It’s always a Marty Party when we sit down with Marty Whelan.
We got to spend 10 minutes with him and here’s how we got on…
Marty, how’s life?
Life is very lovely right now and we have the Eurovision around the corner. All is well with our world as opposed to the world. Every morning you wake up and you look at the paper and you go, ‘Oh sweet God’. But we try to bring a bit of joy into peoples lives on Marty in the Morning on RTÉ Lyric FM, which I hope we succeed in doing, because the world is upside down. But we’re in a happy place ourselves because we have a granddaughter!
A granddaughter, oh the joy!
She is a joy! She turned one last month, her name is Lily, named after my mum. We are somewhat mad about her!
The most doting of grandparents we are sure!
I am afraid so! I didn’t realise how much love I would have in my heart for this little person. She’s stolen everyone’s heart and she’s great craic.
Are you watching anything good at the minute?
Well everyone has seen Adolescence, shocking and very sad. But I’m loving Hacks, it’s just a great escape. And I’ve started watching the Pierce Brosnan thing on Sky, MobLand, you watching that? Tom Hardy and Helen Mirren are also in it, it’s about an Irish crime family in London. If you want to frighten the life out of yourself, give yourself an hour of that!
Do you watch a lot of telly?
Not so much because I’d be having an early night, you know me! The cucumber on the eyes and all! [Laughing] Maria and I tend to binge-watch. The last thing we really binged was This Is Us. We find something and get stuck into it. At the moment it’s hard to find anything without Nicole Kidman in it! But tv is a great escape and we all need it.
Do you escape into books?
Yeah, I’m big into American politics and with the carry on at the moment, there’s lots to get stuck into. There’s a great author called Michael Wolff, he’s written four books and I’m reading the fourth one at the moment, All Or Nothing. They’re all about Trump and they’re brilliantly written. They’re insightful and they reaffirm things we suspect. It’s such a strange world we are in at the moment.
Does the world we are in trouble you?
It does, yeah. We are supposed to be allies and friends and we’re supposed to look out for each other, I think that’s very important, particularly if trouble comes we need each other. We’re very lucky to live in the country we live in but the world is a troubled place.
How do you de-stress, do you get to see your pals much?
I try to but I get up at 4.30am every weekday and then in the evening you’re a bit tired so you can’t be going out midweek. So you try to catch up on weekends.
Do you do a bit of cooking at the weekends?
I love watching my wife cook, she’s brilliant! [Laughing] No, I’ll help with the prep and with the clean up, I’ll help with everything. During Covid I did go into the kitchen a bit more and no one starved and no one died which was a good start! I just don’t have the confidence, it’s not me. I do a mighty breakfast and I’ll fix you lunch but when it comes to dinner even at this stage of my life I’m nervous I’ll make a mess of it. I’m frightened of people asking, any crisps?! And I’m very good at opening wine!
It’s quite the skill!
And I still can’t understand what those wine stoppers are for! What are they are for?! [Laughing]
What does love feel like, Marty?
Love feels like being in Maria’s company. We are married forty years this year and together fifty. I grabbed her from a pram! We’re soulmates and she’s the best thing that ever happened to me and I hope I’m good for her. Put it this way, when I finish what I do, I look forward to going home to her. It’s being together and that could mean a conversation about nothing or everything.
Has she made the biggest impact on your life?
No question she has, because she’s changed it. And then when your children arrive, they change it too. In terms of my career, you’d look at people like Terry Wogan, Larry Gogan, Gay Byrne, people who have influenced you. And my folks, my mum and dad. I was an only child so I was minded like a baby all my life. And according to my folks, I was always fabulous and I never disagreed with them!
And why would you?! Do you have a career hightlight?
Oh Lord, well you see, I’ve done quite a few bits over the years and obviously the Eurovision is a highlight because I love it so much but do you know what, I love going in in the morning and doing the radio show, I love being on Lyric and being able to play classical music followed by rock followed by pop. To have opera one minute and jazz the next gives me joy. So, my career highlight I’ve had for the last 14 years is Marty in the Morning on Lyric.
Tune in to Marty in the Morning on Lyric FM – weekdays from 7am to 10am
