The Minister is on the line

Radio Review:Despite the acres of coverage and general brouhaha over the Late Late Show's ditching of Dr John Crown, one of the sharpest critics of the health service, I'm still not clear about what really went on. While that incident is already fading from my memory, the contribution of the Minister of State for Integration, Conor Lenihan, to the subject on Marian Finucane (RTÉ Radio 1, Sunday) will not go away so easily.

All but one of Finucane's panel of newspaper reviewers were in agreement that the Government should never seek to interfere with the editorial decisions made by programme-makers. It's a no-brainer, really, unless you're from North Korea - but not for our Minister of State. "Funny enough" said Lenihan, "I don't object to the principle that calls could be made. I notice that around the table we're all getting very precious."

At this, Finucane's voice does what it always does when she's outraged: it rose to a piercing level best enjoyed by dogs, but who could blame her? Lawyer Andrea Martin spoke my thoughts: "Conor's remarks strike terror into my media heart." Lenihan wasn't, he added in his reedy little voice "trying to be controversial" and then, on foot of the outraged response from the panel, he attempted to backtrack and his stance got more and more confusing. But the damage was done. Lenihan tends to get a fairly easy ride in interviews, possibly because his credibility has never fully recovered since he dropped his kebab clanger in a debate concerning Turkish workers some years ago, but still, he is a Government Minister and hearing that he feels he and his colleagues have the right to seek to interfere with programme-makers is chilling stuff indeed, and pitches us back into some very bad old days.

PLACING THE DREARY and self-consciously worthy new The Arts Show in the 8pm slot on RTÉ Radio 1 has meant a rescheduling of several existing programmes, including the always-solid Seascapes and a personal favourite, Ella McSweeney's environmental series The Green Light. Both now go out late on Mondays. The strength of McSweeney's programme is that, while she deals with domestic eco subjects of the "insulate your attic, don't leave your telly on stand-by" variety, she also looks deeper into unexpected areas. This week's programme explored the eco load inflicted on the planet by golf courses which, despite appearances, turn out to be not very "green" at all. It takes a great deal of pesticides, fertilisers, and of course water to make all that leisurely lushness. An organisation called Golf Environment Europe awards a "Committed to Green" certification to courses who can demonstrate they are having a minimal impact on the environment, and of the staggering 417 golf courses on our little island, only two, Luttrelstown Castle in Dublin and Carton House in Co Kildare, have come up to scratch (though in fairness we don't know how many have applied to be assessed by the organisation).

LYRIC HAS BEEFED up its arts news coverage with CultureFile, a new feature slotted into the breakfast and drive-time shows. Less than five minutes long and presented by Sean Rocks, it's newsy and broad-ranging - just the right combination for a daily arts show. On Tuesday, he interviewed Fiach Mac Conghail on the new Abbey season and looked at the Arts Council's decision to seek €20 million in extra funds from the Government, while on Wednesday he featured the winners of Music Network's Awards scheme as well as an item on the unveiling of the restored canopy at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. RTÉ's new arts show take note - it's not rocket science.

ALL CREDIT TO Dublin station Phantom FM for snagging the rights to Bob Dylan's US radio series Theme Time Radio Hour (Sunday). Getting publicity for the niche station must have been the main reason for acquiring the show, because it's not an easy fit with the rest of Phantom's output. The station's target audience is 18- to 35-year-olds and Dylan's eccentric and eclectic playlist features music made before people in that age span were even born. But what matter, it stops Dublin listeners at least trying to tune it in on satellite or the BBC and it's well worth a listen. Each programme has a theme: the first was weather or, as Dylan drawled, "Today's show, all about the weather. Curious about what the weather looks like? Just look out your window, take a walk outside. We're gonna start out with the great Muddy Waters, one of the ancients by now, who all moderns prize." How could you stop listening with an intro like that?