Darragh O’Dea

Chewing pens and lots of coffee are the secrets to working in radio if you’re Darragh O’Dea – and a decent measure of passion helps

Darragh present the ‘98 Night Train’  four nights a week as well as Saturdays and Sundays from 3 to 6 pm – most of which involve being live from some part of Dublin on 98’s Thunderbus.

Best memories include being on Clonliffe Road before the Take That gig; thinking, where is everyone – until a “sea of women” turned the corner. He says he loves the buzz of tens of thousands of people walking by 98’s Thunderbus and saying hi.

He got involved with 98 after “seven years of pestering” because he always admired the heritage of 98, and without getting too soppy, Darragh says being here is like coming home – awwww.

Darragh got his start in radio at 15, broadcasting from a shed in South Dublin from 1 a.m. until 8 o’clock and says it nearly cost him his Inter Cert.

Radio is like the army, it’s a calling, according to Darragh, who loves the connection with the audience and feels so proud when he walks into the local spar and hears 98 playing.

Having spent time in regional stations all over the country – one of his scariest moments on-air was when around 2000 CD’s fell on him and managed to knock the station off-air and nearly knock him out.

But you know what? He says he couldn’t think of a better way to go