Radio presenter Chris Donoghue in conversation with
GENEVIEVE CARBERY
What’s your earliest holiday memory?
My first foreign holiday on a plane to Spain aged about seven. I remember how much fuss it was going to the airport – you even had special clothes for the airport. Compared to now it was such a big deal. When I was younger I treasured the yearly exodus to Donegal every May. We would go to Bundoran before it was a surf mecca.
What was your worst holiday?
I’ve never had a horror holiday experience. But I had a bad travel experience when I was in the US covering the 2008 presidential election and decided to go to Arizona as I’d never seen it before. I missed a flight from Arizona and that had a knock-on effect of missing my flight home from New York. They wouldn’t let me on the plane even though I could see it. So I ended up stranded in New York. It was the day Yankee stadium was closing down, every hotel was booked and there wasn’t even an airport hotel available. I spent 24 hours in the airport, it was miserable.
What was your best holiday? Road trips in either South Africa or New Zealand. The people are very down to earth and both countries make so much of outdoor natural beauty. In New Zealand, I had my first couple of hotels booked and after that I was just deciding my own fate.
I did bungee jumping in Queenstown on the South Island. It was something I never thought I would do. In South Africa, I went to Gainsbaai on the Garden Route and dived with sharks. There is a stunning nature reserve and lots of whales at Cape of Good Hope. What they have in abundance is nature.
If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?
I haven’t been anywhere in South America, so I’d like to go to as many countries there as possible. If I had three weeks off I’d like to go to China because it’s so vast, so different.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?
I’m very selective about who I go on holidays with. I’ve done holidays with a group of friends where you end up minding someone. So I’d pick two friends, Tom and Anna. They are the same as me, they like fun and adventure, like jumping off things, but if there is trouble they can look after themselves.
What’s your favourite place in Ireland?
West Cork and Kerry, from Union Hall up to Bantry, Sneem and Inch Strand.
Your recommended holiday reading?
Nothing too heavy as I read heavy enough stuff for work. So no biographies as I don’t want to share my holiday with Tony Blair or Bill Clinton. I like a whodunnit by Michael Connolly and I always read the local papers as it gives you a great sense of where you are and the attitude of people around you.
Where will you go to next?
I had to cancel a holiday because of my new job. I had booked a two-week holiday in Ukraine with my friends. They had a great time, but tried to play it down afterwards. It was unfortunate timing.
Chris Donoghue co-presents Newstalk Breakfast with Ivan Yates, weekdays on Newstalk