She’s already written 20,000 words of her next book. "It’ll have to sit in an untouched file in the computer for the next couple of months until we see how things go. It is such a busy, busy time in news, and it's very hard to look away. And I think if you start something new, you have to give it your full commitment; you have to focus on it 100%."
It sounds as if she’s very disciplined with her time, but she says only when she has to be. "I’m one of those people who feel bad about not fitting everything in. I am a list maker and sometimes I find myself going around with ridiculous lists, ones that nearly say ‘brush teeth’ and I’m not sure that’s a good thing. I get up in the morning and write lists and get that sense of satisfaction when you tick something off. I can be organised and disciplined, but I can also be very disorganised."
She lives in Dublin with her husband, Eamon Quinn, an economics writer and former business editor of the Irish Examiner. Much of her downtime is spent consuming books, both audio and printed, as well as podcasts. When she really wants to switch off, she’ll go to matches, football and hurling in particular.
"I support Clare and it's a good year for them. This year, I’ve been a very poor supporter but there would be years when you’re trying to fit in maybe seven or eight matches between league and championship."
Having been a familiar voice on radio for over 30 years, listeners probably feel that they know Rachael quite well. But is there a big difference between her public and private personas?
"They’re probably quite similar," she offers. "I think one of the things about doing radio is it can be very difficult to hide, so over a long period of time, probably your true self does come out. Am I interested in publicity or any of that? Obviously, I accept that it's something you have to do and as a journalist I’m especially conscious of that. Is it something that I feel particularly comfortable with? No, I far prefer asking the questions, but I would say, yes, anybody who listens to radio a lot probably has a good idea of who I am at this stage. Like I say, on live radio it's very difficult to hide. Even though you might think that you can stick to the script, you can't really."
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