Miriam O’Callaghan admitted she’s very competitive at work and rubbished any chance of retirement anytime soon saying she plans to work until her 90s.
And despite cementing herself as one of RTE’s biggest broadcasters, the Prime Time host admitted she still obsesses over her viewing figures.
“I’m known for being addicted to figures,” she told Irish Daily Mirror.
“I've always felt there's no point in being elitist. You know, like primetime is there for people to watch. And I want people to watch this. Yes, I know the figures before anyone else.
The RTÉ Radio One host, who is pulls in over 300,000 listeners weekly to her Sunday with Miriam morning show, went on: “And on my radio show. I’m very competitive.
“People go ‘what? Why’ and i think what is the point in broadcasting a show just for yourself, and people who know everything about current affairs.
“The whole point is my taxi driver there was watching last night and I was delighted.”
Speaking on Wednesday morning, just hours after hosting Prime Time on Tuesday night, Miriam said she has been blown away by the new wave of viewers tuning in to her current affairs programme since the pandemic.
“You’re talking about 400,000, like it’s massive. I won't do all the comparisons,” she added laughing.
But being on the top doesn’t mean she plans to slow down or become comfortable anytime soon, as she told why she’ll never stop pushing to strive to become even more successful.
“The day I do that is the day I'll just give up, you know, I just think it matters. I still have the same passion for it.
“So yes, I do still love it just as much. And I feel during the pandemic, we were blessed.”
And the 62-year-old broadcaster, who recently became a grandmother for the first time, added that age will never stop her in her tracks.
She explained that as she’s not staff with RTÉ, as a freelance contractor she’s not obliged to leave at 65 like some of her colleagues, including Mary Kennedy, before her.
“I can go on forever. Barbara Walters is still working in her 90s so that’s my plan.”
She went on: “No, I'll probably[keep working]like all the big American hosts, like Oprah is still at the top of her game. Yeah. She did the biggest interview ever with Harry and Meghan. She's in her late 60s. So no, I'll be keeping going on. Yeah, I think it's important for women.”
Speaking at the launch of World Autism Awareness Month, the busy presenter and mother of eight said she’d love to follow in Oprah’s footsteps with blockbuster interviews shows.
“Now in Ireland it is slightly smaller but they do come up, you know, big ticket items do come up with big stories. And I'm always competitive and I'm lucky. My name carries a bit of weight. So you know, yeah. I love what I do.”
Meanwhile behind the camera, Miriam said she’s busy enjoying life as a first-time grandmother after her daughter Alannah and husband Fiachra welcomed a beautiful new arrival last year Éabha Anne Breathnach.
The baby’s name is a nod to the memory of Miriam’s sister Anne, who passed away from cancer when she was just 33 years of age, leaving behind two little girls and a husband.
Miriam, who goes by ‘Nana’ to the now one-year-old said she’s besotted with her new granddaughter, but told that she prefers not to talk about her too much, as she did with her own kids throughout her high profile career.
Despite her already busy household, with her four sons living at home, she said she would have loved to have been able to house Ukrainian refugees if she had the space.
“They’re [rooms] all full. I was thinking in the future. I have five bedrooms and my four sons at home. And myself and Steve. So we don't have a free bedroom.
“But definitely, if I had space if I had a bedroom, yeah, just as at the moment I have three boys in college, and one in school. And a dog. But isn’t that great. I feel really lucky.”
Meanwhile, just off the back of her High Court Facebook settlement, where she received an unreserved apology from the social network over over several defamatory and untrue adverts that were posted on the social media platform, she said she’s hoping her win will encourage others to pursue any wrongdoings.
“I couldn’t believe it. They are one of the biggest global companies in the world.
“I'm a TV presenter in a teeny country. Yeah. Other people have gone against them. And have failed. But I was lucky. I had brilliant lawyers Paul Tweed is as a genius.. Five years on, because it was stressful."
Included in the settlement agreement, Meta Platforms Ireland, formerly known as Facebook Ireland, has agreed to establish a scam ad reporting tool.
This will allow Irish users to submit reports on misleading adverts to a specialist team within Facebook for review.
She encouraged others in a similar situation not to be deterred by the fear of losing to the social media giant, adding: “Keep going, I was over the moon. I couldn’t believe it. I was pinching myself. And in fairness to Facebook in the end we got a new reporting tool.”
Miriam was speaking at the official Irish launch of World Autism Month alongside Adam Harris, CEO of AsIAm, musician and advocate Dervla Burke and autistic writer Stefanie Preissner to officially announce the ‘Same Chance’ campaign which will run throughout April.
The campaign includes a new report on attitudes towards autistic people in Ireland and aims to ensure autistic people are afforded the same chance in life from school, friendship, employment and access to public services.
Donations can be made directly by visiting www.asiam.ie
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