Radio review - A country diary for chattering classes

Those who regularly tune in to Today With Pat Kenny (RTE Radio 1) will be familiar with the well-bred tones of Marie-Louise O’Donnell, the DCU communications lecturer who turns up on the show at regular intervals.

O’Donnell could not be described as your average roving reporter. In one of her first media appearances of note, she turned up on Vincent Browne’s Midnight Court, arguing that the money spent on keeping the Irish language alive should instead be diverted in the general direction of opera. Anecdotally, it would appear that while a section of Kenny’s listenership eagerly laps up her intricately-worded contributions, others regard her as something of a dinner-partying, ...