{"id":671112,"date":"2026-07-03T05:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/671112\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T05:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T05:49:08","slug":"david-mccullagh-needs-a-more-varied-diet-of-issues-to-sink-his-current-affairs-teeth-into-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/671112\/","title":{"rendered":"David McCullagh needs a more varied diet of issues to sink his current affairs teeth into \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple, ham, water: it reads like the breakfast menu at a Scandinavian health farm, but it is in fact the bill of fare on Today with David McCullagh (RT\u00c9<\/a> Radio 1, weekdays). <\/p>\n

Inasmuch as McCullagh<\/a>\u2019s radio topics have anything in common with notional Nordic repasts, it\u2019s that while the ingredients may constitute a sensible, balanced offering, they don\u2019t set the pulse racing. So it\u2019s unsurprising that the host \u2013 rarely given to spontaneous on-air effervescence at the best of times \u2013 dutifully goes through the motions when covering his topics.<\/p>\n

In fairness, even the most manic shock jock might struggle to inject any vim into Wednesday\u2019s opening item about ham products being recalled because of fears of listeria contamination. McCullagh\u2019s interview with Michelle Minihan of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland<\/a> understandably resembles a public-health announcement; the pair soberly list the affected products, with the guest\u2019s faintly sinister phrase about ready-made foods having \u201cno kill step for pathogens\u201d providing the sole frisson of novelty.<\/p>\n

The next segment, on drinking-water safety, is again obviously crucial from a welfare point of view but unlikely to cause ripples of excitement. With 100 boil-water notices issued last year, the host hears Noel Byrne of the Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> outline the factors behind such incidents, affecting 200,000 people. <\/p>\n

On the upside, Byrne notes that 99.8 per cent of drinking water from public supplies is safe. McCullagh, typically, takes a more ambivalent view of the situation. \u201cGlass half-full, glass half-empty for anybody who\u2019s had one of those boil-water notices,\u201d he remarks, without specifying whether said glass contains liquid fit for consumption.<\/p>\n

Such asides highlight the slightly tart flavour that McCullagh brings to proceedings, which prevents the show from being too bland. After a discussion on maternity leave, one listener texts that Irish mothers used to get a mere six weeks off yet still coped, prompting an astringent response from the host: \u201cWe had to cope with rickets as well. It doesn\u2019t mean we have to like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, by the time he starts chatting to Adam Maguire, the RT\u00c9 business correspondent, about the increasing price of Apple products \u2013 as in the tech behemoth, not the fruit \u2013 one can\u2019t help feeling that the host\u2019s formidable talents as a journalist (he\u2019s a former political correspondent and television news anchor) are being somewhat underutilised in covering so many consumer topics.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there are opportunities for McCullagh to show off his chops as a current affairs presenter. As Ireland assumes the EU presidency, he begins his interview with Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee<\/a> in blunt style: \u201cExplain to me how this is of benefit to the ordinary Irish citizen.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s an unexpectedly populist gambit that the Minister should easily counter. Even by the comprehensively drilled standards of Cabinet members, however, McEntee reels off her spiel \u2013 about promoting values, security and competitiveness \u2013 with a headlong rote rapidity, as though worried she\u2019ll lose her thread if she hesitates for a second. The result is that the benefits the Minister wants to highlight get lost amid the verbiage.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Elle on Prime Video: 1990s nostalgists will find lots to admire but are they the target audience?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Luckily, she eventually stops long enough for McCullagh to put to her some pertinent questions about costs and security, wondering who has operational control of the French and British naval vessels providing additional air defences during the presidency: \u201cSomeone would literally have to call the shots.\u201d (McEntee gives assurances that Irish security forces are in charge.)<\/p>\n

It might not be the most comprehensive grilling by McCullagh \u2013 he\u2019s conscious that his ministerial guest is \u201cvery busy\u201d on day one of the presidency \u2013 but it\u2019s good to hear him dealing with issues he can sink his teeth into. After all, there\u2019s no harm in having a varied diet.<\/p>\n

Presiding as he does over an unpredictable daily smorgasbord of guests and subjects, Oliver Callan<\/a> (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays) can\u2019t be accused of possessing a picky palate, even if he can sometimes be guilty of overindulgence. Certainly, while he clearly enjoys updates on the progress of the Irishman Sean \u201cFitzy\u201d Fitzgerald on Love Island, devoting a regular slot to a single contestant on a TV reality show seems excessive.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019s not swapping D-list telly gossip, however, Callan can turn ostensibly unpromising items into winning radio. Speaking with the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, the host and his guest initially sound as if they don\u2019t quite know what to make of each other. <\/p>\n

Gradually, however, the conversation warms up, as Lloyd Webber, who recently published a memoir, recalls his bohemian upbringing as well as the injury that stopped him playing the cello for several years.<\/p>\n

On Callan\u2019s prompting, he also talks about being sexually abused by a male predator while travelling on the London Underground as a nine-year-old. Lloyd Webber is frank about the incident \u2013 \u201cI was quite badly abused\u201d \u2013 but seems keen to move on to other matters, only for Callan to repeatedly return to the impact of the abuse. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Million Dollar Nannies love to party. They\u2019re more Mary Poppers than Mary PoppinsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It\u2019s awkward rather than inappropriate, but it shows Callan doesn\u2019t shy from uncomfortable moments when he feels they\u2019re necessary.<\/p>\n

His discussion with the Wolfe Tones<\/a> singer Brian Warfield and television producer Larry Bass about the pair\u2019s stage musical about the Famine sounds potentially cringe-inducing, not to mention self-parodic. But with Callan occasionally playing the mischievous provocateur, it ends up being an engaging encounter.<\/p>\n

As his guests talk up their venture with sincere conviction, the host can\u2019t resist bringing up Warfield\u2019s unabashed republican beliefs: \u201cYou love a bit of controversy.\u201d <\/p>\n

The singer doesn\u2019t rise to the bait. \u201cI can\u2019t please everyone,\u201d he says, with knowing understatement. <\/p>\n

Referring to a Wolfe Tones song called, without apparent irony, Thank God for America, Callan wryly suggests such shamelessly market-chasing numbers are down to \u201cthe heavy hand of the producer\u201d. Bass demurs, ruefully noting that nowadays the United States \u201cisn\u2019t exactly the country of welcomes\u201d. Again, such exchanges make for enjoyable listening.<\/p>\n

For all that, the jury is still out on Callan\u2019s show, less for his content or performance than for the unintended effects of the 11am time slot he has occupied since Radio 1\u2019s relaunch last year. With the Today show pushed to an earlier, 9am start as a result of Callan\u2019s promotion, it can sometimes seem as if McCullagh is left feeding off scraps left by the juggernaut of Morning Ireland. McCullagh \u2013 and his audience \u2013 deserve something more substantial.<\/p>\n

Moment of the week<\/p>\n

Though Miriam O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> is frequently overzealous in her desire to wring emotion from her encounters on Sunday with Miriam (RT\u00c9 Radio 1), her conversation with the former 2FM DJ Louise McSharry<\/a> really is striking. <\/p>\n

McSharry candidly recounts coming out as gay to her husband, Gordon: \u201cIt was the most difficult conversation I\u2019ve ever had in my life,\u201d she says, remembering how coming to terms with her sexuality was \u201cexcruciating\u201d: \u201cThe hurt I was causing was almost unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than three years on, however, not only is McSharry \u201cjust so happy to be gay\u201d, but she and Gordon are close friends, as they parent their two children. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy, and it didn\u2019t happen overnight,\u201d she admits. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a compelling and hopeful encounter, sensitively handled by O\u2019Callaghan. It\u2019s also a reminder of McSharry\u2019s own gifts as a broadcaster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apple, ham, water: it reads like the breakfast menu at a Scandinavian health farm, but it is in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[224619,224614,54126,224615,102,62155,224617,224620,224613,224612,6636,224616,15590,56,54,55,224618],"class_list":["post-671112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-brian-warfield","tag-david-mccullagh","tag-environmental-protection-agency-epa","tag-food-safety-authority-of-ireland-fsai","tag-health","tag-helen-mcentee","tag-julian-lloyd-webber","tag-larry-bass","tag-louise-mcsharry","tag-miriam-o-callaghan","tag-nutrition","tag-oliver-callan","tag-rte","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wolfe-tones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}