Why did RTE drop Gareth O Callaghan ?

Basal

In the 90s/Early 00s, Gareth O Callaghan was a big RTE household name, he was the mc of the rose of tralee, he got to fill in for Gay Byrne on the radio and his name was been mentioned as a possible permanent full-time replacement for Gay Byrne so how did he end up doing 5 hour shows per day on 4 listeners fm ?

mang0

Basal wrote: »

In the 90s/Early 00s, Gareth O Callaghan was a big RTE household name, he was the mc of the rose of tralee, he got to fill in for Gay Byrne on the radio and his name was been mentioned as a possible permanent full-time replacement for Gay Byrne so how did he end up doing 5 hour shows per day on 4 listeners fm ?

Chris Carey once fired him from Nova because he talked too much. I'd extrapolate from there.

neris

did he not leave 2fm coz of mental health issues

Rumpy Pumpy

mang0 wrote: »

Chris Carey once fired him from Nova because he talked too much. I'd extrapolate from there.

I heard bizarre rants was the reason he left Galway Bay FM by 'mutual consent'.

Infoanon

mang0 wrote: »

Chris Carey once fired him from Nova because he talked too much. I'd extrapolate from there.

Was 'Tony Garretts' not fired for refusing to drink live on air as part of drink education spot on Nova ?.

Went to Caroline then BBC Radio and returned to Ireland on Energy 103 - run by a few from Nova

JoeA3

I'm sure he left RTE / 2FM of his own volition due to his own "issues" and his belief that he could become a successful novelist / fiction writer and/or a psychologist.

Neither of those paths seemed to work out so it wasn't long before he turned up on GB FM... which was a strange fit, the few times I heard him on it. I did hear that he left GB FM under a cloud but again I thought he left of his own choice - to go on to the then fledgling 4FM.

ford fiesta

JoeA3 wrote: »

I'm sure he left RTE / 2FM of his own volition due to his own "issues" and his belief that he could become a successful novelist / fiction writer and/or a psychologist.

Neither of those paths seemed to work out so it wasn't long before he turned up on GB FM... which was a strange fit, the few times I heard him on it. I did hear that he left GB FM under a cloud but again I thought he left of his own choice - to go on to the then fledgling 4FM.

I thought he left 2FM due to him wanting to go full time into being a psychologist and he did that in galway (and having the gbfm morning radio gig to have a full day to concentrate on his psychologist work). He partner at the time was based in galway.

The strange thing is that if he did leave 2FM on bad terms..there was a build up to his final show and it was acknowledged by fellow presenters at the time (it wasnt a walk out or sudden departure like what happened Ruth Scott).

Also, he actually came back to 2FM a few months after he left to fill in for breakfast for a week or 2 during the transition of Rick and Ruth finishing up and Marty Whelan starting breakfast. In 2005.

Fuzzy Clam

Infoanon wrote: »

Was 'Tony Garretts' not fired for refusing to drink live on air as part of drink education spot on Nova ?.

That's correct. It upset a lot of the staff at the time.

Ursus Horribilis

I thought he'd left voluntarily too but who knows? Seeing as he's a rather outspoken individual, he probably has lost friends in the industry.

Welsh Megaman

Could have been because of this...

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ocallaghan-to-blow-whistle-on-rampant-coke-use-in-rte-26607882.html

JoeA3

Yep. Gareth always has a lot to say for himself. He's prone to random rants on social media too. Doesn't do himself any favours imo.

vince

Now 5 hours on 4fm is crazy. Two presnters taking up nearly 50% of air time on one station is a bit extreme. I was a 4fm fan brfore its a basket case now.

ford fiesta

vince wrote: »

Now 5 hours on 4fm is crazy. Two presnters taking up nearly 50% of air time on one station is a bit extreme. I was a 4fm fan brfore its a basket case now.

Pat C on Nova has been doing 5 hours for years.

Also Gareth has his love songs show on sun morning which is a further 3 hours.. that's 28 hours of live radio each week for Gareth.

sure he was only doing 10 hours for his majority of his time on 2FM.!

real rocker

ford fiesta wrote: »

Pat C on Nova has been doing 5 hours for years.

Also Gareth has his love songs show on sun morning which is a further 3 hours.. that's 28 hours of live radio each week for Gareth.

sure he was only doing 10 hours for his majority of his time on 2FM.!

In the case of Pat James his show is 4 hours in length 9PM to 1AM

ford fiesta

real rocker wrote: »

In the case of Pat James his show is 4 hours in length 9PM to 1AM

that's just one night per week

Pelvis Parsley

Follow his antics on social media, and you'll see fairly quickly why he seems to have itchy feet.

Water John

If someone has any mental health issues, staying away from social media, esp the likes of Twitter, I would advise.

liam7831

All he's doing is spinning a few discs lads the way ye are talking you would swear he is doing hard labour in North Korea

coylemj

The way he used to plug new products on 2FM made me want to throw up. it was patently obvious that he was getting freebies in return for a plug on air and boy did he deliver.

The format was pretty simple: if you were launching a new gadget like a PDA (before mobile phones there was a class of handheld gadget called a personal digital assistant - PDA), send a free sample to GO'C with a list of features, he would give the gadget a major plug while reading out the feature list in a gushing tone of voice - like this is the greatest piece of kit I have EVER seen, you must go out and buy one.

California Dreamer

coylemj wrote: »

The way he used to plug new products on 2FM made me want to throw up. it was patently obvious that he was getting freebies in return for a plug on air and boy did he deliver.

That was not confined to GOC!

Einstein A. Gogo

He thinks he's Miss Marple nowadays!

Pelvis Parsley

He caused more hassle and hurt to the family of that poor young lad, all the time being enabled by an army of hormonal middle aged harpies on FB, who saw no wrong in what he was doing.

Declan A Walsh

Maybe this thread should be merged with this one:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057902640/gareth-o-callaghan

Edit: And this one (!):

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217156/gareth-ocallaghan-calling-for-new-lockdown#latest

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118188668#Comment_118188668

But he did set up a counselling service in Galway, while also working on Galway Bay FM breakfasts.

Pelvis Parsley

I heard he gorged on Toblerone and drove to Dundee in his bare feet.

SpitfireIV

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118192989#Comment_118192989

Lies! I can't understand how something like this can be left unchallenged!!!

He wasn't barefoot, he was wearing soleless socks!

gluppers

I remember Gareth and sports presenter John Kenny had a good rapport on his early 90's 2fm show. Made me smile anyway

Pelvis Parsley

Aside from his more recent, and very public online ramblings-the only memory I have of his afternoon show on RTE was that it was a blatant ripoff of Steve Wright on BBC, and filled with the sound of back slapping (canned applause, "Hi Gareth, love the show" etc. etc.)

Couldn't stand him.

Leilak

I dont think hes missed though in his own mind he thinks he is. Hes another ego driven broadcaster who thinks he cant be done without! eh its grand Gareth, Radio is doing fine without you

Losty Dublin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118196341#Comment_118196341

For a few years it felt as if his afternoon show was repeating episodes from previous years.

Tork

Why the sudden bumping of this thread? Is it because of what he has been posting on social media recently?