Reader Writes: Love is in the air (waves)

As we celebrate love in its many guises this week, we’re also celebrating World Radio Day, so it would be fair to say that love really is in the air.

There is so much to love about Irish radio; from Gay Byrne, the pioneer of confessional talk shows in Ireland, to one of our greatest exports Terry Wogan, a most important Irish voice on British airwaves during that turbulent time in Anglo-Irish history.

We also all know if you want something done your first port of call is not to your local councillor but to Joe Duffy. And who could forget the much-loved Gerry Ryan, so sympathetically interviewing the poor lady married to the man who never put the bins out or picked his underpants up off the floor, not realising it was his own wife he was talking to.

But it was the day I rushed up to the local breakfast show host on the street and greeted her like a long-lost friend that I appreciated how personal this medium is, and how big a part of my life it is.

“How are you?” I said as I reached my “friend”, so happy to see her. I put my hand on her arm and, as I did, it dawned on me that, whilst I knew her voice as well as I knew my own and her face from local newspapers, I didn’t know her at all.

She smiled, presumably used to this, and, once I got over my embarrassment, I realised that I had greeted her like a close friend because to me that was what she was.

That is the power of radio, this wonderfully intimate space in which we listen individually while sharing the same experience together.

The familiar voices come from bodies that I never see, yet not seeing them doesn’t make their words any less powerful; quite the opposite in fact, with nothing visual to distract me, their words become all consuming.

Radio celebrates our best of times with requests and congratulations, and sits with us through the night with its gentle music and softly spoken broadcasters during those times when thoughts make sleep impossible.

I may not listen every day, sometimes life gets in the way, but the presenters are patient and as soon as I make the choice to tune in, they’re there, as they have been all the time, gently keeping the conversation going and just waiting for me to join in once more.

More often heard on RTÉ Radio One getting “A Word in Edgeways”, Kate is excited to be sharing her thoughts with readers of Irish Country Living. Editor of The Muskerry News and Kenmare News, Kate loves dogs, gardening and writing, in no particular order.