Made in Munster: Dáithí Ó Sé on his journey from circus star to media ringmaster

RTÉ TV presenter Dáithí Ó Sé develops his own style of parenting from hs past experiences as a ringmaster in Duffy’s Circus and as a singer on stage with The Chieftains.

If the TV thing doesn’t work out for Dáithi Ó Sé, he can always go back to being a ringmaster in Duffy’s Circus. Or maybe singing on stage with The Chieftains.

These are just two of the past careers the Kerry broadcaster revealed during a wide-ranging interview with Pat Fitzpatrick, as part of the Made In Munster series with the Irish Examiner.

The co-host of RTE’s Today Show with Maura Derrane talked about family, life, love, and why he loves going to his local in Galway for four or five pints on a Friday night.

The Irish pub, a true leveller: "It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the TV or fixing them, you’re just one of the lads in there on a Friday night."

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the TV or fixing them,” says Ó Sé. “You’re just one of the lads in there on a Friday night. The craic is great, there would be a fair bit of ball-hopping and close marking!”

Ó Sé, who travels from Galway to Cork to present the Today Show, revealed why he tends to put on a few pounds every year. “I fell off the wagon in March. I stop in Charleville, I’d have a rasher and sausage sandwich, I could have a fresh cream eclair, this is at 10 o’clock in the morning! I’d go for lunch and have a dinner when I go home. I’d drink two pints of milk a day as well. It’s a wonder I didn’t burst! To be honest, in March and April, I’d be wearing a lot of waistcoats.”

He tackles this during the summer, in preparation for his job presenting the Rose Of Tralee.

“I go on this Rose of Tralee diet every year where I lose about a stone – I lost 20 pounds this year. I bought a sauna suit, it’s kind of like a wetsuit, you’d walk from here to he door, you’d start heating up. You’d sweat a lot, I didn’t realise you need to drink about five pints of water, I woke up the next morning dehydrated, the eyes wouldn’t open, I had a hangover and I wasn’t even drinking!”