My Holidaythis week talks to Joe Duffy, Broadcaster
Earliest holiday memory?
Our summer holidays consisted of a day trip to
Dollymount on the No 3 bus from Abbey Street. Some years the sun
actually shone. We bought tea, I think from Bill Cullen's mother.
She didn't sell penny apples then. That came later, through a
leveraged buyout. One of the great attractions of Dollymount for my
father was the pub across the lagoon - he swam to get to
it.
Worst holiday?
Probably the year we took a day trip to Malahide
(Dollier was so last year) and I cut my foot badly, requiring six
stitches.
Best holiday?
That was easily with Keycamp in Norcenni in Italy.
Great idea, aimed at kids. The parents even get a break, because
everyone has kids.
If budget or work was no restriction, what would be your
dream holiday?
I would love to go on a cruise. I love the sea and
visiting different places every day. The big problem with Liveline
is that I am stuck in studio from one end of the year to another. I
want an escape plan. The bigger the cruise ship the better.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with
you?
I would bring Brush Shiels, Syl Fox, Doc Savage,
Sonny Knowles and Clint Velour. Not only are they great fun, they
are also the most intellectual company you can get. Jean-Paul
Sartre could talk existentialism, but he couldn't tell a joke for
nuts.
Your favourite place in Ireland?
Courtmacsherry Harbour Festival in July is easily
the friendliest in the country.
What book would you recommend on holiday?
I would recommend the two I am reading at the
moment, Why Can't I Speak, by an abuse survivor named Barbara
Naughton - a powerful, searing read - and Goodbye Ardglass, a great
saga of an Irish family - one builds, the other becomes a priest -
written by a fine writer who is also Bertie's parish priest in
Drumcondra, Willie King.
Where will you spend your next holiday?
I hope to head down to Courtmacsherry Harbour
Festival again in July with the kids, to give them a break from the
penal colony they claim to live in beside Dollymount.
In conversation with Fiona Gartland
Joe Duffy presents Liveline, RTÉ Radio 1, Monday-Friday 1.45pm