Why do the Irish give Pat Kenny such a hard time?

jetsonx

Why do the Irish give Pat Kenny such a hard time?

Yes, he does not do light entertainment very well. But aside from that,
he makes an excellent interviewer who is concise and insightful.

freshpopcorn

He tore up The Toy Show tickets!

Barry Badrinath

This OP has so many lies in so little words.

He is just bland.

demanufactured

Because he has all the personality of an ashtray?

odyssey06

Does he get such a hard time???

Does some other race or species of sentient beings not give him a hard time???

Would he not get a hard time in some other country???

Is there much criticism of him as an interviewer?

He seems to have a spectacular lack of self awareness of his own capabilities ... His Late Late Toy Shows were torture... could he not have teamed up with an RTE2 presenter who had more of a natural rapport with kids, just even for that one night???

Is he not open to feedback to that effect??

I think if a BBC Newsnight presenter tried their luck at light entertainment and crashed and burned they'd get a hammering too?

mezzz

dennis o brien said pat kenny gives the best hand relief

Fr_Dougal

Significantly better than Tubridy.

BillyBobBS

He goes to bat for the establishment time and again. No fairness in his interviewing style completely one sided bias to suit an agenda. Take the IW affair as an example but that's just one issue where he can't help himself but take a side. He's an interviewer and is meant to be impartial.

Rumpy Pumpy

Ireland's best current affairs broadcaster. Also a gent by all accounts.

Noveight

I actually thought he was alright. He had his faults but nothing worse than some of the other clowns clinging on to the RTE bandwagon.

degsie

He is overpaid, entitled, and bland. Apart from that he is sound.

dok_golf

demanufactured wrote: »

Because he has all the personality of an ashtray?

What have you against ashtrays??

branie2

He's a plank

Bubbaclaus

Seinfield. Field.

mewe

He's a very bold boy.

demanufactured

dok_golf wrote: »

What have you against ashtrays??

They are disgusting....

Water John

All journalists and presenters should be keenly aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. They should hone their career based on their strengths. they should not burden the reader or viewer with their weakness in any area. Simply stay away from it.
PK is competent in politics. The exception being that infamous Presidential debate tweet. Very poor to use an uncolloborated source. Basic journalism overtaken by eagerness.
Good on tech.
Fairly good on radio, not so good on TV. Should never have gone near the LLS, but was driven to do so, by his ego.

Don't think he gets a hard time. The land court case, did him no favours.

RobbingBandit

He's a creep, just oozes nasty over entitlement which he does not deserve or have any right to. Pure epitome of Kent Brockman type media person.

Atoms for Peace

There was something about a field.

elperello

In fairness Gay Byrne was a hard act to follow.

Water John

Totally agree, but PK was always anxious to prove himself as competent. GB didn't always get it right, most notably the Annie Murphy interview.
But his interview of P Flynn was the best. Instead of lunging in, he sat back and left Flynn unravel before our eyes.

mewe

He reminded me of that robot from Lost In Space when he was on the late late.

Spider Web

I don't think "The Irish" (what nationality are you OP?) have given him a hard time since he stopped presenting the Late Late, and while I really dislike abuse towards people, criticism of him as that show's presenter was deserved as he was extremely unsuited to it. He gives off self important vibes too and, as said, he's not always very impartial (and I'm someone who would usually agree with the views he espouses).

He is still a very good current affairs presenter though I think.

mikeybrennan

Anytime I tune in to him he's on top of his game.

Wasn't there a good guy v bad guy thing with him and Gay Byrne where he was portrayed as the bad one,or am I mistaken in my recollection

myshirt

Hello Pat.

WoollyRedHat

You and Gay Byrne, bunch of arseholes.

branie2

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

You and Gay Byrne, bunch of arseholes.

A break was cut to very quickly

Your Face

I like him on the radio.
On television he is a disaster.

Water John

RTE often had a strong tendency to try and stretch a person from radio to TV. They tried in many times with Gerry Ryan. It never worked.

odyssey06

Water John wrote: »

RTE often had a strong tendency to try and stretch a person from radio to TV. They tried in many times with Gerry Ryan. It never worked.

The Ray Darcy show...

Dravokivich

Rumpy Pumpy wrote: »

Ireland's best current affairs broadcaster. Also a gent by all accounts.

Unless you're a neighbour and he has his eye on your garden.

Beanntraigheach

If you think the Irish are hard on him you should hear what the Armenians are saying about him!

harry Bailey esq

jetsonx wrote: »

he makes an excellent interviewer who is concise and insightful.

Great broadcaster, I never really gave him any thought until he went to Newstalk. I tune in once or twice a week now. Irish people don't like other Irish people,simple as that. The fact that his forename, when looked up in a dictionary is common reference to the fecal matter of a cow probably doesn't help the poor f%ker either. He's OK in my book,despite his crap name.

thee glitz

Ye, he's much better on the radio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu6d0ns-JJU

feargale

Can be extremely snide, but goes ballistic at any little dart at himself. Does anybody remember when Jack O'Connor hit his raw nerve? Well able to dish it out is Mr. Kenny, but not quite so good to take it.

P.S. And he loves to parade his knowledge.

osarusan

An example of how the shallow pool of talent at RTE means that anybody who is any good at anything must be given a go at everything else.

He was and is decent at his radio stuff, but was never any good at the Late Late and allowing people to be at ease and express themselves. It seemed like he always thought he needed to force it out of them. His appalling interview with Pete Doherty was a good example.

Tell me how

Listened to his show this morning. Two topics in particular, one about removal of statues in US and second the mother of s child who was terminally I'll from birth.

In the first, he was very well informed and really challenged the history lecturer without being rude, on the second I thought he was very empathetic.

I was thinking then how good he is at his job. Agree he wasn't good on light entertainment on TV but I think he could be good on more current affairs shows such as Prime Time.

Tell me how

WoollyRedHat wrote:

You and Gay Byrne, bunch of arseholes.

Could you name any Irish TV/radio personality you think is good quality?

elperello

elperello wrote: »

In fairness Gay Byrne was a hard act to follow.

And thanks be to God for that.

B.A._Baracus

I think the dislike for Pat Kenny is the whole bollocks of something that is considered as the general consensus but in reality far from it.

To give an example, so many people online crap on about how bad Mrs Browns Boys is but yet it pulls in great viewing figures on BBC and the live shows do great as well. Yet look online and everyone seems to hate it.

Kenny did the Late Late for years and his radio show. Some people had to be tuning in and didn't mind him

jetsonx

jetsonx wrote: »

Why do the Irish give Pat Kenny such a hard time?

Yes, he does not do light entertainment very well. But aside from that,
he makes an excellent interviewer who is concise and insightful.

In truth, Pat isnt the worst of them. However, the fact that a wealthy man claimed squatters rights on his neighbours land just seems so greedy and pathetic.

I dont quite hate him as he comes out with the odd nugget of sense (stopped clock twice a day and all that) and id say he doesnt take himself too seriously at the back of everything.

He was overpaid at RTE but they all are and i dont blame them for taking it.

123shooter

The mans a prat and his daily obsession with blaming Donald Trump for something/everything is so boring !

jimmycrackcorm

He is a good broadcaster, more suited to current affairs than talk shows. But I despise him for his obnoxious attempt to take the land beside him using squatters rights.

It's not as if he had no money, and I personally would never try to take land that doesn't belong to me so I don't think much of someone who does try. I found it gobsmacking at the time that such a highly paid person, that we paid for without a choice through our tv licence, would stoop so greedily low.

B.A._Baracus

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

I think the dislike for Pat Kenny is the whole bollocks of something that is considered as the general consensus but in reality far from it.

To give an example, so many people online crap on about how bad Mrs Browns Boys is but yet it pulls in great viewing figures on BBC and the live shows do great as well. Yet look online and everyone seems to hate it.

Kenny did the Late Late for years and his radio show. Some people had to be tuning in

Mrs Browns boys has an older demographic in terms of viewership though. An elderly aunt in England was telling us that the old dears in England rush home from bingo to see it. Most of the critics come from a younger and more 'connected' generation if you like

Richard Hillman

We didn't appreciate him at the time. Ireland's greatest ever broadcaster.

B.A._Baracus

Deleted User wrote: »

Mrs Browns boys has an older demographic in terms of viewership though. An elderly aunt in England was telling us that the old dears in England rush home from bingo to see it. Most of the critics come from a younger and more 'connected' generation if you like

You are right.
Thing is tho, as long as Kenny (or anyone) can pull in decent viewing numbers it doesn't matter.

reason vs religion

He's largely out of the public consciousness now that he's at Newstalk. The remaining negativity derives from a collective cultural memory.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

jetsonx wrote: »

Why do the Irish give Pat Kenny such a hard time?

Yes, he does not do light entertainment very well. But aside from that,
he makes an excellent interviewer who is concise and insightful.

Kinda answered your own question here.

The problem is that he epitomises the nepotism within RTE. He should have stayed in political analysis and never taken over the Late Late, but he he got the job because, y'know... it's RTE...

123shooter

reason vs religion wrote: »

The remaining negativity derives from a collective cultural memory.

:eek: .... Is that a disease?

feargale

feargale wrote: »

Can be extremely snide, but goes ballistic at any little dart at himself. Does anybody remember when Jack O'Connor hit his raw nerve? Well able to dish it out is Mr. Kenny, but not quite so good to take it.

Ah Jack O'Connor and his trophy salary and trophy SIPTU slush funds and trophy expenses and trophy trips to New York and trophy backroom deals with the government for selling out his union membership. Yeah, I remember that alright. Trying to put himself forward as one of the workers by attacking the likes of Kenny that night in 2009 when everything about O'Connor himself and his position has long since reeked of establishment money and establishment power.

Within a year of O'Connor's "trophy home" attack on Kenny, it was revealed that his SIPTU union had received millions of euro off the record in a slush fund. And it got better:

SIPTU hid information about €5m slush fund

THE country's largest trade union has been accused of deliberately withholding information from the HSE about a taxpayer-funded multimillion-euro "slush fund" that was partly used to pay for trips abroad.

HSE officials told the Dail Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday they had sought information from SIPTU on the operation of the €5m fund, but were not being given details to which the union had access.
Committee chairman John McGuinness warned that he could use the Compellability Act to bring in officials to answer questions on the SIPTU National Health and Local Authority Levy Fund.

Even though the account bears the SIPTU name, the union has always denied having authorised it.
Matt Merrigan, a SIPTU health division organiser, and shop steward Jack Kelly set up the account. It was intended to upskill and assist lower-grade workers in the health services, mainly through the HSE 'Skill' training programme.
However, around 14pc of the fund was spent on foreign travel and subsistence for public-sector managers, union representatives and their spouses or partners.

Mr McGuinness said he would ask SIPTU, Mr Merrigan, Mr Kelly and HSE official Alan Smith to come before the PAC voluntarily. However, if they did not do so, he could use the Act to force them to give evidence or hand over papers.
The PAC discussed the fund, which paid for 40 trips abroad for union, HSE and Department of Health officials, as well as covering hotel and restaurant bills.

The committee heard that Mr Smith, who ran the 'Skill' programme in the HSE, went on almost all of the trips abroad.

Labour TD Derek Nolan said €1.1m was still unaccounted for. Fine Gael TD Simon Harris described the account as a "slush fund".

HSE internal auditor Dr Geraldine Smith said she had expected "detailed" records and "income and expenditure accounts" when she examined SIPTU documents but they were not there.
Independent TD Shane Ross asked if the union was withholding information. Dr Smith replied: "Possibly, yes".

Rank hypocrisy from O'Connor after his attacks on the privilege of Kenny and the like.

branie2

He started off as a singer on a children's tv show