Home is where the Hart is
They were teenage sweethearts, and now Room to Improve foreman Ian Hart and wife Veronica work together, writes Andrea Smith
AS the father of three girls, Ian Hart, 47, has been known to play the role of ‘scary dad’ when boyfriends appear on the scene. “All the boys that come by are afraid of him,” laughs his wife Veronica, also 47, and known to Ian as ‘Ron.’ “He’s big with tattoos, so he’s kind of intimidating-looking.”
Mind you, Veronica wasn’t intimidated by Ian when they met as 15-year-olds in Kilcock — she thought he was gorgeous. She used to walk up and down the road across from where he played football, and was intrigued as he was one of the few people she didn’t know from school. This was because his parents Bob and Maureen had relocated from Essex with Ian and his younger brother when he was ten, as his dad found it hard to get work there,
“I was new meat,” jokes Ian, who has become a familiar face as the construction foreman on RTE’s property programme Room to Improve. “I noticed Ron straight away, and definitely liked the look of her.”
In time-honoured teen tradition, Veronica’s pal Amanda sussed the situation out by marching up to Ian and asking him if he would go out with Veronica? He readily agreed, and they spent their first date sitting on the bridge over the canal in the centre of Kilcock, where all the youngsters congregated. “We sat there for about five years after that, as there was nothing else to do,” Veronica says. “I don’t think I spoke the first night, because I just couldn’t believe I was there. I was afraid Ian might have been a smartarse, because he used to go around in a skull cap and leather jacket with his hands in the pockets and I felt he thought he was amazing. I was surprised that he was really sweet underneath it all.”
For Ian, the initial attraction was Veronica’s looks, but he discovered she had a great personality too. “I was a horny teenage boy so it was a physical thing straight away,” he admits. “I thought Ron was very pretty, but she was also very easy to talk to, and once she started talking, she never stopped.”
Veronica’s late dad Peter was quite religious, and all six of the children said the rosary every night. Ian was baptised Church of England but is an atheist, and Peter joked that he would convert him. Veronica comes fourth of her dad and mum Nora’s six children, but her dad sadly passed away from a heart attack aged 56 a month before her 21st. “He used to make jokes about having a Protestant in the family, but he was always very fond of Ian,” she says.
After completing a secretarial course, Veronica worked with the IDA for six years. Carpentry was Ian’s thing, and he did a FAS course and ultimately secured an apprenticeship in cabinet-making for five years. He and Veronica decided to break up during that time, even though they were mad about one another.
“That was kind of my idea, although Ian didn’t object too much,” she says. “I didn’t want to only go out with one person in my whole life because, as much as I liked Ian, how did I really know if he was ‘the one?’ It was heartbreaking and there were lots of tears, but I think it was the best thing we ever did. We dated other people, although we have never asked each other about it, even to this day. I had a brilliant
‘Ron has a sparkling personality and is always joyful’
time, but I always thought I would end up with Ian anyway. I even told boyfriends that I was going to end up marrying him.”
Ian wanted to travel and went to work in BrusseIs. He and Veronica would meet in their local pub in Kilcock every Christmas, and there was always a spark there. Then Ian asked her to get back with him and go to live in Brussels, which she did, packing in the permanent job with a pension in the IDA.
They stayed in Brussels for the next six years and absolutely loved it there. Ian was working in construction and Veronica was working at the EU. Their first child Erin was born in 1996 and they got married that same year at the Grand Place, and then decided to come home. Erin is now 20 and a journalism student, and they’ve since had two girls, Emily, 18, and Jane, 11.
Ian set up a construction and renovation business called Hart of The Home, and his TV career began ten years ago when he started working with Dermot Bannon. He is best known for his role in Room to Improve, and has become a real personality in his own right. He enjoys the media side and working at trade shows, and greatly enjoys the TV role.
“I love it,” he says. “Building sites can be mundane places at the best of times, so it’s nice to see the Room to Improve team roll into town. Mind you, the girls hide behind the couch when I’m on TV.”
Veronica worked in various places including Mr Leaf, and is now working with Ian in the business doing admin from home. She still thinks he’s very handsome and loves that he is 100 per cent loyal and trustworthy. She is not that mad about him chewing gum and always being on his phone, but says that their relationship feels the same as it did when they first got together.
“When the kids were younger, it could be mental and we were so busy,” says Ian. “Now that they are growing up, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Ron never says sorry, even when she is blatantly wrong, but her best qualities are that she has a sparkling personality, is very good-humoured and is always joyful. She’s brilliant!”