This much I know: Damien O’Reilly, Broadcaster

Hosting a farming series may not seem the obvious job for a Dub from suburbia.

When I got my break with RTÉ in 1998 as a farm reporter, I went in thinking ‘I’m going to be found out here’.

I was always a little aul fella. Twenty going on fifty type of thing. I think it’s because I mixed with adults a lot of the time from a young age. It was always my ambition to be older than I was.

I was always a massive snooker fan, even as a kid.

My mother is from Kildare and my dad is from Cavan so I spent all my summers in the countryside which gave me my love of rural life and farming.

I’ve become a lot calmer as I’ve got older. My mantra going on air is ‘never panic’. There have been many hairy situations — like being five minutes to air with a serious outside broadcast report for Morning Ireland when I realised I’d left the satellite dish kit on all night and the battery was about to run out. Thankfully my poor guest was able to bang on the doors of everyone he knew on that road and, with two minutes to air, we sorted out an extension cable.

If you want to be a broadcaster, nothing can beat a grounding in local radio or on a local paper. My advice is to start at the very bottom, like I did. You need to serve your time — going to council meetings to see how local authorities work; hanging around the local District Court to find how the judicial system works.

When I was 16, The Cavan Leader gave me a summer of work experience. When I left they handed me an envelope with £100. And I was thrilled.

I studied journalism and broadcasting in Senior College Ballyfermot. I ended up in front of the mic by accident — I’d always had a great interest in sports but it wasn’t until I got to Ballyfermot that I ended up being pushed out front to present on student radio. Although, apparently they have a 1990 video of me saying ‘my ambition is to work in RTÉ.’

I firmly believe that if you set your sights on something and really want to archive it, dreams can be fulfilled. I’ve seen that first hand being married to the athlete, Catherina McKiernan. With dedication, sacrifice — and bit of luck — you can achieve anything.

I met Catherina when I was a sports editor in local radio. She was the darling of Cavan in the same way that Katie Taylor is the pride of Bray now. I was sent to cover her races abroad and that’s how I got to know her so well.

I’ve ended up with the best job in the world, presenting Countrywide and sport and filling in on Liveline.

Liveline is always going to be Joe’s show, but I love doing it although its always a challenge. There’s a lot going on that the listener doesn’t know about. On most shows, the host has a good idea of what to expect from each guest but this is different. Although the ace researchers will have given me a comprehensive brief on the point that the caller wants to make, I never know quite what to expect after I’ve said that initial ‘hello’.

I don’t really have much ‘free time’. I’m just back from a swim in the gym as I’ve a dodgy back at the moment. But at the weekend, it’s a 5.30am start each Saturday — and any time I’m not working is spent taking 10-year-old Deirbhile and six-year-old Patrick to their sports and activities.

Damien O’Reilly presents Countrywide every Saturday morning at 8.10am on RTÉ Radio 1. Damien was this year’s recipient of the Star Prize at the Irish Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ annual awards ceremony and was twice-nominated at this year’s PPI Radio Awards. www.rte.ie/radio