A question of taste - Sarah O’Connor

UTV Ireland reporter Sarah O’Connor is from Banteer in north Cork. Her education includes arts, journalism and criminology.

Best recent book: Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld is a proper murder mystery and a real page turner. I also really enjoyed Gone Girl until the very disappointing and flat ending.

Best recent film: I watched Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal recently, which I thought was excellent — he really can play any role, and is so menacing in this.

Best show/exhibition/gig you’ve seen in recent months: I was just at the Boyle Arts Festival where I went to a brilliant exhibition by Malachy Costello who is a landscape and abstract artist. I also caught the Bray band Columbia Mills while I was at the festival. They are a great guitar band with a mix of 1980s and ’90s influences.

What formats do you access music on? I regularly listen to iTunes and Spotify.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately: I’ve been listening to Arcade Fire’s Funeral a lot — I love that album.

First ever piece of music or art or film that really moved you: It has to be the movie The Crow with Brandon Lee. It just stood out for me and the fact that he died during filming is a bit spooky — not to mention the fact that he was totally gorgeous!

The best gig or show you’ve ever seen: It’s too difficult to pick one, but if pressed I would probably have to say U2’s 360 tour in Croke Park, Arcade Fire’s gig in a tent in Phoenix Park a few years back, and Black Rebel motor cycle club at Electric picnic two years ago, all of which were very memorable.

Tell us about your TV viewing: I love Suits, House of Cards and The Killing.

Radio listening: I listen to RTÉ Radio 1 in the morning for news, but if I’m driving a distance I would usually flick between music stations.

Some of your broadcasting heroes: I would say my all-time broadcasting hero would have to be Trevor McDonald. His work in general throughout his long career is so inspiring, but most recently his series on death row prisons in the US was fantastic. I have also always been a fan of Emma Hurd’s warzone and foreign reports with Sky.

Your best celebrity encounter: I met Kevin Spacey in Leicester Square once, he was extremely nice. I even got his autograph which I still have somewhere.

Most expensive item of clothing you’ve ever bought: It was a dress from Reiss that cost around €300.

You are queen for a day – what’s your first decree? I’d love to have a private jet at my disposal.