When two nerds collide

RADIO REVIEW:A SMART CHAP whose fogeyish fashion sense and self- deprecating manner hides neither his showy cleverness nor his ambition: if ever Ryan Tubridy was to have a kindred spirit as a guest, it was surely Neil Hannon, who appeared on Tubridy(2FM, weekdays) last Tuesday. Best known as the foppish lead singer of The Divine Comedy, the erudite Hannon was greeted by his host in tones that suggested a natural affinity.

"We did want to doff the cap to you for reasons nerdy," said Tubridy, using an adjective that is among the most highly valued in his lexicon. Hannon's achievement was to have won the BBC quiz show Celebrity Mastermind, something the singer (naturally) played down, setting the tone for the interview.

Far from fizzing with mutual respect, the longer the pair spoke, the more it sounded as if Hannon was there under sufferance, punctuating his halting conversation with distracted asides and regal observations such as, “I’m very pleased to support our nation’s intellectual properties abroad”.

It may well be that Hannon was merely tired, as he said, but he gave the impression of talking down to Tubridy, a rare experience indeed for a presenter who habitually treats celebrity guests as his natural peers.

The one time there was any real spark was when Tubridy asked Hannon about his father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease: the singer’s demurring manner could not hide his obvious emotion. The exchange also highlighted one of the more unexpected byproducts of Tubridy’s 2FM tenure. Though that of the wisecracking, pencil- drumming chatshow host is still his default setting, he now sounds far more at ease when dealing with the personal troubles of ordinary people.

On Wednesday he spoke to Hilary, a mother whose children had been traumatised ever since the family walked in on burglars ransacking their home. Tubridy turned this potentially generic human-interest story into something more absorbing, gently inquiring how the children had been affected while wisely eschewing trite advice. His empathetic approach clearly struck a chord, with several listeners phoning in to share similar experiences and offer counsel.

The whole item suggested that Tubridy is finally getting to grips with the true-life dramas that form the lifeblood of daytime talkshows.

Pat Kenny is another presenter who has been assiduously carving himself a new niche by giving greater voice – or space, at least – to the grievances of a middle Ireland that feels unfairly targeted by Government policy. On his show ( Today with Pat Kenny, RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) the presenter has sounded an increasingly agitated note whenever the issue of private health insurance arises, regularly asking why policyholders should be subject to greater levies. On Wednesday Kenny visited the issue of private schools, another area where those who pay for superior services are under pressure.

David Quinn, columnist and head of the Iona Institute, was invited to explain how the State paying the salaries of private-school teachers made economic sense. Quinn cited a report – commissioned, he admitted, by the fee-paying schools – which concluded that a privately educated pupil cost the state €3,500 less than the public-school equivalent. Far from benefiting from public generosity in the form of teachers’ wages, Quinn stated, parents who sent their children to private schools were actually subsidising the State.

It was a breathtaking assertion, even if one had to admire Quinn’s chutzpah in his counterintuitive argument that paying for exclusive education amounted to civic altruism. When Kieran Allen, a sociology lecturer at University College Dublin, pointed out the obvious counterargument – that private education is State-funded inequality, and those who wish to opt out of the State system should foot the entire bill for the privilege, as happens in Britain – Quinn took a more personal tack, accusing Allen of trying to turn the parents of private-school pupils into “class enemies”.

Throughout all this, there were hints as to where Kenny’s sympathies lay.

He reprimanded Allen for using St Columba’s, which has the highest fees in Ireland, as a distorting example of the disparity between public- and private-school incomes, while giving Quinn an altogether easier ride. Kenny also asked why “taxpayers should not enjoy some sort of State help to educate children”, a prime example of the kind of loaded middle-class outrage that increasingly weighs Kenny’s language.

Kenny’s broadcasting instincts remain as sharp as ever: Quinn’s gobsmacking logic made for riveting radio. But his pandering to a middle-class sense of victimhood is unappealing.

radioreview@irishtimes.com

Radio moment of the week

Of all the tributes paid following the death of Mary Raftery, whose tireless reporting uncovered clerical abuse in church institutions, perhaps the most surprising came on News at One(RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) from Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, who spoke with obvious sincerity about the late journalist's passion for exposing the hidden injustices in Irish society. He did not believe Raftery was driven by an anti-church bias. "I believe the truth makes us free," he said. "Bringing the truth out is always a positive thing, even though it may be a painful truth." For an archbishop to pay such an eloquent tribute was testimony to Raftery's immense legacy.