In Praise of Rachael English ....
12 May 09

It is great to hear Rachael English regularly on the radio again. For me, she is one of the brightest stars on RTE. It is hard to believe that this July it is three years since she stopped presenting Five Seven Live. When she left in 2006 she left a big gap on the schedule and her shoes have proven very difficult for Mary Wilson to fill. Before she re-appeared as the full-time presenter of the Late Debate this year, she had a nomadic existence within RTE, presenting mainly political programmes and filling in for Marian Finucane at the weekend.

It is her broad range, light touch and ease with any topic that makes her an excellent broadcaster. Equally at home with hard politics or soft news, Rachael doesn't take herself too seriously as a presenter and is not afraid to break into laughter on air. In the style of Gay Byrne, she has a wonderfully gentle way of eliciting information from potentially tight-lipped interviewees. And it proves that there is room for many styles in current affairs radio. While Rachael's approach is very different to that of the excellent Sean O'Rourke, it is no less legitimate or effective.       

While the Late Debate is very enjoyable, I'm hoping she returns to one of the frontline presenting slots very soon.                                                 Jack Murray