Return of the eclectic ensemble

RadioReview:  The trick is to remember to tune into John Kelly's new programme, The JK Ensemble, because - in my house at least - Lyric fm hasn't been a regular weekday listen during the day.

Though, having actually remembered for most of this week, it will be from now on. The formula is pretty much the same as his very publicly lamented evening programme on RTÉ Radio 1, The Mystery Train. Kelly's has to be the only programme where Christy Moore, Prokofiev, the Manhattans and Bach can sit happily on the same playlist, and while he can sound a bit smug about just how esoteric his record collection is, it all works.

Moreover, it's challenging to be exposed to music you might not otherwise hear, and that can't be bad. And when it all gets a bit too pleased with its own strangeness, there's always the option to switch over. So on Wednesday, as the Estonian Choir segued - with a long silence in between - into an apparently interminable piece of music that sounded suspiciously like a xylophone, I turned to Mooney (RTÉ Radio 1) only to get a blast of Put 'Em Under Pressure - enough to make even the weirdest plinky plonky stuff seem attractive.

How Kelly fits into the Lyric daytime schedule is a bit more difficult to judge. When Niall Carroll followed The JK Ensemble with his Drivetime Classics on Wednesday and began with a nice bit of Vivaldi, there was a sense that normal Lyric service had been resumed.

Last week, Vincent Browne celebrated 10 years of Tonight with Vincent Browne (RTÉ Radio 1) but on current form what was once an edgy, unpredictable listen is tipping over the edge. It's fine on the nights when there is tribunal coverage with the insightful re-enactments, but on most days, all that sighing and badgering is too predictable.

In the middle of Bertiegate, Mary O'Rourke, contributing to the programme, cautioned Browne that she was going to hang up the phone if he kept up the theatrical sighing. A bit of amateur dramatics is one thing, it's when Browne takes aim at the messenger that it all sounds very sour. On Monday, the siege at Gort where an armed man was holed up in a house, made it to the top of news bulletins across all stations. When reporter Fergal Keane came on air to report in his usual clear, measured way how the siege ended, Browne quizzed him about the media coverage of the event while acknowledging at the end of the harangue that Keane had no say in where his report was placed in any given bulletin. Keane was at pains to stress that he and the other reporters were conscious that the man in the house might be listening and were sensitive to that. There is a discussion to be had around reporting such incidents - and particularly this one because the initial reports on the nine o' clock news about how it ended were incorrect - but getting argumentative with a reporter doing his job isn't the way to start it.

That item was followed by one on Ryanair's interest in Aer Lingus with Fianna Fáil's Sean Ardagh once again in to bat for the Government. It dissolved into a shrill, pointless mess because berating a back-bencher about Government policy makes about as much sense as phoning up Shell's global headquarters and giving the receptionist an earful about Rossport. Incidentally, the canny O'Rourke could teach younger politicians a thing or two about pre-election profile building. She's everywhere, even reviewing theatre on Páraic Breathnach's new show (The Eleventh Hour, RTÉ Radio 1, Monday).

Last week it was Bertie, this week Stan was the big story - though the chilly attitude to the Republic's team manager did warm up after Wednesday's Irish victory (or, as it's known in other countries, a draw).

Before the match, Tony Cascarino (The Last Word with Matt Cooper, Today FM, Tuesday) urged people to "get behind the boys early doors" - pretty much what other commentators were saying, though less colourfully. There was lot of talk of commitment to the green shirt, though what puzzles me is how totally lacking in commitment RTÉ is to its evening schedule. On Wednesday and Saturday, regular programmes were scrapped to make way for the football broadcast. Sports fans are used to tuning to medium wave to hear matches, but this week both matches were given pride of place on FM and it's too bad if you are a loyal listener to Fiona Kelly's excellent new series A Walk in the Park (RTÉ Radio 1, Saturday) or even - and this might be stretching it - Wednesday's Drivetime with Dave. Or is it a sign of a realisation that the new, fractured Drivetime formula isn't working?