Cold snap brings out warm hearts

RADIO REVIEW:GIVEN THE ARCTIC weather, it was appropriate that the week started with a dramatic account of predatory creatures hunting in packs, stalking prey stranded in the cold. But the marauders described by a caller to Monday's Liveline(RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) were not of the vulpine variety. The snow had apparently turned Dún Laoghaire into a fruitful hunting ground for another species of predator: traffic wardens.

According to Ann Joyce, a florist, the wardens were travelling in pairs – or, as Joe Duffy put it, packs – issuing notices to cars abandoned by drivers because of the weather. In looking for “poor victims”, Joyce said, the officials were “showing no mercy”. Amid the bloodcurdling language, it turned out that the real issue was not the snow but a grievance with the council’s parking-fine system: a public meeting on the matter was being held that evening.

Frustration in the face of the weather translating into anger at official Ireland was a recurring theme early in the week. One caller from Dundalk chastised the local council for poor gritting. “You’d get more salt on your chips at the takeaway,” he lamented.

Another contributor, Patricia, could not open her creche, as she was snowbound in Monaghan. For her the failure to keep the roads open was another example of the Government's inability to run the economy. It was little wonder that Liveline's contributors conflated the weather with the state of the nation: they felt equally powerless in the face of both.

A more robust attitude to the elements was in evidence elsewhere. As he gave winter driving tips to Matt Cooper on Monday's edition of The Last Word(Today FM, weekdays), Anton Savage bemoaned the sense of crisis accompanying the cold snap. "It's just snow," said Savage. "It's not raining frogs on fire; it's not a plague." He mocked online advice to carry survival kits and wrap up as though for an Antarctic expedition. "Don't drive in the nude," was his tip.

Savage gave practical hints on negotiating icy roads, but the segment walked a fine line between flippant irreverence and sneering superiority. It is a problem that periodically dogs The Last Word, with Cooper's flat, technocratic style allowing too much space for the excesses of others. When the economist David McWilliams discussed the terms of the bailout his tendency towards smug certainty was given free rein, overshadowing his occasionally perceptive observations. Similarly, Savage's louche tone ignored the genuine distress felt by vulnerable sections of society. An elderly woman called Mary phoned Livelineto say she could not afford to keep the heating on and had to stay in bed.

Even the most intimate aspects of life, such as grieving, were affected by the weather. Speaking on Tubridy(2FM, weekdays), one woman, Rhona, described how her mother's funeral was disrupted when the family car got stuck in the snow. She was philosophical about the tragicomic incident, which was an incidental detail in her wider story. Rhona had previously spoken on the show about her late mother's dementia. After eight years of anguish, Rhona said her mother's death, in her sleep, had come as a release.

Such tales have become regular fixtures on Ryan Tubridy’s slot. The programme has featured the Alzheimer’s-afflicted author Terry Pratchett as well as other members of the public caring for elderly parents with the condition. Such sensitive material is indicative of his direction of late. Tubridy is at his best with audience-friendly human-interest stories, where his instinct for optimism can thrive.

Wednesday’s good-natured interview with Mary O’Rourke had little to do with politics, concentrating on anecdotes about the Fianna Fáil TD’s late husband and queries about the health of her nephew Brian Lenihan.

Tubridy’s new berth on the perennially zippy 2FM has proved a better fit for his upbeat populism than his old home on Radio 1. This week Tubridy’s spirit of positivity seemed more widespread than usual. As the weather worsened, instances of generosity and goodwill increased.

Livelinealso carried tales of farmers selflessly towing trucks through the snow, while offers of heating oil for the bed-bound Mary flooded in. Aside from the odd irritating traffic warden, the weather brought out the best in people.

radioreview@irishtimes.com

Radio moment of the week 

Gay Byrne’s regal appearance on Tuesday’s edition of Mooney (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) was a reminder of how much mainstream radio misses his curmudgeonly presence. From the moment Byrne commandeered the microphone as though he were the host – “Good afternoon to one and all, happy to be here,” he chirped – he performed with a zing often missing from his rambling Sunday show on Lyric FM.

Derek Mooney’s attempts to keep up were swatted aside. Byrne derided Mooney’s impression of him as “a crummy imitation” and then upbraided the presenter, who boasted of his elocution lessons, for pronouncing “gate” with a soft T, one of Gaybo’s old bugbears.

In putting an awestruck Mooney in his place, Byrne effortlessly reaffirmed his status as the don of Irish radio.