HIGHLAND RADIO’S John Breslin admits that most people think he has the cushiest number in the world.
Tell a couple of funny gags from the morning papers, spin a few discs between 7 and 10am and the rest of the day is his.
But the truth is that the Peter Pan of Donegal’s most-popular radio station has more jobs than the IDA.
Because when the father-of-three stops releasing those little light-hearted bubbles of information over the airwaves and hand’s over the microphone to Shaun Doherty, his day is only just beginning.
“I only wish I finished at 10am. A lot of people do think that. But they’re obviously not the same people that get telephone calls from me to check their adverts if they have a business.
“I do sales for the Letterkenny area for the station and that’s a very busy number. And although some people might think I just make it up as I go along, a little bit of work has to be done preparing the next day’s show,” he admits.
John started life as a chef having trained in Killybegs Catering College and served his time in the kitchen of the supertrawler the Veronica.
But he was soon making his own waves after a stint with pirate station KTOK.
John struck up a relationship with a certain Charlie Collins who invited him on board the good ship Highland radio in 1992 – and the rest is history.
John initially filled in for everybody and anybody including Heather Patterson and Ashley Martin before making the Breakfast Show his own a couple of years later.
John, 44, says he doesn’t have any big secret as to why the show is so popular apart from the fact that people like his easy-listening style.
“I try not to bombard people with too much too early in the morning. I like the fact that I can choose the music and people have responded quite well to that.
“It’s light-hearted and it’s fun and I throw in some different bits of information I might have picked up that morning. Yeah it seems to work well,” he says in a very casual John Breslin style.
He does admit however that he appreciates the pressure that is on his shoulders especially in the current cold snap when thousands of parents and pupils listen to see if their school is closed or open for classes.
“I used not to think about it but now I do. A lot of people are depending on me breaking the news to them and it’s a big responsibility to have in a community,” he says.
When he does get some spare time, John is one of the first names down on the Highland Radio football team and loves nothing better than some down time with the family – wife Sinead Bradley and the couple’s three daughters Keira, 5, Aoife, 4 and Sarah, 2.
John says he’s more than comfortable having fronted the Breakfast Show for almost 18 years.
But not even two decades rising at 5.45am each weekday morning will ever help him forget his most embarrassing moment live on air.
“It has to be the time I was talking about Bob Geldof. I meant to say he was the man who masterminded Live Aid but of course I said he was the man who masturbated Life Aid. I just had to carry on as if nothing had happened and then die later,” he admits.
So the next time you hear Breslin slipping on the latest CD from the past or telling the story about the world’s biggest cat, think about all the hard work that has gone into it.
And remember that he’s not heading back to bed at 10.30am…..or so he says!
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