Rash acts and savage words

RADIO REVIEW:CONTRARY TO POPULAR opinion, not all politicians are congenital liars. But when it comes to succeeding in politics, honesty is not always the best policy, as the Dáil career of Paul Gogarty testifies. During an interview on Moncrieff (Newstalk, weekdays) on Tuesday, the former Green Party TD recalled his notorious contribution to Irish parliamentary lore in 2009, when he urged Emmet Stagg of Labour to go forth and multiply, at least colloquially speaking.

It was an incident that gave Gogarty the image of a loose cannon on his party’s then listing (and now wholly submerged) deck. But even as he regretfully recalled the episode, it was clear that Gogarty had not lost his candid touch: his appearance was a tonic for listeners numbed by the obfuscating of most public officials.

Gogarty, who lost his seat in last year’s election, did not attempt to downplay his rash act, saying he was never going to live it down. “Sometimes you become a parody of yourself,” he told Sean Moncrieff, “and I have sometimes become a bit of a parody because of my outbursts.”

He still spoke frankly, however, whether about his penurious finances – he has earned €300 so far this year, he said – or his indecision on the stability treaty, which he said was the object of scaremongering by both sides of the referendum debate.

He was at his most stimulating when it came to the Greens. No longer an active member of the party – not least because he is currently recording an album of pop songs – he was wary about their “highfalutin, airy-fairy” image. “I believed the Green Party should not always be seen as saving whales and talking about climate change,” he said, sounding less like an environmentally aware politician than a splenetic Daily Mail columnist.

He said that, if the Liberal Democrats existed in Ireland, he would join them, which suggests he is drawn to parties that share a taste for unfavourable coalition arrangements. A questioning, contradictory and open guest, Gogarty was an ideal fit for Moncrieff’s show. By the same token, one could see why he never quite fitted into the party-political world. But the voting public’s loss is the listening public’s gain.

Politics is not the only arena in which transparency is at a premium of late. Since the news emerged that Fr Kevin Reynolds was libelled by the Prime Time Investigates programme, RTÉ’s management has done its best to project contrition. But last week’s widespread coverage of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s report into the matter only highlighted further failings in RTÉ’s handling of the matter, not to mention an apparent determination by the network’s hierarchy to avoid blame.

Speaking to Shane Coleman on Wednesday’s edition of Newstalk Breakfast (weekdays), the RTÉ Authority’s chairman, Tom Savage, said the issue was raised at board level only last September, two months after libel proceedings had been initiated.

Coleman, who has brought an air of inquisitive authority to Newstalk’s morning show since the departure of Ivan Yates, characterised this admission as startling but otherwise avoided editorialising. Savage maintained a calm manner throughout but sounded defensive as he reiterated time and again that the board dealt with the issue in a timely fashion. For all the talk about the need for accountability at RTÉ, he came across as a man protecting his position.

The interview also underlined the importance of a healthy commercial broadcasting sector when it comes to public affairs. Savage’s appearance the previous afternoon on News at One (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) was a less enlightening affair than his Newstalk slot. Seán O’Rourke spent most of the time discussing a mooted internal investigation into the prevalence of groupthink at the network, something that Savage admitted may be “a pain in the ass” for the RTÉ staff involved but is of less concern to outsiders.

While Montrose bosses are at it, they might set up an inquiry into how The 2nd Republic (RTÉ Radio 1, Saturday) came to be commissioned. Though pitched as a humorous panel show in which assorted comics and celebrity guests propose laws for a new Irish Constitution, it was about as funny as the average referendum debate, and considerably more irritating.

Presented by Neil Delamere, a once bright stand-up who now seems to be RTÉ’s go-to guy for helming feeble comedy vehicles, the show was handicapped by its clunky premise, in which the host decided whether to pass his guests’ putative legislation.

But there was a bigger problem. The 2nd Republic was riddled with weak gags and self-satisfied banter. The normally sparky PJ Gallagher wanted to abolish health-and-safety regulations because “if you remove the signs you’ll remove the stupid people”. The sportscaster Marty Morrissey decried “namby-pamby” soccer players who didn’t play a “man’s game” like GAA. Meanwhile, Delamere aimed asides at soft targets, slagging Jedward and asking which was older, Newgrange or Twink.

And they say satire is in decline.

Lazy, derivative and unfunny, The 2nd Republic was beyond parody. It was an embarrassment.

Radio moment of the week

After his brinkmanship over the fiscal treaty fizzled out with his restatement of loyalty to Fianna Fáil, Éamon Ó Cuív went on The Last Word (Today FM, weekdays) to explain his actions to Matt Cooper.

“I don’t know if you know that children’s nursery rhyme, which is regarded as a proverb for futile action, The Grand Old Duke of York,” said Cooper, who recited it, before inquiring: “Are you the Fianna Fáil version of the Grand Old Duke?”

Ó Cuív demurred, but the image stuck: now that’s a loaded question.