Marian Finucane

Ursus Horribilis

batgoat wrote: »

This doesn't negate the fact that he still inspires people to enter the field. Pop science et al is incredibly influential and Attenborough is of huge influence.

Being academically brilliant and being a good communicator don't necessarily go hand in hand. Attenborough has helped make what can be dry subject matter into something people enjoy.

alaimacerc

Oops69 wrote: »

most of the stuff he has narrated for the last 20 years he has had very little editorial or production involvement with , he has just been the voice that adds kudos to the production because of 'life on earth' , which was a ground- breaking series ,yes, but he does seem to be living off the glory of that ever since .

So, stuff he's done since he was around 70, in other words?

That's not being an "amateur", that's "slowing down a little when others would have long retired".

bossdrum

I know the area very well. There aren't many places in Ireland that are further away from Dublin.
I also remember a few years back that he said he used to go on holidays there.
But probably the real reason is that Ivor Callely has a little bolt hole there. :-)

alaimacerc

elperello wrote: »

John Fitzgerald wants an electric car that will take him to Kilcrohane on one charge.
I heard him say this before, why Kilcrohane?

Not sure!

My theories...

1. It's a long way away from Dublin;
2. It sounds like it's a long way away from Dublin;
3. It's even on a peninsula, so it's a pretty good hint to stop driving before you get very wet;
4. It has the good taste not to go to the excessive extremes of actually being in Kerry;
5. It has a nice ring to it;

And maybe the FitzG family have a holiday home or other habitual haunt down that way?

padd b1975

Oops69 wrote: »

John Fitzgerald .... could he not just have gone into a graceful retirement .

Those corduroy trousers, tweed jacket and check shirt combos don't pay for themselves you know!

alan partridge aha

padd b1975 wrote: »

Those corduroy trousers, tweed jacket and check shirt combos don't pay for themselves you know!

I just love when wealthy prigs like him insist on an increase to carbon tax. Diesel as increased a lot in the last few months without an extra tax. Oh I drive a hybrid which is less efficient than a diesel.Fook off.

elperello

Oops69 wrote: »

John Fitzgerald .... could he not just have gone into a graceful retirement .

Ah now that's a bit harsh.
He is a very good radio show guest.
I never heard him getting hot under the collar or making nasty comments.
He sticks to the facts and is polite.

Having said that I'm intrigued by the suggestion above that he may have a holiday home at such a remote distance from Dublin.
If he has and is driving there in any car it's hardly good for the environment never mind the carbon footprint of a second house.

alaimacerc

elperello wrote: »

Having said that I'm intrigued by the suggestion above that he may have a holiday home at such a remote distance from Dublin.
If he has and is driving there in any car it's hardly good for the environment never mind the carbon footprint of a second house.

Fair point, but having said that, it's about 100k away from the nearest train station. I was going to say "and he's hardly getting the bus", but public-transport directions just tells me:

Google Maps wrote:

Sorry, we could not calculate transit directions from "Dublin" to "Kilcrohane, Co. Cork"

(At least they didn't say "sure, I wouldn't be starting from here...")

Let's say "buy some carbon offsets", and call it quits.

serfboard

elperello wrote: »

John Fitzgerald wants an electric car that will take him to Kilcrohane on one charge.
I heard him say this before, why Kilcrohane?

Presumably because he has a holiday home there.

As to his point, ViaMichelin gives Dublin to Kilcrohane distance as being 360km - that's 225 miles. The Tesla Models S, 3 and X as well as the Chevrolet Bolt all have this range. Unfortunately, they're not readily (or cheaply) available in Ireland.

And anyway, ViaMichelin also gives the journey time to Kilcrohane from Dublin as being five hours. Five hours John! And you're not going to stop for a break?! Somebody tell the RSA!

Oh and if you are stopping for a break on your five hour journey, you could maybe charge up the car while you're doing it? Hence you don't really need 360km range anyway - do you?

Callan57

serfboard wrote: »

Presumably because he has a holiday home there.

As to his point, ViaMichelin gives Dublin to Kilcrohane distance as being 360km - that's 225 miles. The Tesla Models S, 3 and X as well as the Chevrolet Bolt all have this range. Unfortunately, they're not readily (or cheaply) available in Ireland.

And anyway, ViaMichelin also gives the journey time to Kilcrohane from Dublin as being five hours. Five hours John! And you're not going to stop for a break?! Somebody tell the RSA!

Oh and if you are stopping for a break on your five hour journey, you could maybe charge up the car while you're doing it? Hence you don't really need 360km range anyway - do you?

Assuming charging point available !!!!

alaimacerc

Callan57 wrote: »

Assuming charging point available !!!!

I wondered about that, but they're more common than I realized. One in each of Bantry, Skib, Clon, Macroom, and Dunmanway!

https://www.esb.ie/our-businesses/ecars/charge-point-map

Still some planning required, obviously, as there's various different incompatible kinds, it takes time, they might be in use, etc.

serfboard

Callan57 wrote: »

Assuming charging point available !!!!

Ah well now, that's a different point ...

elperello

alaimacerc wrote: »

Fair point, but having said that, it's about 100k away from the nearest train station. I was going to say "and he's hardly getting the bus", but public-transport directions just tells me:



(At least they didn't say "sure, I wouldn't be starting from here...")

Let's say "buy some carbon offsets", and call it quits.

Like I said earlier I appreciate John Fitzgerald's contributions to radio programmes. But surely we need to know if someone is preaching carbon rectitude for others that they are making an effort themselves?

alaimacerc

elperello wrote: »

Like I said earlier I appreciate John Fitzgerald's contributions to radio programmes. But surely we need to know if someone is preaching carbon rectitude for others that they are making an effort themselves?

That'd be good, but short of a full carbon audit it's a meaningless thing to consider in isolation.

Hypothetical isolation at that, since we don't even know how often (if ever) he goes there, by what means, etc.

elperello

alaimacerc wrote: »

That'd be good, but short of a full carbon audit it's a meaningless thing to consider in isolation.

Hypothetical isolation at that, since we don't even know how often (if ever) he goes there, by what means, etc.

Yes I take your point and I'm not really down on Fitzgerald.

As a general rule though radio producers should make an effort to ensure that contributors are walking the walk. If someone is making the case for putting €1 on an OAP's bag of coal and they are flying to New York for the weekend they should be challenged.

alaimacerc

elperello wrote: »

Yes I take your point and I'm not really down on Fitzgerald.

As a general rule though radio producers should make an effort to ensure that contributors are walking the walk. If someone is making the case for putting €1 on an OAP's bag of coal and they are flying to New York for the weekend they should be challenged.

There's a reasonable point in there: not unlike with water charges, it's possible that what's environmentally sensible might be economically regressive. That can be deal with (or failed to be dealt with) in general. Other policies can of course be adjusted to compensate for the fairness issue.

Ultimately, though, it's going to come down to some kind of pricing, some kind of banning of whole classes of activities, or some metres of sea rise. Pricing seems the least worst, other things being equal.

But I don't think unless someone is quite evidently being an utter hypocrite you can "vet" them in that sort of way, reasonably.

Brendan Bendar

alaimacerc wrote: »

There's a reasonable point in there: not unlike with water charges, it's possible that what's environmentally sensible might be economically regressive. That can be deal with (or failed to be dealt with) in general. Other policies can of course be adjusted to compensate for the fairness issue.

Ultimately, though, it's going to come down to some kind of pricing, some kind of banning of whole classes of activities, or some metres of sea rise. Pricing seems the least worst, other things being equal.

But I don't think unless someone is quite evidently being an utter hypocrite you can "vet" them in that sort of way, reasonably.

What’s with all the misplaced commas, bud?

Dan Jaman

Brendan Bendar wrote: »

What’s with all the misplaced commas, bud?

Commas simply denote a place where the writer would normally pause in his/her speech. Nothing misplaced about them, if that's where s/he pauses.
There is no hard and fast rule.

Brendan Bendar

Dan Jaman wrote: »

Commas simply denote a place where the writer would normally pause in his/her speech. Nothing misplaced about them, if that's where s/he pauses.
There is no hard and fast rule.

Ok Dan, thanks for that.

Brendan Bendar

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma/





Hmmm………… anyway

Dan Jaman

Brendan Bendar wrote: »

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma/





Hmmm………… anyway

I beg to differ from that. As I said, if you are in the habit of speaking with the odd meaningful pause, then a comma is perfectly acceptable when writing, so giving the reading the same effect. We read pretty much uniformly, without giving much pause for emphasis or effect, and often have to re-read a sentence to get the full effect the way the writer meant it, when it's written without strategically placed commas.


Anyway, all that aside, it's incumbent on the critic of grammer to be punctilious about correct usage themselves, because almost without exception, there will be an error in the criticism. Notice the pauses for emphasis.

sligojoek

I had a great chat with Pat McCabe last January and he told me , "Commas are a f*cking nuisance,".

Dan Jaman

sligojoek wrote: »

I had a great chat with Pat McCabe last January and he told me , "Commas are a f*cking nuisance,".

Tom, the Barrista, said they were a pain in the arse.

sligojoek

Don't get me started on when |I let my uncle jack off the horse

anthonyjmaher

Sorry to hear about the death of Philip McCabe. He was always passionate when he spoke about bees or MABS or any topic that he was speaking about, and I enjoyed his contributions.... which is not something I say about a lot of Marion's guests. RIP

honeybear

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the death of Philip McCabe. He was always passionate when he spoke about bees or MABS or any topic that he was speaking about, and I enjoyed his contributions.... which is not something I say about a lot of Marion's guests. RIP

Loved listening to him talking about Bees and consumer affairs. R.I.P

sligojoek

Yes indeed. He was always a joy to listen to.

Callan57

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the death of Philip McCabe. He was always passionate when he spoke about bees or MABS or any topic that he was speaking about, and I enjoyed his contributions.... which is not something I say about a lot of Marion's guests. RIP

Sorry to hear that .. he always made for fascinating and passionate listening.

jippo nolan

Conor “kebab” Lenihan, one of the guests!

honeybear

Can’t figure out Stephen Kinsellas accent. I know he’s just back from a year in Australia but it’s a mixture of lots of different accents imo

anthonyjmaher

How would Marion feel if the Travellers pull up on her estate in North Kildare? As Pat Kenny said, this is the real test of your liberalism.

Complete disconnect between the people in studio and the common man.

alan partridge aha

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

How would Marion feel if the Travellers pull up on her estate in North Kildare? As Pat Kenny said, this is the real test of your liberalism.

Complete disconnect between the people in studio and the common man.

Exactly, they are all full of sh*t, I would give anything for MD not to get elected and then listen to these smarmy w*nkeers.

elperello

MF is a journalist/broadcaster not a policy maker.

Still has over 300,000 listeners for each show despite recent losses.

Beechwoodspark

Usual echo chamber rubbish on marzipan this morning

That law society guy seems to be on every 2-3 weeks. Never heard him give an original thought or insight.

honeybear

“To a large extent” Conor twice

honeybear

Conor not good on this issue

mgn

I thought radio shows like this was to have a balanced debate.
The spend the last 15 minutes bashing Casey.Nothing about Michael D flying up to Belfast on private jet or money spend on his private house in Galway.
All the more reason to give my No 1 to Casey

anthonyjmaher

"Whether you like it or not it's important days around now, with regard to the future"

Was Marion talking about BREXIT or was that statement so general that it could have referred to pretty much anything going on in anybody's life on any day?

ouxbbkqtswdfaw

Incredibly boring radio, nobody says anything of interest.

honeybear

Conor doesn’t want “to sound precious” LOL

anthonyjmaher

Conor Lenihan contributes so little of value. Why do they even invite him in to the studio?

Gwynplaine

I know I've said it a few times on here, but whenever I hear her on the radio, I can smell the Silk Cut purple coming through the radio.

padd b1975

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

Sorry to hear about the death of Philip McCabe. He was always passionate when he spoke about bees or MABS or any topic that he was speaking about, and I enjoyed his contributions.... which is not something I say about a lot of Marion's guests. RIP

RIP.
He was always an interesting guest on Mooney in the afternoon, never spoke down to the listeners-unlike some of his other regular contributors.

elperello

padd b1975 wrote: »

RIP.
He was always an interesting guest on Mooney in the afternoon, never spoke down to the listeners-unlike some of his other regular contributors.

Yes you have put your finger on it. He was a natural communicator. RIP.

anthonyjmaher

The Traveller request for stables was "reasonable" says one of the guests. Pat Leahy I think. What f**king planet is he on. The state should pay for stables for horses as well as houses, ahead of operations for sick kids ? Shameful cowardice from the journalists again. There is no way they are saying this around their own dinner table. None of the luvvies here have to deal with the Traveller issue in their own lives, so they have the luxury of being able to take the moral high ground as the issue does not affect them.

Fair play to Oliver Callan for parting from the media jubilation and asking some serious questions of Michael D Higgins. His campaign was shameful. Lied about second term, left the declaration late with a view to making it impossible for anybody else to have a chance, hid away from as many debates as he could get away with, portrayed himself as an Independent while taking the money, poster, backing from the main three parties.. including a hit job by the Taoiseach on his rival. Is this democracy at work?

I heard Gerry Craughwell talking about the advantages of the incumbent with relation to the presidential election. There is so much advantage in favour of the incumbent they may as well just make it a fourteen year term.

humberklog

Geraldine O'Donnell from Forensic Ireland was very good there. Such a cool head on her.

HeidiHeidi

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

Fair play to Oliver Callan for parting from the media jubilation and asking some serious questions of Michael D Higgins.

When was this, or was do you mean just in general?


I'd be interested in hearing that!

anthonyjmaher

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

When was this, or was do you mean just in general?

Callan was very critical of Higgins at the start of the show this morning but seemed to row back a bit towards the end of the program. I think he realised himself that maybe he had gone a little bit too far.



Yesterday, on the newstalk election show, Sinead O'Carroll had an interesting bit on when she interviewed Higgins. Said he got very ratty when she asked him to answer social media questions and was not able to read from his scripts (which he had a sheets of paper with him). I'm still trying to find it on the newstalk website.

newcavanman

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

The Traveller request for stables was "reasonable" says one of the guests. Pat Leahy I think. What f**king planet is he on. The state should pay for stables for horses as well as houses, ahead of operations for sick kids ? Shameful cowardice from the journalists again. There is no way they are saying this around their own dinner table. None of the luvvies here have to deal with the Traveller issue in their own lives, so they have the luxury of being able to take the moral high ground as the issue does not affect them.

Fair play to Oliver Callan for parting from the media jubilation and asking some serious questions of Michael D Higgins. His campaign was shameful. Lied about second term, left the declaration late with a view to making it impossible for anybody else to have a chance, hid away from as many debates as he could get away with, portrayed himself as an Independent while taking the money, poster, backing from the main three parties.. including a hit job by the Taoiseach on his rival. Is this democracy at work?

I heard Gerry Craughwell talking about the advantages of the incumbent with relation to the presidential election. There is so much advantage in favour of the incumbent they may as well just make it a fourteen year term.

100%, you hit the nail on the head

anthonyjmaher

anthonyjmaher wrote: »

Callan was very critical of Higgins at the start of the show this morning but seemed to row back a bit towards the end of the program. I think he realised himself that maybe he had gone a little bit too far.



Yesterday, on the newstalk election show, Sinead O'Carroll had an interesting bit on when she interviewed Higgins. Said he got very ratty when she asked him to answer social media questions and was not able to read from his scripts (which he had a sheets of paper with him). I'm still trying to find it on the newstalk website.

I heard her say the same thing on Saturday's Marian Finucane as well. Higgins (whom I support, so I'm not saying this with sour grapes) came across as a bit rude to her, when it was his own team which had constrained the duration of the interview.

The other guests were cooing and caaing that 'he's such an intellectual' and his mind is on 'cerebral matters', but to be honest, he just just sounded a bit dickish.