If the news that 2FM has overhauled its schedule has a familiar ring, it’s perhaps to be expected. RTÉ’s music station was forced to rejig its personnel after an exodus of big names in 2024 and subsequently relaunched its line-up last year. Refreshing the station has become something of an annual tradition.
So when Doireann Garrihy opens her new show, 2FM Mornings (weekdays), in familiarly upbeat manner – “What a joy it is to be back in the building” – listeners could be forgiven for experiencing a feeling of, well, deja vu all over again.
Garrihy, after all, was one of the stars whose exit two years ago threw 2FM into turmoil, even if her departure was less controversial than that of her colleagues Jennifer Zamparelli and The 2 Johnnies.
Ten months later her surprise return to the fold as host of 2FM Drive was heralded as a cathartic reset for the station, only for the presenter to leave again, following the birth of her daughter.
So as she starts in her new mid-morning slot, a slightly tentative air is maybe understandable. “After six months of maternity leave I’m a little bit jittery,” she tells listeners on Tuesday.
Any signs of nervousness quickly disappear, however, with Garrihy – never a shrinking violet – sounding excited that her RTÉ email address has dispensed with her surname. “It’s kind of a big deal,” she says. “Something’s happened, something’s changed. Maybe it’s because I’m a serious journalist now.”
She may be joking, but she’s also on to something, though possibly not in the manner intended. For while Garrihy remains an enthusiastic and irreverent presence, the mid-morning show calls for other skill sets that can take time to master.
Whereas in her previous 2FM incarnations Garrihy worked alongside sidekicks with whom she could trade cheeky zingers, her new berth is a solo affair, best suited to a confident on-air persona who can bond with listeners while navigating an eclectic selection of items: the slot’s former occupants include the gleefully opinionated likes of Zamparelli and, most famously, the late Gerry Ryan.
Garrihy has strengths to draw on. Her zest for on-air chat means she conducts interviews with characteristic ease. She also imbues proceedings with a personal touch, musing on her bond with her sisters when discussing sibling relationships with the psychologist Allison Keating, and bringing a new mother’s natural interest to her conversation about boredom in babes with the neurodevelopmental therapist Ollwyn Moran.
But when Garrihy opens Wednesday’s show by surveying the headlines, she sounds less sure of herself, reading through news reports in slightly rote fashion, as if unsure whether she should offer her own take. Similarly, her discussion with the RTÉ political correspondent Barry Lenihan about the upcoming byelections is more a primer on the electoral process than a deeper dive into voting permutations.
Fair enough: listeners are unlikely to be turning to a buzzy, music-heavy show for political analysis. But a crucial aspect of Garrihy’s new role is to bring her audience along as she engages with different topics, not to hang back if a subject is outside her comfort zone. It’s early days, but being a radio star involves putting one’s stamp on proceedings, not just securing a novel email address.
Overall, the schedule overhaul is less shake-up than reshuffle, with presenters swapping timeslots. Having hosted the mid-morning programme for the past two years, Laura Fox takes over at 2FM Drive (weekdays) alongside Katja Mia, who joins the show on the back of recent stand-in performances. Their partnership is only a couple of days old, but the early omens are good.
There’s an appealing chemistry between the duo as they exchange opinions on hot topics such as the optimum time to arrive at a party. (Mia favours turning up late, which may cause some concern for her producers.) The vibe is very much that of besties enjoying an effervescent meet-up, an approach that may need to be fine-tuned to ensure longevity, but so far Fox and Mia make for easy-going radio company.
Meanwhile, Demi Isaac and Mikey O’Reilly, fresh from helming 2M Drive in Garrihy’s absence, move to 2FM Afternoons (weekdays), taking over the midday slot formerly occupied by Tracy Clifford. The pair’s rambunctious approach seems designed to dispel the post-lunch slump, or indeed any kind of subtlety; the most memorable moment in their interview with the Kneecap rapper Móglaí Bap comes when O’Reilly accuses his guest of once having stolen some of his chips.
Mikey O’Reilly and Demi Isaac have good rapport on 2FM Afternoons. Photograph: Evan Doherty/RTÉ
The coming months will tell if Isaac and O’Reilly’s relentless banter chimes with afternoon audiences. Either way, their arrival marks a decisive break from the engaging Clifford, whose congenial manner co-existed with real commitment to her vocation. Bidding an emotional farewell to her listeners two weeks ago, she spoke stirringly about the power of music radio.
RTÉ says Clifford remains part of the “family”; the ominous Corleone-esque terminology aside, one hopes her talents will be heard again soon.
The one daytime fixture that remains the same – almost – is 2FM Breakfast (weekdays), with Carl Mullan, Roz Purcell and Aisling Bonner now dubbing themselves “the veterans of the 2FM schedule”. (They’ve been on air for a year.)
Though the trio continue to exude a manic and occasionally funny energy, they may wonder what price they’ve paid for keeping their roles: with their show now extended to a mammoth four hours, they call to mind the winners of the pie-eating contest whose prize is more pies.
It’s foolhardy to make predictions about this latest iteration of 2FM on the basis of a few days. But some positives are emerging, from the promising start made by the 2FM Drive duo to the station’s formidable achievement in bringing different voices to air.
With Mia, Isaac and Beta Da Silva, host of the 2FM New Music Show, all coming from black and Irish backgrounds, the station is fulfilling its self-declared mission to be “the sound of the nation” when it comes to reflecting Ireland’s diverse communities. And, of course, two-thirds of the new line-up are women. Other stations should take note.
In the longer term, however, the regular reinventions that 2FM has undergone don’t inspire confidence in the station’s general direction of travel, especially when the youthful listeners it covets have so many digital alternatives. While change and innovation are vital for any media organisation, there’s a big difference between canny renewal strategies and desperate survival efforts. Unfortunately, 2FM’s constant reorganising bears more resemblance to the latter.
Same time next year?
Moment of the week
The latest edition of the music-interview show Routes (RTÉ Radio 1, Monday) is particularly enticing, hearing from Geoff Travis and Jeannette Lee, the driving forces behind the seminal London independent record label Rough Trade.
It’s an indie trainspotters’ dream, with names like The Smiths, The Specials and Pulp cropping up as the duo recount the highs and lows of their influential label, record-shop, management and distribution network, which Travis founded 50 years ago.
There are also startling stories, such as how releasing the first album by the Belfast punks Stiff Little Fingers brought Travis to the attention of British police: “I know there is a file on us.” It’s fascinating testament to Rough Trade’s inspiring – and subversive – impact.