Room To Improve star Dermot Bannon has said his fellow architects was “shocked and angered” when they learned of evil killer architect Graham Dwyer’s double life.
Dermot – who returns to our screens with a new RTE One series of Room To Improve this Sunday – admitted that while he didn’t personally know jailed architect Dwyer, he knew colleagues who knew him and said everyone was shocked when they discovered he committed one of the most heinous crimes that shocked Ireland.
Dwyer was convicted of the murder of 36-year-old Elaine O’Hara in 2015. He is currently appealing his conviction after he was found guilty of murdering the vulnerable care worker in 2012 with his lawyers arguing that the retention of mobile phone data used in the case is an “opportunistic form of mass surveillance” that transforms phones into tracking devices that can reveal a detailed picture of every aspect of a person’s life.
Speaking exclusively to us, the popular TV host said: “No, I never have (met him), which is unusual as we’re the same age. I’ve never met him.
“I know people who know him and who worked with him. I know people who worked in the same practice as him - yes, it is a small world. Like everyone kind of knew Graham Dwyer. I never came across him, never met him but for a lot of people they were really shocked.
“It was amazing the double life that he lived. That was what I heard – that there were people who were friends of his who were genuinely shocked and angered by the second life he was leading,” he added.
Last September, we revealed that sadistic killer Dwyer is still registered as an architect in Ireland - but now his address on the official register changed from his native Cork to Co Laois where he is serving a life sentence in the Midlands prison for the murder of Ms O’Hara.
It was also revealed by us at the time that Dwyer was still registered with the Royal Institute of Architects Ireland (RIAI).
READ MORE: Murderer Graham Dwyer's professional address as architect switched to Laois where he is jailed
Dermot told of his shock over Dwyer while speaking to us ahead of his new series of Room To Improve, which airs this Sunday on RTE One.
The 49-year-old celebrity architect revealed he is set for a busy 2023 as he continues filming the popular hit show, as well as renovating a house in Rathgar, Dublin for families of Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients in need of a home away from home during long hospital stays.
The first episode will see an engaged couple soldier Conor and Amy renovate a derelict farmhouse in Tullamore in Offaly.
“Two of the projects were filmed during the pandemic, they were going on that long. They were finished during the summer.
“The first episode is gorgeous. Conor inherited his granny’s old farmhouse and what really makes it is the setting. It’s down the end of a lane, you go through the trees… as it stood, it was gorgeous and even though there was no windows in it, the place was in rack and ruin. My job was not to destroy that feeling.
“The yard itself. You know those old farmyards, where you are completely surrounded by stone buildings.. they have a view of the canal in Tullamore. It was the most gorgeous setting.”
Conor asked his friend Ronan from White Construction to undertake the big job but their budget is very tight, to renovate the old farm dwelling and incorporate a contemporary extension to the side of the house is going to cost a total of €325,000.
Due to the deep rooted family connection associated with the farmhouse, Conor insisted that the original traditional building keep its charming layout but be totally upgraded and that the extension compliment the old farmhouse façade. To make matters worse, Covid lockdown hit and Conor got sent to serve in Kosovo, leaving Amy to the decision making.
But Dermot said that despite the stresses, they were a “great couple” to work with, adding he loved seeing the different personalities coming out between them.
“Conor knew what Conor wanted. It was funny. The youngest couple of the series was pushing the biggest boulder up the hill. That’s why it’s going out on episode one.”
But the Dubliner said the budgets haven’t got any bigger compared to previous seasons.
“We have a really good efficient build. I don’t know if you remember on the last series, the couple in Blessington overlooking the lakes. The parents house will be on it.
“It is a lovely episode. I really enjoyed the journey, there is some really sweet moments for Carmel and Hugh. It was really emotional for them, they were leaving behind a home that they built for 40 years and then really struggling to think will their new home be as good.
“We finished it off during the summer and we’ve kept in contact. I got a lovely mass card off them at Christmas and that meant the absolute world to me.”
Dermot also reveals that he’s also set to showcase a renovation that was done on a “really tight budget” – and admitted the couple’s budget friendly E6K kitchen was his favourite on the series.
“I’m always onto people to invest in quality but they just didn’t have the money, so we have to be really inventive with really cheap materials. It was an old 1960s house, and we went with the vibe.
“An average kitchen in Ireland is about E15K , we built a really cool kitchen for E6K. Wait until you see it, it is my favourite kitchen in the entire series,” he added.
Room To Improve airs this Sunday on RTE One at 9:35pm.
