Tag Archives: RTÉ Radio One

RTÉ Radio 1 star, Ray D’Arcy has predicted a warm welcome for the shape-shifting Púca when the controversial statue is installed in North Clare on Saturday week (June 25).  The broadcaster has frequently expressed his fascination with the colourful controversy that saw the two-metre horse-headed figure ultimately rejected by the people of Ennistymon. Sculptor Aidan Harte has spoken on the popular mid-afternoon radio show on a number of occasions since the debacle originally erupted in May of last year. In recent days, D’Arcy visited the Dublin-based foundry where the folklore figure has been cast in bronze, and even got to rub the toe of the Púca for luck.  Now that the mischievous Púca has found his “forever home” at The Michael Cusack Centre, its creator expressed his optimism that the reaction of locals and visitors in Carron will be a positive one. “The reaction most artists get to their work is apathy,” Mr Harte told Ray D’Arcy. “When the row …

EDNA O’Brien has broken her silence on an interview with The New Yorker magazine, published at the end of last year and described by some literary experts as “a hatchet job”. The profile of the Tuamgraney-born author generated considerable controversy and prompted a number of critics and academics here to reject the profile as unflattering, sexist and overly critical. Last weekend, in an interview with RTÉ, Ms O’Brien said the article, by Ian Parker, had hurt and outraged her. The acclaimed writer joined broadcaster Brendan O’Connor to discuss an award for the latest novel Girl. “I was hurt and I was outraged,” she said of the piece. “I was hurt because it is not a truthful piece. If the tapes were taken of the three-and-a-half days I spent with that journalist. I don’t think the tapes and what I spoke into them would tally with what appeared in those 9,000 words. They would not. They would be a big contradiction. I …

SHANNON singer/songwriter David Hope has a new seasonal release, Christmas Day, which will be heard all around Europe in the coming days. The song takes up the common theme of struggling to get home to loved ones for Christmas, with a rather robust pop-oriented sound. It comes with a funny and entertaining video, which was shot in Lahinch. Christmas Day was chosen as the RTÉ Radio One song, selected for the European Broadcasting Union Christmas Music Project and will feature on a playlist across all member states. The single will also feature on RTÉ Radio One’s Christmas Playlist 2016 and a number of stations in Germany and Austria. David says, “I suppose I didn’t intentionally sit down and write a Christmas song; it just kind of happened that way. The song kind of led me to write it and I kind of went with it. It kind of took on a life of its own really. It took a turn …