Does Cathal Murray on RTE 1 make anyone else's blood boil ?

miketheDIYman

We switch on the radio every morning at 6.30 am and from Monday to Friday enjoy listening to Shay Byrne with his witty comments and great music. Then Saturday arrives and my blood begins to boil as I listen to lots of obscure, rarely heard music that would be better played after midnight, and lots of uninteresting facts and figures about the music dug up by our host Cathal Murray, who has an annoying habit of pausing his speech mid sentence and putting emphasis on parts of words for unknown reason ! Now I know you might say - switch over to another channel but this radio is beside our bed and is difficult to tune in and we love to listen to the next programme Countrywide with Damien O'Reilly.

Losty Dublin

I'd be the opposite. Cathal is grand on the ear if a little bland while Shay IMO tries too hard to be totally bonkers, mate

heybaby

Losty Dublin wrote: »

I'd be the opposite. Cathal is grand on the ear if a little bland while Shay IMO tries to hard to be totally bonkers, mate

I'd agree with you about Shay Byrne, he can be very inappropriate on occasion and is at times too energetic and giddy for that time of the morning. Cathal is just OK but seems to have fallen down the pecking order since Dave Fanning came on board at radio 1.

padd b1975

Cathal Murray is worth more than the slot he currently occupies, does exactly what he's there for-plays a good variety of music with minimum inane chatter.

Shay Byrne gets more shambolic every time I listen. He's got a real air of someone who can't believe his luck to have the job he has.
All his "hail fellow, well met" and bonhomie comes across as forced and false to my ears at least.

miketheDIYman

Well padd you must have been wearing earplugs this morning if you thought he played a good variety of music and as for inane chatter - he's full of it !!! Shay is lighthearted and easy-listening for that time of morning, not at all shambolic in my opinion

HeidiHeidi

I completely disagree!

I liked Shay Byrne for a long time, but he's bordering on hysteria sometimes nowadays with his jokiness - a bit of banter is nice, but he completely overdoes it.

Cathal Murray (although I far more rarely hear him) I think is absolutely brilliant, and I wish they'd give him a more-listened-to slot - I like the different music that I wouldn't normally get exposed to, and his low-key tone is just right. Just like his father, a class(y) broadcaster.

miketheDIYman

miketheDIYman wrote: »

We switch on the radio every morning at 6.30 am and from Monday to Friday enjoy listening to Shay Byrne with his witty comments and great music. Then Saturday arrives and my blood begins to boil as I listen to lots of obscure, rarely heard music that would be better played after midnight, and lots of uninteresting facts and figures about the music dug up by our host Cathal Murray, who has an annoying habit of pausing his speech mid sentence and putting emphasis on parts of words for unknown reason ! Now I know you might say - switch over to another channel but this radio is beside our bed and is difficult to tune in and we love to listen to the next programme Countrywide with Damien O'Reilly.

Ye have a lie in on a Saturday morning...and listening to Radio 1 ye are...and Valentines just gone:D

lab man

Love the way shay talks an odd time about when he was a painter and wat he has seen on building sites during the boom .. in all fairness he has done well for a man that was on the dole after the bust, and started doing continuity announcements during the night from 2 am till 6 am a few years ago. remember it well lot of mistakes

lab man

lab man wrote: »

Love the way shay talks an odd time about when he was a painter and wat he has seen on building sites during the boom .. in all fairness he has done well for a man that was on the dole after the bust, and started doing continuity announcements during the night from 2 am till 6 am a few years ago. remember it well lot of mistakes

I presume the 2am/6am links,Noel Fogarty news,and programmes from earlier,are pre recorded,as in voice tracking?

Swiper the fox

I think Cathal is brilliant, OP is waiting for countrywide so may not be the ideal listener, he plays a wide variety of music which is mostly excellent, I can't comment on the other fella as I only listen at the weekend.
One othr thing, he is a nephew, not a son of the late Colm Murray.

lab man

No there is a person there all night it's a girl at the moment so at the end of late date/ news they say wats on for the next few hours like re run of s.o.r.
then liveline then south wind blows ... but between each re run they say a few words . occasionly , if there is a fault they play a few tunes an a bit of very small talk

Swiper the fox

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I think Cathal is brilliant, OP is waiting for countrywide so may not be the ideal listener, he plays a wide variety of music which is mostly excellent, I can't comment on the other fella as I only listen at the weekend.
One othr thing, he is a nephew, not a son of the late Colm Murray.

I often wondered when I heard the name.I didn't know he was related.I always think of Colm,when Cheltenham comes around...A great lover of racing.

HeidiHeidi

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I think Cathal is brilliant, OP is waiting for countrywide so may not be the ideal listener, he plays a wide variety of music which is mostly excellent, I can't comment on the other fella as I only listen at the weekend.
One othr thing, he is a nephew, not a son of the late Colm Murray.

I stand corrected. Always thought he was his son.

PeterTheEighth

I like Cathal Murray. He has a very nice radio voice and a very nice manner.

honeybear

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I think Cathal is brilliant, OP is waiting for countrywide so may not be the ideal listener, he plays a wide variety of music which is mostly excellent, I can't comment on the other fella as I only listen at the weekend.
One othr thing, he is a nephew, not a son of the late Colm Murray.

Hmmm

itac

miketheDIYman wrote: »

lots of obscure, rarely heard music that would be better played after midnight, and lots of uninteresting facts and figures about the music dug up by our host

My only complaint about Cathal is that my itunes bill is generally a lot larger after I get a chance to tune in! I love the mix of older classics/mellow morning tunes and to me, the "obscure" tunes are the icing on the cake. Since listening to him, I've found new bands/musicians to listen to, and (on the rare night off!) go to see live.

I don't feel radio is there for hearing songs or info I know 24/7- there's records/cds/itunes/spotify/whatevers for that. His show to me feels a bit like a shorter John Creedon show, there'll always be something you know, but you're just as likely to hear an old/new track that you'd never heard before. I'd quite happily live on a radio diet of Cathal, a few Lyric FM weekend shows, John Creedon & The Blue of The Night for the rest of my days!

I guess that's the joys of radio though, tis different strokes for different folks!

Harry Palmr

Cathal Murray, is he the one who stands in for The lunchtime cardigan every so often?

Mec27

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I think Cathal is brilliant, OP is waiting for countrywide so may not be the ideal listener, he plays a wide variety of music which is mostly excellent, I can't comment on the other fella as I only listen at the weekend.
One othr thing, he is a nephew, not a son of the late Colm Murray.

Cousins actually.

Swiper the fox

Delighted that Cathal is still a fixture in RTE, would his latest move be considered a promotion?

Seems like a lovely guy, but I just can't take to him.

It wasn't broken, there was no need to fix it. RTE seem determined to destroy this little piece of radio bliss, as it was when Lillian and Alf, or Aonghus and Fiachna hosted. I don't really bother tuning-in anymore.

Bully bunter

Tyrant , I Could not agree more. He does seem like a nice guy but his voice and delivery are so boring! He sounds like he has been searching the Internet all day to give us some info on the music he plays. Nothing natural , relaxed or cosy about his program. Why could they not leave it to Lillian ? I have been a late date listener for a very long time (val Joyce) and looked forward to having the radio for company heading to bed/ sleep. When I do manage to stay awake through his tedious tones the music choice can occasionally be good but PLEASE PUT SOME LIFE AND PASSION INTO IT !