Local man is retiring from 'the best job in Irish radio'

After a 30-year career in broadcasting, Mount Temple resident Tom McGuire has stepped down from his role as head of RTÉ Radio 1.

His position has been termed "the best job in Irish radio" and, speaking to the Westmeath Independent recently, he agreed with that description.

"It's a job that brings something new every day, and it's brilliant to be there at the coalface of creativity and of breaking stories. As journalists, we like to be there where the story is happening," he said.

The local resident is not officially retiring from RTÉ until September, but Peter Woods succeeded him at the helm in Radio 1 on Wednesday last (July 1).

A native of Longford, and husband of Ita, Tom grew up at a time when the radio set was of pivotal importance.

"I'm of a generation where TV was only arriving when I was growing up. I vaguely remember being asked to turn on the radio that morning in 1963 when word was coming through of John F Kennedy being assassinated.

"Also, the '60s were the halcyon days of Longford football, so commentaries were really important. You began to listen to matches that you weren't able to go to. And, for music, it was the only outlet at that time."

His own involvement in radio began when he "started doing some stuff with Shannonside and, in fact, some pirate radio in Athlone," during the 1980s.

Then, thirty years ago this month, he began working for Radio Kerry.

"That was a great experience because it was brand new, from the ground up, and it was a group of people who were really dedicated to what they were trying to do. They were establishing a station that has grown and has become a model for other stations."

In 1993, he started working for RTÉ in Cork, as a reporter on the radio and on the television programme Nationwide.

"I moved from a rural set-up in Kerry to an urban one, and you began to see things differently. I spent four or five years working there, and training as a radio producer, and then I moved to Donnybrook in 1999.

"I went there as a current affairs editor so, really from there on, most of the work I did was in current affairs."

From 2004 to 2008 he worked from Athlone, as Regional Editor of RTÉ Radio 1. One of the developments to emerge from that time was the continuing sponsorship by RTÉ of the All Ireland Drama Festival.

"That was really important because it's an all-island production, it goes to maybe 36 or more venues around the country, and then comes to Athlone for nine nights," he said. "I was particularly proud of instigating that relationship, and the fact that it has survived through thick and thin."

After serving for a second spell as current affairs editor, he became head of RTÉ Radio 1 in 2013. He had only just started in the job when one of the station's best-known presenters, Pat Kenny, announced that he was leaving to work for Newstalk.

"I hope that wasn't all my fault!" Tom quipped. "Pat Kenny is a great radio broadcaster, and we were really sorry to lose him at that time.

"He made his own decision to go, and that's fair enough, but it really threw everything up in the air and we were really lucky to get Sean O'Rourke to move and take it over. The challenge then was to hold the audience and build the audience, which that programme did."

He said there can be a perception from some people that the RTÉ Radio 1 schedule is static, but that isn't the case.

"I was recently looking at a picture on my wall of the presenting staff on the day I became head of Radio 1. I think there are about ten of them that are not on air now, and almost every generation that changes," he pointed out.

He said general election campaigns always stood out as major moments during his career.

"There are particular pressures when you're in the middle of a general election campaign, and you have people pushing from different parties, all with their own agendas.

"I suppose when all of them are giving out to you, that's when you think you're probably doing something right!"

This year at RTÉ Radio 1 began with the unexpected passing of Marian Finucane. "On January 2, to get a phonecall in the afternoon to say she had died suddenly, was just a huge shock," Tom stated.

"We work with people cheek by jowl most of the time - the radio centre is not a really big place - everyone works together and everyone knows one another.

"That is like every workplace but this was different as well because the whole country knew this woman. Marian had her family, she had her country and she had her colleagues and she was able to balance all of them.

"The impact of her sudden death was huge and it's still being felt both by the audience and by her colleagues."

Looking back over his time in broadcasting, he said he was happy to have helped bring some new people into RTÉ. "Young people coming into an organisation are the lifeblood of it - they bring new energy, new ideas, and they give everything a lift."

He also said he was proud to see the growth of certain programmes that are not part of the prime daytime schedule, such as Countrywide and The Late Debate.

"From all of the figures we've looked at for the last three months - particularly during the pandemic - people are using radio as their trusted source. They want that, and their national and regional newspapers, and their public TV.

"That's what they depend on, no matter how many other sources of material are around, so I think it's important to keep the faith and keep patience with what we do.

"In Radio 1, the audience figures, the schedule, and the commercial strength of it is as good if not better than it was when I inherited it.

"All you are is a custodian of this service for the number of years that you're doing it and you try to leave it in good shape for the next person who's going to carry it on."

Tom said he had no imminent plans for his retirement, but he expressed an interest in working on some documentary projects. In 2004 he won the PPI Documentary of the Year Award for his documentary 'The Siege of Jadotville'.

"Storytelling still appeals to me, and programme making appeals to me. I probably won't be doing it directly for RTE, but there are so many new opportunities to tell stories, whether you're writing them, podcasting them or whatever you're doing with them.

"I'm going to sit back and relax for a while, and see what comes, but there are stories in my head that I'd like to tell," he concluded.