‘Security is an amazing thing' – Why a nice job in the civil service has become the new cool
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RTÉ News
7 hours ago
- RTÉ News
The artists who shaped us: A Giant at My Shoulder returns
Twenty-five years ago, an RTÉ Radio millennium series asked prominent Irish people to select the person who has most influenced them - revisit it here. Below, series producer Clíodhna Ní Anluain introduces the return of A Giant at my Shoulder for a new 10-week series on RTÉ Radio 1, starting on Sunday 20th July - listen to the first installment above. When Edna O'Brien was asked by radio producer Marian Richardson to choose a person of significance to her for the RTÉ Radio Millennium series called A Giant at My Shoulder, commissioned by Lorelei Harris, she chose James Joyce. Twenty-five years later, as a new generation reveals the giant at their shoulder, it seems natural that the first edition should feature Edna O'Brien as the giant - the choice of award-winning writer Eimear McBride. McBride first read O'Brien at thirteen. Years later they would get to know one another well, exchanging books and writing letters. They would meet in person for the first time in Sligo, McBride's childhood county and the setting for O'Brien's celebrated novel, Little Red Chairs, McBride arriving with a bunch of pink roses for her giant. The pair promptly got down to discussing literature. As soon as the tea was poured, however, as McBride puts it: 'Edna began with a less literary complaint about the shopping available in Sligo that weekend. "Oh Eimear," she said, "casting those amazing eyes heavenwards, I don't think we'll be buying any frocks here!"' Full of observations, from a deep reading of her work to regard and gratitude for Edna the writer and the woman, Eimear McBride tells us why Edna O'Brien is her giant at her shoulder, in exactly the way you would expect from the author of novels including A Girl is a Half-formed Thing and this year's The City Changes Its Face. McBride is followed by novelist, critic and anthologist Sinéad Gleeson (27th July). Gleeson's choice is Cuban-American performance artist Ana Mendieta (1948-85); she came across Mendieta accidentally in a gallery in the US, drawn in by an image of a corpse, a self-portrait photograph of the artist. For her it encompasses the cycle of life: the nakedness of birth to death and being placed in a tomb. Gleeson didn't know then that the image is called Imagen de Yagul and representative of Mendieta's work more generally. Mendieta used natural materials including fire, water, earth and flowers to explore the connection between nature and the body, often capturing the feeling of being uprooted, isolated, disempowered. In 1961, in their teens, she and her sister Raquelin were sent to the US to escape the Cuban Revolution, spending time in an orphanage and in various foster homes. What is so significant for Sinead is how during the 1970s, Mendieta was making her art at a time when there was such resistance to women using the body as she did. Mendieta features in Sinéad Gleeson's Constellations, her Irish Book of the Year award-winning collection of essays. She was also a major influence on the creation of the artist Nell, the key character in Gleeson's celebrated novel, Hagstone. Kerri Ni Dochartaigh's giant is writer Virginia Woolf. After many years away from a practice of daily journalling, being with Woolf's intoxicating diaries offered a way back in. Through sitting and being with Woolf's diaries, Ni Dochartaigh realized how, as she puts it 'For some people, maybe particularly for creative women, that the quiet act of placing one's own day-to-day life on the page is transformative, deeply healing work'. Other contributors to the new series include writers John Connell, Martina Devlin and Mike McCormack, poet and essayist Mary O'Malley, composer and musician Mel Mercier, actor Siobhán McSweeney and award-winning chef, food writer and culinary historian Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire. The giants they have chosen include Angela Lansbury, Federico Lorca, Edith Somerville, Henry David Thoreau and Thomas Pinchon.
RTÉ News
9 hours ago
- RTÉ News
RTÉ Radio 1 announces new Managing Editor
Mark Simpson has been appointed to the role of Managing Editor, RTÉ Radio 1. Reporting to the Head of RTÉ Radio 1, Tara Campbell, he "will support the development and management of content for RTÉ Radio 1 across the schedule". Mr Simpson "will also support the Head of Radio 1 in the preparation, monitoring, and management of the station's production schedules, budgets, and resource plans, as well as staff performance, while also helping oversee the delivery of RTÉ's five-year strategy". He joins RTÉ from Bauer Media Audio Ireland, where he was Deputy Managing Editor at Newstalk. He previously worked on the Newstalk shows The Right Hook, The Hard Shoulder, Lunchtime Live, and The Anton Savage Show. Commenting on the appointment, Head of RTÉ Radio 1, Tara Campbell, said: "We'd like to extend a very warm welcome to Mark Simpson as he joins the management team in RTÉ Radio 1. "The leadership skills and wide experience he brings from many years working at a senior level in Newstalk will be in demand as we navigate our way through a period of significant change. "RTÉ Radio 1 is the biggest radio station in the country with a large and loyal listenership, and we look forward to working with him as we continue to deliver for our audiences and embrace the opportunities ahead." Mark Simpson said: "I feel really privileged to be given this opportunity to join the RTÉ Radio 1 team, and I am hugely excited to work alongside such a talented and dedicated group of producers, researchers, reporters, and presenters. "It is a huge honour to get to play a part in delivering this important public service to the people of Ireland each and every day, and I can't wait to get started." He will join RTÉ Radio 1 in September.
Irish Daily Mirror
10 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Sharp drop in listeners to Ray D'Arcy's RTE radio show, new JNLR figures show
As many as 10,000 listeners have turned off Ray D'Arcy's RTÉ Radio 1 show, new figures reveal. The latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) show a drop in listeners to his afternoon radio show in the last quarter. Figures reveal D'Arcy – who earns €250,000 from the national broadcaster – has 182,000 listeners tuning in daily – a drop of 10,000 from the last quarter. The latest figures show also show that listenership for Brendan O'Connor's weekend show has surged. His Saturday morning radio show now has 412,000 listeners – an increase of 49,000 listeners – and his Sunday radio show has 409,000 tuning in – an increase of 40,000. It is the first time O'Connor has reached over 400,000 listeners on both days of a weekend in the history of the station. His colleague and Prime Time host Miriam O'Callaghan also celebrated a 13,000 increase. She now has 317,000 listeners tuning into her Sunday radio show. Elsewhere, RTÉ Radio 1 reported 8,000 listeners tuned out of Joe Duffy's last few months hosting Liveline. Duffy - who earned €351,000 a year from RTÉ - bowed out of the station with 299,000 listeners after 27 years hosting the iconic phone-in radio show. His successor has yet to be announced, but RTÉ said the station received 500 applications for Liveline and News and Current Affairs. Morning Ireland still remains the most listened-to breakfast show in the country with as many as 469,000 tuning in daily, a drop of 2,000 people compared to the last quarter. Oliver Callan has 354,000 people listening in – a drop of 1,000 - while Claire Byrne was celebrating with a 6,000 listener increase to her mid-morning show. She now has 354,000 listeners tuning in daily. Louise Duffy lost 4,000 listeners to her now 219,000-strong audience, while News at One is up 1,000. They now broadcast to 298,000 people daily. Louise Duffy 2FM suffered a loss in listeners this quarter, with 2FM Breakfast with Carl, Roz and Aisling losing 9,000 listeners. They now have 139,000 people tuning in. Laura Fox has 122,000 listeners, a drop of 5,000 and Tracey Clifford gained 1,000. She now has 110,000 listeners. Doireann Garrihy's takeover of Drive on 2FM saw 8,000 people tuning out. She now broadcasts to 125,000 listeners daily. Elsewhere, Today FM saw decent gains this quarter. Ian Dempsey gained 9,000 listeners to jump to 213,000, Dave Moore's listenership increased to 198,000 – an increase of 5,000 people - and Louise Cantillon saw a massive jump of 12,000 extra listeners. She now has 119,000 people tuning in. As many as 6,000 extra people tuned into Ray Foley this summer. He now has 159,000 people tuning in, while Matt Cooper's The Last Word saw a whopping increase of 18,000 listeners to bring his audience to 181,000. Newstalk saw a slight decrease in radio listeners. Its breakfast show remained the same with 165,000 listeners, but Pat Kenny lost 8,000 listeners. He now has 216,000 tuning in daily. Andrea Gilligan's Lunchtime show lost 10,000 listeners. She now has 124,000 people tuning in, while an extra 12,000 people are tuning into The Hard Shoulder. The show now has 165,000 people listening in. JNLR listenership figures RTÉ Radio 1 Morning Ireland – 469,000, down 2,000 Oliver Callan – 354,000, down 1,000 Today with Claire Byrne – 354,000, up 6,000 Louise Duffy– 219,000, down 4,000 News at One – 298,000, up 1,000 Liveline – 299,000, down 8,000 Ray D'Arcy – 182,000, down 10,000 Drivetime – 217,000, down 4,000 Brendan O'Connor (Saturday) – 412,000, up 49,000 Brendan O'Connor (Sunday) 409,000, up 40,000 Sunday with Miriam O'Callaghan: 317,000 up 13,000 2FM Breakfast on 2FM –139,000, down 9,000 Laura Fox – 122,000, down 5,000 Tracey Clifford –110,000, up 1,000 2FM Drive with Doireann –125,000, down 8,000 Today FM Ian Dempsey – 213,000, up 9,000 Dave Moore – 198,000, up 5,000 Louise Cantillon – 119,000, up 12,000 Ray Foley – 159,000, up 6,000 The Last Word – 181,000, up 18,000 Newstalk Pat Kenny – 216,000, down 8,000 Newstalk Breakfast – 165,000, no change Lunchtime Live – 124,000, down 10,000 Moncrieff – 108,000, no change The Hard Shoulder – 165,000, up 12,000 Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
