She’s the new face of Crimecall and this week journalist, Carla O’Brien, is co-hosting Tomorrow Tonight; a climate show special. Janice Butler talks to the Tyrone native about seizing opportunities, a previous life on the road with Riverdance and how she found the love of her life.
Carla O’Brien arranges to meet me in RTÉ. It’s my first cover story interview since returning from maternity leave and she’s instantly understanding of my situation. She’s been there herself with her two children (now aged four and seven). As a news journalist, she’s much more comfortable asking me questions than the other way around.
"This is really unusual, very new for me. I’m not used to that part at all, so I’ll probably be really bad at this," she laughs.
There is an immediate warmth when we sit down; she helps me work out my new recorder. As a former professional Irish dancer (more on that later), she sits elegantly, aware of her posture. There are no walls up or cynicism, which is always a surprise in this business, and she is openly delighted to have been given the opportunity to present one of RTÉ’s flagship news and current affairs shows, Crimecall, taking over from Sharon Ní Bheoláin, who she described as a mentor.
"This is a huge honour for me. Crimecall is a programme that’s been around for so long; I’m following in the footsteps of Sharon, Keelan Shanley, Anne Doyle, Marian Finucane. These are hugely successful women that I’ve always looked up to. For me to come after them is a massive privilege," she says.
"Sharon has been unbelievably encouraging of me. I really look up to her and I would consider her my mentor. She could not be more supportive in what she’s done to give me confidence. I really couldn’t say enough about how good she’s been. You hear these things about women competing against each other in this industry but it's not been my experience," she adds.
With two shows now under her belt, she can breathe a sigh of relief. Carla earned her stripes in the RTÉ newsroom, joining 12 years ago. Crimecall is a cherry on the top of a varied career so far. "I started in children’s news, then worked my way up through the newsroom and then onto the News at One, Morning Ireland, through to the Six and Nine O'Clock News. I feel I’ve seen RTÉ at a very interesting time over those years. To be given this opportunity is huge for me.
"Coming here 12 years ago, I would never have dreamed I’d be presenting a show like this. This job is lot of hard work but also timing and luck," she says.
It’s been an interesting time in the newsroom, with Carla and her colleagues having to report on their place of work. She remarks that situations like this come with the territory. "For me, there’s a certain amount of detachment that you do; you do your job and that’s it. That’s not to be cold about it, but if that’s the news, you have to report the news. I’m lucky that some of my closest friends are my colleagues so we can feel supported at times like this."
Growing up in Co Tyrone on a beef farm, Carla is the youngest of four children. She recalls a blissful childhood, one she admits she probably didn’t fully appreciate at the time. "It was idyllic really," she says. "Looking back now, it was a really special childhood; the fresh air, being outside, the safety and freedom you had, it was wonderful and we were so lucky to have that."
She remembers some of the newsreaders from her youth who left an impression. "I grew up in the North, so in the ’90s, I would have been watching the likes of Anna Ford and Moira Stewart; really impactful newsreaders. When you’re getting the news in an understandable and engaging way, due to the presenter, that definitely left an impression on me."
However, before pursuing a career in journalism, Carla had another passion, as a professional Irish dancer and lead dancer with Riverdance. "I suppose I got the interest in dancing from Mammy. She would have danced when she was younger and my sisters did too, but I suppose I took it further," she says of those early days when she used to compete at Irish dancing contests.
Carla joined Riverdance in 2005 after leaving college, where she studied business. "It kind of happened gradually. I would have been doing the competitive circuits, moving up the ranks. Then when you leave the competition world, there’s progression into a show like Riverdance, which would be the hardest dance show to get into, in my opinion. The standard is incredibly high."
Riding high on the global success of Riverdance, Carla toured the world with the show, spending her 20s dancing on the biggest stages in Asia, the US and Europe.
"I was totally spoilt and of course, you don’t realise at the time that what you’re experiencing is so brilliant. It was phenomenal really – getting to see the world, dance on the biggest stages in the world and do it with an incredible group of people who become like family," she recalls.
Life took an interesting and unexpected turn for Carla in 2008. While on tour with the show in Germany, she was introduced to Ronan Glynn, who would become her husband. "We always had a physio on tour with us, and Ronan, before he went into medicine full time, was a qualified physio, so he came out to visit his friend, Conor, who was working with us. Conor introduced us and that was it. It was as close to love at first sight as you get. Conor had a feeling we would hit it off and he was right. It was instant and we both felt that way; it was like something bigger than us was working," she says.
Carla is emotional as she recalls the story, as their relationship began a few years after her father passed away in 2006. She remarks how she was blown away by how similar Ronan was to her dad. "I always believed he had a hand in me meeting Ronan. He’s very like him; even when Mammy met him, that was one of the first things she said too."
The couple got married five years after that first encounter and they now have two children together. Ronan, in the role of Deputy Chief Medical Officer, was in the spotlight during the pandemic, appearing on our screens daily with Tony Holohan for pandemic updates. For a period of time, he took over as acting chief medical officer when Holohan was on leave to care for his now late wife. It must have been a difficult time in their household, having that level of recognition and pressure?
"Yes it was, but a lot of it I don’t remember at this stage. It’s become a bit of a blur," says Carla. "It was really intense at the time but everyone was experiencing it; it was a mad time for all of us and very challenging. I didn’t feel any more challenged than what lots of other people had to deal with. Everyone had their own unique set of circumstances so I couldn’t say that our situation was any harder."
Ronan resigned from his job last year and now it’s Carla who graces the TV screens. "Ronan was so busy at that time, he didn’t have time to consider that he was one of the faces of the pandemic. It’s only looking back now that we go 'Gosh, did that really happen?’ He’s more anonymous now and I’m presuming he prefers that," she adds.
When Carla eventually hung up her dancing shoes, there was a period of uncertainty when she didn’t know what to do. "There comes a stage where you know the body isn’t going to keep going and you need to start thinking of a plan B. My undergrad was in business, so I joined Deloitte in Belfast as part of their graduate programme and I did that for a year and a half, but it just wasn’t for me, so I went to Galway and did a Master's in journalism. As part of that, I got placement in the News at One for RTÉ and I’ve been here ever since," she says with a smile.
Does she ever miss the dancing world? "I absolutely miss it;" she replies. "I miss the buzz you get from being on stage and that’s very hard to achieve again. Live TV would give a similar feeling; it’s the closest thing I’ve experienced to that. And you miss the camaraderie and the audiences, but I don’t miss the pain," she laughs.
As well as hosting Crimecall, Carla will be co-presenting a one-off climate special on RTÉ this week, called Tomorrow Tonight. A fictional current affairs show, akin to The Treaty, Tomorrow Tonight will present an image of Ireland in 2050.
At the United Nations in New York, the leaders of the world gather for a make-or-break climate summit. Carla and her co-host Mark Little will guide the viewers through the breaking news moments on a seismic night, as climate change pushes the planet to a moment of crisis.
"It’s based around a fictional breaking news event that will affect the world environment, both in a positive and negative way and what Ireland has done about climate change in that time frame," she explains.
"Mark is the main man really and I’m the support, which I’m happy about," she laughs. "But climate is the issue of our generation so to be part of this is really significant to me."
Covering such heavy topics in the day job, I wonder where Carla is happiest; where does she find some light in her day? "It really is home, being with the kids,," she says with smile.
"There’s something about being with your kids, you’re forced to be present because they’re too discerning. They’ll spot you on your phone or thinking about something else and they don’t tolerate that, nor should they. So being with them, I really have to switch off."
