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RTÉ News
26-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Daniel McAnaspie's sister calling for State apology over death
The sister of Daniel McAnespie has called for her family to receive a State apology for failings in the protection and care of her brother, who was 17 years old when he was murdered while in State care. "They [the State] need to be held accountable. We never got a sorry, we've never been offered support or help in 15 years," said Cathriona McAnaspie. In February 2010, Daniel McAnespie was stabbed to death at Tolka Valley Park near Blanchardstown. His badly decomposed remains were found in a deep drain on a farmer's land in Rathfeigh, Co Meath, two months later. Speaking on RTÉ's Oliver Callan programme today, Ms McAnaspie said: "It's 15 years, they probably thought we were going away, but we're not going away. We're still fighting for Daniel's voice and we will continue to do that." Two weeks ago, the jury at an inquest into Daniel McAnespie's death recommended the State carry out an urgent review of its approach to child protection and welfare. Returning a verdict of unlawful killing, the jury also made a number of other recommendations that, if implemented, could lead to changes in the delivery of child protection and education services. Ms McAnespie said that she agreed with this, as there are still children waiting for State care accommodation in 2025, and in her view nothing has changed in 15 years, only that Tusla has taken over the role from the HSE. She said that the lack of beds was "shocking" and that it was time for Tusla to "wake up" and help these young children. Originally from Finglas in Dublin, Daniel 'Dano' was one of six siblings. He and his siblings, along with their mother, entered a State care home after their father died of a heart attack on Christmas Day in 1996. Shortly after this, their mother turned to alcohol which saw her removed from a care home. Although she went to rehab and tried to return, she later died from addiction. Ms McAnespie explained that after their mother died, the children started playing up and missing school and eventually were taken out of the care home one by one by the HSE. She said that Daniel found it very hard to separate as they were all very close to one another. She later ended up at a girl's hostel in Ballymun in Dublin, and turned her life around with the help of a social worker who encouraged her to do her Leaving Certificate, being the first McAnaspie to do so. She said that problems began for Daniel when he was moved around, with records showing he had more than 20 care placements in the 15 months prior to his death. She explained that he felt he was a burden to his family and he wanted security, but that the family did not know that he had had a suicide attempt until it was brought up during the inquest. They also did not know that he had PTSD. "He knew himself he needed help and he wanted the help," she said. She said that her brother did not die over drugs or owing a debt, he was randomly attacked. Before his death, there were three or four applications for accommodation in a secure unit but all were refused, and there were no beds available for him. "What child asked to be locked up? He wanted help and that was the only way out: lock me up, help me," she said. She said that although she knew her brother was in danger, hanging around where he was in the city, she never thought he would be murdered and it came as a shock. She described the men involved in her brother's murder as evil.
Irish Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
The JNLRs tell us young people love radio. Seriously?
Last week, as usual, Irish media dutifully reported on the latest quarterly results from the Joint National Listenership Survey , better known as the JNLRs, which measure the popularity of every radio programme and every radio station in the State on a regular basis. You will be familiar with the drill: Headshots of well-known presenters. Boldface numbers indicating the thousands of listeners each one has gained or lost since the last survey. Every three months these numbers are published and every three months they are solemnly treated as a matter of some consequence. Last Thursday, for example, we were informed that the most dramatic winner was Oliver Callan's RTÉ Radio 1 show, with 355,000 listeners, an increase of 6,000 since the last survey. By my calculation, that's a rise of 1.69 per cent. No margin of error is provided. READ MORE The JNLRs are carried out by Ipsos MRBI , one of the world's most reputable polling firms. The results are based, we are told, on a representative sample of 16,000 Irish people over the age of 15. That is many multiples of the sample sizes used in the party political polls that are carried out by this newspaper and others. The methodology is long established and apparently robust. And the listenership numbers reported by the JNLRs are generally positive. One might even call them boosterish. Take the country's most popular radio show, Morning Ireland. Last week's JNLRs put its average listenership at 471,000. Back in 2015, with the breathless enthusiasm that characterises its press releases on the subject, RTÉ expressed its delight that Morning Ireland had recorded 433,000 listeners. Go back a further five years to 2010, when the twin death rays of smartphones and social media were just starting to be trained on Irish media, and Morning Ireland's number was 449,000. Most other high-profile shows (yes, they're all still around, albeit sometimes with different names attached) have seen similar stability or even slight growth over the past 15 years. Compared to what's happened to the rest of linear media over the same period, this is a remarkable feat. Newspaper print circulation has more than halved in the same timespan, while live television is down at least a third. Those declines were driven by inexorable technological and demographic shifts. Older audiences are loyal but dying. Younger ones prefer other options: YouTube , Spotify , podcasts, Instagram , TikTok et al. So that younger cohort should be a real pressure point as it is for TV, where it's dropping like a stone. However, last week's JNLRs tell a happier story: 68 per cent of 15-34-year-olds listen to radio each weekday. Daily weekday listening levels for what the JNLR press release describes as the 'hard-to-reach 15-24-year-old cohort' is also 'very impressive' (their words) with 64 per cent listening each weekday. Overall, 15-34 year-olds apparently listen to radio for 188 minutes every day. I don't know which teens and twentysomethings the researchers are talking to, but they're not the ones I know. They wouldn't know what to do with a radio if you handed them one. The idea they'd listen to it three hours a day is laughable. Business podcaster Conall O Móráin has been questioning the accuracy of these numbers without getting a satisfactory answer beyond 'large sample' and 'robust methodology'. His frustration is reflected in the title of the piece he posted on LinkedIn in response to last Thursday's survey: 'I'm giving up commenting on the JNLRs'. The post compares the JNLR's numbers with those of the highly reputable Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) survey, the national longitudinal study of children and young people, which is run by the Central Statistics Office . According to the GUI, 15-23-year-olds on average sleep for eight hours daily, are in education for eight more hours and view screens for six hours. 'Add in basics like eating, washing, sport and socialising and that's it,' O Móráin says. 'It's all over for the 24-hour day. Fifteen to 23 year olds just don't have time listen to radio – and certainly not for 188 minutes a day.' For years, O Móráin and a few others have been treating the JNLRs with scepticism. And for years, the radio and advertising industries who fund the survey have defended it. That is beginning to look untenable. Perhaps because the JNLRs are seen as a fluffy item with celebrity appeal and a handy narrative of who's up and who's down, the JNLRs have largely escaped serious scrutiny. After all, media companies have always engaged in puffery, massaging their circulation, web analytics and subscription numbers to show themselves in the best possible light. But the JNLRs are different, or should be. For one thing they claim to offer objective industry-wide data. For another, two of their sources of finance are the publicly funded RTÉ and the State media regulator Coimisiún na Meán . Both make much of their commitment to tackling misinformation wherever it occurs. So they might stir themselves to explore the glaring contradictions between the depiction of young adult lifestyles in the JNLRs and the reality which most of us can see with our own eyes and which is confirmed by the GUI research. If the survey results for 15-34-year-olds don't make sense – and that's what it looks like to me – then what price the rest of the JNLRs? If there is a problem with the methodology, such as (I'm being charitable here) a confusion between name recognition and actual time spent listening to a show, then how can we trust all those ups and downs for Morning Ireland and the rest? More to the point, why should we care? Even if these tiny shifts from survey to survey can be trusted and are of some use to broadcasters and advertisers, they're meaningless for the rest of us. It's hard not to see the whole thing as a dated marketing wheeze masquerading as a news item, with a side order of statistics that don't add up.
Irish Examiner
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
RTÉ's Oliver Callan adds 25,000 listeners to show, according to JNLR survey
Oliver Callan was the big winner in the latest radio listenership figures, adding 25,000 in the space of a year to his weekday show on RTÉ Radio 1. The Joint National Listenership Survey (JNLR) report suggested that 3.94m people in Ireland are listening to radio every week which is the highest weekly listenership ever recorded, as 90% of all adults are tuning in. More than two million people are tuning into RTÉ radio with Morning Ireland the most listened to show in the country with 471,000 listeners, up 2,000 on the previous year. The show that follows it, Oliver Callan, has 355,000 listeners while Today with Claire Byrne has 348,000 listeners each day, up 7,000 year-on-year. Meanwhile, as he prepares for retirement, Joe Duffy can be satisfied as Liveline added 6,000 listeners year-on-year to add up to a listenership of 307,000. Brendan O'Connor has 369,000 listeners. On the weekend, Brendan O'Connor on Saturday also added listeners by the thousands, up 14,000 on Sundays year-on-year to 369,000. Patricia Monahan, director of audio at RTÉ, said: 'RTÉ 2FM retains its position as the most-listened-to by 15–34-year-olds, now reaching 714,000 listeners every week. 'RTÉ lyric fm builds on a consistent period of growth, reaching 320,000 listeners every week. RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta also sees an increase in its share of audience now reaching 97,000 listeners every week as it continues to play a crucial role in supporting our language and culture.' Top 20 shows RTÉ enjoys 17 of the top 20 most-listened to programmes in the country, with Pat Kenny on Newstalk, The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show and Dave Moore on Today FM also making the top 20. Ian Dempsey has 204,000 listeners to his morning show while Dave Moore has an audience of 193,000. 'It's no surprise that one of Ireland's most loved broadcasters continues to dominate mornings,' Today FM's managing editor of music and entertainment James Brownlow said. 'Even in a challenging market, the Today FM team's ability to deliver big for its partners and audiences is unique.' Although Pat Kenny makes the top 20, his show has lost 5,000 listeners year on year with 224,000 tuning in. There was better news for Kieran Cuddihy as the Hard Shoulder added 5,000 listeners to 153,000. Newstalk also singled out Off The Ball and The Anton Savage Show at weekends as recording growth. 'Both Saturday and Sunday are proving audience winners throughout the day,' its managing editor Eric Moylan said. Elsewhere in the survey, it found 20% of 15-34 year olds are doing their radio listening through a connected device with a smart speaker. Furthermore, over 70% of people listening to radio in Ireland tune into independent local, regional or national stations. Read More Gardaí investigate viral horse cruelty video after searching farmland in Co Tipperary
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
RTÉ's Oliver Callan enjoys biggest gain in radio listenership, according to JNLR's latest survey
RTÉ 's Oliver Callan enjoyed the biggest gain in radio listenership, the latest Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) figures show. Callan's show now has 355,000 listeners after a full year on RTÉ Radio 1 at 9am, with his audience rising 6,000 since the last JNLR survey, which covered the 2024 calendar year. This is 25,000 higher than the listenership he inherited a year ago. Radio 1 is the most popular station in the State, reaching 1.3 million listeners every week. Its market share of 35–54 year-olds has grown, outperforming all other stations in that demographic. RTÉ 2FM retains its position as the most-listened-to by 15-34 year-olds, now reaching 714,000 listeners every week. Brendan O'Connor added 5,000 listeners on Saturdays since the last survey, taking his audience to 363,000, while his Sunday listenership was up by 3,000 to 369,000. READ MORE On weekdays, Morning Ireland added 5,000 listeners since the last survey to register an audience of 471,000. This meant it comfortably retained its place as the most listened-to programme on Irish radio. Today with Claire Byrne has 348,000 listeners, down 1,000 since the last survey, while Louise Duffy's audience of 223,000 dropped 5,000. News at One recorded an audience of 297,000 – down 10,000 since the last survey – a decrease that can likely be attributed to post-election fatigue. Joe Duffy's Liveline is down 7,000 listeners since the last survey, with its audience of 307,000 advancing 6,000 year-on-year. Ray D'Arcy dropped 2,000 to reach 192,000, while Drivetime dropped by 5,000 to a listenership of 221,000. Sunday with Miriam has held strong at 304,000. IRISH TIMES GRAPHICS RTÉ 2FM, which recently launched a new schedule after a number of interim presenter stints, saw its breakfast slot audience fall by 4,000 since the last survey to 148,000; its drive-time show is down 12,000 at 133,000. Speaking about the latest figures, Patricia Monahan, director of audio at RTÉ said: 'We are privileged that so many listeners continue to choose to engage with us every week, making RTÉ stations the most listened to in Ireland. We are particularly delighted to welcome new and younger listeners as we expand our reach and relevance to new audiences.' Today FM has 914,000 weekly listeners, making it the State's most listened to commercial radio station. The station recorded a daily reach of 466,000 and a market share of 7.9 per cent. The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show's audience of 204,000 is up 2,000 since the last survey; Dave Moore is down 4,000 to 193,000; while Ray Foley's audience is recorded at 153,000, a drop of 11,000; and Louise Cantillon took a hit of 14,000, bringing her listeners to 107,000. On the same station, The Last Word with Matt Cooper was down by 4,000 at 163,000. On Bauer Media Audio's national stations, Newstalk's Pat Kenny Show remains the most popular programme on commercial radio, with 224,000 listeners, down 13,000 from the last survey; Andrea Gilligan's Lunchtime Live audience is down 5,000 to 134,000; and Moncrieff is down 4,000 to 108,000. At the weekend, market share soared for The Anton Savage Show, whose Saturday figures are up 10,000 to 133,000, matching its Sunday listenership, which is up 5,000; Off the Ball is up 21,000 to 157,000 on Saturday, and a boost of 19,000 since the last survey brings its Sunday audience to 146,000. The JNLR survey, compiled on behalf of the radio industry by research firm Ipsos, shows 3.83 million people listened to the radio every week for the past 12 months. That was down by 70,000 listeners compared to 3.9 million last year.
Extra.ie
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Latest JNLR figures show Joe Duffy can bow out on high
Oliver Callan's The Nine O'Clock Show has received a boost in listenership with 355,00 people now tuning in every day to the Cavan man. This figure is up by 25,000 from the last JNLR release. Figures released under the Joint National Listenership Research (JNLR) are released every quarter and show who is winning the radio wars. Oliver Callan. Pic: RTÉ While national broadcaster RTE seem to be experiencing an increase in audience numbers, independent radio stations like Newstalk and Today FM have seen their biggest presenters take a slight hit. Kenny's current affairs nine am to noon show on Newstalk attracted an average audience of 224,000 people according to the latest quarterly figures. This is down around 5,000 on the previous figures. And the battle of the airwaves between RTE and the independents is reflected in the figures as bosses at Montrose have made considerable efforts to juice up their daily schedule on RTE 1. Pat Kenny. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos As Joe Duffy prepares to leave Liveline, he's set to bow out on a high as Liveline is still one of the nation's most tuned into shows attracting a daily average of 307,000. Morning Ireland is still the most listened to show on Irish radio with 471,000 people across the nation tuning in daily for news and global goings-on. Claire Byrne who ditched her telly gig to focus solely on her radio role has seen 7,000 more people listening to her discuss the matters of the day with her audience now standing at an impressive 348,000. Joe Duffy. Pic: RTÉ And even the more light-hearted hosts like Ray Darcy and Louise Duffy are holding their own with Louise's show increasing from 218,000 last year to 223,000 for this JNLR'S. Over at 2fm, it's a bit of a mixed bag as the latest reshuffling of shows and presenters paints an unstable picture for the station. Tracy Clifford. Pic: Andres Poveda The 2FM Breakfast Show, which is hosted by Carl Mulllan, Ros Purcell and Aisling Bonner, has five thousand less people tuning in with the total audience figure now standing at 148,000. Laura Fox who was moved from weekend to weekday and given her new slot has seen a dip of 8,000 and is only garnering an audience of 127,000. By contrast, RTÉ stalwart Tracy Clifford is still doing the business with 12,000 more listeners tuning in to Clifford's mid-afternoon show. Laura Fox. Pic: Instagram Doireann Garrihy – who took over the afternoon slots from the Two Johnnies has seen a sizable decrease of 18,000 with 133,000 driving home with Doireann. However, these figures relate to the first four months of the year and Doireann only assumed the role in mid-March. Miriam O'Callaghan is still luring in a laudable listenership figure. Miriam's weekend chin-wag show boasts an average of 304,000. While Brendan O'Connor's slightly more news-centric show brings in 363,000 on Saturday – up by 11,000 on last year while his Sunday show is up by a massive 14,000 with the JNLR saying 369,000 people are listening to O'Connor on Sunday morning.
