In 2016, Marian Finucane chatted to the RTÉ Guide's Andrea Byrne about her career highs, her second wedding and her dream interviewee.
We meet on the day that the latest radio listener-ship figures have been released. The Marian Finucane show, for the first time in many years, has dipped slightly. Admitting to having a competitive nature, Marian isn’t happy about it and says she always dreads the numbers for weeks before. "I regard it as doing your Leaving Cert in public, every three months," she says with a throaty laugh, "and then the media feckin’ love those arrows going up and down." She is sanguine, though.
"Onwards and upwards and let’s have a look at what we did, how we’re doing it, what we can improve, how we can change, how we can pace it, how we can tweak it. All of those things. We will have our targets, quietly."
Despite being one of the country’s best known names and most experienced broadcasters, she has a very private life, rarely revealing any personal details.
"I took the view that I chose a job that was in the public eye, but my family didn’t, so it’s a question of what you can inflict on your family, and I was absolutely determined that there was no question of kids being paraded around the place. Out of the question."
Is there an interview that you wish hadn’t happened? Marian takes a long time to answer, before concluding, "No, I’d prefer not to answer that one because it wouldn’t be fair to them." What about an interview you’d like to do?
"I used to always say Mandela, but that’s a missed opportunity. I did meet him, which was a highlight. He just radiated moral authority. Wonderful. Anyway, my current dream interview – Donald Trump. I find him extraordinarily interesting. And I find his fervent appeal very, very interesting."
