BY EOIN MURPHY
Majella needn’t worry that Daniel missed out on a kid of his own... the singer loves her cheeky family
THE Mast in RTÉ is lit up like a Christmas tree and in its festive shadow the television centre is a snowy vista decked out in fake frost, tinsel and fairy lights. In the corridor back stage seven mannequins proudly bear the now iconic costumes worn by Late Late show host Ryan Tubridy in the opening numbers of previous Toy Shows. At the end of the corridor and past the brightly lit make-up room sits a small dressing room housing the one and only Daniel O’Donnell. He is mid dress-rehearsal and jet lagged from an overnight flight back from America but the thought of spending Christmas at home with his extended family has chirped him right up.
‘Ah look we are all looking forward to Christmas in the new house’, he says in his soft Donegal lilt.
‘This is the first year in three that I am going to be in Donegal for Christmas so it is going to be really special. We were in Tenerife two years ago and in Bambridge with Siobhan (Majella’s daughter). So this year Siobhan and Gavin and the two children are coming to us and Michael (Majella’s son) and his girlfriend is coming from Australia and her brother is coming as well.
‘So it will be us in the house and it will be lovely and Majella has the house all done up. All the locals think we are off our heads she has so many decorations up. I love it.
‘I told them once that if I die at Christmas don’t take down the decorations, put up another tree instead. I love decorations and the lights. I love the feel of it and the atmosphere and it will be lovely to be home. And Olivia the wee granddaughter is three and Santa will be coming for her and she is hoping he will bring her a bicycle so that will make it extra-special.’
If you are one of the million or so viewers who tuned into the O’Donnell/Room With A View spin off, you will be only too aware of the famous pile that Dermot eventually built.
And this Christmas it will be filled with festive scents, a tastefully decorated dining room, and gigantic turkey. The only thing missing will be Daniel’s dulcet tones singing traditional carols as he has been banned from singing by the family.
‘We will have the big dinner although I don’t do any of the cooking to be honest. I would be more of the washing up. Majella looks after all of that but it is very traditional and what you would expect in any house.
‘Do I sing carols? Good God no. They wouldn’t be listening to me at all. No I am banned from singing. I remember Siobhan brought a boyfriend home one time and before he arrived I said to her ‘Will I sing when he comes to the door or will I wait until he comes in”? She nearly went off her head and kept him in a room away from me the whole time in case I would burst into song. No we don’t sing, the only time maybe I would do something would be the Wheels on the Bus for the wee one.’
In August, Majella gave a searingly frank and open interview to Brendan O’Connor where she spoke about the pain of not having a child with the singer. She said she regularly thinks Daniel O’Donnell would have made a great father and how she would have loved to have given her husband a child. But after 16 years of marriage Daniel is far more pragmatic about his own personal situation.
‘I think that Majella feels more about that maybe than I do’, he says. ‘I think she feels that I have maybe missed out. But I keep saying to her there is no need to feel like that.
‘I am very accepting of whatever comes my way in life. I don’t feel that I have missed out because we didn’t have a child together. The fact of the matter is that we were older when we got together and the chances are that we were not going to have children. But Siobhan and Michael, although their father is alive and very much a big part of their lives, I have known them since they were nine and 11.
‘The wee one now, I don’t think that she sees me as anything other than Grandad or Gaga as she calls me. And the wee boy, he is 11 months. I haven’t seen him as much lately but he is a cute wee thing too and he will destroy the house and it will be great to have them.’
Daniel is due to perform on the Late Late Show after our interview. He is wearing a tailored waistcoat and check shirt and has a faint tan on his flawless brow. He is promoting his new record Walking in the Moonlight. He also features on the No.1 compilation album Country Roads Volume One.
‘I love the job and that is what keeps me going’, he says. ‘You know what the workload looks worse when it is written down but I have good breaks. I am finished on the 21st and then I am off until February. I will go then until the 15th of March and then I am off for another seven weeks. So there is a lot of work and touring but we have plenty of breaks.
‘It is nice to bring out new stuff as well, especially this album because it is new. A lot of the albums I have recorded in the last number of years have been themed albums. This is just a collection of songs, a good few originals and a lot by Irish writers that wouldn’t have been abused, so to speak and covered relentlessly. I like them a lot and they are good songs.
‘An album like this allows you to grow a wee bit. Whereas when you sing a whole lot of country songs that other people have already released, well they are lovely and they are grand but they are not yours.
‘Unless you are very lucky to have a hit record with a song that someone will associate you with even if someone else records it. This album has a lot of first-time recordings which is great.’
THERE is a knock on the dressing room door and a vocal coach arrives in with a small glass bottle of port. Daniel explains that this is for him to gargle ahead of the rehearsals and that port is a ‘wonder’ for protecting his voice. He is also quick to point out that he gargles it but is not a gargler. He is happy to talk about his television work and admits that shows like room to improve and the B&B Roadshow have brought him a whole new audience.
‘I think the TV work has opened me up to a new audience, in Ireland definitely. It has given a different side of us and maybe a new audience that is a bit younger than would have been coming. I am not talking teenagers now in case people think I am getting carried
I told them if I died at Christmas not to take the decorations down, just to put up another tree
away. Some younger people come but people of my own age and even down to the 30s and we have a broader spectrum come to see me.
‘I really think they are coming to see if I talk and if I can really talk.
‘Room to Improve was grand and I was happy how I came across. I didn’t really see that as a TV show. I saw that as us getting the best value we could get and the best result we could get on the house. The fact that the cameras were there didn’t bother me.
‘I was going to keep those wardrobes anyway because they were good. I wanted the en-suite and that was it. I wasn’t worried about what people would say with this man wanting a toilet in every bed room. Or how he is spending this amount of money but won’t get rid of a wardrobe that is going to save €100.
‘I only really thought about it when people came up to me to say “good on you for keeping the wardrobe”. I think it is a man thing, wanting to save on little things. But that was me and I wasn’t playing up for the cameras, I just wanted to get the best job done for the best price.’
If anything Daniel’s refusal to cave to allow Dermot Bannon carte blanche in his house endeared him to the show’s legions of fans.
‘Dermot knows he is making a TV show as well’, the singer says with a soft smile. ‘I got on well with him now and Majella especially got on very well with him and her banter was very good as well. Especially when she was throwing the wooden floor into the skip and we ended up with a tiled floor which we wanted.
‘Funnily enough after a few of the tiles cracked, and I said “imagine if all the tiles cracked, wouldn’t that be payback for us not listening to Dermot”. Thankfully that didn’t happen but it was a great experience and people seemed to like the show.’
Daniel has just wrapped up on his third season of the road trip. The couple took to the highways of America in a bid to keep things fresh and exciting.
‘The Road Trip show is amazing and different in a way because it is so simple and there is absolutely no direction. They just put us in a car and film.
‘We don’t know where we are going and when we get out of the car, whatever happens, happens.
‘They are not telling us what to say or do. They might ask us what we think of situations and we would have a chat but there is no script or set-ups.
‘I think the initial reaction is what showed. It is amazing. We are flabbergasted at times at how popular it became and the simplicity. We have enjoyed it and we met some great people.
‘The next series will be interesting because it is outside of Ireland and I wonder how it will be received. It will probably be received differently. I don’t know because I haven’t seen any of it.
‘We went from Chicago to North Dakota and took in Wisconsin, Minnesota but a lot of the people hadn’t a clue who we were. But it was very interesting and the strange thing about it is that when you meet people out there they will ask when we are coming on again or where we are going next.
‘So it is like a given that we are going to keep the show running. We thought after two was enough. Then after three we said definitely that was it. Now when I am asked if there is going to be another series I just say I don’t know. Because I made a liar out of myself the last time when I said ‘no’ the last time.’
It’s a man’s thing wanting to save on little things. I wanted to keep the wardrobes