Saturday with Dermot Bannon: 'A bit like a military operation'

In his new two part series, architect Dermot Bannon looks at a variety of Irish super spaces in which we live, work and socialise.

Dermot Bannon. Photograph Moya Nolan

07.30

I get up around 7.30am. I’m not a gym person but I force myself to do a HIIT class in The Edge in Clontarf.

Afterwards the relief is so intense it’s like I’ve finished the Leaving Cert. I’ll go to the supermarket — I like to cook on weekends so I’ll need to shop too.

I’m a little bit military when it comes to food. I have porridge and two boiled eggs almost every morning for breakfast. 

My father developed diabetes when I was a teenager, so healthy eating is something I’ve been conscious of since then, though I didn’t do anything about it until my early 30s. 

I love food and I love eating but I know if I had a croissant on a Saturday morning I’d spend the whole day chasing sugar.

10.30

My youngest son will have pancakes but the other two will get up when they like and sort themselves out. 

If they have a match I’ll bring them to it — it’s about doing things with them now as opposed to having to bring them places. 

My kids are sports mad and I’m sports useless; in order to hang out with them we sometimes go to the driving range. 

There’s a big enough age gap between the boys so it is lovely to find something we can all do together — they unite in slagging me.

14.00

Saturdays are a bit like a military operation (this is where I get really boring). I bulk cook quinoa and make big lunch boxes that everyone can eat out of all week.

I set myself the challenge of seeing if I could be patient enough to teach my daughter to drive because that’s a situation that could go really right or really wrong. I have loved watching her gain in confidence. Part of me is hoping she doesn’t get her test soon because then she won’t need me anymore. We have great chats in the car — it’s been a lovely way to connect.

Room to Improve is a stressful enough programme, you can’t live on that high octane all the time, so unless it is something serious like someone’s health I tend not to get too stressed.

16.00

A sad thing, that I probably shouldn’t tell you about, is my love of ironing on a Saturday.

I might get a phone call on a Tuesday asking me to wear certain things for continuity so I tend to look after my own washing. 

I can’t sit at the kitchen table for two hours listening to a podcast or I’d be killed but I can listen to one while ironing.

I’m one of those people that can’t sit still — if I sit on the couch I’m liable to fall asleep.

Episode 2 of Dermot Bannon's Super Spaces airs Wednesday September 11th on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 9:35pm. Episode 1 is available on RTÉ Player now.

18.00

I like to have family or friends over. I think formal organised things nearly put people off so I just say: ‘I’m making a rake of food and if you’re here you’re here’. 

I’m far more interested in finding out about how people are than about the food. I have copped on a bit, and have realised that the nicest part of cooking for people is having them around, so I’ve let go of all my pretensions. 

I used to get so stressed over having people over and making fancy food — now I tend to do a BBQ or I’ll put three chickens in the oven.

20.00

The days of late nights are gone. I tend to go out with my mum on a Sunday or for a sea swim and I’d rather that than lying around with a hangover.

I’m happy with a couple of glasses of wine or a couple of pints of Guinness. 

It’s about weighing it up and thinking: ‘How much do I not want to do things tomorrow?’ and invariably giving up tomorrow isn’t worth it.

If myself and my wife go out we have locals like Restaurant 104, The Gravediggers, The Washerwoman and Andersons. 

The kids are old enough that we can leave the house without fear of them burning it down, so we are rediscovering going into town and trying new places— I’d love to try allta and Grano. I recently visited ORSO in Cork which was fantastic.

What’s really sad at the moment is that some well-established places have closed down in Dublin. 

If we are to look at the purpose of cities, the biggest draw in the future will be for people to meet to do collective things — to go to the theatre, cinema, comedy clubs, out to eat… 

We need to ask ourselves why restaurants run by well-seasoned people for a very long time are closing down. 

This is where we need to intervene — if we don’t allow things to thrive and flourish it could be our downfall.

00.00

I was always a night owl. I’ll sit up watching TV or reading. My mother devours two or three thrillers a week and she’ll give me her edit of the best ones. 

I recently bought myself an old fashioned alarm clock to stop myself scrolling so when I go to bed I now leave the phone downstairs.

• Architect Dermot Bannon looks at a variety of super spaces in which we live, work and socialise in his new series, Bannon’s Super Spaces, RTÉ One and RTÉ Player, September 11 at 9:35pm