{"id":508326,"date":"2026-05-29T08:10:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/508326\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T08:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:10:16","slug":"sunny-ian-dempsey-dreary-matt-cooper-today-fms-stars-are-very-male-but-still-not-stale-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/508326\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunny Ian Dempsey, dreary Matt Cooper: Today FM\u2019s stars are very male but still not stale \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Never let it be said Matt Cooper<\/a> panders to the public mood. While the country basks in the sunshine, the presenter of The Last Word<\/b> (Today FM, weekdays) sets about introducing an overcast hue to the day as he opens Tuesday\u2019s show. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s start with the weather<\/a>, which has put a smile on many people\u2019s faces, but others are worried as to the environmental consequences,\u201d Cooper says, doing his best to ensure any smiles are short-lived. Sun\u2019s out, glum\u2019s out!<\/p>\n

In his defence, Cooper isn\u2019t being a gratuitous killjoy. Rather, in asking why we\u2019re experiencing such high temperatures so early in the year, he\u2019s following his natural journalistic inquisitiveness. Not that it makes his discussion any more cheery. Cathal Nolan of the online site Ireland\u2019s Weather Channel sees the current hot spell as abnormal: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t bode well for later in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

This ominous prediction is a little ray of sunshine compared with the prognosis of the climate<\/a> scientist Peter Thorne, however. \u201cThis is what we expect when you play Russian roulette with the climate system,\u201d he tells the host, triggering a discussion on the need to quit fossil fuels for the sake of \u201cour economic security and social cohesion\u201d. <\/p>\n

After only a few minutes the feelgood factor has well and truly evaporated, no matter that it\u2019s an urgent and necessary conversation.<\/p>\n

But all is not lost. The mood in the studio takes a screeching U-turn when Cooper is suddenly interrupted by his Today FM<\/a> colleague Louise Cantillon. She\u2019s there to quiz Cooper, a Leeside native, about his Cork credentials as part of Mayhem, an annual stationwide campaign whose main aim seemingly is to prove that wacky on-air pranks didn\u2019t die out with old-school \u201chey wow\u201d jocks.<\/p>\n

Cooper, a broadcaster usually comfortable with levity, sounds distinctly uncomfortable as Cantillon asks him to identify lyrics on various Corkcentric tunes \u2013 \u201cWould you ever shag off?\u201d he scoffs at one point \u2013 while obliging him to incrementally don the GAA strip of her home county, Limerick, with each wrong answer. <\/p>\n

But despite being forced to wear the colours of Munster hurling rivals \u2013 \u201cThe bucket hat, that\u2019s an indignity\u201d \u2013 Cooper is ultimately a good sport about the whole caper.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0A spirit-sapping encounter between Shane Coleman and Graham LinehanOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Mostly, however, he sails calmly between the atmospheric extremes of gloomy and zany. He keeps a firm hand on the tiller when discussing Government expenditure of \u20ac500 million on emergency accommodation, without being above the odd provocation. <\/p>\n

Speaking to the Fianna F\u00e1il TD S\u00e9amus McGrath, he suggests the number of people in such dire straits is \u201cbecause you\u2019re not providing enough accommodation\u201d, while asking the Sinn F\u00e9in TD Eoin \u00d3 Broin if the housing crisis is partly because \u201cwe can\u2019t cope with the influx of people coming in\u201d. (\u00d3 Broin cautions against such potential scapegoating.)<\/p>\n

Equally, the host sounds at ease yet engaged when talking cultural matters, such as his regular music slot with Dee Reddy and John Caddell. Cooper may not buy into unadulterated sun worship, but he\u2019s a reliable presence in more changeable conditions.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no chance of the good vibes being clouded over on The <\/b>Ian Dempsey<\/b><\/a> Breakfast Show<\/b> (Today FM, weekdays), as the host greets a luminous Wednesday morning with undisguised delight: \u201cIt\u2019s another boiler!\u201d <\/p>\n

Dempsey continues in this jaunty vein throughout the show, exuding happiness whether he\u2019s introducing summery pop classics such as Club Tropicana, by Wham! (\u201cwith an exclamation mark\u201d), or musing with quiz contestants on the chances of the warm weather lasting over the bank-holiday weekend.<\/p>\n

Then again, Dempsey always has a sunny disposition. Come rain or shine, he starts the day in unfailingly good humour, with a laid-back affability so natural that he sounds like an old pal shooting the breeze in aimless yet enjoyable fashion. <\/p>\n

True, Dempsey makes few demands of his listeners, but his ostensibly simple approach rests on long experience, from his light but sure on-air touch to the affection he has built up with audiences since the 1980s.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a totally solo endeavour. The long-running Gift Grub slot of the impressionist and comedian Mario Rosenstock remains a key fixture on Dempsey\u2019s programme, though the strain of delivering a daily topical skit sometimes shows. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Matt Cooper defends Ozempic users: \u2018I was one of the very early adopters\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s sketch about the hurling manager Davy Fitzgerald is delivered in a high-pitched, low-subtlety frenzy that certainly succeeds in stirring the listener from any slumber, if only to turn down the radio. Rosenstock himself may well be aware that his long-running strand can sound tired: mimicking the broadcaster D\u00e1ith\u00ed \u00d3 S\u00e9 on Wednesday\u2019s slot, he makes a crack about \u201crunning out of material\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dempsey, however, continues to distract listeners from the woes of the world in guilelessly infectious fashion. The closest he gets to negativity is when he confesses that he\u2019ll surreptitiously \u201cgive the finger\u201d to anything that annoys him while driving, be it on the radio or on the road. But even this admission is delivered in characteristically genial tones.<\/p>\n

The lack of artifice appears genuine. Ambushed as part of the Mayhem campaign by his fellow presenter Ray Foley, Dempsey is asked, with apparent sincerity, how he still does it every morning. \u201cI love it,\u201d he replies, slightly sheepishly. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a corny answer, he concedes, but he\u2019s sticking to it. \u201cI\u2019m not getting any younger, and sometimes I feel a bit embarrassed that I\u2019m still able to do this and still want to do it. But I am enthusiastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

His enthusiasm is not only apparently undimmed but also still winning new fans. Dempsey\u2019s show has been the top-rated programme on Irish commercial radio for some time, consistently increasing his audience numbers over the past year. <\/p>\n

In this achievement he\u2019s joined by Cooper, another station veteran who has seen his figures rise. Between them Dempsey and Cooper have been broadcasting on Today FM for close to an astonishing 50 years. Whoever said this was no country for old men clearly hasn\u2019t been walking the corridors of Marconi House recently.<\/p>\n

With the media world in ever greater flux, the resilient performance of such seasoned presenters is heartening, if not without caveats. Today FM\u2019s recent strong showings haven\u2019t been built on diversity: Cantillon is the only host on the station\u2019s weekday schedule who isn\u2019t a middle-aged (or older) man. <\/p>\n

But, like the subject of climate change on a sunny day, that\u2019s a subject for another time. For now, Dempsey and Cooper are allowed to do a little basking of their own.<\/p>\n

Moment of the week<\/p>\n

As Newstalk listeners will know, the station\u2019s roving reporter Henry McKean is an intrepid and courageous soul, conducting vox pops in unpredictable and sometimes difficult situations. But Monday\u2019s report for Se\u00e1n Moncrieff <\/b>on National Brother\u2019s Day \u2013 it\u2019s a thing \u2013 is a more personal challenge. <\/p>\n

McKean remembers his brother Charlie, who died of a heart attack a month ago while pursuing his passion of sailing. It\u2019s a touching tribute to a clearly beloved sibling, with McKean\u2019s understated style scarcely concealing his emotion. \u201cWe don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll be around,\u201d he plaintively says of such relations. \u201cDo tell them that you love them.\u201d <\/p>\n

As with the recent on-air tribute to his late mother by the RT\u00c9 Radio 1 presenter Shay Byrne, it\u2019s oddly touching to hear our broadcasters grieve so openly. One can only sympathise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Never let it be said Matt Cooper panders to the public mood. While the country basks in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[75],"tags":[1180,50745,18,117,30062,220506,130936,19,17,72825,91727,212140,63970,111371,69406],"class_list":["post-508326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-daithi-o-se","tag-davy-fitzgerald","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-eoin-o-broin","tag-henry-mckean","tag-ian-dempsey","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-mario-rosenstock","tag-matt-cooper","tag-ray-foley","tag-sean-moncrieff","tag-shay-byrne","tag-today-fm"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116656854091197265","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508326","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=508326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}