Neven Maguire: 'In '73...the front of our house was bombed. It wa

Chef Neven Maguire was in studio on The Ray D’Arcy Show to take Ray through the soundtrack to his life so far. During their wide-ranging conversation spanning Neven’s childhood (when it was already “all about food”) to his life right now, Neven recounted what it was like to grow up near the border during The Troubles.

Neven explained that his parents made the decision to close their restaurant in Blacklion, Co. Cavan, during The Troubles.

“In ’73…the front of our house was bombed. It was the UVF, like, who put a car outside the restaurant in front of the Garda station and it kind of destroyed the whole front of our restaurant. You know, I think back to The Troubles. They were tough times...Mum and Dad decided they would close and then re-opened in 1989 when I was taking an interest.”

Neven described how his mother continued to work during the closure, serving a niche gap in the market.

“Mum ran a Bed & Breakfast. So, she would have kept a lot of the Guards. In Blacklion, there was 59 Guards at that time on border patrol…Cooking was her life, that’s what she did. So, as well as raising a family, she had to pay the bills.”

Listen back to the full interview with Neven, including some of his favourite music and cultural influences, on The Ray D’Arcy Show here.