Deirdre Purcell

Best selling author Deirdre Purcell has worked as a civil servant and as an Abbey Player, as a cocktail waitress and as a journalist. Currently working on her 12th novel, Deirdre is also an experienced broadcaster and was the first female anchor of RTÉ's Nine O'Clock News.

As an actor, Deirdre toured with the Abbey and was invited to the U.S. to become the first European Theatre Artist in residence at Loyola University of Chicago. She has won many awards for journalism, including Journalist of the Year and her novel Love, Like, Hate, Adore was shortlisted for the International Orange Prize for Fiction.

Deirdre envisaged and managed Write Here! Write Now!, a Millennium project for the National Millennium Committee. This is a 23 volume, handwritten manuscript collection, selected at random from 100,000 entries submitted by Irish school students for preservation by The National Library of Ireland as an archive for the fourth millennium.

Deirdre now brings her many and varied skills to the airwaves in a different format, as she chooses music to accompany your weekend lunchtimes in All About the Music. Melody is the most important thing for Deirdre and All About the music will span the genres featuring some of the most beautiful and enduring melodies ever written. All About the Music will feature best loved pieces from Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheba to Elgar's Nimrod along with modern day music from such artists as John Spillane and Willie Nelson. Deirdre will be playing tracks from new and established Irish artists as well as exploring themes in music from across the centuries.

Hear Deirdre on:
All About the Music: Saturday & Sunday, 12-2pm
Click here for programme website