Lynne Kelleher ‘I want to keep working... I’m open to offers’ - Mary
RTE star Mary Kennedy is delighted to be back in front of the cameras again, but at a more leisurely pace this time.
The veteran broadcaster is taking part in a new RTE series, Saoi Sa Chathaoir,
remembering pivotal TV moments in her life from her marathon live five-hour commentary on Mother Teresa’s funeral to stepping gingerly down silk-covered stairs in front of hundreds of millions for the Eurovision.
“It’s not a secret, I did not want to retire,” she says of RTE’s mandatory retirement age of 65.
“Professionally I didn’t want to retire at 65 but also for financial reasons because I was only staff for 15 years.
“I was part-time and freelance for a long number of years which was my choice and fitted in with my mothering duties which were very special to me,” said the mother-of-four.
“You can’t have your cake and eat it that way. But no, I don’t see the logic of 65 at all. But I have said it, I do think it’s bonkers”, she said, laughing.
Sitting in her back garden in Dublin this week, she is only now getting a chance to adapt to her new situation: “I went straight from Nationwide
to Dancing with the Stars
which was absolutely fabulous and (then) straight to lockdown so I’m actually only beginning to feel what it’s like to be retired from Nationwide.
“I don’t have a sense of retirement. I do want to continue working but not hell for leather. I’m open to offers,” she said.
She has spent lockdown having delicious vegan meals served up by her daughter Lucy, who is back from touring with her cousin, the singer Dermot Kennedy, and doing Zoom calls with her one-year-old grandson, Paddy, and her other daughter, Eva.
She said: “I haven’t seen my grandson. He was living with me, his mum, my daughter Eva and his dad, Benny, were doing their house up in Limerick . He was with me from July last year until the week before lockdown when they got the keys to their house.
“He had his first birthday in lockdown. On Monday morning I’m, whoosh, down that road.”
In the new series, Saoi Sa Chathaoir, archive footage shows her confidently walking down the stage steps at the opening of the Eurovision but the audience didn’t know she was meticulously counting the steps under her breath.
“It is preparation, preparation, preparation.
I felt in a way like an ambassador for RTE, for myself, for my family and the country.
But she added: “There is nothing like a live audience to give you a lift. It’s almost
as if it’s at the end of the
GAA match and you’re lifted shoulder high and you’re carried along in a wave of positive vibes and support.”
Those are the days when she pauses to think of her father, who died a year before she landed her role as a continuity announcer in RTE from a heart attack while out golfing.
“He would have absolutely loved it but sadly he died the year before. He would have dined out on it. I was 24, he was 59 years of age. It was absolutely horrific. We were very close. There have been times when I have been taking on something big, I’d say ‘This is for you, dad’.”
Her warm relationship with viewers is reflected in the way she takes time to reply to all the letters she receives: “I got a huge amount of lovely cards and letters when I was retiring from Nationwide, so I always reply. President Higgins sent me a gorgeous letter which was really special.”
And while she has no plans to leave our TV sets any time soon, the avid gardener is taking time out to smell the roses.
“I’m conscious of the fact that I’m 65 and I’ve less time in front of me than behind and people and relationships are what make life worth leading and feed your soul.”
‘Saoi Sa Chathaoir’, this Tuesday, 7.30pm on RTE One