ON THE COVER: BLÁTHNAID TREACY
Why the TV star is so glad women are finally sticking together
TV presenter Bláthnaid Treacy reveals she’s been the target of unwanted sexual advances and the Dancing With The Stars spin-off frontwoman is glad we’re finally addressing the problem
It has been a landmark time for change with the emergence of the ‘Time’s Up’ and #MeToo campaigns, which led to the outing and eventual toppling of Harvey Weinstein’s empire of lurid control – and it seems there’s still plenty to shout about. The recent Belfast rape trial has highlighted a sinister culture of lurid ‘lad banter’ that has set liberation back a number of decades. The fallout from the trial has shone an uncomfortable light on Irish society, as it appears that Irish men aren’t as enlightened as had initially appeared.
RTÉ DJ and presenter Bláthnaid Treacy is among a growing number of young women who are happy that we are finally talking about a toxic subculture that is still very prevalent in modern day Ireland. And it’s not just confined to disrespectful WhatsApp messages. It is the cat-calling, leering and even groping that still happens day-to-day in this country that she believes has to stop.
‘I don’t think there’s a single woman in Ireland who hasn’t experienced it,’ she says. ‘I have experienced stuff like this from when I was a young teenager. I remember when my body started to become an adult and I was changing from a child into a teenager and getting cat-called by builders – I was 14 or 15! That made me feel really uncomfortable and made me want to wear baggy clothes. Why were they screaming at me? I mean, they were the same age as my dad. It was disgusting. Then I remember going to a Junior Cert party, I was there with my friend and we were walking up the stairs and a guy shoved his hand right up her skirt. It was shocking and we didn’t know what to do so we just ignored it.’
Last week, MTV host Laura Whitmore told how she was groped by a stranger during a night out. She described the horrific incident during which a stranger tried to put his hand up her skirt when she was socialising with her boyfriend and a gang of friends. Bláthnaid says such revelations are commonplace in Ireland – in fact, she had a similar experience at a concert in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.
‘It happens a lot at festivals,’ she says. ‘I remember I was at the Swedish House Mafia in the Phoenix Park and I have never been so terrified in my life because there were so many fights happening all around me. Then this guy came up to me, stood up close and grabbed my crotch. What do you do? I was just so shocked. I went into fight or flight mode and I started hitting him and screaming at him to get off me. Then he kind of left.
‘I think every girl in the country has experienced this and it’s amazing that we’re all talking about it now and that women are grouping together and supporting one another.
‘I often think that women are pitted against each other and tear each other down rather than lifting one another up. Sometimes it can be because someone is doing well, so people feel the need to put them down. It’s great that women are now supporting one another.’
The Bray presenter is dating jazz musician Charlie Mooney, and they have been together for a number of years. However she says that some men aren’t put off by the fact that she is in a relationship – in fact, on a recent night out, a married man groped her in front of her boyfriend.
‘I was out recently in a club in town with my boyfriend and a lot of my male friends,’ she says. ‘I was just standing at the bar and this guy came up behind me and pulled my waist into him. I looked around, I thought it was my boyfriend Charlie, but it was this guy. I was in shock and asked him what the hell he was doing and he just walked straight off but he had a wedding ring on and everything.
‘He was chancing his arm but it’s scary how many perverted minds are out there who think it’s ok to do these things. It’s weird. On any night out, in my experience, you always had to be careful of guys grabbing you. They get so annoyed if you say something to them. They get angry and go, “what’s wrong with you? It was compliment.” No it’s not, you are grabbing me. It’s a mindset with young men that needs to change. Imagine it was➤
“WHY WERE THEY SCREAMING AT ME? I MEAN, THEY WERE THE SAME AGE AS MY DAD. IT WAS DISGUSTING”
“I WANT TO HOME IN ON WHAT AREAS I NEED TO WORK ON AND JUST BECOME A BETTER PRESENTER”
your little sister or your mum or your cousin – you can’t behave like that. This conversation has to be had.’
This culture of distrustful treatment of women is not just confined to venues and bars. Bláthnaid says she experiences threatening behaviour from packs of young lads when she is simply walking down the street.
‘It’s really scary but it has always been like that,’ she says. ‘I know that if I’m on a night out and I’m on my own and walking to meet my pals somewhere, I know that this group of lads approaching me will say or do something. Because they always do. If they were on their own they wouldn’t but because they are together the dynamic changes. And they will only say it when they are one step past you. They are not man enough to say it to your face, they will shout after you. It’s that pack mentality.
‘I don’t know if it’s a macho thing where they’re trying to look cool in front of their pals. But for a woman on her own it can be terrifying. It’s amazing that the conversation has started but I feel there needs to be education brought into schools and an ethic to let people know it’s not ok to behave like that. But also to educate women to let them know this isn’t right.’
Bláthnaid started off her acting career as a three-month-old baby when she appeared as Denise Byrne on the hit RTÉ One drama Glenroe, where she stayed for 13 years as Biddy and Miley’s daughter, working all the way through primary school. After college, Bláthnaid’s next gig in showbiz was with TG4 for the travel show Ó Tholg go Tolg, which was nominated for an IFTA. She then got the opportunity to work on RTÉ Two’s Two Tube, which was a live magazine show for young people. The show was one of the broadcaster’s highest rated programmes.
She now works as a radio presenter for the National Chart Show on 2fm at 8pm on Fridays. She studied Irish and archaeology at UCD, but soon realised her calling was in showbiz and took up the TG4 gig. The TV star is part of a big family, with five older siblings as well a number of nieces and nephews. She has just wrapped up as the frontwoman on her second series of the hit RTÉ Dancing With The Stars spin-off show Can’t Stop Dancing and is about to launch a new online radio programme on 2FM’s digital station.
‘I’m still fairly exhausted after DWTS,’ she admits. ‘I’m in no rush to get back in front of the camera. My main focus for this summer is radio. I am going to start my own digital radio show for RTÉ. I still have the national chart show on Friday and do a lot of cover but this new digital show is in 2XM on Wednesdays and it’s just an hour 4-5pm. I hope to extend it to two but for now it will allow me to explore topics that I’m really interested in. It’s not just the charts, there will be some music, but there will also be topics that I like to talk about and that I want to shine a light on – which is both liberating and exciting.
‘It’s my main focus for the summer and hopefully something will come out of it in the end. And sure, the more experience you get, the better. I just really want to home in on what areas I need to work on and just become a better presenter. It is worthwhile watching yourself back and learning from that. I want to fine tune my presenting style by September.’
A breath of fresh air, Bláthnaid’s sharp and witty broadcasting style has quickly made her one of RTÉ’s rising stars. Perhaps this is why she has already been signed up for the third season of Dancing With The Stars, even before the national broadcaster has announced its return.
‘Dancing With The Stars will be back,’ she says. ‘They kick things off in October and I will be back and ready to go again. I was really happy with the format and having the live audience. It makes a big difference having that live buzz and feed off that. I’m sure they would like to make a few changes, I have a few ideas myself.
‘We had Lottie Ryan on as our roving reporter and that was great – it’s clearly in her blood – so hopefully we will be working with her again and maybe a few others. Maybe we could change the day of the week, it was on a Friday night so it might be nice to have it a bit closer to either end of the main show, like a Sunday or a Saturday. I would love to do it on the Monday and the Saturday but it comes down to budget and that can be the frustrating thing because we are such a small country so there just isn’t enough money coming in to make the shows that they do in Britain. The version of my show is five nights a week live in Britain – the budget on It Takes Two is bigger than the budget on Dancing with The Stars here! The BBC has so much money but there is definitely an appetite for our show. That’s what you’re up against but I feel we’ve given them a good run for their money.’