A day in the life of a ‘Drivetime’ star

Mary Wilson is a current-affairs presenter and former legal-affairs correspondent. For the past 10 years, she has presented ‘Drivetime’ on RTE Radio 1. Born in Tipperary, she lives in Dun Laoghaire with her partner, Hugh, and her daughter, Aoife

The first time I presented ‘Drivetime’ I was petrified. When the red light came on, I thought, ‘Will I be able to speak?’

Ilive in Dun Laoghaire with my daughter, Aoife, and my partner, Hugh. He’s a GP. The alarm goes off at about 6.30am. I usually take about 20 minutes before I’m out of the bed. I have a look at the newspapers on my iPad. On weekdays, I read for work, and I’m pretty good at speed-reading and noting things that I’m going to come back to; all the while, the radio is on. Even though Drivetime is an afternoon programme, the day starts from the moment you get up. Some people think that I go into work at 3pm, and that I’m handed a bunch of papers, which I look at as I walk into the studio. It doesn’t work like that.

As soon as It Says In The Papers is done, I have to be out of the bed. Then I’ll go downstairs and let out the dog. For breakfast, I usually have muesli and coffee. I’m a big coffee drinker. I’ll still have my iPad with me, and Morning Ireland will still be on. We’ll have a little bit of conversation. It could be — ‘What’s for dinner today?’, or ‘Did you take something out of the freezer?’ I often meet up with Hugh in town after work to go to the theatre, so we’ll talk about who has the tickets. Hugh is gone by 7.30am.

Up until recently, Aoife would leave for school at 8.15am, or I’d drop her, but all that has changed now, because she did her Leaving Cert this year. By 8am, if I’ve already heard the bulletins, I’ll throw on a tracksuit, because I’m going for a walk. I might bring the dog with me. I’ll park the car and head up Killiney Hill. I walk for an hour every morning.

The great thing about walking is that you can stick your headphones in and listen to the radio. I listen to the last hour of Morning Ireland and a little of The Ryan Tubridy Show. I might listen to podcasts, or sometimes I’ll listen to nothing. It’s wonderful to turn everything off and just walk. I walk quickly, and Killiney Hill is beautiful.

Sometimes you’re walking along, looking out at the coast and you realise, ‘I’ve never seen that before’. It’s because you’re usually too busy thinking, ‘Right; I have an hour, and I need to do a bit of a shop before I go into work’. During that time, I’ll be talking by text to the series producer of Drivetime. Perhaps there was breaking news on Morning Ireland, and a news conference at 11am, and we will be asking if the minister in question is available. But that all depends on what’s coming up on the other programmes before us.

Once the dog is walked, I come back home, shower and change. I find some clothes to wear, while still listening to the radio. I’ve been in RTE since 1989, working in radio and television. During those years I developed a routine around hair and make-up, and I just kept it up.

You blow-dry your hair or straighten it and then put on the make-up. Years ago, when I worked in the courts, the women in the make-up department in RTE gave me a little pouch of make-up, and I’ve added to it. I was on live television, and I needed to look OK. I love make-up, and I love reading about new products.

My daughter Aoife taught me how to contour — not that I know how to do it, but it’s interesting. I love clothes and I love looking at them in magazines. It’s wonderful going to the hairdresser; you can read Grazia or Hello! magazine.

I don’t get home until 7.30pm at night, so all those things that most people would do whenever they finish work, I do in the mornings; things like paying a bill or visiting the dentist or doctor. All the while I’m listening to the radio.

I like to dress for work, but not in any big, conscious way. No matter that I’m on radio and I sit in the studio and nobody might come in to the studio, but if I’m dressed well, I feel better. I’m in work mode. I think putting on a work wardrobe puts you in work mode.

I get into RTE at 11am, and the team will be wandering in at that stage. We have a meeting at 12pm, and by 12.30pm we have a running order. It’s similar to a daily newspaper in that you have your lead story, but then you have your analysis. I love politics. I grew up in Tipperary, on a farm, and we only had RTE 1 on the TV in the 1970s. While some people gathered for the rosary, we gathered around the television for current affairs.

In the afternoons, I’m mostly at my desk. I do a lot of reading. If there is a big report out, I’ll read it. There is no point in analysing it, unless you can tell people what’s in it. I spend a lot of time reading and listening to reports. I can work in turmoil. I usually have my lunch at my desk. I bring in a salad.

Before each programme, I have both nerves and adrenaline. The first time I presented Drivetime was the scariest moment I’ve ever had in radio. I sat there and the red light came on and I thought, ‘When I open my mouth, will anything come out?’ Even though I had been broadcasting for 20 years, I was petrified. I had been the reporter, and now I was the host. Nowadays, my favourite type of Drivetime is when a big story breaks and you have to throw out your running order and start again. It’s ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ stuff. I really enjoy the job.

When the programme is over at 7pm, I’m wound up, rather than exhausted. If I’m meeting Hugh at the theatre, for a 7.30pm start, I can tell the taxi driver all the rat-runs. I’m always the last person running up the stairs of the theatre. But other nights, it is normal life at home, where we’ll have dinner, and then walk the pier afterwards. I met Hugh over a lunch at a funeral. It’s when you least expect it. We chatted and he followed up. I had never met him before.

In the evenings, I catch up with Aoife, and then I’ll watch the news at 9pm and 10pm. I’m in bed around 11.30pm. I read for about 20 minutes, usually fiction, and then I fall asleep. I’m not like Margaret Thatcher surviving on four hours’ sleep, but neither am I a huge sleeper. I like to have a life, and I enjoy catching up with friends and family. I have a lovely life. In conversation with Ciara Dwyer