TV & Radio

Anton Savage needs to be a little more, well, savage

The Newstalk host has an appealing confidence. He just needs a pinch of brutality

Anton Savage. Photograph: Cyril Byrne

Mick Heaney's face
Mick Heaney
Fri Oct 29 2021 - 05:00

Throughout his career as a broadcaster, Anton Savage has been a one-man rebuke to the notion of nominative determinism. His on-air persona lacks any trace of the barbaric characteristics that could be associated with his surname: instead, as he interviews politicians, pop stars and sports personalities on his new weekend programme (The Anton Savage Show, Newstalk, Saturday), the presenter is polished yet relaxed, smart yet affable. Alas, however, his show doesn't qualify as savage in the enthusiastically adjectival usage of the Irish vernacular either: there's not a lot to get excited about.

This seems odd, given the strong raw material the host has to work with. Last weekend’s edition has Savage broadcasting from Cork, where he savours the joys of the city’s jazz festival and interviews Taoiseach (and Leeside native) Micheál Martin. Savage starts off their conversation in genial fashion, asking if his guest is a jazz fan – ever the politician, the Taoiseach inoffensively describes himself as “a general music fan” – before moving on to more serious matters.

But while the host is well briefed as he asks about the chaotically shifting guidelines for nightlife, Martin sails through the interview without ever really being put under pressure. Even when Savage pertinently wonders why new ticketing requirements for nightclubs have been introduced at the last minute, he lets the Taoiseach offer the glibly exculpatory excuse that he “wasn’t involved in the details”. Tellingly, the host sounds happier with fuzzier questions about Martin’s goals for the remainder of his premiership. A bit of brutality wouldn’t have gone amiss.

To be fair, the Saturday morning slot occupied by Savage isn’t a natural arena for political blood sport. But his supposedly more diverting items don’t fare much better. His chat with former athlete Derval O’Rourke drifts in blandly amiable fashion, the main interest stemming from Savage’s laconic asides, as when he asks about his guest’s post-retirement routine: “Why don’t you sit on the sofa with a packet of crisps?”

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Such drollery highlights Savage’s easy confidence on the mic, an appealing characteristic that nonetheless misfires during his interview with obstetrician Peter Boylan about the ongoing national maternity hospital saga. Boylan objects to revised plans for the Sisters of Charity to lease the new hospital’s site to the State, citing the worries about religious influence on women’s healthcare. In his naturally upbeat way, the host describes the proposal as a case of “better now than perfection later”, only to be shot down by his guest. “That would be the worst of all possible worlds, and that’s exactly what the Vatican wants,” Boylan says, deeming such an outcome “capitulation” to the Catholic Church. Despite the slightly grouchy air, it’s the most absorbing item on the show: for all Savage’s smooth instincts, his bumpier moments work better.

Bird ruffled

The presenter is equally self-possessed later, filling in for the week as guest host on The Hard Shoulder (Newstalk, weekdays), where he seems comfortable with the rough and tumble of the drivetime slot. He sounds especially content during Tuesday's discussion on rising petrol prices with former AA spokesman Conor Faughnan, allowing him as it does to indulge his love for all things motoring. It's a pretty good item, dealing with climate change and public transport, but Savage's giddy enthusiasm occasionally veers close to superciliousness: noting that taxation accounts for 60 per cent of Irish petrol prices, he says that "the vast majority of what we are paying is for the joy of being governed".

Savage wisely drops his breezy assurance and wry sensibility on Wednesday, however, when he speaks to former RTÉ reporter Charlie Bird about his diagnosis for motor neuron disease. Having shared his dreadful news on Twitter, Bird has already appeared on Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), where Joe Duffy lends emotional support to his erstwhile colleague: "Keep going, you're a hero," Duffy tells an audibly moved Bird.

Savage’s interview covers some of the same ground. Bird explains how he became concerned when his voice started to weaken, and sure enough, his distinctive timbre is distressingly diminished as he contemplates the “difficult journey” that lies ahead for him. Savage, a restrained presence throughout, then asks a simple but devastatingly direct question: “Are you frightened?” “Yes, I’m scared,” Bird replies, “I’ve cried sometimes.” Though he currently walks up to 10 miles a day, the journalist bluntly expresses his fear of “being put in a wheelchair” as well as his sadness at the deterioration of his voice: “It’s been tough.” It’s a tough but memorable conversation, marked by Savage’s uncharacteristic reserve and, above all, by Bird’s painful honesty.

Another side

Meanwhile, the pandemic continues to make its presence felt as Brendan O’Connor hosts a lively newspaper panel on Sunday’s edition of his RTÉ Radio 1 show. Even as late-night venues reopen, O’Connor wonders if we are nervously “pulling in our horns” in the face of rising case numbers. His guests share his unease, but still end up at odds with the host over the Government’s response to the latest Covid spike.

For instance, when Prof Jack Lambert of UCD criticises the Government for lacking nimbleness, O'Connor vigorously pushes back: "We've a good record in this country, let's be careful about being all critical about everything." Lambert describes this as "defending the indefensible", prompting a drily amused response from the host: "It's presenting another side, Jack."

There are further spirited exchanges when entrepreneur and broadcaster Norah Casey voices exasperation at both official Covid strategy and O'Connor's ongoing defence of it. "I know you're playing devil's advocate and I admire that," Casey says. "I'm not, I'm injecting some balance," O'Connor replies, in a knowing tone that suggests he's enjoying the argumentative edge.

Similarly, he sounds pleased rather than regretful when he talks about the “rancour” heard during the discussion, and rightly so: under O’Connor’s jousting stewardship, the newspaper panel is once again the fulcrum of Radio 1’s flagship weekend slot. You don’t always have to be civilised.

RADIO MOMENT OF THE WEEK

Having recently spoken to Brendan O'Connor about an online hedge school project, broadcaster and author Manchán Magan displays his indefatigable energy when he appears on Today with Claire Byrne (RTÉ Radio 1) to discuss his new children's book on the Irish language's rich relationship with nature. Magan is a font of esoteric information as he talks about the visually based Irish words for everything from cows and wolves to squid – máthair shúigh or "sucking mother". "A squid lays 70,000 eggs and then cares for them all with her tentacles, so it's a lovely description," Magan explains, with icky gusto. But his zeal is infectious, with Byrne clearly enjoying the conversation, even when her guest remarks on the amount of derogatory terms for women as Gaeilge, albeit mainly used by other women. "When they were weaving or collecting seaweed, they were constantly shouting these fun, insulting words at each other," he says. "Lovely," Byrne ruefully replies.

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