RTE radio star opens up on life after Marian
RTE star Brendan O’connor has spoken about what life has been like since taking over the late Marian Finucane’s show.
The legendary broadcaster died suddenly from pneumonia at the age of 69 last January.
Two months later, Brendan became the new host of the weekend 11am to 1pm slot on RTE Radio One.
And opening up about inheriting the show from Marian, Brendan said he has been really enjoying the challenge.
He added: “There was a job to be done and in a way it was a job of public service broadcasting.
“It was a bit strange, but in another way, we just had to get on with it.”
Speaking about Marian’s sudden death, the Dubliner said: “It was strange times in RTE, strange times for the people who had worked with her, they were obviously all deeply shocked, a lot of them were very close to her.”
And he told TV Now magazine: “I have a great team who had to take a 50-year-old man who thought he knew everything and turn him into a radio presenter and they’ve really worked their asses off in really difficult circumstances.”
Brendan said he is really enjoying hosting the radio show, which attracts an average 382,000 listeners according to JNLR listenership figures.
He added: “I remember one time when the Saturday show was going really well and the team was getting on really well and I remember one of the guys in RTE said to me, ‘I hope you’re enjoying this because you will look back and go, that was a
golden time’.”