This year will be Maura Derrane's 13th year on Today in Cork. Reflecting on that time and the year gone by, the presenter talks to Janice Butler about dealing with loss, new challenges in her career and finding confidence in herself.
Maura Derrane is a true pro behind the camera. After three decades working in the media business, why wouldn’t she be? As she takes centre stage for our photoshoot in a Dublin city centre hotel, the Galway native knows her good angles and makes life easy for the photographer and styling team.
It’s a sunny September day and there’s a real sense of back to school in the air, both for the children and for Maura, as she’s set to return to the set of Today in Cork with Dáithí Ó Sé after her summer break.
A break which Maura spent with her son Cal,10, and husband John, with trips to see family at home on Inis Mór as well as hours under her belt on RTÉ Radio One, filling in for Oliver Callan.
She’s excited to get back to Cork and back to the afternoon slot that she and Dáithí have put their stamp on. "We’re 13 years in Cork this year and it’s going from strength to strength. The numbers are going up every single year," she says proudly. "But we’re always changing it; we keep the core elements and what the audience wants but we tweak things to make sure it feels fresh, and that people keep coming back to us."
She admits that it took the team a while to find their groove with the show, especially after it was moved from RTÉ in Dublin to the Cork studio. Since them though, the duo of Maura and Dáithí have established a rapport that viewers keep coming back for.
"It took us a while to settle in with the show and we didn’t have what we have now. It was a very basic show. It’s a beast of a show now compared to what it was. What the audience love is when Dáithí and I have the banter; we’ve had fights on air, disagreements, laughs, slagging – sometimes we can go a bit too far. But what people see in the show is that it’s very natural between us. I think we re-wrote the rule-book with this show."
Maura had an impressive TV portfolio before Today. Her career began as a researcher for RTÉ News in Galway in the 1990s, followed by a move to the newly established TG4. From there she went to the news department at TV3 and as a co-host on Ireland AM, where she remained until 2006.
Following her departure from breakfast television, the law graduate moved to RTÉ, where she worked on The Afternoon Show and Four Live, before arriving at Today. With nothing to prove to anyone, four years ago she decided to go to a three-day working week, with Sinead Kennedy picking up the presenting baton for the other two days.
It was a personal decision she made to spend more time with her young son Cal and her sister Rita, who sadly passed away last November from cancer. "If the show was still in Dublin, I probably wouldn’t have gone to the three days to be honest. My son was in school, and I just couldn’t leave him for the whole week. When I made the decision, my sister was really ill at the time, so it was important to me to have time with her. I’m glad that I had that time with her, it was incredibly important to me," she says of her decision.
It's less than a year since Rita passed away, so Maura is understandably emotional, but grateful she got to share as much time with her as possible. The Derrane siblings (four girls) enjoyed a family holiday in 2019, going to Portugal together for their first family trip away in 20 years.
"Rita had a very hard time. She had three years of a terminal illness; she went through a lot of hardship and pain. She had such a zest for life. She was addicted to fashion, more than me," she recalls. "We would have travelled a lot in the past before she got sick, so I really cherish those memories with her. We can look back and say we did a lot of things with her. I’m so glad I was able to have the time to be with her."
Maura remarks that the loss of Rita has given her a new appreciation for life and for each day. "I’m always thinking about her," she says. "It makes you so aware of your own mortality and how fickle life is. You just need to live for today."
She goes home to Inis Mór as much as possible to see her mother Bridgie and sister Barbara, who still live ton the island. She says that her son Cal finds the same peace as she does when they are in her home place. "He loves it; his cousin is there so he loves getting to hang out with him. He loves the freedom there compared to Dublin and the quietness of it. It doesn’t matter how small a child is, they can sense peace and even as a small baby he was very peaceful there."
Maura’s career took a surprise turn last year when she was asked to fill in on the newly vacant 9am slot on RTÉ Radio One: Maura, Oliver Callan and Brendan Courtney took turns in the hot seat until the show ultimately went to Oliver Callan. She has since been back to cover when Oliver is away. She says it’s given her a taste for the airwaves.
"I’ll be honest with you, I was so happy that they asked me to step into that slot, especially the 9am show, it’s so huge," she admits. "I have hundreds of hours of airtime on live TV; I’ve been doing it for 17 years, but live radio is a completely different discipline. But I was so happy to be asked to host last year and then to be asked again to fill in this summer."
Would she like to do it on a more permanent basis? "TV is my first love but to be honest, if they had offered me a radio show last year, I wouldn’t have been ready. I don’t think you do two weeks and take on a big show like that, I think you need more flying hours. I absolutely love doing it, I love the time it allows, especially when you’re interviewing someone. I would love to do more radio, I’m making no bones about that."
Another passion of Maura’s has always been health and the science behind beauty and skincare. She admits her own fitness and well-being has taken something of a back seat lately, but she’s determined to get back to it. "I’m very lazy," she laughs. "But I’m determined to start doing something. I’ve joined all the gyms in the world, and I don’t go, so I need to find something I’ll do at home."
As she gets a bit older (she’s now 54) Maura is embracing this stage of her life. She revealed recently on social media that she had been suffering "really bad stomach pain" and fatigue and after a visit to her GP, was diagnosed with IBS, which can be a symptom of menopause.
"I’m every 'pause’ at the moment," she laughs, as the topic turns to menopause. "I think being a middle-aged person and someone in that space now, I don’t think I realised the changes that you would feel. For me, it’s brain fog and hot sweats. I'm one of those people who always thought I was bullet proof, so when this happened, I was like ‘Oh, ok, I didn’t expect this’, and it really does have an effect on you.
"For me, you have to try and go with it rather than fight. I take herbs, supplements, probiotics and try and look after myself. I haven’t needed to take HRT yet. People suffer so differently with it and it’s shocking really that we’re only really talking about menopause now.
"But let’s be real, ageing in general is a pain in the ass," she laughs.
"But what comes with age is wisdom and confidence and I’ve never had as much of that as I have now. I may not be body confident sitting in a bikini on the beach posing as I would have years ago, but what I’ve gained from life is great experience and great knowledge."
Who can ask for more than that?
