A Question of Taste - Tom Dunne

TOM DUNNE presents a radio show on Newstalk every week night at 10pm. He is also the lead singer of the band, Something Happens.

Best recent book: Lamentation by C J Samson. This is the latest in his Shardlake series of detective novels set during the reign of Henry VIII. I also have the latest Marian Keyes, The Woman Who Stole My Life. Apparently it features a DJ called Ned Mount, which may or may not be an anagram of Tom Dunne.

Best recent film: The Babadook. I’m so happy I got to see this or I would have been naming Maleficent or Frozen (both of which I’ve seen 700 times).

Best recent show/gig: I interviewed Neil Innes of The Rutles, Monty Python fame as part of a public interview for the recent Beatles festival in Dublin. He is an amazing man and the film, The Rutles – All You Need is Cash, is probably the best spoof music documentary ever, even better than Spinal Tap.

What formats do you access music? I listen mostly on Spotify. The ease of use is just ridiculous. I’ll buy things on itunes if I need them for the show and I like to spend time with new albums on CD so I can read sleeve notes etc. However, vinyl is the ultimate format. It hasn’t been beaten for sound quality or visual presentation. That said, it is too dear.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately: Loving Alt-J, Future Islands, War on Drugs and Caribou.

First ever piece of music or art really moved you: The Sex Pistols’ Pretty Vacant changed everything.

TV viewing: My kids inflict Strictly Come Dancing on me. Love / Hate was my favorite bit of TV this year and I have also been catching up on Game of Thrones.

Radio listening: Mr Hook will always be my go-to broadcaster of choice. I would hate to inflate his ego anymore than necessary but he brings life, wit and sparkle to almost any topic.

One to watch for the future: Stuart Carolan of Love / Hate fame. As the dust settles on the end of Love / Hate It will be worthwhile to cast an eye on what he does next.

Best recent holiday: Managed to get a week near Barcelona with the family in August. It was great.

Best celebrity encounter: Met Paul McCartney after his 2005 show. It was life-defining for me. I’m sure I was a stuttering fool, but I was a stuttering fool that was standing next to a Beatle.

Most expensive item of clothing you’ve ever bought: A 1930s vintage Chicago police jacket that cost £500 in 1990, and was bought for me for a video we were making. I still have it and wear it occasionally at gigs. It is sensational.

Tech habits: I think you need to force yourself to keep up or you will become the fool who needs their children to show them things. I am a strong believer in Apple and have a Macbook and an Ipad. I switched my phone to a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 because I think over reliance on one system is bad. My favourite bit of tech is a thing called then Arcam r-blink , which connects my computer to my home stereo via Bluetooth so I can listen to Spotify etc on my B and W CM1 speakers.

Weekend treat: A margarita. I make one every weekend with my wife.

Health and fitness: I walk the dog twice a day. I have gym membership but don’t go and I have never mastered running. I have, however, just learned to swim. I had been able to move about in the water but I was determined to keep up with my kids so I took some tuition. I still have a way to go but I can do lengths comfortably enough.

Unsung hero: People who are there quietly for their friends and family, carers who sacrifice everything to look after people. I will pick one, though, a lady called Lisa Domican, who has pioneered a program called Grace App which is a non-speaking, simple picture communication system developed for people with autism to communicate their needs.

You are king for a day – what’s the your first decree? I’m so annoyed, like most people about water charges, cronyism, incompetence and parish pump politics that I’d have to make that 24 hours count. People need to have faith that things are being done in a fair way, and often we don’t.

Des O’Driscoll