RTE’s celebrity architect Dermot Bannon has said the people of Donegal are the most modest he has met and don’t like to show off.
Bannon’s show ‘Room to Improve’ is one of the biggest hits on television.
Earlier this year he traveled to Donegal where he helped Daniel and Majella O’Donnell to do up their Kincasslagh home.
But Bannon revealed that Donegal people certainly aren’t show-offs.
He said “Donegal is a county as well where they are not that showy, it’s not the done thing to be showy. It’s not a showy county and it’s not the done thing to wear your wealth.”
But Bannon reckons multi-millionaire singer Daniel will be ‘frugal until he dies’.
The Room to Improve architect had an infamous row with the singer during the most watched episode ever of the show last season.
Despite Daniel being worth €31 million, tensions rose between the pair as the budget for the build soared from their original limit of €200,000 to almost double that at €395,000.
The Dublin architect said “Daniel is one of those people, I don’t think he cares, he could make €2 million, or €20 million or €20,000 he does what he does and he will be frugal until the day he dies and that’s just the way he is.
“I know Daniel quite well now and Daniel is just one of these people who puts a huge value on money. And I mean that in a good way, he just knows the value of everything. He just doesn’t like waste and that was him.
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“But I suppose whether he earned €20,000 or €2 million in a year, if you are that kind of person, if you have been brought up that way, if you have been brought up with a very frugal background you are going to be frugal.
“Daniel does all his own, like for someone who reportedly makes two million a year, you’d think he’d send out the clothes. I’ve seen him do all his ironing and
Majella’s ironing, he even ironed my shirt and so he is just that kind of person and he lives a very simple life.”
He also admitted: “I’m quite frugal, my dad was incredibly frugal. He would drive 10 miles to a petrol station because it was 2 cent cheaper you know I was brought up with that and I would do the same.”