{"id":154998,"date":"2025-10-31T09:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T09:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/154998\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T09:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T09:22:08","slug":"pat-kennys-unguarded-observations-are-now-almost-endearing-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/154998\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Kenny\u2019s unguarded observations are now almost endearing \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cJust what does the spooky season mean in 2025?\u201d So asks Pat Kenny<\/b><\/a> (Newstalk<\/a>, weekdays) on Wednesday. Given the times we\u2019re living through, it\u2019s the kind of open-ended question that could invite all manner of chilling answers. As it turns out, Kenny is introducing an item by reporter Sarah Madden on Halloween<\/a> customs past and present, which covers Samhain celebrations in chipper fashion. Listeners who enjoy a good fright at this time of year need not fret, however, as Kenny has plenty of scary material to hand.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, the host hears from American journalist Terry Sheridan about the terrifyingly destructive potential of Hurricane Melissa<\/a>, and talks to Prof Paul Rogers of Bradford University about the latest horrors to befall Gaza<\/a>. These items are suitably grim, but perhaps more disturbing are Kenny\u2019s discussions on ominous changes in societal behaviour.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the host speaks to Shaykh Dr Umar Al-Qadri of the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council, about how hate speech is escalating racial tensions in Ireland. In the light of a new EU report recommending legislation on such speech, Dr Al-Qadri recounts his own experience of being abused on a flight from Poland: he reported the passenger to aircrew but did not press charges, preferring \u201chealing and understanding\u201d to escalation. <\/p>\n

But it is not an isolated incident. \u201cRacism and hate-based insults are becoming very normalised, unfortunately,\u201d says Al-Qadri, who thinks the proliferation of hate speech is increasing extremism and racist attacks, as well as undermining social cohesion: \u201cIn the past two or three years, I\u2019ve seen the country changing rapidly.\u201d It\u2019s a disturbing segment, which Kenny handles with awareness and forthrightness, though there\u2019s the odd awkward moment. He recounts the vile insults aimed at his guest to highlight the \u201cgrossly offensive\u201d nature of the abuse, but it feels somewhat unnecessary. <\/p>\n

But that\u2019s the price of open discussion. Al-Qadri supports hate speech legislation \u2013 to draw a line between criticism and incitement rather shut down debate, he says \u2013 but thinks it important to hear out people\u2019s concerns about immigration. \u201cThey need space to have dialogue,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you do not engage with people, there is only more misunderstanding.\u201d Kenny may not always take the subtle approach, but he isn\u2019t one to avoid difficult conversations.<\/p>\n

The host examines another very contemporary, very corrosive issue on Wednesday, when he examines the phenomenon of toxic masculinity. Reporter Dylan Hand tells Kenny about the so-called manosphere, the ill-defined online world where influencers spew out \u201cmisogynistic and homophobic material under the guise of self-improvement\u201d for an often impressionable audience of young men. Family therapist Richard Hogan, meanwhile, deems such influencers \u201cgrifters\u201d and draws attention to the troubling prevalence of online porn among boys, but equally is wary about painting males as inherently malevolent: \u201cWe want to celebrate our boys.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kenny deserves credit for dealing with the subject, but it\u2019s a somewhat baggy, shapeless item, more primer than analysis. As so often, the host\u2019s unwitting disregard for tact comes to the rescue. When Hogan worries that pejorative language affects how people talk about each other, Kenny ventures that matters have improved since his schooldays. \u201cIf someone was a little bit on the skinny or chubby side, they got nicknamed accordingly,\u201d he cheerily recalls, \u201cOr someone wearing glasses was \u2018speccy four-eyes\u2019.\u201d Once upon a time, such moments might have been cringeworthy or even creepy, but with Kenny\u2019s tenure on his weekday slot coming to a close, his unguarded observations are now almost endearing: less trick than treat.<\/p>\n

Change is afoot too on Drivetime<\/b> (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays), with current co-anchors Cormac \u00d3 hEadhra and Sarah McInerney due to be replaced by Katie Hannon and Colm \u00d3 Mong\u00e1in. As a consequence, a slightly jerry-rigged air prevails on the show: with both McInerney and \u00d3 hEadhra sporadic presences during the midterm break, a skeleton crew helps take the slack, starting with Barry Lenihan on bank holiday Monday. <\/p>\n

\"RTÉRT\u00c9 director general Kevin Bakhurst at RT\u00c9 studios in Donnybrook, Dublin. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

But it\u2019s Claire Brock who does the most heavy lifting. A regular stand-in for McInerney since the summer, Brock steers the show in a solo capacity on Wednesday, in time to interview RT\u00c9 director general Kevin Bakhurst<\/a> on the network\u2019s annual report. It\u2019s not quite a case of an intern grilling the boss on the accounts \u2013 formerly a presenter of The Tonight Show on Virgin Media TV, Brock is an experienced current affairs broadcaster \u2013 but it\u2019s still a pretty thankless task. (Coincidentally, Brock\u2019s erstwhile on-screen colleague Ciara Doherty is helming Newstalk\u2019s rival show The Hard Shoulder for the week.)<\/p>\n

After the obligatory mantras about institutional trust and transparency, Bakhurst is quizzed by Brock about eight irregular pension top-ups revealed in the report. The DG\u2019s briskly explanatory manner suggests he\u2019d rather talk about RT\u00c9\u2019s recent fiscal surplus<\/a>; but while the payments may seem like minor distractions in the greater scheme of things (albeit with large sums), they remain emblematic of wider failings, \u00e0 la the Leinster House bicycle shed. <\/p>\n

In a further sign of the times, Brock raises the point that the list of RT\u00c9\u2019s 10 highest earners is now dominated by executives rather than presenters<\/a>, with the director general himself topping the chart. In response, Bakhurst praises his team, citing their performance in a \u201cvery competitive market\u201d. Fair enough, but it\u2019s nonetheless notable that while the RT\u00c9 supremo lauds individual executives, he scarcely mentions the network\u2019s creative talent: an odd omission, given they\u2019re the main reason audiences tune in to begin with.<\/p>\n

The one exception is Ray D\u2019Arcy, whose acrimonious exit from Radio 1 is raised by Brock. Bakhurst is diplomatic in tone \u2013 \u201cI feel sorry personally for Ray\u201d- but resolute in his defence of how the presenter\u2019s departure was handled. \u201cIt\u2019s always difficult when you make changes,\u201d he says. True, though again one can\u2019t help noticing that those at executive level appear to have landed in comfy lifeboats when waters get choppy. Brock, who navigates her way through the interview\u2019s trickier straits without any major mishaps, asks if Bakhurst has spoken to D\u2019Arcy. \u201cNo,\u201d comes the succinct reply. No difficult conversations here.<\/p>\n

Moment of the Week<\/p>\n

Ever alive to potentially mischievous items, Se\u00e1n Moncrieff<\/b> (Newstalk, weekdays) sounds particularly gleeful when talking to Italian academic Simone Sulpizio about a new study into swearing across different cultures. Surveying profanities across 17 countries, Sulpizio spots common characteristics \u2013 every language uses slurs and sexually-related insults \u2013 as well as distinctive traits. Blasphemy, for example, is only widespread in Italy, while Thai and Chinese curses often relate to families. Germans, meanwhile, deploy a rich variety of insults, thanks partly to the language\u2019s use of compound word. Thus Moncrieff suggests that Germany is best at swearing, much as the country once was world champion in other spheres. His guest demurs, opting for another national stereotype. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t know if they\u2019re the best ones or not,\u201d Sulpizio chuckles, \u201cbut they\u2019re the most productive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cJust what does the spooky season mean in 2025?\u201d So asks Pat Kenny (Newstalk, weekdays) on Wednesday. Given…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,11850,6,19,17,16036,11,12,15,16,5,5287,24320,1181,63970,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-154998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-halloween","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-kevin-bakhurst","18":"tag-latest-news","19":"tag-latestnews","20":"tag-main-news","21":"tag-mainnews","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-newstalk-radio","24":"tag-pat-kenny","25":"tag-rte","26":"tag-sean-moncrieff","27":"tag-top-stories","28":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115468051792752959","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}