Donie O’Sullivan: Five things we learned during the Capitol Man documentary
Donie O'Sullivan: Capitol Man revealed much about the Kerry native
“The insurrection was my first live breaking news story,” Donie says, which is hard to believe given how cool and calm he seemed on our screens at the time. Until then, Donie had only pre-recorded his segments and was at the Capitol for that reason. When the riots broke out, the cameras came to life and Donie was ready.
“He had never ever before gotten in front of a camera and had to ad-lib what was happening as it was unfolding,” Patricia DiCarlo, Executive Producer CNN Investigates, said of the moment and Storyful’s Mark Little says it was an impressive display of professionalism on Donie’s part as “nine out of 10 people freeze” in that situation.
Before CNN, Donie’s source of news at home in Caherciveen was the fish shop his father worked at, Quinlan’s in the heart of Caherciveen. The correspondent says his father has influenced his own work in journalism.
“The fish shop was very much a central hub of the town, a newsroom almost. My dad knew everything that was going on. He knew who was injured in the Kerry team for the game on Sunday. He knew who got arrested outside the Harp nightclub.
“I’d watch my dad talk to people all day long. My dad treated everybody in the shop the same. I try to do that. I try and keep my cool when I'm chatting to everybody.” Given the scenes in Washington last year, it seems he was taught well by Donal Tommy.
Given his growing profile, it’s not as big a struggle now but many Americans have found it difficult to pronounce Donie’s name - “Donnie” is one example given during the documentary. But his mother Noreen reveals he was almost named Michael instead.
But, she says: “When Donie was delivered, he didn’t look like a Michael,” she recalls. Instead he was called Donal, after his father. This was altered to Donie to avoid confusion and now he is known as Donie everywhere, even on his passport.
Like any Irish mammy would demand, Noreen needs to be told when her son is on air so she can tune in from Kerry. At the end of one such moment, Donie shows his phone to the camera and says she has sent him six photos of himself on her television.
And her reaction when that interview was cut short due to an address by President Biden? “The cheek of him.” Noreen also watched Donie on television for his first live broadcast during the January 6 riots and describes it as “like watching a gory movie, you don’t want to look but you keep looking.”
While studying in Belfast, Donie experienced his first panic attack. “I was lying in bed one night and I thought I was having a heart attack. That, I later realised, was a panic attack. Things started to spiral pretty quickly,” he says.
After finishing at college, he moved back home to Kerry for a few months to work on his mental health. He described it as a “dark” time as he struggled with anxiety and depression.
Concluding the documentary, Donie says his experience of anxiety and depression only served to improve his personal and professional life.
“My mental health issues, anxiety and depression, and how I've dealt with them is actually helping me in being a better reporter, being a better person.”
