Claire Brock Andrea Byrne catches up with the Virgin Television news anchor
Her new job as anchor on Virgin’s News at 8 is just one part of Claire Brock’s busy schedule as she is also a mother of two, she tells Andrea Byrne
Claire Brock’s week is just like her life over the past few years: busy with lots of changes! We meet during her first week anchoring Virgin Media Television (VMT)’s News at 8, a new show that airs every weeknight at 8pm. Despite working in front of cameras for 17 years, nerves were plentiful, she tells me. Not that you’d ever know. The week also saw another milestone for Claire, as her three-year-old son Pearse started Montessori. Claire’s new job is a return to a five-day working week, having gone to a shorter week following the birth of her daughter Eve (now 18 months old).
She’s comes straight from dropping Pearse off for our morning meeting and unsurprisingly, she looks relieved when her cappuccino arrives. With kids, the mornings, we both agree, can be the most challenging part of the day. “Every change with family life requires a bit of getting used to, but already we’re a week in and we’re getting used to it. Last week, I was still figuring out how it was all going to work, but it seems to be okay,” she says. “This morning, I think they sensed it’s Friday, so why are we being ferried away? It goes with the territory. Kids get used to things very quickly.”
A new TV programme is not without risk and always means scrutiny for both its content and host, but Claire says the initial reaction to News at 8 has been positive, both inside and outside VMT. “It’s delivering to people who come home from work later as well as the existing audience (the show airs immediately after the soaps), but who didn’t get the news earlier in the day. It’s providing a different kind of news experience for viewers. We aim to keep it fresh and snappy. It’s super to be part of a new team and we’re going to have a bumper year ahead news-wise. There’s Brexit, the presidential election, a possible General Election down the line and next year, you could have the European elections. There is no better time to launch a news programme.”
Claire is no stranger to the start of a new TV show. The last time we met, she was working at UTV Ireland, co-anchoring their main news programme. However, after just two years, the channel ceased broadcasting in early 2017 and was sold to the company that owns TV3 (now VMT), where it was rebranded as be3.
Was it a big disappointment for her? “It’s such a fast moving industry. It was amazing to be part of a start-up, it was so exciting. Disappointment is the wrong word, because with the takeover and with Virgin coming in, it actually meant there were opportunities for people in the new set-up, so I came back home essentially, back through the gates of Ballymount. And what I was coming back to was an expanding news team.”
One of three children, Claire grew up in Glenageary in south Dublin. Her father was an architect and her mother an interior designer. A very creative gene pool, I suggest. “I know. I loved art growing up and when I was very young I wanted to be a graphic designer. Then when it came to the crunch about what I wanted to do in college, I adored English and I love acting and theatre, so I decided I wanted to work in the media. I went to DCU and studied journalism. I wasn’t completely sure about it, until
I finished my degree and started working in television. I was a week in the door in work placement in TV3, and I loved it.”
Like her friend and colleague Colette Fitzpatrick, Claire started her professional career in TV3, then on to East Coast FM, later working for 98FM and Q102, before returning to TV3 as a news reporter. She left to join UTV Ireland for its big launch in 2015. Studying journalism in DCU didn’t just kick-start a dream career, but was also how she met her now husband – former international rugby player Trevor Hogan – who was also studying journalism at the Dublin university. “I think it was the end of the third year we got together. We both finished up, and he was playing rugby in college. He got a contract with Munster Rugby, so he went down there and I stayed in Dublin. We did the whole long distance thing for a while. As is often the case with relationships in your 20s, we broke up, we got back together. Then he moved back to Leinster in 2006, and we’ve been together since.” The couple married in 2013 and became parents three years ago. “When Eve came along, Pearse was only 18 months. I think all in all he adapted very well to it. I can see they will be pals, even though they have very different personalities. She is feisty, knows what she wants. Great fun. Pearse is sensitive and perceptive and he’s full of chat. He has been staying up later these last few nights. There is a bit of ‘wanting to watch Mammy’ but it could just be an excuse to stay up. It’s been nice to get home and have a little snuggle,” she smiles.
Having recently left his job as a teacher, Claire’s husband has returned to the world of rugby. “An opportunity came up with Leinster Rugby, and he is now a talent coach: coaching, underage development, dealing with younger players, coaching with the Leinster A’s. It’s a jam-packed schedule, but he loves it. He has always kept his rugby ties quite close , so he is really where he wants to be.”
As if young children and career changes weren’t enough for Claire, she also threw a house move into the mix, and she and her family now live in Cabinteely in south Dublin. “When I look back on the last three years, I think gosh, I’ve really packed it in,” she says. “Life goes like that, doesn’t it? I think it just tends to follow in these cycles. I think, especially for women, your 30s are a pivotal point in your life. Your 30s are when things can really change for you. In many ways, that is when you get things together, have the confidence to do what you know you’re good at. I don’t think it is any coincidence that I am in my late 30s and the last five years have been all go.”
I think, especially for women, your 30s are a pivotal point in your life