interest in the crab nebulae to wait up for Patrick Moore's Sky At Night and your acquaintance with chrysopa septempunctata can be of the most casual nature yet you cannot tear yourself away from Eanna Ni Lamhna's descriptions of their love life.

Mooney Goes Wild On One is a live programme, which can mean that pre-recorded items get pushed about if the cut and thrust of debate boils over. This can easily happen with Derek Mooney provoking stimulating debate.

It must be said to his credit, however, when the history of RTE is recorded, that, in the steps of Dinjo and his set dancers, he was the first to put birdwatching on the radio, and the colours were wonderful.

Last Sunday, series producer Michael Holmes presented an item on Henry Brennan, a Dub who feeds the pigeons four times a day at the back of the Four Courts. This is typical of the type of quirky report which marks the programme. Brennan turned out to be quite the philosopher and in answer to the question of whether he was encouraging a nuisance, he said: "Man is the biggest nuisance on the Earth; he does all the damage". This he topped with the observation that "I really believe in my heart and soul that this oul' Earth has had its chips".

In the Cook Report feature (Pink Panther theme music), Tom Cook investigated hedgerows and spoke to the driver of one of those tractor-mounted circular saws which are reaping havoc in the countryside. The man said he knew nothing of nesting times and that sort of thing and cut the hedges as tight as possible. This he did in the interest of "cleaning up" the countryside and making it "more respectable".

There was the start of a great debate on foxes with panellists Dick Warner and Tom O'Byrne, who also happens to be a sheep farmer. The latter said he never knew a fox to take a live lamb and said of fox-hunting that "not a very large number of foxes are killed very badly". This led Dick Warner into a line of observation which deserves a programme on its own, the basic thrust of which is that it is the rabbit population which determines the number of foxes.

All great stuff and I never once had to put on the green wellies.

Finding a successor to Mary Robinson is a relatively simple task compared with getting someone to fill Marian Finucane's shoes as presenter of IT]Liveline. Maire Geoghegan Quinn tried and Brid Og Ni Bhuachalla has been doing her best now for some weeks but neither has Marian Finucane's touch - she lets people talk.

The show has dealt with all the major social and political issues in the country, has called bureaucrats to task, exposed chancers, advised the love-lorn and has given many citizens a voice they would not otherwise have had. It has in effect often been a true parliament and one which politicians know not to ignore - Jim McDaid, Minister for Sport, chose it last Friday to talk about his decision to attend a private celebratory lunch for returning swimming champion, Michelle Smith de Bruin. .

Marian not only lets people talk when they are making sense, but also when they are not, which adds to the listening experience, though it can be stressful - sitting in the car and shouting at the radio is a useful way of relieving the tension. This was the place to be when Liam Nolan on Sunday View, reprimanded by Pat O'Mahony for not subscribing to some accepted wisdom, replied: "I'm here to give a subjective opinion: I'll try to do so as objectively as possible". If only some of Brid Og's callers could have come up with that one.

Marian is back next Monday - in plenty time for the presidential election; how about Dana for Liveline and Marian for the Park?

Harry Browne is on leave