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The Daily Wire

The Daily Wire

Seamus Heaney's funeral, the O’Rourke-Kenny radio battle and other news . . .

Joanne Hunt Mon, Sep 2
 
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  • This event has now ended
  • 08:54
    Will you be dialing up to the chat with Pat, or staying put for sca with Seán? It's exciting isn't it.
  • 08:55
    You're not the only one Roisin.
  • 09:01
    Good morning. It's a mild, breezy morning in the Capital. A few crosswinds on the bike but all good. It will be 17 - 22 degrees today with sunny spells developing.
  • 09:02
    Joanne Hunt here, with you on the Daily Wire until 5pm.
  • 09:09

    From 10am, I'll be mostly listening to Sean O'Rourke in my left ear and Pat Kenny in my right   - so if you want a blow by blow, stay tuned.

  • 09:11
    The stories on the front page of today's Irish Times: Minister overhauls school enrolment policies. US say sarin gas used in Syrian attack. Folks on the hill happy after Dublin get past Kerry in thriller.
  • 09:18
    You mean putting Sorcha's name down while she was still in utero won't guarantee her a place? And that school interview prep we've been doing with Fuinneog is a waste of time?? Read Dick Ahlstrom's story on Ruairi Quinn's idea of a 'fair and balanced' school admissions process.
  • 09:21
  • 09:24

    "If this was to be the last dance for some of their older Kerry heads, they were going out doing the cha-cha rather than settling for a safe old waltz." Read Malachy Clerkin's report of yesterday's Dubs v Kerry clash.

  • 09:34
    "You have had your time for laughing and your time for embracing - and you will have them again. But this is your time for mourning" - words from Fr Kevin Doran at the removal of Seamus Heaney yesterday evening at the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook. Read Rosita Boland's report.

  • 09:36
    The funeral Mass of Seamus Heaney takes place at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook at 11.30am  this morning. Eoin Burke-Kennedy will be there for the Irish Times and we'll be keeping you up to date here.
  • 09:44
  • 09:54
  • 10:04

    Pat Kenny is already out of the traps on Newstalk, setting out his stall before the news headlines.

  • 10:05
    Sean O'Rourke sounds excited. The show retains the old 'Today Show' music. He sends his best wishes to Pat Kenny. Magnamimous to the last.
  • 10:07
    Sean O'Rourke begins the show with an interview with Edna O'Brien who remembers Seamus Heaney.
  • 10:08
    Pat's theme tune is Coldplay it seems. He welcomes those who have moved that dial.
  • 10:09

    Bono on Seamus Heaney with Pat Kenny vs Edna O'Brien on Seamus Heaney with Sean O'Rourke, who wins?

  • 10:12
    Wow. Pat has to get through a whole slew of sponsor plugs before beginning his first interview. Well I guess that salary isn't going to pay itself.
  • 10:14
    Bono sounds like a fake Bono. Like an Oliver Callan Bono. But it's the real Bono. And he's reciting a poem by Seamus Heaney.
  • 10:15
    "The mix is heady, the pace measured...informed analysis about Ireland and the world...all of that and a light dusting of fun," promises Sean O'Rourke.
  • 10:18
    Bono is in Ghana. Pat Kenny is in Digges Lane in Dublin 2.  A world away from what they are used to.
  • 10:19
  • 10:22
    Sean O'Rourke is quizzing Hans Blix about American intervention in Syria. Serious stuff.
  • 10:23
    Pat Kenny is talking to Bono about balancing his 'rockstar lifestyle' with being an advocate for the poor.
  • 10:24
  • 10:26
    Bono is STILL talking, 26mins in.
  • 10:28

    A lighter tone on Newstalk - Pat now talking to Bono about his wife's clothing line his daughter's film career. O'Rourke has just finished quizzing Hans Blix about very important stuff.

  • 10:31

    Oliver Callan on Sean O'Rourke takes the mickey out of 'Pat on Newschat'.

  • 10:32
    "Newstalk, a fledging college radion station" jibes Callan.
  • 10:34
  • 10:37
    Sean O'Rourke talking to Ireland rugby coach Joe Schmidt who attended yesterday's Dublin v Kerry clash. Schmidt's son is now a big Dubs fan it seems. Schmidt praises the Gooch.
  • 10:37
    John I think what Bono had to stay about Ghana, Africa and state aid was pretty important but who knows? I'm one of those Irish people who doesn't hate Bono. Interesting to see who has the longest ad-breaks, Seán or Pat?
  • 10:39
    Schmidt says the GAA players yesterday looked 'incredibly well conditioned' and played 'as professional as anyone who gets paid to do their job'.
  • 10:41

    Pat's going to an ad break, again. But first, it's time to plug a sponsor.

  • 10:45
  • 10:48
    Pat Kenny interviews former Newstalk anchor Ivan Yates about his financial difficulties. Yates used his Newstalk earnings and savings to pay back €800,000. He is now debt free.
  • 10:52
    Over on RTE 1, Joe Schmidt says Paul O'Connell's tackle of Rob Kearney won't be held against him when choosing a captain - but Schmidt is keeping an open mind on who will get the role. Rory Best also has captaincy experience he says.
  • 10:54
    Ivan Yates tells Pat Kenny his wife Deirdre, a school teacher, was threatened with a judgement of  €3.5 million. 
  • 10:55
    Ivan Yates talks to Pat Kenny about how he has been labelled throughout his career - 'former minister',' former bookie' and now 'former bankrupt'.
  • 10:57
    'Nobody died. I've a lot to be thankful for. I just want to make a fresh start in my life,' says Ivan Yates.

    'I've come back from a harrowing 16 months...I had nobody to talk to. I just want to restart my life.'
  • 11:04
    Ivan Yates is returning to Newstalk. Can he be a credible interviewer of bankers, asks Pat Kenny? He says every broadcaster has 'baggage' and that listeners can 'Text in and whack me off'. (Did I hear that right?)
  • 11:07

    Was Pat Kenny about 2mins late going to the 11am news?

    The lead story on Newstalk's bulletin was - Newstalk - a story about Ivan Yates' return from bankruptcy.

  • 11:08
  • 11:14
    I thought Newstalk's twitter account said Pat Kenny was talking to Bono from Ghana? The Newstalk reporter at the Seamus Heaney funeral says Bono has just arrived. Omnipresent.
  • 11:17
    Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Brian Keenan, Paul Brady, Des Geraghty the Edge and Bono have just arrived for the funeral Mass of Seamus Heaney. Irish Times journalist Eoin Burke-Kennedy is there.
  • 11:18
    The Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Joan Burton and Eamon Gilmore have also taken their seats at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook.
  • 11:23
    Archbishop Diarmuid Martin is now in studio with Pat Kenny. The Archbishop says peers describe Pope Francis as 'tough as nails', a man who hates waste and values simplicity.
  • 11:25

    'I'd be very surpised if he did', says Archbishop Diarmuid Martin when asked by Pat Kenny if the Pope might call him to serve him in  Rome.

  • 11:27
    You can watch a live stream of the poet Seamus Heaney's funeral here.
  • 11:31

    The format of Sean O'Rourke's first show will be somewhat curtailed as RTE Radio 1 moves over to cover the funeral of Seamus Heaney.

  • 11:33
    Poet Michael Longley, playwrights Frank McGuinness and Tom Murphy and actor Barry McGovern take their seats for the funeral Mass, reports Eoin Burke-Kennedy
  • 11:39

    Monsignor Brendan Devlin,  a priest of the Derry diocese and a family friend is the chief celebrant of the Mass. Co-celebrants include Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin Michael Jackson and Abbott of Glenstal, Mark Hederman.

  • 11:42

    Pat Heaney, a brother of the late poet, moves to the lectern to deliver the first reading.

  • 11:48
    Seamus Heaney's niece Sarah, reads the second reading, from St Paul to the Corinthians. It is a reading about charity and humility, and speaks of a man who is 'not puffed up with pride'.
  • 11:53
    As Sean O'Rourke provides voice over to radio coverage of the funeral of Seamus Heaney, Pat Kenny quizzes Brendan Howlin about public expenditure. 

    There we leave today's radio battle. Who won? Who lost? Let us know what you think at @IrishTimesLive.
  • 11:56
    Chief celebrant Monsignor Brendan Devlin gives a simple and relatively short homily, based on the readings and the gospel.
  • 11:57
    The prayers of the faithful give thanks for the work of poets and artists. Prayers are asked for the work of teachers, scholars and educators whose work we must not take for granted.
  • 11:58
    Gifts include a book of Seamus Heaney's poetry and a simple sprig of white flowers.
  • 12:05

    Restaurateur Patrick Guildbaud, leader of Fianna Fail Michael Martin and attorney general Maire Whelan are also in attendance at the funeral Mass.

  • 12:06
  • 12:09
    Marie Heaney arriving at the Church of Sacred Heart in Donnybrook for the funeral mass for her husband Seamus Heaney this morning.
  • 12:09
  • 12:12

    Derry native, The Commitments actress Bronagh Gallagher joins many others from the arts at today's service.

  • 12:13
    The Taoiseach Enda Kenny arrives at the funeral earlier this morning.
  • 12:14
  • 12:18
  • 12:22
  • 12:25
    Poet Paul Muldoon and Seamus Heaney's son Michael to give eulogies at the end of the Mass. There is standing room only at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Donnybrook.
  • 12:33
    The poet Peter Fallon reads an early Seamus Heaney poem, 'The Given Note', a poem about a Blasket Island fiddler, capturing a tune.

    So whether he calls it spirit music
    Or not, I don't care. He took it
    Out of wind off mid-Atlantic.

    Still he maintains, from nowhere.
    It comes off the bow gravely,
    Rephrases itself into the air.
  • 12:36

    'The Given Note' is the only poem  from Seamus Heaney's vast body of work  to be read at the funeral. The poem's fiddler perhaps a metaphor for the poet himself.

  • 12:38
    Poet Paul Muldoon now delivers a eulogy. He says Heaney did everything 'with brio', someone 'big hearted'.
  • 12:41

    As he did with this daughter Catherine Ann when she was as child, 'He had the capacity to sweep all of us up in his arms,' says Muldoon.

  • 12:42

    Seamus Heaney's son Michael thanks staff at the Blackrock Clinic and at St Vincent's Hospital for their care of his father, who he refers to affectionately as 'head the ball'.

  • 12:43
    Michael Heaney also thanks the staff at Faber & Faber who have published Heaney's works for decades.
  • 12:46
    Michael Heaney tells of his father's last words, written in a text to his wife Marie, minutes before he died. They were the Latin words 'Noli timere' - 'Don't be afraid'.
  • 12:49
    In closing, as had been requested by the poet, Brahms' 'Lullaby' is played.
  • 12:56
    'Sé mo laoch mo Ghile Mear' is now being played on the bagpipes as the poet's coffin is carried from the church.
  • 13:04

    The coffin of the poet and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney is brought out into the sunshine. The crowds gathered outside the church break into applause.

  • 13:07

    The long journey home to Derry soon begins. Seamus Heaney will be buried there at Ballaghy cemetery at 5pm.

  • 13:10
    A very simple funeral. Little embellishment by way of singing or lengthy speeches.
  • 13:12
  • 13:24
    We move on to covering the day's other news.
  • 13:27
    Sausages, ice cream and cider - we went mad for them this summer, reports Pamela Newenham.
  • 13:28
    Ivan Yates rode out his bankruptcy in a two-room flat in Swansea, he tells RTE.
  • 13:30
    'He looks like a man who has lost a considerable amount of weight,' says RTE's David Murphy of Yates. 

    Yates describes his time in Swansea as 'very boring' and he said he 'drank too much'. The former government minister says there were 'days he didn't eat at all and just drank'.
  • 13:33
    Let's play 'Embassy Musical Chairs'!
  • 13:39

    The verdict is that social media followed @patkennynt this morning rather than @TodaySOR.

  • 13:42
  • 13:48
    Word is that traffic will be diverted away from St Stephen's Green in the next two months, writes Dublin correspondent, Olivia Kelly.
  • 13:50
    Irish folk burned by the property crash and riding out the storm in Oz, be careful. Australians are being warned of an Irish-style housing crash.
  • 13:54
  • 13:56
    I guess that new baby of Kanye's isn't going to pay for itself.
  • 14:13
    If you're down around Buswell's Hotel right now, One House, "an independent civil society group supporting a 'yes' vote in the referendum to abolish Seanad Éireann", is holding  its first  press conference.
  • 14:16

    Sort of like One Direction, but not as cute.

  • 14:25
    “The Peru element of the story I can follow and understand. It’s the Ibiza end that I would like more clarification on. I’m still not entirely sure how she left Ibiza to go to wherever it was..." William Reid father of 'Peru Two' member Melissa Reid said in an interview this morning.
  • 14:32
    Thinking about splitting up?Joint passwords and shared social networking profiles can make it a minefield.
  • 14:38
    Una Butler, the woman whose husband killed their daughters before taking his own life, has called for action.

  • 14:52
    Lucinda not happy with what One House has been saying  about her.
  • 14:57
    Dublin and many southern coastal counties reported their warmest August in up to 10 years, says Met Eireann. But temperatures may drop as low as five degrees on nights later this week. Brrr.
  • 14:59
    Meow.
  • 15:04
  • 15:23
    The ever entertaining Lucy Kellaway writes about the scourge of 'cyber comparisons' in today's Irish Times.
  • 15:25
    "Last month scientists confirmed what surely every parent worked out long ago: Facebook makes you unhappy. Looking at other people’s apparently cool and glossy lives brings only misery," writes Lucy Kellaway in the Irish Times Business pages.
  • 15:43
    Coronation Street star William Roache has pleaded not guilty to committing historic sexual offences against five girls.
  • 15:54

    A bad week all round for Corrie. Another actor from the soap, Michael Le Vell, appeared in court today accused of raping a young girl.

    Mr Le Vell (48) who plays car mechanic Kevin Webster in the ITV soap, is facing 12 charges in all.

  • 16:05
    A  rally is planned for outside the Dáil tomorrow evening to highlight new “anti-gay” laws in Russia, writes Tim O'Brien.

    The rally will be followed by a protest at the Russian Embassy on Sunday afternoon in which members of the Irish LGBT community and others plan to express concerns about the abuse of gay people in Russia.
  • 16:08
    So how did Pat Kenny do on his first shift at Newstalk? Read Hugh Linehan's review.
  • 16:21
  • 16:26
    And well done to Ireland's sailing supremo Annalise Murphy.
  • 16:41
    Rumour has it that Fifty Shades of Grey author EL James has announced that actress Dakota Johnson will play main character Anastasia in the forthcoming film.
  • 16:44
    Johnson, who is 23, is the daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith.
  • 16:46
    Well it's on EL James' twitter now so it must be true.
  • 16:53

    Every now and then a 'big cat' story comes along.

  • 16:57

    A bit like the Hound of the Baskervilles, the Loch Ness Monster, or Rodents of Unusual Size.

  • 17:02
    It's a bad blog day for the animals. (Such cute puppies).
  • 17:07
    That's it for today's Daily Wire. Thanks for stopping by. We're back again tomorrow at 9am. Keep up to date overnight with @IrishTimesLive and on IrishTimes.com.

  • 17:16
    It will remain mainly dry tonight, with temperatures of up to 14 degrees in Connacht and Ulster, dropping to around 7 or 8 degrees in Munster and Leinster. Tomorrow will be dry with temperatures of up to 20 degrees.