Women's voices matter

Why has Rachel English been allowed to go from Five-Seven-Live on RTÉ Radio One? I don't know whether it is because she wants to leave the slot or because the RTÉ authorities want her to leave the slot, but, one way or another, it is a mistake and a disillusionment.

She had withstood the heat of competition from Today FM with its Last Word (Eamon Dunphy and now Matt Cooper) and Newstalk, with George Hook. She was/is a capable, professional broadcaster but a quieter style to that of the other presenters of news programmes, a welcome difference.

With her departure there will be no female voice on radio at all from 7.00am when Maxi departs, to 5.00am the following morning when Maxi arrives, on weeks when Áine Lawlor is not on Morning Ireland. Are women broadcasters to be squeezed entirely from the RTÉ radio schedule? Marian Finucane banished from the morning schedule and now Rachel English from the afternoon schedule?

Women's voices on radio do matter. They convey the appropriateness of women involvement in the discussion of pubic affairs. The exclusion of women's voices conveys the opposite.

Even when Áine Lawlor is on Morning Ireland and Kay Sheehy is on the evening arts programme, this represents nothing like the proper representation of women on our major public service broadcasting station, Radio One.

There are several women of calibre in RTÉ who could be given a prominent slot on the schedule. The likes of Aoife Kavanagh, Vivienne Traynor and Caroline Murphy. What's going on out there?

The prominence given to laddish interests confirms what amounts almost to a misogyny.

RTE Radio One gives four hours on Sundays with even more time on the medium wave to sport.

Sport is a TV phenomenon. Anyone who is interested in sport can access sport on television, so why the wall to wall afternoon weekend coverage?

The listenership figures for radio sport is close to zilch. Radio One does well on weekday afternoons but does nothing on weekend afternoons. Wouldn't the penny have dropped after years and years of zero listeners?

There is an arrogance in dismissing the listening preferences of more than half the available audience for at least eight hours a week. Actually, when the total airtime devoted to sport is calculated – eight hours over the weekend, Des Cahill on every morning on Morning Ireland for fifteen minutes, sports bulletins during the Pat Kenny show, the News at One, Five-Seven Live, Tonight with Vincent Browne, and slots after 11.00pm and 12 midnight, plus Sportscall, the total time given to sport on RT… Radio One is about twelve hours. And this on a medium that is vastly surpassed in sports coverage (ie by TV). What is the rationale for this, aside from the exclusion of women both as presenters and as listeners?p