appalling murders<\/a> of the English family in Waterford with dumbfounded horror, Cuddihy instead finds himself moderating ill-tempered exchanges on the issues thrown up by the terrible news.<\/p>\nTo be fair, Cuddihy doesn\u2019t set out with the intention of creating gratuitous on-air conflict. With the lethal arson attack that killed Kim and Philip English and their sons Callum and Jayden linked to intimidation by a local drug gang, Cuddihy talks to Deborah, who recounts the threats \u2013 and worse \u2013 that she suffered when her son ran up debts with cocaine dealers.<\/p>\n
Speaking in a disguised voice, Deborah tells how, having paid an initial \u20ac500, the extortion escalated as her son\u2019s addiction grew, with different dealers turning up to demand money; on one occasion her windows were smashed. <\/p>\n
As well as living in constant fear \u2013 \u201cYou\u2019re being watched all the time\u201d \u2013 her grim situation was actually compounded rather than improved by paying the debts, with dealers preferring to pursue easy targets. <\/p>\n
Although the menace diminished after her son entered rehab, Deborah\u2019s grim tale underlines the ease with which entire families can get pulled into a cycle of violence over money owed to dealers by drug users.<\/p>\n
So far so harrowing. But things turn testy after Cuddihy hears from Robert, a drug dealer turned criminologist who has a novel (to put it mildly) proposal for de-escalating debt-related intimidation before it can turn lethal. With police action ineffective and drug use inevitable, Robert suggests that local \u201ccredible messengers\u201d act as go-betweens between dealers and users\u2019 families to settle debts, in order to prevent potentially fatal retribution.<\/p>\n
\u201cViolence is bad for business,\u201d Robert says, explaining why gangs would agree to this approach. Cuddihy sounds decidedly dubious about anything that leaves criminals unpunished: \u201cIs this not a version of \u2018don\u2019t confront burglars\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
But the host\u2019s ambivalent attitude is as nothing compared with the reaction of his next caller. \u201cThis guy makes my blood boil,\u201d Chris says as he variously blames government indifference and \u201ctoo many bleeding hearts\u201d for the apparent impunity with which vicious drug gangs act.<\/p>\n
If Chris is clear about the problem \u2013 \u201cThere\u2019s no deterrents in this country\u201d \u2013 he\u2019s less specific about the solution, beyond cracking down on crime in robust if undefined manner. \u201cI\u2019m losing my train of thought because I\u2019m so annoyed,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Robert, in turn, defends his stance, claiming that prison exacerbates criminality in young offenders, but he doesn\u2019t help his case by fudging his response when asked if the killers of the English family should be jailed, no matter what their age. \u201cThe answer has to be yes,\u201d Cuddihy says, by way of impatient nudge.<\/p>\n
This sourly argumentative tone may be at odds with the wider mood of stunned revulsion, but it\u2019s also understandable given the appalling events in Waterford. Cuddihy isn\u2019t immune to heightened emotions either, as he condemns the hypocrisy of middle-class professionals \u201ctut-tutting\u201d drug-related attacks while consuming cocaine themselves. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe coke they shove up their noses, they\u2019re buying it from the same people,\u201d the host says. \u201cIt\u2019s a bugbear of mine.\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s also an authentic \u2013 and timely \u2013 expression of outrage.<\/p>\n
After all that, the opposing opinions aired during Cuddihy\u2019s segment on Wednesday\u2019s one-day strike by public sector workers sounds almost genteel by comparison, if still lively. <\/p>\n
Lee phones in to support the strike, highlighting the poor conditions and pay endured by his nurse daughter, while upbraiding the host for saying that thousands had been inconvenienced by the cancellation of hospital appointments. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t weighing in on one side or other,\u201d Cuddihy replies curtly. \u201cIt\u2019s a statement of fact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other contributors inevitably take a different view. Robert complains that teachers are on higher salaries than factory workers, while Stephen baldly asserts that there are \u201cfar too many civil servants doing nothing\u201d. <\/p>\n
Despite the differing stances, the item lacks the fury of the earlier drug debate. But it all adds up to a vintage episode of the long-running show, offering the requisite on-air drama while providing insights into charged subjects. If Cuddihy\u2019s tenure on Liveline can still yield angry jousting, it\u2019s because he knows how to touch a nerve.<\/p>\n
Over on The Claire Byrne Show (Newstalk, weekdays), the host covers developments in Waterford and on the picket lines less contentiously, her customary composure ensuring that Liveline-style fireworks don\u2019t suddenly ignite. <\/p>\n
But while Byrne\u2019s treatment of these big stories typically avoids extraneous antagonism, she continues to make her mark on her Newstalk show in other ways, by quietly carving out signature themes.<\/p>\n
Some of these topics aren\u2019t especially surprising, such as her concentration on health-related items. Byrne is particularly engaged when these dovetail with wider issues such as misogyny; although she remains focused during her discussion on the foul description by the US comedian Shane Gillis of women in gyms as \u201cwhores\u201d, there\u2019s no mistaking her strong feelings on the matter.<\/p>\n
Less predictable is her interest in the affordability of retrofitting homes, but it\u2019s a subject the host has pursued with notable vigour since her RT\u00c9 days. Having heard Karol Kissane of the Irish Farm Accounts Co-operative claim on Tuesday\u2019s show that low earners are unable to access retrofitting grants, Byrne revisits the issue the next day.<\/p>\n
True, there\u2019s a familiar pattern to the arguments of the Sinn F\u00e9in TD Pa Daly (who decries the warmer-homes-grant system) and the Fine Gael TD John Clendennen (who defends it). But the host appears to enjoy the occasionally tetchy encounter, overruling the protagonists\u2019 complaints about one interrupting the other. \u201cIt\u2019s a debate. It\u2019s okay,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Byrne\u2019s gently laissez-faire attitude hardly heralds a new era of swashbuckling controversy on her show. But it again highlights how comfortable the host sounds in the comparatively less constrictive broadcasting environment of Newstalk, with the result that even a little argument goes a long way.<\/p>\n
Moment of the week<\/p>\n
While Se\u00e1n Moncrieff (Newstalk, weekdays) revels in subjects that others might find gross, his item on bedbugs is conspicuously icky even by his standards. <\/p>\n
Prompted by the news of a Qantas flight grounded by an infestation of bedbugs, Moncrieff (who\u2019s also an Irish Times columnist<\/a>) learns about the parasites from the zoologist Michel Dugon, who brings a witty energy to the itch-inducing discussion. <\/p>\nDugon describes the ease with which bedbugs travel (\u201cThey are fantastic hitchhikers\u201d) and the speed with which they propagate (\u201cWhen you notice it, it\u2019s already too late\u201d), as well as their sanguinary impact on bed linen: \u201cIf you squash one, you have a nice blood stain.\u201d To top it all, bedbugs turn out to be resistant to most insecticides. <\/p>\n
By the end, even the usually imperturbable host is seeking consolatory scraps of information. \u201cCan they overdo it?\u201d Moncrieff asks. <\/p>\n
\u201cAh, they\u2019re greedy little things,\u201d his guest answers, with disconcerting levity. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s just as well Moncrieff\u2019s show airs during the afternoon: try sleeping after that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For all that things have changed on Liveline (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays) since Kieran Cuddihy took over as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6130,93,61,60,24561,277973,24562,9670,60405,6085,41143,6513],"class_list":["post-656307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-claire-byrne","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kieran-cuddihy","tag-michel-dugon","tag-newstalk-radio","tag-qantas","tag-retrofitting","tag-rte","tag-sean-moncrieff","tag-waterford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656307","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=656307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}