Michael Kelly
RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy announced on Friday on his morning radio programme that he didn’t know any couples who attend Mass. Apart from the obvious question as to how Mr Tubridy would know whether or not his friends go to Mass unless he has asked them all, at face value it’s an astonishingly revealing claim. The most recent European Social Survey found that some 36% of Irish adults attend church services at least once a week – a figure that led British sociologist of religion Prof. Stephen Bullivant to describe Ireland as “remarkably religious”.
So, given that one in three Irish people attend Mass every Sunday morning – including many couples at the churches I attend – Mr Tubridy’s experience seems extraordinarily narrow. Of course, the truth is, he’d be surprised how many people he knows who quietly attend Mass and practise their faith without announcing this fact to a fanfare.
Mr Tubridy’s conclusion raises an interesting point about pluralism in the media and broadcasters’ ability to see what is happening outside their own circles.
My colleague and friend Mary Kenny told me on social media: “When I was a rookie journalist, I was taught that the job of a journalist includes going out and doing the things that a community does.
“Once you cut yourself off from the people, you miss the beat of real life,” according to Mary.
It seems a wise approach – particularly given that RTÉ is a taxpayer-funded broadcaster with a legal obligation to provide a public service.
In fairness, the religious output from RTÉ is of a high standard, but in the same way as people of Faith do not compartmentalise their beliefs into an hour on a Sunday morning, RTÉ should reflect the broad experience of the wider community.
When journalists – or anyone else – live in a bubble, it’s impossible to know what the concerns of the average person in the street is. Politicians who cut themselves off from public opinion quickly learn their lesson at an election.
On the other hand, people have little opportunity to make their views and feelings known to RTÉ in any structured way apart from the route of complaints about a particular programme.
I don’t find anything objectionable in what Ryan Tubridy said – presumably he’s reflecting his own experience. The problem is, it’s such a narrow experience and not reflective of contemporary Ireland. It reminds me of a man I met recently in Dublin who told me he didn’t know anyone involved in Gaelic games – this despite the fact that the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) has more than 500,000 members and some 1.5 million people attend football or hurling championship matches every summer.
If the media is serious about diversity and pluralism it needs to get serious about reflecting Ireland in all its richness rather than assuming that there is one view and one common experience.
Bubble
People of Faith encounter (and get on well with) non-religious people every day of the week in modern Ireland.
At the same time, many non-religious people live in a bubble where they never attend church themselves and they don’t know anyone who attends Mass regularly. I would suggest they widen their circle, and get to know a few of the almost two million Irish people who are at Mass every Sunday morning – otherwise they’ll continue to live in a narrow parallel universe.