I only took up cello because my mother failed at teaching me the piano, so, I asked to play a different instrument.

I saw opera live for the first time at La Scala, when I was taking a year out after school to work as an au pair in Milan.

I’ve been on radio since I was fifteen and realised that I was not going to make it as a professional footballer.

Theatre is in my blood, there’s no two ways about it.

It’s great being back on stage in the panto, although the dance routines are a bit hard on the talons.

Steve Wall talks to Siobhán Cronin about celebrating 25 years of The Stunning and his role as Uncle Danny in Moone Boy

Pub crawls, bonhomie and midnight Mass do not transfer to sunny LA, says Robbie Williams’ party friend, Corkman Mark Hayes

I’ve always had a wry, Beckettian view of the world — we try so hard, but ultimately we are all going to die.

Rachel Borrill asks Noel Kelly, Derek Daniels, Teri Hayden and Marianne Gunn O’Connor — Ireland’s leading agents in TV, modelling, film and literature — just what it takes to make it to the top.

“Start with the best ingredients and the dishes will almost prepare themselves.”

Niall Leonard, husband of the erotica novelist who has taken the world by storm, is reticent about his private life. He’s happy to discuss his new book but not Christian Grey, writes Stefanie Marsh.

The optimistic Young Farmer of the Year is keen to embrace new technology, says Barbara Scully

Cork sailor Olivia Van Walleghem tells Jonathan deBurca Butler about the buzz of taking part in the Tall Ships Race in Dublin

“I don’t see myself as a victim of the system, or anything like that. I made a choice, because it was a 24/7 job that I wasn’t prepared to sacrifice that element of my family for,” says Olwyn Enright.

I think my dad hoped I’d follow an academic path, but the stage was in my blood.

My parents always told me I was lucky.

She’s fluent in a few styles, but this feisty kick boxer’s dream is to take part in the next Olympics, says David Young

You learn to dance through the pain.

He’d created Campbell Catering and saved Bewleys by the time he was 50. Then Patrick Campbell left it all to fulfill his life’s ambition asan artist, writes Alan O’Riordan

I believe that anyone who is born by the Atlantic is constantly drawn back there.

IT’S BEEN a tough year for RTÉ and, as one of its most prolific presenters, Miriam O’Callaghan has also been through the mill.

I have two alarms set for 4.50am.

Bobby Nash’s charts have put him on the nautical map with the Volvo Ocean Race and celebrities, writes Tommy Barker

Elle Macpherson’s Next Top Model is back — and two Cork girls are set to make it to the final 12, says Annmarie O’Connor

Some well-known writers talk to Richard Fitzpatrick about being perplexed by their kids’ questions

CHERYL COLE has one of my favourite voices.

MY advice to aspiring writers is to finish everything you start.

Newstalk presenter Chris Donoghue battled cancer at 23, and the death of his mother when he was just 14, he tells Jonathan deBurca Butler

The largest streaming video platform on the planet is betting its future on commissioning original programming, reports Nick Summers

I currently work too much but I’m scared to let anything go.

A horrific, drunken crash left Shane Mullins badly injured. Now he helps teens to fight their demons.John Hearne reports

He heard voices, did drugs, and fell apart. Can the Beach Boys’ 50-year reunion tour put Brian Wilson back together again? Andrew Romano reports

If I wasn’t an actor, I would love to have been the best saxophonist ever.

Steve Wickham says: “I’m a working musician. So, for me, there is still nothing that beats playing live.“

Thought sample sales were just for the fashion elite? Meet Susan Lyne, the woman who has brought them online — so we can all pick up designer goods for less. Nancy Hess reports

Scissor Sisters’ Scott Hoffman is proud of the US band’s gay appeal and its massive following in Ireland and Britain, Ed Power reports

Staying in the homes of strangers is a fun, cheap way to travel. Just open your door in return, says Brian Canty

“The climate is always right for a good show about consumer rights.”

MY first encounter with Heidi Murkoff is a real icebreaker.

I prefer working in radio to TV.

Richard Fitzpatrick asks Irish celebrities to name who adorned their walls as teens

ALICE Halliday hadn’t even graduated from college when Florence Welch’s stylist came calling.

At one stage I considered being a garda, but it wasn’t to be.

I became an actor for one reason — because I loved it.