This Much I Know: TV and radio presenter Blathnaid Treacy

Blathnaid Treacy has been been in front of the camera since she was three-months-old. Picture: Brian McEvoy

I'm from a very big family from Bray in County Wicklow. I'm the youngest of six and I have four brothers and one sister. 

My earliest memory is playing in the garden with them at my parents' house when I was small. During the summer we all would just be killing each other in the back garden with our bikes and scooters and all sorts of things. 

I have ten nieces and nephews now. My mum and dad are still in Bray so I haven't gotten to see them a lot recently because I live in Dublin and I've been driving down to Cork to do the Today Show.

I've been living in Dublin for the past seven years and we actually just bought a house in Stoneybatter. It's a great little spot. It's really keeping us occupied. We're putting together little Pinterest boards for decorating it and doing things like that. 

Being able to buy a house in the middle of a pandemic was incredible for us. My husband is a musician and I'm a freelance presenter so I don't know how we managed it but we did. I think as Irish people owning your own property is a huge thing and it's very difficult for people right now so we're very lucky that we were able to do it and I’m really proud of that.

I was working in the media before I even made the decision myself because I worked on the RTÉ series Glenroe for 13 years and I started that when I was only three months old. I was kind of born into it so maybe I was born to be in my line of work. 

I took a ten-year break from it when I was finishing school and went to college but I got back into it funnily enough. I've just always been drawn to the media for some reason. If I wasn't presenting I definitely think I'd be working in this industry in some shape or form.

The greatest challenge I’ve ever faced is just dealing with all of the small challenges in life. Life can throw so many curveballs at you and I think the biggest lesson I've learned is how to deal with those curveballs and not to stress. 

I've been blindsided many times in my short life. There's been lots of stuff that has happened that has made me appreciate not even just the good but also the content moments in life where everything is grand. I think just being happy and not stressing over the small things is so important because life is way too short.

Blathnaid Treacy signed off from her recent Today Show hosting duties last week.

I also think life is made up of stages. There are steps that you take and it's important for everybody to remember that even if you're stepping towards a huge goal, every step is as equally important as the last one and the next one. We are our own worst critics, we're so horrible to ourselves and we’re judgemental of ourselves and of others. The lesson I would like to pass on is to just be kind to yourself. Give yourself a break. Being kind to yourself and to others is all you can do and that's good enough.

When you meet somebody you mightn't remember what they were talking about but you remember how they made you feel. I think I'd like to be remembered for hopefully being kind when people have met me.

The greatest advice I've ever been given was from my mum. She always used to tell us not to take any crap from anyone and I don't. You can be nice but you can also not be a pushover. Knowing your own worth is very important.

I think my greatest quality is that I'm very generous. I love looking after people and buying rounds of drinks on nights out and just making sure people aren’t stuck for anything. I'm actually quite creative as well. I'm really good at making dreamcatchers. I like to do DIY and crafty things.

I turn to my husband, Charlie, the most. We've been married now for two years in June. What surprises me is the amount of fun we still have together. We've been together for 10 years and we still just laugh our heads off. It's amazing.

The thing that scares me the most is the thought of losing loved ones. You literally never know what's coming around the corner, you just don't. That's why it's so important to appreciate when times are good.

If I took a different fork in the road I might have actually been a primary school teacher. I think if I hadn't met certain people or certain groups of friends that I might not have gone down the creative route and I think I would have gone down the teaching route. I don't have a lot of patience is my only problem. I don’t know how they do it.