{"id":485535,"date":"2026-05-15T06:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T06:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/485535\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T06:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T06:00:18","slug":"a-spirit-sapping-encounter-between-shane-coleman-and-graham-linehan-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/485535\/","title":{"rendered":"A spirit-sapping encounter between Shane Coleman and Graham Linehan \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

With its rush-hour time slot and motorway-adjacent title, The Hard Shoulder<\/b> (Newstalk<\/a>, weekdays) has always given off a certain petrolhead energy, while the programme\u2019s iconoclastic ethos has sometimes seemed designed to stir up frustrated commuters listening on the car radio. <\/p>\n

So when Shane Coleman<\/a>, who anchors the show with Ciara Kelly<\/a>, asks whether cyclists serially disobey the law, one braces for a four-wheels-good, two-wheels-bad jeremiad pitched at drivers stuck in evening traffic. <\/p>\n

Far from going full Jeremy Clarkson, however, Coleman confesses that he\u2019s not only a cyclist but a sinner too. \u201cI\u2019m going to put my hands up and say, yes, I do break the rules of the road,\u201d he admits, while insisting that any transgressions are minor: he might go through a red light or a pedestrian crossing, but it\u2019s never at full speed. \u201cI\u2019m not justifying it. Well, maybe I am,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m in the wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such self-excoriating reflection might seem suspiciously right-on to anyone pining for the days when Ivan Yates presided over the show in flamboyantly politically incorrect style, but Coleman doesn\u2019t stop there. <\/b>\u201cAll drivers break the rules of the road as well, I would argue,\u201d he says, further risking the irritation of car-bound listeners.<\/p>\n

Kelly is normally primed to push back against her colleague\u2019s positions (and vice versa), but in this instance she sounds an indulgent note towards bad behaviour on bikes. <\/b>\u201cIn the main cyclists do less harm, and I think that\u2019s why they take the rules less seriously,\u201d she says. What kind of automobile apostasy is this?<\/p>\n

In truth, it\u2019s in keeping with Coleman and Kelly\u2019s approach since they switched lanes from Newstalk\u2019s breakfast show to The Hard Shoulder, in February. The duo haven\u2019t suddenly become woke warriors, but neither are they dogmatic anti-PC crusaders. While their commonsense personas can chime with the exasperated concerns of the squeezed middle, that same sensibility also feeds into a clear-eyed view of cyclists\u2019 conduct. <\/p>\n

Not that they\u2019re afraid to wade into controversial waters. With RT\u00c9 boycotting the Eurovision Song Contest<\/a> in protest at Israel\u2019s participation and replacing it with an episode of Father Ted, Coleman speaks to the sitcom\u2019s co-creator \u2013 and anti-transgender activist \u2013 Graham Linehan<\/a>, who says the boycott decision is \u201clike a completely ineffectual teenagerish strop … to give aid to homicidal rapist lunatics\u201d. <\/p>\n

The interview continues in this measured fashion, with Linehan stridently expressing his disgust at RT\u00c9\u2019s move \u2013 \u201cThe current fad in Ireland for anti-Semitism is a global embarrassment\u201d \u2013 while venturing that the atrocities committed by Hamas during the October 7th attacks justify Israel\u2019s subsequent actions in Gaza: \u201cEvery single death in Gaza is on Hamas\u2019s head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coleman isn\u2019t convinced: \u201cThat\u2019s a cop-out for Israel, is it not?\u201d Maintaining his habitually civil manner, the host suggests one can agree that Hamas committed war crimes \u2013 he calls its attack an abomination \u2013 while also regarding Israel\u2019s response as disproportionate and criminal. <\/p>\n

\"GrahamGraham Linehan aired his views on Israel. Photograph: Lucy North\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Linehan, predictably, strongly disagrees, as he does when Coleman ventures that anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiment aren\u2019t the same thing: \u201cYes they are.\u201d <\/p>\n

Even by the charged standards of discussions about Gaza, it\u2019s a spirit-sapping encounter. But while Coleman robustly challenges his guest\u2019s uncompromising stance, Linehan can\u2019t talk about being silenced. If nothing else, the interview speaks to Coleman\u2019s (and Kelly\u2019s) willingness to engage with a wide range of voices, no matter how discomfiting. <\/p>\n

The two presenters, on the other hand, sound comfortable in their drivetime roles. Their partnership, honed during five years of morning duty, has been reinvigorated by their new setting. Both hosts are assured and buoyant as they cover health issues \u2013 there\u2019s a candid conversation with the podcaster Laura Guckian about struggling with new motherhood \u2013 and cultural items, such as their chat with the author Andrea Mara. <\/p>\n

The pair still roll their eyes at contemporary shibboleths \u2013 Kelly shares her pet peeve that children are overprotected \u2013 but, overall, they have found a balance that would do any cyclist proud.<\/p>\n

There are missed opportunities. Interviewing Bertie Ahern on Tuesday about the centenary of Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s foundation, Coleman talks at length to the former Taoiseach about the party\u2019s legacy, but he asks only in passing about social media posts of his guest canvassing in Dublin. It\u2019s unclear whether Coleman at that stage has seen footage in which Ahern says there are too many migrants from \u201cthe Congo and all these places\u201d<\/a>, but either way the issue is quickly passed over.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Uncharted with Ray Goggins: Sergeant-major routine is ditched for a chummy Boy\u2019s Own rompOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Kieran Cuddihy is determined that won\u2019t be the case on Liveline<\/b> (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays), with the host inviting listeners to share their thoughts on Ahern\u2019s comments. He may wish he hadn\u2019t asked, however: only one caller responds, and even then ambivalently. The caller, Michael, is surprised that Ahern has made the remarks, though not in the way one might expect.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be very careful what you say,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don\u2019t know when we\u2019re being photographed or recorded.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cuddihy\u2019s antennae start to twitch nervously: \u201cIs your issue with the content or that he was foolish enough to get caught saying it?\u201d <\/p>\n

The host\u2019s incipient alarm is misplaced, however. Michael, a retiree who recalls his working life in multicultural London, ultimately sounds favourably disposed to migrants: \u201cWhile we\u2019re here we should help each other.\u201d <\/p>\n

But the meandering nature of the segment highlights the bind that Cuddihy can find himself in: conversing with callers still attuned to the nostalgic air that prevailed during Joe Duffy\u2019s long tenure but lacking the former host\u2019s instinctive bond with older listeners.<\/p>\n

Cuddihy sounds more at home when dealing with a case of unambiguous racism. On Monday he hears from Suad Mooge, who describes the racist abuse she\u2019s endured online since winning the title of Dublin Rose. It\u2019s a depressingly familiar story, not least to the Sligo-born medical scientist. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing that I haven\u2019t heard before,\u201d she says, noting that such insults were part of her experience as a person of colour growing up in Ireland. She is, however, taken aback by the level of invective.<\/p>\n

\"DublinDublin Rose of Tralee Saud Mooge has said the racial abuse directed against her is not a surprise. <\/p>\n

Much like his guest, Cuddihy sounds shocked but not surprised by such vile acts. He devotes the entire show to the matter, underlining his recognition of how urgent a problem racist abuse has become here. <\/p>\n

The host is repulsed by such prejudice, even if his reactions are sometimes clunky, as when he invokes Tiger Woods as an example of racial dynamics. A less starry example might be more relatable. <\/p>\n

But Cuddihy, who sometimes appears unsure how to steer the increasingly creaky vehicle that is Liveline, is audibly driven in his rejection of the growing prevalence of racism in Ireland. It\u2019s a direction Cuddihy should continue following, though it won\u2019t be an easy ride. <\/p>\n

Moment of the week<\/p>\n

He may be a radio veteran, but Ray Foley<\/b> (Today FM, weekdays) doesn\u2019t display much in the way of professional courtesy towards rival presenters, particularly those hosting certain phone-in shows. <\/p>\n

The DJ is engaging in a bantering riff with his long-time sidekick JP Gilbourne about the etiquette of wearing headphones in an office. It\u2019s a practice he largely disdains, with certain exceptions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I do have my headphones on, and I need to concentrate, I listen to brown noise,\u201d Foley says. \u201cAnd, no, I don\u2019t mean Kieran Cuddihy on Liveline.\u201d Ouch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With its rush-hour time slot and motorway-adjacent title, The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, weekdays) has always given off a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[15526,6989,18,10893,29684,19,17,3857,49974,23900,5287,212140,888,1181,112487,82,69406],"class_list":{"0":"post-485535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-bertie-ahern","9":"tag-ciara-kelly","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-eurovision","12":"tag-graham-linehan","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-israel-hamas-conflict","16":"tag-joe-duffy","17":"tag-kieran-cuddihy","18":"tag-newstalk-radio","19":"tag-ray-foley","20":"tag-rose-of-tralee","21":"tag-rte","22":"tag-shane-coleman","23":"tag-technology","24":"tag-today-fm"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116577070568700381","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485535","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=485535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}