Gay Byrne’s wise words on turning off the radio

This week’s Mediahuis/INM Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

I can still remember Gay Byrne advising people that there was a turnoff switch on their radio. If someone was complaining about this or that he would politely suggest that if they were so upset about the topic being discussed on radio then they should switch off.

I’ve been thinking about Gay’s wise words these days, asking myself is it time to turn off the radio and television, and stop reading newspapers.

Honestly, it’s all depressing me greatly, indeed, it maybe a contributing factor to my morose mood at present.

We’ve had many days of the RTÉ crock of gold saga. Yes, I’ve been reading it but I’m wondering is it doing me any good. I’ve always had a sceptical opinion about the ‘higher-ups’ in RTÉ and the salaries they earn. 

Any time I ever heard Ryan Tubridy talk about the very rich or very poor I’d pause for a moment, wince and wonder what exactly did he mean. I’ve never been able to understand why we put so many people on pedestals.

 

While RTÉ can play around with hundreds of thousands of euro we have over 12,000 people classified as homeless.  The editor of The Irish Catholic, Michael Kelly talks about the 30 per cent increase in homelessness in a year, and then adds ‘but at least the pronoun police will be ok’. 

I consider it a nasty barb and unbecoming from the editor of a newspaper that uses the word Catholic in its title. Alas, it’s the sort of thing he regularly says.

The war in Ukraine trundles on. Every day soldiers are dying, others being maimed forever. Buildings being razed to the ground, young beautiful children being killed as they eat their pizzas. It’s catastrophic for all those who are suffering.

We’ve had the riots in France caused by the teenager who was shot at pointblank range by a Parisian policeman. He was 17, of Algerian origin living in a poor-man’s ghetto.

And all the while China is creeping across the world. I’ve heard it said they have JCBs and diggers in every square metre of the African continent and are now in the process of gaining great influence in the World Health Organisation.

There are all the issues surrounding the intricacies of gender: transitioning, the number of genders. Honestly, I’m lost.

 

Late in June I saw pictures of German  police arriving at the residence of the archbishop of Cologne, Rainer Woelki as part of a perjury investigation against him.

Germany has just elected a far-right mayor in Sonneberg in the former East Germany. That’s beyond scary. The vulgarity and vocabulary of Donald Trump, how he sneers at his opponents is unacceptable. What’s even worse is how people applaud him as he belittles everyone who disagrees with him. 

Then there’s Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, once a KGB agent in Dresden in the former East Germany. He was not good enough to serve as a spy in West Germany. Today he is responsible for the torturing and killing of anyone who disagrees with him. 

Time to turn off the radio and stop reading newspapers? Would the quality of my life improve?