{"id":247573,"date":"2026-01-16T09:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/247573\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T09:00:08","slug":"shane-coleman-and-ciara-kelly-splutter-over-e-scooters-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/247573\/","title":{"rendered":"Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly splutter over e-scooters \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shane Coleman<\/a> and Ciara Kelly<\/a> are on the move, departing Newstalk Breakfast (weekdays) in February to take over early-evening hosting duties on The Hard Shoulder, but apart from being able to sleep on a bit later, their routine probably won\u2019t change much. <\/p>\n

The presenters\u2019 fondness for commuter-centred issues, in particular, should translate seamlessly to their new drivetime slot, while the exasperated tone with which the pair usually approach such matters also seems likely to remain the same.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Coleman and Kelly are at their most spluttering as they bemoan the perils of e-scooters. \u201cIt\u2019s bandit country out there,\u201d Kelly wails, running through a long list of traffic misdemeanours she has witnessed by those riding the electric vehicles. Not to be outdone, Coleman evokes rampant lawlessness similarly dramatically: \u201cIt\u2019s the wild west out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be fair, in this instance the duo are surely echoing the sentiments of any road \u2013 or, indeed, pavement \u2013 user who has had a close encounter with a marauding e-scooter, only in politer language. <\/p>\n

Pondering proposals to make helmets compulsory for their users, Coleman reaches for one of his regular, if not untrue, refrains: \u201cWe are very good at coming up with legislation in Ireland, really bad at enforcement.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kelly frets about ending up in an accident caused by the riders behaving recklessly \u2013 a legitimate worry, although her awkward phrasing makes it sound more like an exercise in enlightened self-interest. \u201cAs much as I don\u2019t want e-scooters to lose their lives in their own way, I don\u2019t want to be responsible for hitting them either.\u201d <\/p>\n

Either way, it\u2019s the kind of topic squarely aimed at frustrated rush-hour listeners. There\u2019s more controversy of the two-wheels-bad variety the next day, although in this case the mood is more muted. Presenting Tuesday\u2019s show on his own, Coleman covers the remarks by the Circuit Court judge James O\u2019Donohoe that cyclists have become \u201ca nightmare<\/a>\u201d in Dublin. \u201cIt is a thorny issue, and people have very strong views on it,\u201d Coleman says, in something of an understatement. <\/p>\n

But while the host dutifully reads out texts complaining about the bad habits of cyclists, he also pushes back, highlighting the dangerous conduct of many drivers. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a point that Gary Marshall of Dublin Commuter Coalition<\/a> repeats during his interview with Coleman: \u201cEveryone has the potential to break the rules of the road, so we should all take responsibility.\u201d It\u2019s an eminently sensible if deeply unsexy statement, showing that Newstalk Breakfast trades in consensus as well as contention. <\/p>\n

Indeed, rather than just acting as gratuitous audio clickbait, the traffic-related items fit into a wider pattern. The presenters cover the week\u2019s big news stories in Iran and Greenland but also deal extensively with items that swap high politics for quality-of-life issues. <\/p>\n

Though seemingly prosaic, these discussions also speak to the everyday concerns of listeners: energy prices, illegal dumping, balancing school runs with work commitments. Though easily overlooked, such components keep audiences as engaged as much as showy editorialising does, whatever the time of day. <\/p>\n

They may be taking possession of a new vehicle, but Coleman and Kelly should stick to the roadmap that has served them well to date.<\/p>\n

Not that the pair\u2019s destination of The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, weekdays) has been lacking direction of late. Since Kieran Cuddihy<\/a>\u2019s abrupt defection to RT\u00c9, the stand-in presenter Ciara Doherty<\/a> has proved a stabilising and versatile presence in the slot, handling a wide variety of items with an easy confidence. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Christ, I\u2019m angry\u2019: Ciara Doherty\u2019s striking interview with Andrew McGinleyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly for someone who used to host The Tonight Show on Virgin Media Television, Doherty is assured when it comes to current affairs, conducting informative and probing interviews on chunky issues such as overcrowding in Irish prisons and increases in hospital waiting lists. But, just as crucially, she sounds at home with the less weighty segments that keep the magazine programme zipping along over three hours.<\/p>\n

Doherty sounds both interested and amused as she discusses geopolitical conundrums such as the Beckham family feud and tackles the eternally fraught question of who controls the remote at home, never giving the impression that such subjects are beneath her. Indeed, despite having come in as a stopgap host, Doherty has grown into the role to the extent that she will be a hard act for Coleman and Kelly to follow.<\/p>\n

\"CiaraCiara Doherty has proved a stabilising and versatile presence on Newstalk. Photograph: Virgin Media <\/p>\n

Over on Arena (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays), Rick O\u2019Shea<\/a> has performed peerlessly as presenter of the arts show since the unexpected death of Se\u00e1n Rocks<\/a> in July 2025, yet he somehow still only has the gig on a temporary basis. <\/p>\n

RT\u00c9\u2019s dilly-dallying in naming a permanent replacement for the much-loved presenter seems inexplicable: O\u2019Shea has carried out his brief in consistently excellent fashion, despite the difficult circumstances in which he took over the show, not to mention the dispiriting speculation that Ryan Tubridy<\/a>, the perma-middlebrow RT\u00c9 exile, might return to Montrose as Arena host.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Peggy Seeger: \u2018I met Bob Dylan before he was Bob Dylan. He came for my autograph\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea\u2019s ability to nimbly cover cultural topics of all hues is underlined as he interviews venerable musical legends and A-list movie stars to equally absorbing effect. On Monday he hears the storied folk singer Peggy Seeger<\/a> explain why she has given up touring after 70 years on the road: \u201cI\u2019m not up to that at the age of 90.\u201d <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s more than a cursory career overview. Self-effacing and reflective, Seeger muses on the collective experience of folk gigs and breaks down her songs in fascinating detail, as well as her personal life: both her husband, Ewan MacColl<\/a>, and her half-brother Pete Seeger<\/a> were seminal folk figures. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea, who has what may be the most honey-smooth voice on Irish radio, keeps the conversation flowing with his low-key but astute style. <\/p>\n

His interview with Brendan Fraser<\/a> on Tuesday isn\u2019t as contemplative; the American actor is on a promotional jaunt for his new movie, Rental Family<\/a>, alongside the Japanese director Hikari. But what could have been a brief press junket chat ends up as something pithier, with Fraser responding to the host\u2019s questions thoughtfully and generously.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Brendan Fraser: \u2018My great-grandad escaped the Famine. He came across the Atlantic by himself\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

When O\u2019Shea asks Fraser, a sometime Hollywood star now taking more challenging roles, if he\u2019s in a new phase of his career, the actor responds modestly: \u201cIsn\u2019t it always, insofar as what\u2019s next is new?\u201d <\/p>\n

One hopes that O\u2019Shea, so comfortable in Arena, won\u2019t be making his next move for some time.<\/p>\n

Moment of the week\"PatPat Kenny can\u2019t hide his disdain for certain global figures. Photograph: Newstalk <\/p>\n

As he counts down to his own move to a new weekend berth, Pat Kenny<\/a> (Newstalk, weekdays) can\u2019t hide his disdain for certain global figures and their followers: he cheerily calls JD Vance<\/a>, the US vice-president, an ignoramus. <\/p>\n

But he reserves one three-letter word in particular for his most damning verdicts. Discussing EU-UK trade deals on Tuesday, the host worries about futureproofing such agreements against \u201cNigel Farage<\/a> and his ilk\u201d. The next day, as he covers the crunch talks on Greenland\u2019s future, he talks contemptuously about \u201cTrump<\/a> and his ilk\u201d. <\/p>\n

In an era when the dystopian world of social media has made the most outrageous language commonplace, there\u2019s something reassuringly withering about Kenny\u2019s ostensibly genteel epithet of choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly are on the move, departing Newstalk Breakfast (weekdays) in February to take over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5932,124477,91314,969,93,120269,61,60,5461,24561,24562,6236,6131,124479,124480,124478,6084,91313],"class_list":{"0":"post-247573","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-brendan-fraser","9":"tag-ciara-doherty","10":"tag-ciara-kelly","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-ewan-maccoll","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-jd-vance","17":"tag-kieran-cuddihy","18":"tag-newstalk-radio","19":"tag-nigel-farage","20":"tag-pat-kenny","21":"tag-peggy-seeger","22":"tag-pete-seeger","23":"tag-rick-o-shea","24":"tag-ryan-tubridy","25":"tag-shane-coleman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}