{"id":295773,"date":"2026-02-13T09:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T09:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/295773\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T09:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T09:37:08","slug":"seamus-culletons-ice-story-gives-kieran-cuddihy-his-first-real-liveline-moment-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/295773\/","title":{"rendered":"Seamus Culleton\u2019s Ice story gives Kieran Cuddihy his first real Liveline moment \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Listening on as his caller despairingly describes the conditions of the \u201cmodern-day concentration camp\u201d where he\u2019s confined, Kieran Cuddihy<\/a> adopts a sombre tone, punctuated by the odd disbelieving sigh. But the host of Liveline (RT\u00c9<\/a> Radio 1, weekdays) could be forgiven if, amid it all, he also experiences a frisson of grim satisfaction.<\/p>\n

For while he\u2019s clearly stunned by the stark testimony of Seamus Culleton, the Irishman detained in an Ice facility<\/a> in Texas for the past five months, Cuddihy must also know it\u2019s the kind of interview that ignites the wider news agenda, as indeed it does. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, having presented the phone-in show for three months now, he would be justified in thinking that his conversation with Culleton is the first real Liveline moment of his tenure, a marker that he\u2019s moving out of the shadow of his predecessor, Joe Duffy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That being the case, Culleton\u2019s ordeal is the proverbial ill wind. Speaking from the tented camp where he has been held since being seized by Ice agents in Boston, the Co Kilkenny man paints a bleak portrait of his incarceration. <\/p>\n

Locked in a room with 70 other men, served three \u201ckid-sized\u201d meals a day and forced to use filthy hygiene facilities, Culleton is in fear of his life: \u201cPeople have been killed by the security staff.\u201d As if to underline the precariousness of his situation \u2013 first reported<\/a> in The Irish Times \u2013 his phone line drops out twice.<\/p>\n

Just as chilling are the circumstances of his detention: Culleton recounts his car being followed before he was pulled over by several vehicles and arrested, despite having a work permit and being married to an American woman, Tiffany Smyth. (Culleton originally entered the United States on a 90-day visa in 2009. It later emerges he was facing drug charges at the time he moved to United States<\/a>.) <\/p>\n

The subsequent Kafkaesque legal machinations only add to the nightmarish quality: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel real,\u201d Smyth mournfully remarks. <\/p>\n

Her husband maintains his composure, but is clearly near the end of his tether. \u201cIt\u2019s just torture,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know how much more I can take.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a compelling slice of radio that immediately makes a splash: the Labour<\/a> TD Duncan Smith<\/a> promptly turns up on the show, urging the Government to act for Culleton\u2019s release. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a classic example of the Liveline formula, where one person sharing their story brings an issue to life in relatably unfiltered fashion: Culleton\u2019s raw account personalises the mass Ice round-ups with an immediacy that media reports can\u2019t quite evoke. By way of emphasising the impact, Smyth appears on Wednesday\u2019s show to express thanks for the outpouring of support in Ireland since Culleton\u2019s call.<\/p>\n

\"RadioRadio 1: Liveline host Kieran Cuddihy. Photograph: RT\u00c9 <\/p>\n

The host plays his part in all this by largely limiting his contribution to factual queries. It\u2019s a wise move that not only allows Culleton to do the talking, but also highlights how Cuddihy\u2019s stewardship of Liveline is less emotionally performative than Duffy\u2019s, without sacrificing impact.<\/p>\n

True, there\u2019s the odd bump. By hearing out the opinions of other callers, well meaning as they are, the flow of the show is interrupted. A larger caveat looms too. In focusing on the story of one Irish migrant, is Cuddihy sidelining, however unintentionally, the equally traumatic experiences of the thousands of other Ice detainees?<\/p>\n

The host, to his credit, seems alive to this risk. Briefly chatting in advance of Wednesday\u2019s show with Oliver Callan<\/a> (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays), Cuddihy archly notes how politicians speak of the \u201cundocumented\u201d Irish in the US while referring to illegal immigrants here. <\/p>\n

Otherwise, the matter is hardly addressed. Ultimately, however, nothing should detract from the urgency and resonance of Culleton\u2019s ordeal. As for Cuddihy, having heightened public interest in the case so forcefully, he deserves to bask in the moment.<\/p>\n

One might think that the public has long lost interest in the secret-payments scandal that saw Ryan Tubridy<\/a> exiting RT\u00c9 in 2023, but that doesn\u2019t deter Miriam O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> from revisiting the affair when speaking to her erstwhile colleague on Sunday with Miriam (RT\u00c9 Radio 1). <\/p>\n

\"RyanRyan Tubridy\u2019s defensiveness is unsurprising. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien <\/p>\n

Flagged by O\u2019Callaghan as Tubridy\u2019s first interview on RT\u00c9 since departing the network, it\u2019s a revealing conversation, if not necessarily in the way either party intends.<\/p>\n

That the encounter occurs on O\u2019Callaghan\u2019s chatshow doesn\u2019t raise expectations of a rigorous grilling: the host\u2019s modus operandi on Sunday mornings is determinedly soft-focus. But perhaps conscious of not appearing too cosy, O\u2019Callaghan asks Tubridy detailed questions about the covert pay-deal arrangement<\/a> while asking whether he has any regrets about the whole mess.<\/p>\n

Not too many, seems the answer. \u201cI have to accept responsibility for what I was responsible for,\u201d Tubridy says, though it\u2019s hard to discern what exactly he feels responsible for. <\/p>\n

On the infamous payments, he says they were RT\u00c9\u2019s suggestion, noting several times that the national broadcaster\u2019s director general, Kevin Bakhurst<\/a>, has said the scandal was mainly the network\u2019s responsibility. <\/p>\n

Tubridy also says he waived other payments. In as much as he has regrets, it\u2019s that he wasn\u2019t more \u201cattentive\u201d to the figures. He sounds more annoyed that his name is synonymous with the controversy: \u201cI contend respectfully that this was a wall of scandal and I was one brick in the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tubridy\u2019s defensiveness is unsurprising: RT\u00c9\u2019s finances were indeed a mess, and after the very public fallout, he clearly feels wronged. But asked whether he let down his colleagues, whose pay cuts he and his agent Noel Kelly sought to avoid by arranging the top-up, Tubridy looks to exculpate his actions \u2013 \u201cI was trying to do the right thing, but that didn\u2019t come out\u201d \u2013 before allowing: \u201cI hate that I let my colleagues down.\u201d What was the hardest word again?<\/p>\n

None of this is unexpected. Tubridy has told his side of the story several times, to Oireachtas committees and to this newspaper<\/a>. What O\u2019Callaghan expects him to add is unclear, beyond his presence boosting her show. <\/p>\n

One can\u2019t imagine Tubridy\u2019s appearance rebuilding trust with former workmates, particularly when he says that Bakhurst did him a favour by showing him the door. (Siptu is balloting RT\u00c9 employees on a vote of no confidence in the network\u2019s leadership; the Radio 1 drama producer Kevin Reynolds says on Thursday\u2019s Morning Ireland that staff morale is very poor.)<\/p>\n

Otherwise, Tubridy seems content, relaxing when talk turns to new projects and his recent wedding. And though he says you can\u2019t please everyone, he still thinks his case has yet to be fully heard. \u201cI\u2019d like to fix it, and if that means making a documentary or something, I\u2019d like that.\u201d Hmm. Not every story needs to be shared.<\/p>\n

Newly installed as one of the hosts of The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, weekdays), Shane Coleman<\/a> remains as thorough as ever in his news coverage, but Tuesday\u2019s show reminds listeners of his piercingly dry humour too. <\/p>\n

With the Dublin Airport passenger cap to be lifted, Coleman hears Denis Drennan of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association<\/a>, the farmers\u2019 organisation, suggest Government climate policy targets agriculture while giving other sectors a free pass. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0If the unholy alliance of farm bodies and industry is successful in its lobbying, the price will be our rivers and lakesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

When Coleman notes that the farming sector recently received a derogation from EU nitrate rules, Drennan pushes back: \u201cWe\u2019re probably the only sector that\u2019s going to come anywhere near to meeting our targets.\u201d <\/p>\n

Coleman\u2019s impish response is instant: \u201cYou won\u2019t come anywhere near hitting your target, by the way.\u201d Bullseye!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listening on as his caller despairingly describes the conditions of the \u201cmodern-day concentration camp\u201d where he\u2019s confined, Kieran…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295774,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[136338,42,24557,24561,47233,43,41142,6085,6084,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-295773","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-duncan-smith","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-joe-duffy","11":"tag-kieran-cuddihy","12":"tag-miriam-o-callaghan","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-oliver-callan","15":"tag-rte","16":"tag-ryan-tubridy","17":"tag-top-news","18":"tag-top-stories","19":"tag-topnews","20":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295773","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=295773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295773\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}