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Steamboat! – My Radio Debut

I’m delighted to be featuring on the RTE Radio 1 Sunday Miscellany raido show. It will be bradcast Sunday morning, 17th November 2019 after the 9am news.

This was my second attempt to submit a story to the very popular RTE Radio 1 show, now in its fiftieth year. My story is titled Steamboat, and through it I give a sense of what it was like to be a driftnet fisherman at Cheekpoint in the 1980’s, including an insight into local traditions and how deep they ran.

It features myself and a friend, Paul Duffin, as young fishermen. Because we grew up on the river we instinctively know its rules, one of which is that when drifting across the channel, steamboats have to be avoided. Sometimes that means you loose your drift. Drifts were hard won at times, and no fisheman wanted such an outcome.

Paul and I in the centre flanked by my father Bob on left, and brother Robert on right. My younger brother Chris is holding the salmons tail.

Here’s the lineup on the morning:

Friendly Front Door at University Hospital Waterford, by Lani O’Hanlon;

Steamboat, by Andrew Doherty;

Baby Clothes, a poem by AM Cousins;

Learning to Drive, by Ian Maleney;

Those Summer Nights of Long Ago at the Céilí, by Catherine Foley.

Music:

You’ve Got A Friend, by Carole King, performed by the Kalimbas: Cathy Forristal and Clíodhna Gahan on vocals and Damien Kehoe on guitar and vocals;

The Steam Packet and Miss McLeod’s Reel, played on uileann pipes by David Power;

A Stór Mo Chroí, played on tin whistle also by David Power;

Living in Yesterday, composed and performed by the Kalimbas;

And The Drops of Brandy, a slip jig, played by David Power on uileann pipes with Benny McCarthy on button accordion, Brendan Clancy on fiddle and Dónal Clancy on guitar.

A shot courtesy of RTE of the stage. I’m in the background, shaking it out

As elated as I was to have a piece chosen for the show, it became a case of be careful what you wish for. For I was very nervous on the day and I didn’t stop shaking throughout the performance. Hopefully this doesn’t come through. It certainly didn’t put me off however, as I’m already working on another submission. Its a story of how the river speakes to fishemen, well to fishermen who are fully present in its company. If you miss the show on Sunday, or if you are abroad, the podcast will be available on the Sunday Miscellany website.

Here is the subsequent Podcast for the show.