This much I know: Ella McSweeney

I always knew I’d do something vocal.

It’s great fun presenting the National Lottery. The team are wonderful. If I won, I’d buy a derelict factory near where I’m currently living, demolish it, sow grasses, keep a herd of native Irish Dexter and Droimeann cattle, and invite urban kids who have no access to wild spaces to come over and play.

I was an over-excitable child, definitely not shy. A big bit naughty, too.

I intended to do agriculture in UCD, but changed my mind, at the last minute, to study science. It was always zoology for me — a fascinating area. A science degree has served me very well.

I talk too fast, just like one of my sisters. I think it’s an Irish thing. I’ve spent years trying to slow down.

I only believe in fate when it goes my way. The rest of the time, I just believe in hard work.

I don’t think about work-life balance too much. I’m lucky to work at something that I’d do in my spare time, even if I wasn’t paid for it. I’m a fan of idleness, when I can get it, though — being busy all the time is a drill and it’s vital to chill.

Being outside, up high, is exhilarating. Free-time is spent getting altitude.

The best advice I ever received is to always take risks — even if they don’t work out, you won’t regret them, but you will regret the risks you wanted to take, but you didn’t.

I don’t focus on my health, but I think, as a rule, if you try to spend more of your day outside than inside, healthiness follows.

I’m impatient. I like fast, which isn’t a good thing. I’m also a silence freak — I love it. I have to unplug everything in my house when I’m working, and I need complete quiet to concentrate.

I admire modesty in others — it’s such a ridiculously attractive trait. There’s nothing that screams insecurity more than when people talk themselves up.

If I could, I’d have adult playgrounds, and fruit and nut trees everywhere. Seriously, though, we need to find a new way to rejuvenate our main streets. I travel a lot around Ireland and the hollowed-out towns and villages are a sore sight to see. We need more spaces where we can be together.

I like to run every day and I like swimming in the sea; it’s free, you can do it anywhere and it keeps you sane.

Nothing beats a hot flannel on my face. Pathetic, I know. But don’t knock it until you try it.

If I wasn’t doing this job, I’d have a farm. But you need an awful lot of money to do that properly, if you aren’t one of the lucky ones born into a farming family.

My trickiest moment on air, so far, was when the lovely Brendan O’Connor presented me with an artificial cow’s vagina live on his Saturday Night show — he’s a charmer.

I admire successful female broadcasters out there, like Keelin Shanley, Claire Byrne, Dil Wickremasinghe and, obviously, Marian Finucane. In Ireland, it’s definitely a male-dominated sport.

My heart has always been with radio and I adore doing work for RTÉ Radio 1 and BBC Radio 4. In TV land, Living Lightly, which I presented with Conor Pope, was good fun, as was Stars go Racing. But nothing beats Ear to the Ground! It’s just a shame we come off air as spring arrives.

My favourite animal is an madra uisce, the otter.

There’s nothing more motivating than the fact that we’re all worm-food once it ends. It’s all so quick.

* Ella McSweeney presents Ear to the Ground and The National Lottery on RTÉ One