TAKE TEN Daire O'Brien

Daire O'Brien

If he hadn't been working as a broadcaster, Daire O’Brien figures he might have found a starring role in Banged Up Abroad. He would like to see Gerard Dépardieu playing him in the movie of his life and thinks Richard Crowley is ‘quality’.

What is your earliest childhood memory?
I wish I could say the warm embrace of my loving family. I'm sure that's a given but my first specific memory was having the measles at the age of three. The telly was moved into my bedroom and I got to watch Sesame Street in bed while slurping Lucozade. My first sporting memory is winning the 50-yard dash at my school sports when I was six. My second is coming last the following year.

Who was your first pin-up?
Secretly? Debbie Harry. For parental consumption? Moss Keane. My pal's Mum and Dad were younger and funkier than mine so he had that Athena Tennis Girl (yes, the one with the bottom) up on his wall. I thought that was the hippest, most liberal thing in 1970s Cork. These days the man I point my sons to is Ronan O'Gara. Phenomenal mental strength.

Which of your peers do you most admire, and why?
Well this isn't an old pals' answer because I barely know the man but it would have to be Bill O'Herlihy. He's been broadcasting with barely a blip in six separate decades. He's relaxed, informed and knows when to lob the odd grenade into the mix. Billo understands the cardinal rule of sports anchoring. When the panel are doing their thing well, so are you. In the wider field of journalism, a former boss of mine, Damien Kiberd, is outstanding. He has the kind of accessible smarts we need to help us understand a Frankenstein's monster of an economic system that seems to be gobbledeygook to most politicans and economists. I have also smoked a fag outside the office with Richard Crowley about three seconds before he went live on air for an Election Special. He's quality.

What would you be doing with your life if you hadn’t chosen this career path?
Dunno. Starring in Banged Up Abroad maybe.

Can you reveal one of your guilty pleasures?
Stevie Winwood. I bet you even the coolest indie kid on the planet would have to tap his feet to Keep On Runnin.'

Who would you like to see cast in the movie of your life?
Gerard Dépardieu.

Who are you following on Twitter?
You know the guy who sends cod philosophy via text message at 4.00am? That's me. Hence I've had a vasectweetomy.

What’s the first thing you’ll buy when you win the Lottery?
Forgiveness.

What would you pack for your desert island?
If the place could sustain life, I'd take my children. If it couldn’t, good books, cold beer and a mermaid.

What’s at the top of your Things to Do Before I Die List?
Get George Hook into an uncontrollable fit of the giggles live on air. Then it would have to be a balloon safari in southern Africa with the kids.