Radio reviews: An aural atlas of Ireland, Cavan edition

Cavan comedian Kevin McGahern spoke in defence of his county

Declan Lynch

We’re probably near the point where there’s more disinformation out there than information, and all we can do is correct whatever we can, whenever we can. On Easter Monday on RTÉ1 we heard two robust rebuttals of centuries of disinformation about two apparently unrelated species – ­magpies, and Cavan people.

I say “unrelated”, though in a superficial sense there is some crossover in these streams of ancient prejudice – the magpie’s reputation as a thief has an echo in the stereotype of the Cavan man being so mean, “he’d be ­peeling an orange in his pocket, so he would”.