Question of Taste: Fergal Keane's favourite music, TV, books and other picks

The RTÉ reporter includes mention of Rory Gallagher, The Queen's Gambit and Yasser Arafat in his selections

Fergal Keane of  RTÉ.

Fergal Keane is from Cork, and is a journalist with RTÉ, reporting mostly for Radio 1 on the news of the day. He also presents Seascapes on RTÉ Radio 1 every Friday evening.

Best recent book you've read: Will in the World: How Shakespeare became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt. I love Shakespeare and almost nothing is known about his life. This book puts details of his works into the historical context of its times and into the few facts we know about him. It is a really fun way to explore some of the plays all over again. Other favourites are Stephen King and John LeCarre.

Best recent film: Bridge of Spies. Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg back together again for a Cold War classic.

Best recent show/gig you’ve seen (perhaps pre-covid): The Who playing Quadophenia at the O2 or Hozier at the O2. Also Coppers the Musical by Paul Howard - laugh out loud.

Best piece of music you’ve been listening to lately (new or old): Hozier's first album. Also Leonard Cohen Live in London.

First ever piece of music or art that really moved you: Seeing Rory Gallagher at the City Hall in Cork when I was about 14.

The best gig or show you've ever seen (if you had to pick one!): Almost any of the punk gigs in the Arc in Cork back in the day. Otherwise, Leonard Cohen's comeback tour in the Royal Hospital Dublin.

Tell us about your TV viewing: Before lockdown I watched little or no TV outside of sports (rugby). Since then I've hit Netflix with a vengeance. The Queen's Gambit was really terrific and possibly the best TV of the year. Also Chernobyl and True Detective (series 1 with Woody Harlson and Matthew McConaughey). And of course, Game of Thrones.

Radio listening and/or podcasts: Radio 1 is on in the background most of the day. Particular favourites away from the day job are John Creedon and Sunday Miscellany. Also Ed Smyth's Songs of Praise and Dermot and Dave all on Today FM. I don't really do podcasts, apart from a very occasional one as I listen to music when not listening to live radio.

Your favourite three radio broadcasters of all time? Gerry Ryan, Olivia O'Leary, John Creedon.

Your best/most famous celebrity encounter: I've reported on events all over the world and have met politicians of all hues, from Bill Clinton to Yasser Arafat. But my favourite encounter has to be with Ronan O'Gara, before the Ireland/ France Rugby World Cup game in Cardiff in 2015. We were there on a day trip and after lunch outside the restaurant we found ROG looking lost searching for a taxi. We were huge fans of his and bundled him into our bus, between myself and my wife taking selfies while bringing him to the ground. He was totally bemused and as a friend of mine said about those selfies later "ROG looks really scared in that one."

You can portal back to any cultural event or music era – where, when, and why? It was before my time, so maybe California in the late Sixties. That time laid the foundation for the next forty years of popular music.