{"id":44365,"date":"2025-09-26T09:49:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T09:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/44365\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T09:49:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T09:49:14","slug":"des-cahill-sounds-wistful-as-mary-wilson-and-aine-lawlor-leave-morning-ireland-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/44365\/","title":{"rendered":"Des Cahill sounds wistful as Mary Wilson and \u00c1ine Lawlor leave Morning Ireland \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the surface it seems like a normal show, but an unusual atmosphere suffuses Wednesday\u2019s Morning Ireland (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays): a party atmosphere. Or a good-natured social gathering, at any rate, as its long-serving presenters Mary Wilson<\/a> and \u00c1ine Lawlor<\/a> are surprised by the unexpected arrival of the sportscaster Des Cahill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cForgive me interrupting,\u201d Cahill says, \u201cbut I want to take a couple of minutes to acknowledge two wonderful broadcasters who today are presenting Morning Ireland for the last time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Yet more RT\u00c9 departures? Coming alongside Joe Duffy\u2019s retirement and Claire Byrne\u2019s imminent defection<\/a> to Newstalk, Radio 1 staff could be forgiven for growing weary of office whip-arounds for exiting presenters.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018It\u2019s been a privilege\u2019 – Mary Wilson and \u00c1ine Lawlor host final Morning IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no mistaking the uncharacteristically celebratory air in the studio. Paying tribute to Wilson, who is retiring, and Lawlor, who will continue working on TV, Cahill sounds more moved than his colleagues: \u201cI\u2019ll have no one else to gossip with,\u201d he wistfully remarks to Lawlor. <\/p>\n

Wilson breaks from her stern on-air persona to express sincere gratitude for her career, from court correspondent to presenter of Radio 1\u2019s Drivetime. \u201cYou have such great fun as a journalist,\u201d she says, a carefree recollection that may surprise those politicians mauled by her tenacious interrogation style.<\/p>\n

Nor is it the only send-off of the day. Wilson and Lawlor have already bid farewell to the business correspondent Petula Martyn (off to become RT\u00c9\u2019s midwestern correspondent), praising her \u201ccheerful presence\u201d, a welcome quality on a show that so often brings bleak tidings.<\/p>\n

Overall, it\u2019s an atypically upbeat edition of the flagship news programme, which even Lawlor concedes is sometimes a slog. \u201cThank you to people who do tune in every day, because it can be grim.\u201d<\/p>\n

The feelgood mood is so pervasive that it extends to news stories. Much breezy coverage is given to RT\u00c9\u2019s hit reality game show The Traitors Ireland, which might seem a bit excessive but perhaps excusable, optimism being a scarce commodity around Montrose in recent times.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Traitors Ireland: \u2018Poetic justice\u2019, say the winners, but will the show return to RT\u00c9?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It briefly seems that the good vibes might even extend to the presidential hopeful Maria Steen<\/a>, as the Independent Senator Aubrey McCarthy tells Wilson he will sign the conservative campaigner\u2019s nomination, bringing her tantalisingly close to the 20 Oireachtas votes required for candidacy. \u201cThe decision itself is not an endorsement,\u201d the Senator stresses. <\/p>\n

It ends up not mattering, with Steen\u2019s bid falling short later that day, but McCarthy\u2019s interview adds a frisson of real-time political drama to proceedings.<\/p>\n

So too does the appearance on Tuesday\u2019s programme by the Independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly<\/a>, though she has little reason to cheer after her bruising encounter with (the non-retiring) Audrey Carville<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Following her comments on Talkback, on BBC Radio Ulster, that Hamas is \u201cpart of the fabric of the Palestinian people\u201d, Connolly attempts to clarify her position, condemning the October 7th attacks on Israel as \u201cabsolutely unacceptable\u201d, while adding that \u201cboth sides have committed war crimes\u201d.<\/p>\n

Carville relentlessly presses her guest on the issue. The Galway West TD, while sounding sincerely idealistic, struggles to set out her policies. She also sounds in danger of losing her voice at one stage \u2013 an unfortunate occurrence that is never the mark of a confident radio performance. <\/p>\n

Either way, Carville\u2019s dogged questioning emphasises that, the departure of stalwarts such as Wilson and Lawlor notwithstanding, it\u2019s business as usual on Morning Ireland.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a measure of the churn at Radio 1 that Ray D\u2019Arcy (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays) is now the elder statesman of the station\u2019s daytime line-up, having occupied his mid-afternoon slot for a decade. And although his show may be too unbalanced in format and skittish in content to warrant venerable status, D\u2019Arcy<\/a> has been hosting some strikingly candid interviews between the chatty monologues and chirpy quizzes.<\/p>\n

\"RTÉRT\u00c9 Radio 1 presenter Ray D\u2019Arcy. Photograph: Andres Poveda <\/p>\n

Speaking to the American singer Steve Earle<\/a> on Tuesday, for instance, D\u2019Arcy starts out pitching softball questions about his guest\u2019s induction into Nashville\u2019s country-music mecca, the Grand Ole Opry. Gradually, however, talk turns to more personal territory: Earle describes how raising a teenage son with autism<\/a> limits his touring schedule, while the host asks, awkwardly but pertinently, about the boy\u2019s future after his 70-year-old father dies, whenever that may be. <\/p>\n

As if this isn\u2019t stark enough, the singer discusses the addiction issues that saw him incarcerated in the 1990s, as well as the drug-related death of his oldest son, the singer-songwriter John Townes Earle, describing his fentanyl-laced cocaine overdose as murder. <\/p>\n

Despite this, things never sound tense, with Earle engaging with D\u2019Arcy\u2019s questions. Still, both men unsurprisingly sound happier when they move on to the singer\u2019s sojourns in Ireland and his resulting anthem, Galway Girl.<\/p>\n

An equally raw tone prevails on Wednesday, when D\u2019Arcy hears the former boxer Barry McGuigan<\/a> describe how the suicide of his brother, Dermot, motivated his association with the men\u2019s-health charity Movember<\/a>. \u201cI was destroyed and still am,\u201d he says of the tragedy, more than 30 years ago. <\/p>\n

As they talk McGuigan responds to his host\u2019s diplomatic but deliberate probing with an honesty that\u2019s almost painful, his voice cracking when he recalls his late daughter, the actor Nika McGuigan<\/a>, who died of cancer in 2019. \u201cShe was my child, and I lost her and I\u2019ll never get her back,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s incredibly difficult to live with.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Steve Earle on his son Justin Townes Earle: \u2018I\u2019ve never loved anything in this world more than him\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

D\u2019Arcy\u2019s curiosity about such loss isn\u2019t that of a rubbernecker; rather, he speaks of his own recent bereavement. \u201cI lost my mother recently,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the first time I felt real grief, the physical effects of grief.\u201d <\/p>\n

The openness of both guest and host gives their conversation an emotional charge not always associated with afternoon chat shows, but D\u2019Arcy is at his most effective when dealing with issues close to him. It\u2019s not all fun and games.<\/p>\n

Moment of the week<\/p>\n

Back for a third series, For the Record (RT\u00c9 Gold, Sunday) sees Pat O\u2019Mahony continue his shaggily entertaining trawl through the music collections of various notables. The latest show, on RT\u00c9\u2019s digital oldies station, has O\u2019Mahony sifting through records belonging not only to the composer Peadar \u00d3 Riada<\/a> but also to his guest\u2019s late father, Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Riada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As they listen to folk, classical and even indie recordings of varying quality \u2013 one warped LP is suitably crackly \u2013 \u00d3 Riada is a low-key but sparky foil to the host, whose deceptively easy-going style masks his deftness at gently steering the conversation. <\/p>\n

As well as recalling his legendary composer father, \u00d3 Riada mixes definite opinions \u2013 \u201cThere\u2019s nothing sacred in music, except for those who have ghettoised versions of where everything should be\u201d \u2013 with a dry sense of humour. \u201cWhat\u2019s your storage system?\u201d O\u2019Mahony asks at one stage. \u201cWherever there\u2019s space,\u201d the chuckling reply comes. Collectors everywhere will know the dilemma.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the surface it seems like a normal show, but an unusual atmosphere suffuses Wednesday\u2019s Morning Ireland (RT\u00c9…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[32972,32974,6128,32977,3656,32973,93,61,60,14885,32971,32978,32979,32975,6085,32980,32976],"class_list":{"0":"post-44365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-aine-lawlor","9":"tag-audrey-carville","10":"tag-autism","11":"tag-barry-mcguigan","12":"tag-catherine-connolly","13":"tag-des-cahill","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-maria-steen","18":"tag-mary-wilson","19":"tag-nika-mcguigan","20":"tag-peadar-o-riada","21":"tag-ray-d-arcy","22":"tag-rte","23":"tag-sean-o-riada","24":"tag-steve-earle"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44365","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=44365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}