Marie-Louise O'Donnellin conversation with
GENEVEIVE CARBERY
What’s your earliest holiday memory?
I spent a lot of time at the lakes in Pontoon, Co Mayo. We sat on the rocks, swam, ate marmalade sandwiches and drank Club Orange. I also spent a lot of time at the beach in Enniscrone, jumping off the pier down at the seaweed baths.
What was your worst holiday?
Years ago on a very cheap flight to the States, I thought the plane was going to fall out of the sky. There were storms and problems with the plane, so we didn’t land where we were supposed to and were bussed to New York. The city wasn’t as friendly as I expected. I thought it was going to be romantic, full of theatre and jazz but it was too rushed. The flight frightened the life out of me and I didn’t fly for years after that.
What was your best holiday?
I had never been to Paris, so going at 50 was like being a child, it was exhilarating. I knew what it was to be a citizen when I went to Paris. The city is for the people, with all the parks and places to sit by the river. There is something beautiful to see everywhere you turn, from the architecture to the well-preserved culture. They are so unashamed and beloved of their country. I think you appreciate somewhere like this when you are older as you have read about it in poetry and prose, seen it in films and heard the music. It makes everything come alive.
If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?
I’d like to visit Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom which has gone the furthest in making happiness the goal of government. In 1972, the king decided to make GNH (gross national happiness) not GDP the country’s chief measure of success, imagine! It used to be the “Yellow Brick Road” and Oz, so it’s great to know that it really exists and that I might have the opportunity to visit.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?
Probably a very good female friend that I know well. But it would be nice to go with a potential male partner because a holiday will dictate if the relationship survives. I’d also like to go with someone who has the same childlike enthusiasm rather than a cynic.
What’s your favourite place in Ireland?
I love Mayo, where I was born. I love to sit at the lakes in Pontoon reading, with the mountain Nephin in the distance. I also love the long wide beach at Enniscrone, walking to the Valley of the Diamonds.They say you like to revisit the places you were happiest as a child.
Your recommended holiday reading?
I tend to bring poetry or short stories on holidays, so I can read a bit of them and move on to do something else. I’d recommend poetry by Rita Ann Higgins, anything written by Dylan Thomas or short stories such as Saints and Sinners by Edna O’Brien or Foster by Claire Keegan.
Where will you go to next?
I hope to do something different in September, maybe go to Italy and drive through the countryside.
* Marie-Louise O’Donnell is a lecturer in the School of Communications at DCU and a broadcaster.