HAVING devoted the last couple of weeks to short form seasonal summary and prognostication, this column is in no position to complain about curtailments in programming during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Nor would I, in any case. Everybody needs a break, and some of the music and repeats on RTE Radio I over the holidays were surely more festive than the likes of, say, the excruciating (yet somehow compelling) surprise family reunion on the Gay Byrne Show in the proverbial "run up" to Christmas.

Many listeners will presumably have missed some programmes first time around anyway, and would be glad of another chance to hear documentaries such as Adrian Smyth's Thank You, Mr Hitler and John Quinn's Goodnight Ballivor, I'll Sleep in Trim.

Why, even the local radio reviewer had a bit of catching up to do. All Day and All of the Night (RTE Radio 1, Thursday) was first broadcast in October, but this was the first I heard of this archetypal documentary from Colm Keane's In Profile series.

Keane does an amazing line in interviews with ageing pop stars, producing consistently interesting psycho(tic) biographical programmes - the more traumas unearthed in expensive therapy, the better. It helps when, as in this programme, the snippets of music are just wonderful.

Even casual fans of the Kinks probably know that Dave Davies has had it hard. But Keane took him far beyond the music press euphemisms about "exhaustion" and a "prickly relationship" with brother Ray; Dave told us about the voices in his head, and remarked caustically on the contrast between Ray's sensitivity as a songwriter and as a person.

Thanks to Davies's lifestyle, the connecting narration was vintage Colm Keane: a "veritable cornucopia" of drugs and booze here, a "nightmare descent" into a "personal hell" there.

Needless to say, Davies - though generally pretty sensible - talked his share of self serving rubbish. But where would a probing pop star interview be without its subject lamenting how much harder it is for rich people to seek higher truth, then explaining his synthesis of Krishna, Buddha and Christ?

I had a nice letter last month from producer Eoin O'Connor, asking me to listen to his documentary. If You Know Your History (RTE Radio 1, December 19th, repeated last Wednesday), and explaining the significance of its subject Glasgow Celtic football club and its supporters.

Eoin, you were pushing at an open door - especially as the repeat fell on New Year's Day, when we could usually expect to listen desperately for BBC Radio Scotland's coverage of Celtic's derby with Rangers; this year's game was Sky jacked to Thursday ((the less said the better).

O'Connor used Irish and Scottish fans of the club, and a bit of, music, to trace its origins in Glasgow's Irish East End 108 years ago and to assert the uniqueness of its passionate support. He joined supporters on their mission to Hamburg for a UEFA Cup fixture early this season. Unfortunately, while the documentary was technically polished, fans and non fans alike will probably have found it a bit thin. The Hamburg sections were low on atmosphere (2-0 defeats can do that) and there was no other, "actuality" to jazz things up.

The comments of a German Celtic supporter about being drawn to the club via anti fascism were given no context, thanks to the programme's rather sheepish discussion of the rivalry with Rangers. Also missing: Irish republican sympathies and the controversy around them at the club; Celtic's profound persecution complex vis a vis the rest of Scottish football (justified yet again by a linesman last week); the team's commitment to an attractive style of play; and any female supporters at all. (We did hear, stereotypically, about a girlfriend who flings a slipper at the least mention of Celtic.)

One contributor cited the success of the Irish national side in building support for Celtic here. No one said what any travelling Irish supporter knows: Celtic fans have long been the heart and singing soul of Jack's (now Mac's) Mmy. If You Know Your History was at its best when fans described the obsession that is common to supporters of many clubs: "If someone came up with a new hour for the day, I would spend it thinking about Celtic - same as I do for the other 24."