Chasing The Dream

**** STOP PRESS ****

In addition to our incredible speakers, we’ve plenty of treats in store for all! Each attendee will receive a gift bag with fab, full-size?Trilogy products and an #EarlyHair blowdry at Di Milo. Our Twitter prize is an overnight stay for two with dinner at the glorious?Tankardstown House,?Co. Meath, courtesy of Ireland’s Blue Book, and we have vouchers for?Mink Hand and Foot Spa?for three lucky ladies… And if all that’s not enough, our partners?Samsung have three?Galaxy Alpha?phones for IMAGE early birds, which will be won on the morning.

Television and radio broadcaster?Claire Byrne has worked extensively in current affairs across British and Irish media. Currently presenting Claire Byrne Live on Monday nights on RTE1 and Saturday with Claire Byrne on Radio One her fluidity and quick-thinking sees her seamlessly move between topics and features. We catch up with Claire for a quick chat ahead of the next IMAGE Networking Breakfast…

As a little girl, what did you want to be when you grew up? I always wanted to be a journalist – or a novelist. I probably saw myself as being the next Enid Blyton because of my addiction to the Faraway Tree, but I quickly realised that I didn’t have the wit or the patience to sit down and write as fabulously as I thought I might.

If you were to put it down to a few things, what do you think is responsible for your current position and role in RTE? I think I am a hard worker and I love what I do. I feel very responsible for being the voice of my listeners/viewers and always try to remember that my job is to ask the questions that the audience would like to have asked.

What’s the first thing you tune in to when you wake up? I check my emails and the newspapers online, have a look at Twitter and then I switch on Morning Ireland and Newstalk and switch between the two.

What do you enjoy best about your work? I love the feeling after a programme when we have done a good job and know that we have hit the mark and made the type of show that was interesting, lively and informative. We are always chasing the best show we can possibly make.

What are the constants in a good interview? A good interview happens when the interviewer and the interviewee forget that they are in a radio or a television studio and talk to each other like normal human beings would.

How much do you prepare, and how much do you go with the flow? How do you know which is right to do? I am always prepared and hate when I feel that I am not ready for an interview. I think that being well-briefed on the topic is the least that I owe the person who has taken the trouble to come in an do an interview. Having said that, often the best interviews will go off on a tangent that you don’t expect and sometimes, that’s when the magic happens!

Claire will speak at the next IMAGE Networking Breakfast with Kathy Sheridan and Shane Pearson in the Marker Hotel at 7.30am on Thursday, March 12. Tickets are just €45 and are available here. For more information, email [email protected] or call 01 271 9653.