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T enacious,  R esolute,  U nder-estimated, M essianic, P ersuader It has been a surprise. Yes, I was shocked when I woke up on Wednesday morning. My dad who had been following the polls quite closely - mostly through Nate Silver's podcast - had been under the impression that Clinton would win. He was wrong. Likewise, I was sceptical about Trump's prevalence in the media and believed that all the hype and attention wouldn't necessarily correlate with the share of votes he would receive. I was wrong. In the year of Brexit, little is beyond the bounds of possibility. The anti-establishment mentality that I touched on in a previous post following the British referendum has become ever more widespread. A lot of the things Trump had said were music to the ears of those living in the so-called 'rust belt'. He'd bring life back into their towns, which have been economic vacuums for many years. There aren't just economic and social chasms between the citie

I don't mean to sound pessimistic (a sentence that usually precedes something very very pessimistic)... Have a look at this graph: Thanks to the guys at http://ilevel.ie I've made it nice and big so you can see the trend clearly. Above is the percentage of Dubliners over the age of 15 who listen to radio each week. The different coloured lines represent different demographs, as indicated on the right. The x-axis represents this period in 2010, in 2013 and in 2016 (the current period). Noticeably, they're all descending, and some quite significantly. In the case of 15-19 y/o's, listenership was at circa 92% in 2010, while it is at around 69% now. That's one hell of a decrease. Those 15-19 year olds are the streaming generation - what's the point in them listening to a pre-selected playlist on the radio if they can create their own on Spotify? Perhaps with the distractions of social media, gaming being more accessible than ever on our smartphones, and th

In a book I'm currently reading called 'Flight Behaviour' by American novelist Barbara Kingsolver, the narrator describes one of the characters as being a "911 Christian: In the event of an emergency call the lord." This quote, to me, represents the context of organised religion in modern society. Religious practice in Ireland has decreased in recent times, with vast swathes of people abandoning the Catholic Church following scandals, becoming disenfranchised with certain rules, or others simply finding purpose and meaning in material goods as opposed to spiritual ideals. Juxtaposing this decline in religious action is the ever prominent level of religious belief in our societies. In my humble opinion, religion has, for many people, developed into a coping mechanism. For non-practising Catholics who don't step foot in a church at all, it still seems to be the 'go to' utility in times of need and suffering. When times are tough, religion provides a

The scramble for tickets is just insane. Thousands of teenagers and adults battling on TripAdvisor to get good seats. And after a couple of stressful moments, no more tickets! Isn't it so funny. This is the Coldplay that is doing duets with Rihanna and Beyonce, this is the Coldplay that releases EDM records. It's a very different Coldplay to that of 2005. These two are from the album 'X + Y'. My dad used to have this in the car the whole time so I had months of listening to the album nonstop - but that was years ago. I hit shuffle on Spotify and heard Square One - the opening track, one I recognised instantly from the distinctive riff. Square One is a very interesting start to the album - the synth combined with loud guitars gives the band a very unique sound. The track really builds up. The guitars pick up pace and the song is very lively heading from the chorus into the second verse. There's a James Bond-like riff to follow every line. It's one of my favou

"YOU support murdering children?"   It was a simple exchange. We were talking about faith in the modern world, and I foolishly dropped the 'A Word'. Hinting my feelings in relation to this controversial topic, I was immediately stopped in my tracks. My words had led to a judgement being made about my character and my personality. This headline from Waterford Whispers News summarises what has happened to the debate in Ireland: It's ironic, because since the debate has come into general public consideration in Ireland, it has almost become more of a taboo. A highly emotionally-charged debate, both sides will shoot the other down with provocative statements. People are afraid to open their mouths about it in case they are ridiculed for their views. This is exacerbated by the far-left and far-right musings on social media, suggesting that there is little or no middle-ground in this debate. Whatever side of the tracks you are on, or whether you have made

What the frogurt is frogurt, you ask? It's not the latest Game of Thrones character to be murdered, alas it is the latest abbreviation from the world of gastronomy. ' Frogurt ' is a term used to describe frozen yogurt, an ice-cream equivalent that is the latest food phenomenon. What irritates me about frogurt is not the stupid name, but moreso the way the treat has been marketed as a healthy option. Yes I'm sure it is the 'low-fat', healthier alternative to ice cream. I'm not here to argue the science of this trend, but I just feel that people are somehow under the illusion that because what they are eating is 'yogurt', it is magically good for them. Please don't tell me that you think chocolate flavoured frozen yogurt is healthy - it's a desert, plain and simple. On any given weekend in Dundrum shopping centre, swarms of teens are to be seen Instagramming* their mountains of frogurt, scattered with a wide variety of unhealthy confectione

That's it: I've had my fun on the radio. Now I better go back to learning Irish irregular verbs. Though it scares me to say it, the commitments of the Leaving Cert will take up most of my time over the next year. I have ambitious plans to study from the crack of dawn on Sunday mornings. If I stick to my plans, I'm going to need to be full of beans and enthusiasm when I wake up. Currently on Sunday mornings I am mentally and physically at my weakest - think of the guy who says ' YARP ' in the film Hot Fuzz (that's before I have eaten my Weetabix*). Therefore, it would make sense that I would put my radio interest on pause for the next year to focus on academia. I suppose one could say that I'm going on ' hiatus '. However I always feel a bit cautious around using that term. It's most often associated with bands who've washed up and been dropped by their record label. Usually these groups don't survive the hiatus and become regulars on re

Cherrywood is a suburb in Dublin 18 - wait: do we even use those postcodes anymore? Nevermind. It's an area that sprung up in the late 90s/early 00s centered around a business park which is home to Dell and a number of other large corporations. There is currently a vast swathe of green land next to the office park all reared and ready for development. In fact, the media have reported this as the creation of a new Dublin suburb. Sounds great, eh? Roughly the location of the proposed suburb. And I stress the word 'roughly'! Here's the site outlining the plans:  http://www.cherrywooddublin.com/ Some of the lines from the site are quite poetic, to say the least: "This will be modern urban living at its best, a positive synergy of work, rest and play, " "Cherrywood will redefine quality of life in Dublin, integrating homes and shops, work and transport, schools and parks in a positive, sustainable society like nowhere else in the capital."

DISCLAIMER: This article has absolutely nothing to do with the 90s rap one hit wonder Coolio. He probably Googles himself from time to time and might come across this. There we were, about 10 minutes into a 3 hour journey on the Italian autostrada .. air conditioning was at full blast, we were slowly but surely getting the hang of driving on the right hand side and learning the local drivers idiosyncratic inability to indicate when changing lanes. I was sitting in the back and remembered a question posed to me by someone before I jetted off: “Do you have any Italian?” - a fair question, to which I responded: “Does the word pizza count?” . I asked the same question to my fellow travellers, hoping that when we reached our destination at least one of us would actually be able to converse in the vernacular. They admitted that they only had a few words. "How do you say ‘hello’ in Italian?” I piped up, alarmed by my own ignorance. There was an awkward silence as nobody could g

 Shock and awe were evoked in Britons, among people across the European Union and in the greater world community today. The Brexit result left everyone in surprise. It was all very unclear as the polling stations closed last night. With a lack of exit polls, people were left to focus on odds set by bookmakers who ironically predicated the remain side winning. “I voted ‘no’ but I didn't foresee this outcome”   - the words of a bemused voter on the BBC this morning.   Almost with a tinge of regret, the man appeared to be piecing together the consequences of this landmark vote in his own mind as he answered the question. To him and many Britons, leaving the EU seemed so radical that it could never happen. Well I wonder if the thought crossed his mind that the government could take the Irish approach. That's the tactic which involves re-running a referendum and giving voters a little light encouragement to change their preference. It worked for us. But it seems there

I had a short break last week from my show. I promised myself that it would be an opportunity to get some study done. In actual fact I spent a few hours dreaming about being on-air, staring at my pile of notes. No, not particularly productive. It's funny - when you've been doing a particular routine like a show for weeks and weeks on end and take a night off, you actually kind of miss it.  I'll be going back on air in about 24 hours (Who's counting?!!) and I cannot wait. There's a great rush when you're on air - in control of a station and listening to your favourite tunes. There's also a bit of fun in preparing for the show - I try to keep it balanced between entertainment content, reading out requests and throwing in an anecdote here or there. A funny thing about being Irish: I think I inadvertently mention the weather at least twice every show. In fairness, people care about it and  it is definitively the best conversation starter in my book!!

It is often said about artists - particularly the mass-produced pop variety - that they simply can't reproduce the slick sound of the studio recordings when performing live. Be that as it may, I think singer-songwriters (which are not of the said category) have the power to really bring something special to a tune when performing it live. And I don't necessarily just mean through the atmosphere or intensity that is present at a concert, but through the manner in which they perform it - the instrumentation, the speed, the style etc.  Mundy is an Irish singer-songwriter, he sort-of shot to fame in the late 1990's when one of his songs was featured in Bazz Luhermann's remake of 'Romeo and Juliet'. He has had a mixed career since - got back into the charts about a decade later with a cover of Steve Earl's song 'Galway Girl'. His version has become a classic and continues to be heard in country discos in the west of Ireland!! A song of Mundy'

In an apparent moment of wisdom recently, somebody muttered to me: "There are two things you should never do in life: take heroin, or vote for Sinn Fein." Sinn Fein TDs: Pearse Doherty, Gerry Adams, Mary-Lou McDonald, Martin McGuinness. Source: theJournal.ie I thought this was interesting, and behind this stark statement I have heard many people discreetly share the same viewpoint in the run up to the general election. And I wanted to find out exactly why... My granny has always been had a keen interest in politics, but has never had a soft spot for Sinn Fein. Many a time I have been treated to her using an array of colourful adjectives to describe the party's leader, Gerry Adams. I was always intrigued by this. Yes, my granny is a big Fine Gael supporter, but she doesn't seem to have the same level of hatred for Fine Fail or Labour that she begrudges Sinn Fein... Eager to get to the bottom of this intrinsic loathing of Sinn Fein, I asked