Whose voice is it?

MAYBE it really is time after all for a rise in the licence fee. Or, maybe all the little hiccups and technical difficulties' heard on the RTE airwaves of late are actually there for our entertainment.

Gaybo's grousing last week about a shortage of people to answer the phone for the Gay Byrne Show (RTE Radio One, Monday to Friday) probably falls into that category. I have my doubts, though, about the incident Myks Dungan grilled his teeth through on Today at Five (RTE Radio One, Monday to Friday): his interview with an overseas reporter was virtually drowned out by the voice of Tom McCaughren reporting on the Blanchardstown murder. Presumably the security correspondent was being recorded for the evening news programmes some where else in Montrose and - somehow - got switched on air.

Tv's Nine O'Clock News on Saturday had the funniest glitch (one related to radio, happily for this column). As the English soccer results were being reviewed, a graphic showing the top five teams in the Premiership table was shown; just as the newsreader was explaining the implications of the day's results for "Arsenal" (I swear it), a picture of Martin McGuinness flashed into its place!

When that image reappeared a couple of minutes later, in its proper place, it was clearly a plug for Sunday's This Week (RTE Radio One), featuring an interview with the Sinn Fein man.

That interview was rather less remarkable than its billing - and not as long as one might have expected, either. Instead, it was another brief episode in the will they won't they saga about forums, elected assemblies, constituent assemblies, decommissioning, etc, and featuring a nostalgic flashback to the question of "permanence".

McGuinness maintains a quite effective tone of barely controlled alarm in his voice, but at this stage it scarcely conceals the paucity of content in his words. Was it for this that we struggled against Section 31?

One strong voice of protest against that censorship, as against so many Irish ills of the last couple of decades, was the subjecstur of Moore's Melodies (RTE Radio One, Thursday), our greatest balladeer, that issue oriented minstrel, Christy Moore. By mixing of news reports and actuality various events with Moores songs on the subjects, the programme set out to highlight Christy's commitments. What would we have done without him?

Mind you, the producer and compiler of the programme, Aodan O Dubhghaill rather flew through Moore's Section 31. At least one obvious soundtrack for this song - Jenny McGeever's brief SF interview during the return of the Gilbraltar Three bodies, and reports of her being fired by RTE for her troubles - didn't make it, for some strange reason.

With 40 minutes and so much to choose from there are bound to be quibbles. 6 Dubhghaill didn't ignore subjects like Nicky Kelly (The Wicklow Boy), but there seemed to be a bit of a bias toward issues that might be called "safe" in a local context - a charge you'd never level at Christy.

Thus, the longest - and most powerful - section of the programme reviewed the antiCarnsore campaign, with lots of chilling actuality thrown in from the Chernobyl accident. And the final slot went to Christy's bandwagon hopping, historically dodgy, but definitely delightful Joxer Goes to Stuttgart. Here, O Dubhghaill did a magic mix of studio and live versions of the song with lots of Gabriel Egan's immortal commentary from the day in `88 when Ireland's footballers beat England. Goosebump stuff, though hardly revolutionary.

The Sunday World talking about a revolution in morning radio was greeted with contempt by Joe Duffy yesterday, but the Gay Byrne Show sounded notably buzzier with the nation listening for sounds of decay: Duffy launched a slightly ironic, local radio style "Unwanted Christmas Present Swop Shop".

Much of the competition for Gaybo and Co. clearly comes from the likes of Christy Walsh on CKR (of whom more anon). Listening on Sunday to that Carlow Kildare station (heard much further afield) as Clem Ryan led a long and lively phone in debate on the GAA, one could tell why some audiences are getting an appetite for such genuine access.

It also helps explain why Maran Finucane is tipped to replace Gay (eventually); one Liveline (RTE Radio One, Monday to Friday) last week, when a Telecom spokesman was hammered by callers over the siting of Eircell masts, was more entertaining, open and even useful than a week of Gay.