The first female president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Joan O'Connor on her love of her work.
Joan O'Connor is managing director of New Ireland Project Managers, and a member of Forfás, the national policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation in Ireland. She is also the first female president of the RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) since it was formed in 1839.
A love of buildings inspired a career in architecture, as well as the general activity of a building site.
So many different trades going on and they all come together in the end in a building which is your product.
Joan O'Connor names buildings in Dublin including James Gandon’s Custom House, Busáras which was designed by Michael Scott and the west block of the IFSC (International Financial Services Centre) as being among her favourites.
Having been described as a person with boundless energy, Joan O’Connor does not believe it is possible for women to have a successful career as well as a family life. She admits that this is not a popular view. For men however things are different,
Men unwittingly make the choice to forfeit on the family side, and to achieve on the business side.
This episode of 'The Late Late Show' was broadcast on 11 March 1994. The presenter is Gay Byrne.
'The Late Late Show' was intended to be a summer filler, but proved so successful with the public that it became part of the regular schedule. The idea for the programme came from the show's producer, Tom McGrath, who wanted to present an Irish version of the American talk show 'The Tonight Show'.
Gay Byrne was to be the show's presenter and would remain so for the next thirty seven years. Tom McGrath's original idea was that the show would be informal and have the feel of people dropping in for a chat.
'The Late Late Show' became an important forum for the airing and debating of many issues in a changing Irish society.
The first programme of 'The Late Late Show’ was broadcast at 11.20 pm on 6 July 1962. At the time, it was unusual to have a live talk and entertainment show on so late in the day’s viewing. On that first show, the guests were Count Cyril McCormack, Ken Gray, George Desmond Hodnett and Harry Thuillier.
Tom McGrath would go on to pioneer many other successful variety shows on Irish television.
Pat Kenny replaced Gay Byrne as presenter in 1999 and remained in that position for 10 years. Ryan Tubridy presented the show from 2009 to 2023. The programme is still running today and is presented by Patrick Kielty.
