CPI Archive 2009: From Steinbeck and Gene Kelly to Éamon de Valera and Edna O’Brien, Donncha Ó Dúlaing has reached behind the public faces and shown the greats to the world. Ahead of his appearance at this week’s Ennis Book Club Festival, Andrew Hamilton chats to the Peter Pan of Irish broadcasting.
If age was measured in energy and enthusiasm, Donncha Ó Dúlaing would be a raspy teenager, full to bursting with the wonders of the world. Whether turning his mind to the great and the good or the man on the street, Donncha’s days have been constantly infused with the energy of those he interviews. His broadcasting story began almost 50 years ago when, through a mixture of persistence and boyish cheek, he became the first interviewer to reach the human side of Éamon de Valera. “I had heard back in 1965 that he was coming on a private visit to Bruree in Limerick. Being a young fella at the time, I said to myself, wouldn’t it be nice to be down there to meet him with a little tape machine. So I turned up and waited there for eight hours for him. He came in and was introduced to me and I told him that I wanted to do a series on his childhood,” said Donncha.
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