Craic On

Last week I was able to chat with Daniel O’Donnell for five minutes on the phone. But it took 5 hours to there.

I contacted the Minnesota host of the Malarkey program – radio with an Irish accent – David O’Sullivan (Kerry). David and his co-host Siobhan Kierans (Louth) host a half hour weekly Irish Program on KFAI radio on Monday night. I thought it would be a coupe to pick-up Daniel O’Donnell for a telephone interview. I did not expect my suggestion to be ricocheted back to me.

So armed with credentials from Malarkey Radio I start calling people up..for a long time. In this the age of emailing, texting, and skyping – I think people found it refreshing to call them on the telephone. The calls turned into emails and then a phone call from Arizona. Her people were going to talk to Daniel O’Donnell’s people. It sounded doubtful. Daniel O’Donnell was on a whirlwind tour that started and ended in Canada with North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, and then back to Canada and then off home to Ireland. He needed rest when he could get it.

But I had heard it was 110 degrees Fahrenheit in Arizona on the news! I had to comment on it. What was it like to live at 110 degrees? In turn Daniel O’Donnell’s press agent queried what was it like to live in Minnesota at 10 below zero this past winter. We exchanged weather small talk. It seems Arizonans like to talk about the weather as much as Minnesotans. I hung up the phone only to answer it a few minutes later. I was given a number to talk to Daniel O’Donnell but I had to connect NOW!

My three questions were on post it notes with little arrows leading to more post it notes. I called the number and I was talking to Daniel O’Donnell. Just like that. Post it notes were being pasted all over the counter top to the previous post it notes as I talked to Daniel O’Donnell. It was beginning to look like a Buddhist monk’s mandala. But I got enough information and recording for Malarkey radio off my cell phone held up to the land line phone.

Daniel O’Donnell invited me back stage with my mom before the show. I was given the name of Patricia Duggan who picked us up from the ticketing area and whisked us down long white hallways. A quick knock on the dressing room door and Daniel stepped out for a few minutes for a meet and greet. He was wearing a track suit with less than half and hour before the show. A quick pix with Daniel and we were escorted back to the lobby. All in a day’s work!

Mom with Daniel O’Donnell.