MARY Wilson on Friday’s Drivetime (RTÉ Radio One) went straight into righteous indignation mode on behalf of the people in Ennis and its environs who have to boil the water for kids, for those who have weakened immune systems and for visitors. Three toddlers had contracted cryptosporidiosis, although it couldn’t be directly attributed to the water supply. Tom Tiernan, Ennis Town Engineer, was the essence of calm and by the time he was through with Mary, she barely raised a squeak when he told her it would be next year before the new plant was finished and we were safe.
Gerry Ryan (Radio 2FM, Monday) took calls from two Ennis women who were cross about the water situation, especially about the lack of information circulated to homes. But Tom, the Zen master, came on again. He’s truly masterful. The word faeces, either animal or human, was only delicately alluded to and Gerry rolled over to have his tummy stroked. He comes to Dromoland regularly and possibly doesn’t want to be getting up the noses of the lads. Sure, most of us around here are apparently immune to the ould cryptosporidium and, anyway, won’t we be in the clear when the treatment plant is completed in February 2009? You’d wonder if Gerry would be as easy to placate if his family had been either buying or boiling water for small children since 2005?
It’s Seachtain na Gaeilge from March 3 to 17. That expanse of time would be two seachtaine to the rest of us but it explains why the Gaelgoiri are so ever-young and fresh – they are ageing half as fast as the rest of us. Micheal O’Muircheartaigh was on RTÉ Radio 1 doing an ad to promote The Irish Daily Star’s supplement which was apparently carrying bilingual articles either by or about Des Bishop and Declan O’Rourke. He went on a bit about The Star’s passion for all things Irish and concluded, “Is Fearr an Star”. Michael has rightly come to be regarded as a gold standard and my heart sank on hearing that ad. Does he actually read The Irish Daily Star, apart from the sports?
Clare FM, for reasons only known to itself, chose to broadcast from the Cliffs of Moher last Friday, Leap Year Day. Go figure. The cliffs also featured in a now sad photograph published in The Irish Mail on Sunday in which Polish man Pavel Kalita was pictured doing the lad thing and standing inches from the edge of the cliffs. He and his friend, Marius Szwajkos, died in hospital after being attacked in Drimnagh last Saturday week. Though in Ireland only nine months, he had visited our county before settling down to work in Dublin. We know so much more about them both now. From contributors to Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1) we know that Pavel and Marius were much-appreciated workers, “dream tenants” and that a neighbour brought them in the Polish supplement from The Evening Herald. Their deaths allegedly came at the hands of teenagers and a screwdriver. There is little to suggest that it was a racist attack, though there is little comfort in that.
Pat Kenny’s interview with journalist Susan O’Keeffe (The Late Late Show, RTÉ One, Friday) was a reminder to us of how Tribunals can just blow over. Her ‘World in Action’ programme for Granada, broadcast in 1991, led to the establishment of the Beef Tribunal which, after three years, vindicated most of her allegations. Yet, she was the only person who faced any formal charges, being charged with contempt for refusing to name her sources. In answer to Kenny’s question as to why she had returned from the UK to live here, she made do with some reference to the good fresh air in Sligo. She should breathe deeply and get stuck into reporting on the Mahon Tribunal and give us a taste of what a journalist, not yet immunized by listening to too much Nob Nation (The Gerry Ryan Show, RTÉ 2fm), would make of it all?

Above: Mary Wilson

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