‘We have lost Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, a voice of Kerry, a voice of the century’

Radio reviews

Legendary RTÉ Gaelic Games commentator Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh. Photo: Sportsfile

Declan Lynch

When the Deposit Return Scheme was introduced, I remembered a visit to Berlin during which I had noticed someone leaving a bag of bottles and cans on the side of the street, and walking away without a bother on him. I was informed that people in Berlin were doing this, not just to get rid of their own empties, but because the bags would be picked up and converted into money by people who needed it.

I wrote about it in this paper, to inspire the nation at a time when the Scheme was being viewed most darkly by shopkeepers in particular, who were going on national radio to talk about their exasperation with the machines in its early days. Indeed Today with Claire Byrne persuaded Ciaran Foley, CEO of Re-turn, to come on the show to address these issues, which he did in part by mentioning that we were already doing better than the Slovakians.