Winners and Sinners

Ciara Kelly (0:00)

The Hard Shoulder, with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman. On Newstalk, with Ciara.

Winners, and sinners, on The Hard Shoulder.

Shane Coleman (0:19)

Now, this is Winners and Sinners, and we look back, and the week that was with a few twists. Delighted to be joined, as always, by Off the Ball's Cameron Hill, and Today FM's Alison Curtis. Alison, we might kick off with you first. Your winner of the week, please.

Alison Curtis (0:32)

Is Joanne McNally. Now, I do feel I picked her a long time ago, so it's okay to pick her again, and for the week that she's had as well. So The Tonight Show. Did you watch it in full on YouTube? No. Yeah. Watch clips. Jimmy Fallon, and on average, 1.5 million viewers, so that's pretty big for her.

She handled herself really well. What I loved about it was she actually slowed down, because North America's...

Ciara Kelly (0:59)

She is a speedy talker.

Alison Curtis (1:00)

Yeah. And they don't get it over there. And changed lingo and stuff like that. She did a really good job, seven minutes, and obviously spoke afterwards about how terrifying it really was. But what I really loved, obviously she represented Ireland, we all got behind her, but what I really loved is people came at her for being on the show, and I've just got her quote here, after, of course, Conor McGregor had been on that very show as well, amazed all of us that they had how many researchers on that show, and nobody figured out that maybe that wouldn't be a good guest for the show. But anyway, and her quote was really brilliant, if I'll just read it out. Imagine every single woman was expected to de-platform, silence, shrink herself from all in any public platform or professional opportunity, because it had previously had a bad man on it. He's ruined enough women's lives, I'm taking my opportunity. And I thought that that was really good because Donald Gleason was on after Conor McGregor was on The Tonight Show, and no one came at him for appearing on it as well.

Ciara Kelly (1:58)

People will always come at women differently than they will come at men. I was going to say they'll hold them to a different standard, but it isn't that. I think they just see them as an easier target. I don't think it's actually people care about the standards or otherwise, but people will come at a man and a woman who do the exact same thing very differently.

Alison Curtis (2:19)

A hundred percent.

Shane Coleman (2:21)

It's a bizarre man or woman. It's a bizarre argument anyway to hold her somehow accountable for what the host did.

Ciara Kelly (2:29)

They wanted her to boycott the show. The critics, I saw them online and they were going at her. They wanted her to boycott the Jimmy Fallon show because Conor McGregor had been previously, as they would say, platformed on it and therefore nobody else should go on it now. And I suppose Joanne McNally was making the point that this was a huge opportunity for her and why should her career suffer because of somebody that she's nothing to do with. She said herself, no, she's nothing to do with.

Now, I think in fairness, most people thought it was ridiculous because it was a big backlash against the backlash as well. There was lots of people going.

Alison Curtis (3:08)

The only thing we have in common is they're both from Ireland.

Shane Coleman (3:11)

She is also on Celebrity Traders in the UK. How's she doing there?

Alison Curtis (3:16)

I think by her own admission, not well. But she's like, I have the investigative skills of a toilet brush.

Shane Coleman (3:22)

She's kind of playing up to that a little bit. From what I hear, I haven't seen it.

Alison Curtis (3:25)

But also the four dates at Three Arena this December, like four dates. I think three was the record breaker and now there's a fourth. So she's just incredible.

Ciara Kelly (3:36)

I think many of us, though, think she deserves this because she is talented. She is funny. She is hardworking. She's hugely likable. And I was kind of glad to see her push back on her critics because I do think sometimes those types of narratives do grow legs and run away with themselves.

Alison Curtis (3:54)

I agree.

Ciara Kelly (3:54)

Pylons do happen and all of those things. And I don't think that she deserves any of that because what the hell has she done? Nothing.

Alison Curtis (4:01)

But what I'm amazed at as well is she's currently on tour in the States and like she had an Austin date in Texas. And I was like, it was massive and huge. And you're like, how is she? So we feel like obviously we know her because she's ours. And the UK know her because of Celebrity Traders. And obviously she's lived over there for a number of years. I was like, how is she getting those massive audiences in Texas? Like, it's just remarkable.