CLAIRE BYRNE
My kids don’t care that I’m on television
LAST Wednesday, Claire Byrne hosted a special panel of women in RTE to mark International Women’s Day.
As one of the shining lights of the organisation, the talented broadcaster and mother with three children under seven, the Laois native epitomises the sort of successful career progression that should be available to all women everywhere, no matter where they work.
But when it comes to the day itself, Claire believes that it can be akin to a Hallmark celebration of the sisterhood and says there’s a “long road to travel still”.
“I was quite cynical about International Women’s Day, because I don’t feel like we are talking to the women who are really struggling with poverty, or childcare, or domestic abuse,” she told the Sunday Independent.
“I am torn a bit about it; I don’t like the fact that corporations use it to tell us how great they are on one day of the year when it comes to equality.
“But we have to look at what they are doing the rest of the time.
“Look, I am very proud to be a person doing the job I am doing; I don’t feel I am special because I am a woman.
“There are loads of great women in broadcasting and I am fortunate to be doing the job I am doing. But I never try and make it an issue of gender.”
While broadcasters like Claire and her fellow current affairs presenter Miriam O’Callaghan are often trotted out as proof that life is getting better for women on TV, Claire believes that, in general, RTE is leading the way in breaching gender inequality.
But she believes it’s important to remember the problem is far from solved.
“I believe that things are moving forward for women,” she says.
“I think RTE has been pretty good on the whole when it comes to women.
“We have lots of women managers, editors and presenters. I think people feel a lot more confident about standing up and speaking out now because of the #MeToo movement and that is not a bad thing at all.
“I don’t think it is over yet and I think there is a long road to travel. We have to keep pushing and opening our eyes to things that may not be immediately visible in terms of promotions, or being treated equally in work.
“I think we are in danger of saying that the problem has been solved when it has not. We need to be aware of that; in particular for women who may be in a vulnerable position and may not be working, or in jobs where it is on the agenda.
“I think we need to be careful not to think that the problem has been solved but things are definitely improving.”
RTE, as an organisation, has tragically lost two of their trail-blazing female journalists in a matter of months.
Claire says that the loss of Marian Finucane and Keelin Shanley is like “an open wound” and that many colleagues are still grieving the chasmic loss.
“I think there is still a lot of sadness around,” she says. “We did our women’s event last Wednesday and we put together some clips of Keelin and a tribute to Marian and people are still grieving those losses.
“Keelin’s death was so recent, it was only on February 8 and people are still feeling really sad.
“The thing with broadcasting is that you have to just get up and keep going.
“You keep making the programmes and everyone moves on but there is an open wound for people around the loss of that.
“I pass a picture of Gay Byrne every day and I still can’t believe I can’t text him.
“It is still odd that Marian is not there, she was such a stalwart for women in broadcasting, in particular. So, it has had an impact, but you keep on keeping on.”
Her weekly eponymous chat show puts forward voices and opinions of “real people” over an hour-and-ahalf on Monday.
“One of the things that we learned from the election is that people really need to talk about what is going on in their lives.
“It is about providing that space for people to talk and I think we are well-placed to do that.”
Probably one of the most compelling examples of the show’s mantra was last year’s dramatic TV interview, when Claire sat down with tragic Clodagh Hawe’s mother, Mary Coll, and sister Jacqueline Connolly.
“I am really proud of the Clodagh Hawe piece and I keep in regular contact with Jacqueline and Mary,” she says.
“I would hope that this is not the end of the story, as there is a serious case review under way with the guards, and the Government is looking at new legislation around family homicide.
“I really hope that we get some concrete developments on the back of this, because I know how hard it was for them to do that piece.
“Someone actually namechecked the boys to me in conversation the other day and it just catches me, all of the time.
“When I hear their names, it promotes this visceral, emotional reaction because I feel part of that now.”
Discussing referring the seven-way leaders’ debate before the election in February, Claire admits that preparation for this oneoff TV special was akin to resitting her Leaving Cert.
“It is like eating an elephant; you have to go at it one bite at a time,” she says.
“My job, then, is to steer them through the hourand-a-half we are on air and making sure it is digestible and keeping people on point and knowing your stuff.
“The audience must know that you have done your homework. You have to do the study and it is like doing the Leaving Cert again.”
So how do you celebrate grilling seven of the country’s top politicians and viewing figures that would give The Late Late Show a run for its money?
“In Galway, I took a minute to take a few breaths to myself and then I joined the team.
“I had one gin and tonic and I felt like I was going to fall over after it and I just went to bed. I usually will read or watch something to clear my mind but it does take a while to wind down.
“It takes a couple of hours to fall asleep after something like that.”
Claire and husband Gerry Scollan have three children — Patrick, Jane and Emma.
And despite her public profile, she says that nothing is more grounding than the Tuesday morning after her show goes out. “My children don’t care at all who I am interviewing,” she says.
“My oldest boy is six and they have a little bit of an awareness that I am on the TV but they don’t care.
“I am not presenting a children’s programme, so it doesn’t make any difference to them. They want me up at seven o’clock every morning to do lunches and breakfasts.
“It doesn’t make any difference to their lives what I do, which is great actually, and long may it continue.”
‘I pass a picture of Gay every day and still can’t believe I can’t text him’