In a week when consumers are assailed by inexorably rising prices, even the sliver of solace offered by the arrival of spring is dashed on The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, weekdays), as Ciara Kelly undercuts the consolatory prospect of an ice cream in the sun.
“With the weather improving over the weekend, lots of people noticed a cone costing over €4,” the presenter says, ensuring extra cumulus cover for any incipient silver lining.
Sure enough, Kelly hears the reporter Josh Crosbie detail how increased costs are hitting “the sacred 99”. Not only has the wholesale price of the cone’s signature flake shot up, but the chocolate is made in Egypt. The possibility of this particular supply chain being disrupted by the Middle East conflicts prompts alarm in Kelly. “The Strait of Hormuz!” she interjects dramatically.
Any panic is short-lived, however: Kelly and her fellow host, Shane Coleman, are soon merrily swapping ice-cream preferences.
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Either way, price freezes seem unlikely for any commodity as the conflagration in the Gulf continues. On Tuesday, University College Cork lecturer Oliver Browne says that though lessons were learned from price shocks after the invasion of Ukraine, the Iran war will cause increases across the board – “You’re not going to be able to avoid them” – while Coleman proffers pithy tips on stretching domestic budgets: “Shop smart and shop local.” Cold comfort indeed.
Meanwhile, with the Government responding to spiralling fuel hikes by reducing excise on petrol and diesel, Coleman quizzes Minister for Higher Education James Lawless – on the show to discuss student accommodation plans – about the efficacy of such measures, particularly as home-heating oil is excluded from the tax cuts.
Amid the inevitable truisms about the volatility of the situation, the Minister highlights Ireland’s lopsided dependency on fossil fuels. “We need to look at our energy mix,” Lawless says. “If you look at other European countries, you’ve things like hydro, things like nuclear, things like renewables.”
It’s only when the interview ends that Coleman notes the Minister dropped the Irish political equivalent of an atomic bomb by raising, even in passing, the idea of the country adopting nuclear power. “Not many Cabinet Ministers advocating that,” the presenter remarks. Kelly, in turn, is delighted by Lawless’s comments, saying more debate is needed on “sacred cows” such as neutrality and nuclear power, before adding: “Nuclear would give us energy security.”
And possibly radiation sickness, should things go catastrophically wrong, but her point about frankly discussing contentious issues stands.
Not that it’s a new point. The necessity of arguing through any subject, no matter how difficult, has been a regular refrain from the duo – Kelly in particular – since the early days of their previous on-air partnership on Newstalk Breakfast. What is new, however, is the injection of energy that continues to mark the pair’s performances on The Hard Shoulder.
Since moving to their early-evening home, in January, Coleman and Kelly have brought an unexpected – but commendable – freshness to proceedings, exemplified by their varied takes on the knock-on effects of the Iran conflict, from heating oil to frozen treats. Without downplaying the gravity of the situation, the hosts keep things interesting with their snappy coverage and zippy chemistry, while largely ditching the crankiness that could sometimes mar their morning show.
More and more, the decision to bump the duo up the Newstalk schedule looks like an inspired move, consolidating an evening slot slightly adrift after the defection of its former host Kieran Cuddihy to RTÉ. They’ve not exactly mellowed – Kelly has a spirited joust with the Dublin city councillor Mannix Flynn about public drinking on the capital’s hip Drury Street – but, as befits the season, the presenters have a brighter air about them.
As a man who made his name as an impressionist, Oliver Callan (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) obviously has an ear for accents. Even so, chatting to not one but three native German speakers with distinctive intonations is possibly taking his interest to excessive levels; he even compliments one of his guests for having a “fascinating accent”.
In fairness, the guest in question, the journalist Sarah Jossi, does indeed have an unusual twang. Despite being from Switzerland, she possesses a strong Kildare twang, courtesy of her Monasterevin boyfriend; Jossi’s singular accent was spotted when she interviewed the pop star (and Midlands native) Niall Horan for Swiss radio.
Sure enough, her vernacular is peppered with phrases such as “new gaff”, and she uses the word “like” for punctuation rather than comparison, in the manner of any Irish native. It’s an item made for radio, even if Callan drags it out somewhat by discussing Irish christenings and service stations.
Meanwhile, the accent of the German stand-up Mario Adrion may have a strong American element, but his comedy draws heavily on tropes about his homeland, notably its chequered past: “It’s our history, dark as it is, so why not lean into it?” This statement chimes with another of Callan’s pet subjects. “I think comedy is the best way to speak about truth anyway,” the host says, without referring to his own satirical endeavours.
It’s a theme Callan returns to on Wednesday’s show (which also fulfils his Teutonic quota, this time with an interview with the German-born Buddhist nun Ani-Yonten). The host talks to the TikTok content creator Ronan Mitchell about the disturbing online phenomenon of “looksmaxxing”, which involves influencers espousing extreme measures for young men to improve their looks – tapping your jaw with a hammer, anyone?
Though suitably appalled, Callan sees a possible way to expose these sham trends that target the vulnerable: “There’s nothing like comedy to break through the truth of how disastrous these fellas are.”
But as well as sharing a thematic thread, these segments have another trait in common: they go on too long. Callan is a dependably sparky presence and a deft interviewer, but he hasn’t yet mastered the (admittedly tricky) skill of keeping things fresh over a two-hour chatshow, with mildly diverting items often pushed beyond their natural lifespan. Unlike longer days, more airtime isn’t always a welcome development.
Moment of the week
For a brief, uncomfortable moment, it sounds as though Today with David McCullagh (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) could be playing host to an outbreak of xenophobia, as the presenter hears talk of invaders displacing natives while listeners are warned that “you might find them somewhere you don’t expect”.
Luckily, McCullagh’s guests – University of Galway researcher Brandon Collier and Trinity College Dublin biodiversity officer Collie Ennis – are only speaking about spiders. But the visitor in question, the noble false widow, is hardly a welcome arrival: an invasive species, it not only pushes out Irish spiders but also has a venomous bite.
McCullagh reads a text from a listener, bitten by the aforementioned arachnid, who says they never experienced such pain, though Ennis stresses there have been no fatalities to date: “There’s nothing to get unduly worried about.”
Well, that’s reassuring. Still, an invasion of poisonous spiders maybe shouldn’t be a surprise. Aren’t we all on the world wide web?
