Seán’s exit leaves big shoes to fill at RTÉ

Regular readers will know how unhappy I am with media treatment of controversial social issues. I find so many presenters pushing their own viewpoints and being unwilling or unable to ask the hard questions of those promoting a supposedly liberal viewpoint, while being well able and willing to grill those of a conservative leaning.

I’ve always found RTÉ presenter Seán O’Rourke to be an exception. An old school journalist in the best sense of the word he asks tough questions of all sides, while generally keeping his own views to himself. So I was very sad to hear that he was retiring from RTÉ and his must-listen Today With Seán O’Rourke show.

He announced this rather unexpectedly at the end of his morning show on Tuesday of last week.

I remember two striking interviews during the most recent abortion referendum. He was the only one that I heard who was prepared to ask challenging questions of An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar while others took the free pass route and got with ‘the programme’, effectively the pro-choice agenda. I looked back on my review of that interview: “That interview was robust, as it should be, but some of the answers were very telling. Asked whether he thought a doctor was dealing with one or two patients in a pregnancy situation he answered: ‘The patient you’re dealing with is the patient in front of you. That’s the woman. At a later stage, beyond viability or when the pregnancy is wanted, you treat it in that scenario as two patients.’”

So, the unborn child is only a patient if it’s wanted? Later he was asked if it was a baby that was in the womb. He answered: “Absolutely…that often depends on the woman carrying the foetus or baby.”

So, it’s only a baby if the mother thinks it is? It was no wonder that Seán O’Rourke followed this up with an exasperated “is there not anything objective here?”’

Challenge

The other interview I remember was when he challenged former Senator Catherine Noone (she had been chair of the Oireachtas Committee dealing with the issue). It’s worth revisiting what I wrote then: “She made out that the unborn child was ‘at the centre’ of the committee’s deliberations, but when O’Rourke asked her what passages in her report supported that claim, her only answer was ‘I don’t have the report in front of me’.” He could give conservative commentators a tough time too – I remember driving down the country once listening to a particularly robust interview he gave to John Waters.

I hope we’ll see more of O’Rourke in the media, perhaps as an independent commentator, which would be interesting. In the meantime the execs at RTÉ will have a challenging time filling the mid-morning weekday slot – maybe they’ll try a holding operation for the summer with the opportunity to try out alternative presenters.

While I’m writing of RTÉ presenters, a comment made by the host on the Ryan Tubridy Show (RTÉ Radio 1) is worth noting. On last Friday’s show he told us that in the first three weeks of March, around one and a half million watched religious services from Knock Shrine, that over 600,00 tuned in to the live streams from the Knock Shrine web page and that over 700,000 viewers tuned in to their YouTube channel.

Tubridy reckoned that “Faith is probably a good friend to have at a time like this in guiding you like a light hopefully for those of you who are fortunate enough to have a strong Faith”.

On the Sunday programme last weekend (BBC Radio 4) presenter Edward Stourton also reflected on the growing phenomenon of online religious services – “virtual worship is one thing but there’s no substitute for being with people”. This was in the context of a discussion with Fr Dan Mason, The National Chaplain for the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller Communities in England and Wales. He had just recorded a Mass for his communities and found that they engaged well through smartphones. The younger travellers, he found, were literate, seeing practical applications of being able to read and write.

As regards travellers on sites he found they were doing their best with the challenges of hygiene and social distancing. He also found a sadness among these communities as they particularly missed the sacrament related gatherings that were so important for their communities.

It’s a sadness we all share.

Pick of the Week

New! Messiah

EWTN, Saturday, May 3, 7 pm

New documentary series with interviews, old masters artworks, music and more. Narrated by Leonardo Defilippis.

The 13th Day

EWTN, Sunday, May 4, 9 pm

(2009) A dramatisation based on the true story of three shepherd children from the village of Fatima who experienced numerous visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.