Brendan O'Brien canned by Newstalk?

mike65

Whats the story? Last week he was on this week he is'nt and I have'nt heard the current presenter suggest he is 'standing in'. Indeed he has his own jingle.

Has O'Brien moved on? Not too bothered if thats the case as he was'nt much cop as a presenter in my view. Should stick to reporting and research.

Mike.

DMC

Brendan O'Brien was never "staff" as such with Newstalk. They haven't filled that role since Damien Kiberd left, and hence, you never heard a jingle for O'Brien.

flogen

DMC wrote:

Brendan O'Brien was never "staff" as such with Newstalk. They haven't filled that role since Damien Kiberd left, and hence, you never heard a jingle for O'Brien.

Any word on what happened to Kiberd? Did he leave or is there something wrong?

ronbyrne2005

flogen wrote:

Any word on what happened to Kiberd? Did he leave or is there something wrong?

Still seriously ill i think. He doesnt do any work in media now afaik. O'Brien is'nt good as a live radio presenter, I've heard him on pre recorded programmes and he's much better, his personality is'nt suitable for such a show, the new guy sound alright from the very little i have heard.

Genghis

The new guy is Eamonn Keane, brother of BBC's Fergal Keane and Nephew of JB Keane.

He was a bit reporter and sometime stand-in on RTE news shows, but figured he would be a long time waiting for his own show on RTE. It is a bit of step-up for him.

Not sure why he took quite so long to join up (he was announced at launch), perhaps contractual or other reasons?

Agree with comments on Brendan O'Brien - not great as a live anchor.

mikesee

i disagree strongly with the comments about brendan o brian. in my view he was fair and balanced but could not be easily fobbed off with excuses. the only things i liked about newstalk since us culchies started getting it was his show and the sports show. moncrieff gets old very fast and george hook souns very tired.

Big Tone

He's a regular on Morning Ireland, I heard him this morning doing his usual "It Says In The Papers" (remember PP o Reilly!) and he sounded in top form. Maybe his running between RTE and Newstalk everyday wore him out, burnin candles at both ends and all that.

Declan A Walsh

During the second half of August and for a few weeks from the end of September to mid-October, I heard quite a lot of Brendan O'Brien on Newstalk. I must say I thought he was always on the ball and made the stories interesting. As far as I was concerned, he would have fitted in quite nicely in that spot for the long-term.

His style was a bit less robust than Damien Kiberd's, but Brendan could hold his own, and, indeed, he was not averse to a bit of humour - probably a tad more gentle than Damo.

bbability

Brendan O Brien was always strong in that slot. Its the two muppets before him that have that station totally off balance.