There’s nothing like a fiercely partisan political argument to inject excitement into a news show, particularly in the morning, when bleary-eyed listeners need all the stimulation they can get. And unfortunately for Anton Savage, that’s precisely what he gets when hosting a debate between Government and Opposition TDs on Wednesday’s edition of Newstalk Breakfast (weekdays): nothing like a fiercely partisan political argument.
Newly installed in the dawn slot, Savage could be forgiven for initially harbouring hopes for a party political ding-dong during his discussion on Government plans to ban social media for under-16s.
Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney dismisses the mooted measure, saying it doesn’t tackle social media companies for their responsibility in creating the “cesspit” of harmful online content. Savage then turns to Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne, who far from rebutting Gibney seems sympathetic to her position: “I’m agnostic on the ban, if I’m honest.”
Hearing this, Savage is incredulous. “How do you mean you’re agnostic on it?” he asks, sounding perplexed by the unexpected outbreak of consensus. “I’m allowed to have my own opinion, Anton,” Byrne coolly replies. The TD is concerned that young people denied access to social media will turn to shadier platforms, but his host is more interested in generating contention within Government ranks: “Is that not a shocking indictment of any policy that you put it to the country while saying, ‘We haven’t even managed to get our own parliamentary party to think this is worthwhile?’”
By changing his interrogatory tack, Savage keeps things bubbling, though it also means that the main issue of regulating social media is underexplored. Not that the host will be unduly bothered. With his tenure of Newstalk Breakfast in its third week, Savage’s priority is to keep audiences engaged and entertained. To this end, his harrying of Byrne works, yielding more intrigue than most items on the negative effects of Big Tech.
Nor is it an isolated instance. Having worked as a broadcaster and a PR consultant, Savage displays a sharp instinct for zeroing in on the weak spots of political spin. On Monday, he allows Minister for Defence Helen McEntee talk about upgrading Ireland’s radar and sonar capabilities, before pointedly highlighting deficiencies in the country’s naval and air defences: “So increasing those capabilities makes us able to identify things about which we can do nothing?” McEntee’s miffed response about domestic commentators being more fixated than European states on Irish military inadequacies suggests Savage may have hit a raw nerve.
But there’s more to his repertoire than catching out politicians, as there needs to be in a show with a hefty proportion of lifestyle and human interest items. A veteran of Today FM’s midmorning magazine slot, Savage handles such topics with easy-going confidence, peppered with a turn of phrase that deftly walks the line between the wickedly irreverent and the smart aleck. Speaking to Keith Leonard of the National Emergency Coordination Group – already a regular guest, thanks to the endless rain – the host quips: “I assume you are keeping your fingers crossed and sacrificing goats in the expectation that you might get a sunny day or two.”
Savage knows when to curtail his jocular side, however, as evidenced by his conversation with abuse survivor Rachel Barry, whose husband Ian Barry was convicted of coercive control. It’s a succinct but devastating interview, as Rachel describes her ordeal and offers simple advice to others in such a situation: “Don’t stay in silence.” Savage, wisely, thinks it’s best to limit his contributions in this case.
It all adds to the impression of a supple broadcaster rapidly growing into his brief. The occasional brush with facetiousness aside, Savage exhibits a bright intelligence and a light touch as he moves through his varied menu, making for an appealing morning brew. You don’t always need arguments to enliven mornings.
The toxic impact of social media again comes under the spotlight on Inside Sport (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays). After the racist online abuse aimed at rugby player Edwin Edogbo following his debut for Ireland, commentator Michael Corcoran hears former Ireland international Johnny Sexton describe the abusive posts as “disgusting”. Never the most demonstrative of interviewees (sample quote: “I never got too high when things were going well, I never got too low when things were bad”), Sexton is typically terse if clearly repelled by the abuse.
But Corcoran, whose passionate commentary is one of the great joys of Irish sports radio, is more forthcoming when he discusses the incident with host Marie Crowe. “I use the word ‘unacceptable’,” he says, “But this is a radio programme, so there’s stronger language I’d use if I was talking to friends.” He goes on to describe how his own social media post of Edogbo singing the national anthem was met with abusive replies aimed both at himself – “That doesn’t bother me, because I’m thick-skinned” – and the player, yet his complaints to X were dismissed by the Elon Musk-owned tech company.
“I’m ashamed to say I’m living in a country where that kind of stuff is being published about a fellow Irish person,” Corcoran says, adding that he encountered similar online insults after posting a selfie with Irish women’s rugby international Linda Djougang. “I wonder what kind of country are we living in, to be fair about it,” he sighs.
This is heady stuff coming from a broadcaster whose patriotism is exuberantly evident whenever Ireland score a try, but it underscores the power of his rebuke of such foul prejudice.
It’s a plus mark for Inside Sport, which got rather lost amid the fanfare surrounding Radio 1’s relaunch last November. (Savage’s morning turn was similarly overshadowed by Claire Byrne’s arrival at Newstalk.) There are some understandable caveats about the show’s 6pm slot, curtailing as it does the runtime of preceding Drivetime, as well as depriving the proceeding Arena of a more obvious audience for its arts content.
But on its own terms, the programme works just fine. Crowe and alternating co-host Jacqui Hurley cover sport, both popular and niche – Irish basketball, for example – in an understated, accessible style, which contrasts nicely with the blokey atmosphere of Newstalk’s sporting behemoth, Off the Ball. But Corcoran’s intervention pushes the show beyond its specialist remit into more memorable territory, making it part of a wider conversation in a compelling manner. A result, in other words.
Moment of the Week
A documentary covering events in the 1980s, This Land is your Land (Newstalk, Saturday) has a bracing contemporary relevance, in its story of illegal Irish immigrants in America seeking to secure lawful residence. Produced by Pavel Barter and narrated in rollicking fashion by Michael Mellamphy, the doc recounts how a motley group of expats formed the Irish Immigration Reform Movement, a grassroots organisation that lobbied US congressmen such as Bruce Morrison to great effect, eventually leading to the landmark Immigration Bill of 1990. There are plenty of vivid anecdotes, but the most striking remark comes from US president George HW Bush, who signed the Bill into law: “Immigration is not just a link to America’s past, it’s also a bridge to America’s future.” It’s impossible to imagine the current Republican president saying such a thing. Different times, indeed.