It might not be to everyone’s taste, but as its consistently high ratings attest, Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays) is still in tune with its audience’s interests. Even so, few items strike a chord in quite the same manner as Tuesday’s discussion on Irish guitar legend Rory Gallagher and his guitar, both in terms of musical resonance and listener response. “Our phones are absolutely hopping,” stand-in host Katie Hannon observes, underlining how much the late Irish rock legend still means to people, nearly 30 years after his death.
This being Liveline, however, the conversation isn’t driven by celebratory impulses, but rather the desire to kvetch. In this case the gripes concern the decision by Gallagher’s brother Donal to put the guitarist’s trademark 1961 Fender Stratocaster up for auction. “I was saddened and surprised,” is the verdict of one caller, Eamon, who thinks the State should buy the guitar: “He’s a secular saint; these are secular relics.”
These sentiments are echoed by Tim, who says the guitar is “in a similar vein to the Book of Kells and the Ardagh Chalice”. The normally unflappable Hannon gasps audibly: “That’s a big statement.” But the presenter knows a rich seam of radio when she hears it, and keeps things flowing. Sure enough, the hyperbolic if sincere pronouncements that follow would surely have caused the famously low-key Gallagher to blush, such as the suggestion that his guitar has “the power to heal”. “In Rory’s hands,” Hannon quickly clarifies, quashing any incipient comparisons to the one true cross.
[ Rory Gallagher guitar should be ‘kept in the State’, says Cork lord mayorOpens in new window ]
Meanwhile, other fans express their admiration in less devotional terms, describing the guitarist’s seismic impact on youthful audiences in Ireland. “It might be a bit of an exaggeration to say he dragged us out of the post-independence intellectual recession,” says Denis, “but I think a lot of teenagers in the 1970s would have thought that.”
Underneath the exuberant characterisations, however, there’s an important point about our cultural heritage. Most callers favour the idea of the guitar being acquired for the nation, despite its estimated price of £1 million (€1.1 million): Denis says the French would never let such an artefact end up in private hands. (Hedge fund managers are enthusiastic collectors of such guitars.) There are suggestions that the Strat could be the inaugural exhibit in a national guitar collection, or that it might be purchased for public display by a tech entrepreneur, or even that it should be gifted to the city of Cork, where the Donegal-born Gallagher grew up. “Cork people are forever telling me how Cork Rory Gallagher is,” says Hannon, with the knowing tone of a Kerry native.
Eventually, Donal Gallagher phones in, expressing interest in all approaches for his late brother’s guitar. But he also notes the practical difficulties that can accompany donations to museums. “You don’t know necessarily what becomes of the instruments.” This could have been the spur for a debate about increased funding for arts infrastructure, but Hannon has run out of time.
It’s a minor quibble. The host’s deft moderation of the lively contributions makes for an entertaining and informative show. Hannon has been sitting in for Joe Duffy with such regularity and aplomb that she’s now closer to a co-pilot than a guest presenter.
Not that her presence is enough to ensure a compelling programme. On Monday, Hannon spends her time hearing complaints about the truncated performance by US rapper Nicki Minaj at Malahide Castle over the weekend, with callers – chiefly aggrieved parents of young fans – bemoaning the star’s “utter contempt for her fan base”. One caller defends Minaj, saying that short sets are normal in the genre, but the reaction is mainly negative. Though quite possibly justified, the grumbling soon wears thin: for every memorable riff on Liveline, there’s also a bum note.
An altogether jollier air suffuses The Ray D’Arcy Show (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), when comedian Dara Ó Briain talks about his forthcoming live tour in terms that might have his fans sweating. Asked by the host about how much he’s written, O’Briain breezily replies: “Oh God, there’s no show.” This isn’t as cavalier as it sounds, as the comic explains that he’s still working on material for a two-hour set, which will be honed in the comedy proving ground of the Edinburgh Fringe. “I’ve 40 minutes I’d be happy with now,” says O’Briain. “You’re better value than Nicki Minaj,” quips D’Arcy.
It’s one of several zingy moments, as host and guest josh around in enjoyably meandering fashion. As so often, D’Arcy thrives in such relaxed settings, and he brings this casual mood to other items, such as his conversation with Natasha Lucas, aka “the nit cracker”, on how group selfies are causing a global surge in head lice. “I’ve just scratched my head there, and I don’t have any hair,” the presenter remarks, emphasising the hypnotically icky nature of the subject. D’Arcy isn’t totally on song – there’s a lengthy segment about rewatching Ricky Gervais’s old sitcom Extras in his rambling monologue – but he has enough material for a decent show.
That’s not a worry for Dave Moore (Today FM, weekdays), a past master at spinning the thinnest subject matter into a three-hour programme, be it quizzes or bad jokes. In this context, Tuesday’s five-minute interview with Irish actor Paul Mescal counts as a Tolstoy-esque tome, and Moore responds accordingly, building up the conversation for most of the programme.
The brief encounter – to promote a promotional trailer for the movie Gladiator II – is suitably frothy, with Mescal joking how his GAA pedigree was useful in a Colosseum setting. But the actor also makes the always crucial point about Ireland’s outsize international stature in the arts. “We’re a country punching far above our weight,” says Mescal, “and it should be supported, because we’ve got immense talent for such a small country.” Maybe buying Rory Gallagher’s guitar shouldn’t be such a dilemma.
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