Newstalk

Radio station

When Claire Byrne confronts Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary on RTÉ, the atmosphere is seriously tetchy

Radio 1 host clashes with airline boss over high airfares, while Ray D’Arcy captures a frazzled festive atmosphere

Fri Dec 20 2024 - 05:00

2024 in radio: chaotic exodus of Doireann Garrihy, Jennifer Zamparelli and the 2 Johnnies hangs over 2FM

Many presenters left RTÉ's pop station but Radio 1 had a much more stable year and Newstalk sailed serenely on. The online sphere and the threat of podcasts looms ever larger

Sat Dec 14 2024 - 05:15

At Newstalk, Ciara Kelly gets righteously annoyed

The breakfast host seems to court listeners who once complained about the PC brigade but now prefer to decry the woke mob

Fri Dec 13 2024 - 05:00

A darkly farcical incident on Liveline ends up exposing a hot-button issue

Radio: The Liveline host gleefully performs the audio equivalent of nudges and winks after a general-election weekend that leaves him hoarse

Fri Dec 06 2024 - 05:30

Newstalk’s interview with Gerry Hutch is an anticlimax after Kevin Myers’s inflammatory opinions fill the air

Radio: The Hard Shoulder host Kieran Cuddihy gives his guest’s talent for inflammatory opinions full rein – all while discussing his favourite books

Fri Nov 29 2024 - 05:00

Ray D’Arcy offers an intriguing glimpse into a dirty industry

Radio: When the RTÉ host talks to Pat and Aisling Ryan, it’s an intriguing glimpse into an unseen and unglamorous yet vital industry

Fri Nov 22 2024 - 05:00

Sage Bertie Ahern, wry Joe Duffy and stoned-sounding Irish Maga fan: Radio reactions to Trump’s US election win

Radio: Ciara Kelly hears differing takes on Trump victory while Kieran Cuddihy meets jubilant Maga fans in New York

Fri Nov 08 2024 - 05:00

RTÉ 2FM loses listeners after string of presenter exits

‘Exciting plan’ for new schedule in early 2025, says RTÉ, while news programmes on Radio 1, Newstalk and Today FM look forward to general election boost

Thu Nov 07 2024 - 12:28

Savaged by Anton: Easy questions for Seán O’Rourke, gentle inquisition for Lynn Boylan

Radio: The former RTÉ presenter joins Anton Savage on Newstalk. Sinn Féin is under fire everywhere

Fri Oct 18 2024 - 05:00

Pat Kenny stokes fears of dystopian Dublin with accounts of rampant criminality

Radio: The Newstalk host hears lurid tales of urban crime. Over on Today FM, Matt Cooper has a more upbeat take on the capital’s future

Fri Oct 11 2024 - 05:00

Posters at the ready and cost-of-living payments more grist to early-election rumour mill

Fianna Fáil election posters bearing the image of a smiling Micheál Martin were spotted stacked on a pallet in an industrial estate

Tue Oct 08 2024 - 15:34

Plodding Jack Chambers makes Paschal Donohoe sound like an unhinged Donald Trump

Radio review: With robust public finances allowing Ministers a Teflon complacency, the fireworks of old are missing from the post-budget airwaves

Fri Oct 04 2024 - 05:00

Listening to Seán Moncrieff would chip away at your national pride

Radio: There are a few queasy moments in what turns out to be an oddly digestible smorgasbord from the Newstalk host

Fri Sept 27 2024 - 05:00

Sickening but essential listening as victims tell radio shows about sexual abuse at religious-run schools

Radio: The Hard Shoulder and Liveline hear harrowing stories from former pupils while the Leinster House bike shed continues to exercise listeners

Fri Sept 06 2024 - 05:58

Andrea Gilligan listens intently but is powerless to help parents dogged by back-to-school guilt

Radio: On Newstalk, Andrea Gilligan moves easily from light to shade, imbuing her folksy style with compassion and honesty

Fri Aug 30 2024 - 05:00

Dr Eva Orsmond isn’t mincing her words. Where are we? Back in 1952?

Radio: The weight-loss expert is on Newstalk for a discussion of Ozempic and similar drugs. Prof Luke O’Neill, the guest host, needs to push back more

Fri Aug 16 2024 - 05:00

Oliver Callan now has more listeners on Radio 1 than Ryan Tubridy did a year ago

Pat Kenny’s listenership rises to fresh record on Newstalk as station claims its highest-ever market share

Thu Aug 15 2024 - 12:00

Rachael English and Des Cahill are on different wavelengths on ‘Happy Kellie Harrington Day’

Radio: The move towards calling out Musk and X, where far-right members have been able to gather large followings, is overdue

Fri Aug 09 2024 - 05:00

Newstalk’s Ciara Kelly left floundering as cohost Shane Coleman sidesteps Olympics duty

Radio: Ciara Kelly and Shane Coleman host awkward chats and gratuitous squabbles as Fiachna Ó Braonáin signs off with feeling

Fri Aug 02 2024 - 05:00

Radio review: Flustered Eamon Ryan and harried Pearse Doherty grilled by Drivetime’s forbidding interrogators

Radio: RTÉ Drivetime hosts Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra give their current-affairs magazine zip and snap

Fri Jul 26 2024 - 05:00

Pat Kenny keeps his cool as spluttering reporter is doused in pepper spray

Radio: Henry McKean’s raw account of ‘really ugly scenes’ in Coolock captures how quickly an anti-immigration protest descends into chaos

Fri Jul 19 2024 - 05:00

RTÉ makes two appointments to leadership team as part of new strategic plan

The BBC’s Steve Carson to become director of video while Newstalk’s Patricia Monahan will be director of audio

Mon Jul 01 2024 - 13:31

Pat Kenny’s conversation with Michael O’Leary turns the air sulphuric

Radio: As one of Ireland’s most experienced interviewers, Pat Kenny is forensic in his questioning. But not, seemingly, with Michael O’Leary this week

Fri Jun 21 2024 - 05:00

Joe Duffy’s Liveline conversation seems designed to play on men’s worst fears

Radio: If the Liveline conversation seems designed to play on men’s worst fears, it ultimately eschews sensationalism in favour of salutary advice

Fri Jun 14 2024 - 05:00

Kieran Cuddihy is far better at landing punches than punchlines, which is bad news for Stephen Donnelly

Radio: Newstalk presenter mercifully ditches the flat gags, subjecting the Minister for Health to an onslaught

Fri May 31 2024 - 05:00

Jess Kelly: ‘Everything changed for the better when I stopped caring so much about what others thought of me’

Newstalk’s Tech Talk presenter on being a middle child, summers on the Shannon and being organised

Sun May 26 2024 - 04:00

Pat Kenny’s ‘last great spin on the roundabout’ is a slow-burn success story for Irish radio

It takes time to build an audience for a radio show – and time to understand exactly how a new one is faring

Tue May 21 2024 - 06:00

Profits at Pat Kenny’s media company plunge about 60%

Broadcaster and his wife Kathy are listed as the firm’s only directors, which has assets of almost €2.4m

Fri May 17 2024 - 15:16

Grumpy boomer bingo: Cliches abound as Pat Kenny plays to stereotype

Radio review: Unfortunately, the Newstalk host stops short of mentioning ‘snowflakes’, so denying listeners a full house

Fri May 17 2024 - 05:00

Pat Kenny adds 55,000 listeners, making his Newstalk show biggest on commercial radio

Oliver Callan’s slot is among those to lose listeners on RTÉ Radio 1, though station maintains its market share

Thu May 16 2024 - 12:02

Chris Doyle becomes permanent CEO of Bauer Media’s Irish radio stations

Executive had been leading Bauer Media Audio Ireland, the owner of Today FM and Newstalk, on an interim basis

Mon May 13 2024 - 18:27

Brendan O’Connor brings his contrary streak to a cosy conversation about immigration

Radio: Even at his most factually minded, the RTÉ presenter can’t resist his mischievous side

Fri May 03 2024 - 05:00

Wake-up call on Newstalk Breakfast as inflammatory language on immigration goes mainstream

Radio: Shane Coleman and Ciara Kelly run the gamut from children’s sleepovers to John McGuirk’s bellicose language

Fri Apr 19 2024 - 05:00

The 2 Johnnies might act like jokers, but they’re laughing all the way to the bank

Radio: 2FM’s drivetime duo, who turn raucous rural references into ratings, know their listeners – and the value of their brand

Fri Apr 05 2024 - 05:00