Claire Byrne and Mary Lou McDonald come unexpectedly close to a shouting match (2024)

When it comes to local and European election campaigns, the received wisdom is that they don’t fire the emotions in the same way as a general election, but, as Matt Cooper learns, try telling that to candidates from migrant backgrounds.

On Wednesday’s edition of The Last Word (Today FM, weekdays) the presenter speaks to Teresa Buczkowska of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, who baldly states that “the level of harassment and intimidation is much higher” than during the last local vote, in 2019. Such has been the vehemence of recent anti-immigrant activity, Buczkowska adds, that some electoral hopefuls of migrant heritage curbed canvassing and postering for fear “that they might draw violent attention to themselves and their families”. You don’t need a case of election fever to feel sick at hearing this.

It’s a depressing if glumly predictable item, speaking not just of the toxic miasma surrounding so much of the immigration debate but also of Cooper’s commitment to lifting the carpet on unsavoury aspects of Irish life. The host isn’t a natural purveyor of strong opinions, but his take on the issue is shot through with palpable indignation. “Here we have people who have come from other countries, and not only do they work in the community but they want to get involved in the politics of our society, and they’re getting abused by people who perhaps say they’re not racist.” Coming from the unshowy Cooper, this bruised sense of civility practically amounts to a soapbox polemic.

The host displays the same intent when discussing the pugnacious protests faced by Taoiseach Simon Harris when canvassing in Mayo at the weekend, seeing it as part of the worrying trend of increased abuse aimed at candidates across the political spectrum. By way of underlining the point, he later adopts a disapproving tone at the news of a milkshake being thrown at the Brexit campaigner and Westminster hopeful Nigel Farage: “No matter what you might think of him, assaults like that surely should not be tolerated.” (By way of comparison, over on RTÉ Radio 1′s Drivetime, Cooper’s time-slot rival Cormac Ó hEadhra initially sounds jocular about the incident, before dutifully adding that it’s “not to be condoned”.)

A similar spirit of equal respect for, and rigour towards, all political viewpoints informs Cooper’s interviews with party leaders. On Tuesday he repeatedly asks Labour’s Ivana Bacik why her party isn’t connecting with disaffected voters in the same manner as “populist” ones that share the same complaints, without receiving a totally convincing answer. The following day he raises the harassment of migrant candidates when interviewing Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald: “What element of racism and xenophobia are you coming across around the country?”

Condemning racism as obnoxious, McDonald firmly states that such abuse is unacceptable. “We also need to be clear that it is a minority pursuit,” she adds, saying that, although immigration is coming up on the doorsteps, “the vast, vast majority of people are reasonable and fair and compassionate”. But when McDonald says that the Government’s biggest mistake on the issue is “a failure to speak to communities” about refugee centres, the host sounds dubious: “Didn’t that often happen and, when that was tried, local communities said no?”

Much like the election campaign, Cooper’s low-key demeanour mightn’t obviously set the heart aflutter, but that shouldn’t be mistaken for complacency: he’s well aware of the problems that lurk under the surface.

Election coverage unsurprisingly features heavily on Today with Claire Byrne (RTÉ Radio 1, weekdays), including another interview with McDonald, who greets the host in vaguely arch fashion: “It’s nice to be in your spanking new studio.” Byrne remains unruffled, instead insistently asking whether Sinn Féin’s affordable-housing policy could result in negative equity for existing homeowners: “I’m talking about the nurse and the garda who have scraped together the money to buy the house. What are you saying to them about what their house is going to be worth if this plan succeeds?”

The exchanges have a tetchy edge: when McDonald says she believes people with deep pockets should shoulder more than those on lower incomes, Byrne coolly suggests her guest is saying, “Forget about your ambition here”. McDonald sounds taken aback: “Claire, you’re not seriously saying that?” It’s as close as the reliably poised host gets to a shouting match.

When she’s not getting into beefs, Byrne is talking about chicken rolls. This isn’t a flippant topic; the shopkeeper Shane Gleeson tells the host how €100 worth of the bafflingly popular sandwich are stolen from his two Limerick convenience stores every week, along with much else. Gleeson paints a downbeat picture, explaining that most shoplifting is done by people with addiction issues, who can be very aggressive when confronted by staff. “We’ve had numerous assaults,” he says, adding that the low prosecution rate doesn’t act as a deterrent. “They’re described as petty criminals,” says Gleeson. “But it doesn’t feel petty to us.” If all politics is local, surely this should exercise voters more than the colour of a candidate’s skin.

For those seeking respite from the gloom, the Louise Duffy Studio Sessions (RTÉ Radio 1, Monday) provides a tonic, as the presenter welcomes the English singer-songwriter Richard Hawley for a bank-holiday special of music and conversation. The indie veteran is an affably lugubrious guest, whose anecdotes about his native Sheffield and his late guitar-toting steelworker father have the same grittily elegiac quality as his crooning songs, which he performs between chats with Duffy.

The host sounds genuinely overjoyed throughout, displaying the discerning enthusiasm that has helped rejuvenate Radio 1′s midday music slot since she took over from Ronan Collins last year. With most daytime radio split between melancholy news analysis and hyperactive pop patter, Duffy’s carefully curated but winningly accessible show stands out, soothing the soul rather than stoking the emotions.

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