RADIO REVIEW:ONE HUNDRED years from now, they will still be talking about taxes on second homes on Liveline(RTÉ Radio One, weekdays). After discussing it at length earlier this year, Joe Duffy once again picked up on the €200 annual property tax on second and investment homes, which has been proposed as part of the Local Government Charges Bill 2009.
The bill said the tax will also apply to mobile homes. Duffy said “Father Ted caravans” won’t be included, but he added, somewhat provocatively, “It looks like it’s a Mobile Home Bill!”
Eddie Hobbs phoned up the show and ably filled the role of the little guy striking out against big government and fat cats. “They’re expected to pay a tax while others who’ve got very expensive pads in very expensive parts of Florida and France worth hundreds of thousands or in some cases millions won’t pay a sausage,” Hobbs said.
After the brouhaha, Minister for the Environment John Gormley later in the week reversed the tax on mobile homes. Score for Liveline! But this item was also worth listening to simply for the colour. Such as when one woman called in to declare: "Mobile means movable!" And you can't argue with that.
There was more consensus later that day on The Last Word(Today FM, weekdays). Eoin Collins, director of policy change at the Gay Lesbian Equality Network, went head-to-head with executive director of Amnesty International Ireland Colm O'Gorman. This followed the publication of the Civil Partnership Bill 2009. As expected, the bill doesn't make any provision for children in families with same-sex parents. Nor will a civil partnership entitle a couple to apply for adoption.
O’Gorman and Collins were effectively on the same page. The former said the Bill doesn’t go far enough, particularly with the rights of children. Collins welcomed the Bill, but shared O’Gorman’s concerns.
“Then why are you accepting something that is discriminatory?” Cooper asked.
“Why are you copper-fastening new discriminations?” Collins replied, “There is a level of compromise.” Of course, they are both right. It’s important to have one organisation shepherding and welcoming the bill, and another decrying it and pointing out its many shortcomings.
There was no one on The Last Wordthat day from a conservative group who was against civil partnership or gay marriage. It could be a happy sign that most people realise that Western Civilisation won't crumble if and when gay people get the right to marry. Or perhaps those against gay unions are too busy these days quietly lobbying their backbench TDs.
Whenever Ronan Collins(RTÉ Radio One, weekdays) comes on to play his discs at high noon, I usually turn off the radio because there are chores to be done. But he has been drawing me in of late. A few weeks ago, he played Neil Sedaka's version of Going Nowhere. I was throwing Fizzy Cola Bottles at the radio because he didn't play the Lena Zavaroni version. She gives the definitive, earth-shattering rendition of Sedaka's song. On Wednesday, Collins played Not Me from the 1957 album Calypso – Is Like So sung by movie star Robert Mitchum. Mitchum was seriously cool and effortlessly macho, but who knew he released a string of albums?
Somebody who appears to be hankering after a cool tough guy image is Enda Kenny. On Thursday's Tom Dunne(Newstalk 106-108, weekdays) the presenter spotted a photograph of Kenny in the free newspaper Metro. "He has Brad Pitt stubble and sunglasses on top of his head like Eric Cantona," Dunne enthused, as if he were describing an ad in the personals. Checking out the photograph online, it looked more like the Mayo casting call for Miami Vice.
On Thursday's Lunchtime(Newstalk, weekdays), Eamon Keane was in no mood for fun and games. That morning, Taoiseach Brian Cowen told reporters, "There is no room for complacency." Keane listed a slew of workers from companies who were recently made redundant. "Are they complacent?" he asked. "When I hear that sort of banal utterance . . . it just really annoys me." Keane later said his intention wasn't to be mean to the Taoiseach. But I don't blame him. The prevalence of such meaningless political soundbites is certainly worth getting annoyed about.
qfottrell@irishtimes.com