My dinner with Dermot O'Leary, and why he's the perfect ally for Tourism Ireland

Story telling through food 

In Dermot’s Taste of Ireland, aside from Wexford, he travels to Dublin, Kinsale, Cork and Belfast, not only meeting local food entrepreneurs but also following some of his passions, such as learning to play the traditional sport of hurling, which his dad excelled at, and exploring the Titanic story in Belfast.

“So much of this was a journey of discovery for me,” he says. “I’ve been pitched doing stuff in Ireland many times, but it’s all been a bit riddley diddley dee, not getting under the skin of it or going on a proper journey.”

In the series, he goes on a culinary pilgrimage, which morphs into a history lesson too, because so much of that is linked: “Telling the Irish story through food is really interesting. I’d no idea what a busy port Cork was, and how that shaped Cork’s food story,” he muses.

The regional variations were a revelation, as he crossed the length and width of the country: “You expect that the food in Italy will be very different based on the climate and it’s incredibly regional, and we don’t think about Northern Europe in the same way, but actually it’s exactly the same. The food you’ll get in Belfast could very different to the food you’ll get in Cork, for example.”

Being second-generation and not ever having lived in Ireland, he tells me his view of the destination was shaped by his summer holidays there and consuming unfamiliar brands more readily available in Ireland.

“The strange thing about any second-generation family is that you have a version of the tastes of home, but it’s the recipes rather than the produce. For the Irish, your mum cooks stew or bacon and cabbage.

He continues: “When you go back to Ireland, the produce is really interesting because it’s familiar and foreign at the same time. Red Lemonade, Taytos crisps, HB ice cream – those were the memories for me.”

Hollow legs

Nowadays, his tastes are a little more sophisticated – see the conveyer belt of celebrity chefs that teach viewers to cook on This Morning – but a show about food was always going to appeal to Dermot.

“Like all my generation, I’d never leave food on my plate,” he says of growing up in Essex in the seventies and eighties. “We used to go to the local carvery after mass on a Sunday, and I had hollow legs, I could literally eat roast beef all day. I suppose we’d call it being a foodie now, but back then, I just loved food.”

He also enjoyed seafood, ever since his mum used to fry up fresh mackerel in their holiday caravan: “It stunk up the place completely. But it was so wonderful. And that was my first taste of fish. I would’ve been relatively young and yet I adored it.”

While he’s up for trying anything, his taste buds did find their limit while filming in Ireland.

At the Farmgate Café in Cork’s English Market – which he credits as serving the best Irish stew he’s ever devoured – he was offered tripe and drisheen.

“It’s tripe and onions cooked in milk, and you think it couldn’t get any worse than that. Then they add a sausage, which you think can’t be that bad. But somehow, they’ve contrived to add the worst sausage of all time, which is a pickled drisheen.”

Something equally memorable for Dermot, but for more palatable reasons was Saltrock Dairy near Wexford, where founder Catherine Kinsella sells her milk within a 20-to-30-mile radius. “I had the best time with Catherine,” says Dermot. “She could take her wares to Dublin and probably make a lot more money that way but she really cares about the circular economy and wants other people to be doing the same all over Ireland.

“She has a beautiful trailer where you can get the likes of banana and salted caramel milkshakes, full of so much goodness.” There’s no point in asking for faddy low-fat versions, he quips, because there are none.   

Another couple of characters who made their mark were Robert Barrett and his wife Bhagya, who alongside Robert’s father, established Rebel City Distillery in Cork. “Bhagya sources all their botanicals from a women’s cooperative in Kerala,” explains Dermot. “The Maharani Irish Gin they produce is an incredible meeting of cultures, and they epitomised the whole show for me.”

While Cork’s historic Ford Factory was repurposed to house Rebel City Distillery, in Belfast Dermot explores McConnell’s, where whiskey is created in a space that used to be a gaol during the Troubles. “There’s an unbelievable distillery based there now, and it was so good to see the whiskey scene alive and kicking,” he says.

And exhale...

Food may be the hook for the programme, but the sweeping panoramas on screen will make a big impression on your clients and hopefully inspire them to book a holiday to Ireland.

And Dermot’s not done with selling Ireland to me yet: “There’s something for everyone,” he enthuses.” I love the seaside and beaches, and the Irish coastline is stunning. It’s so dramatic, with incredible drives and walks, and the middle of the country has a lot going for it as well, it’s such a brilliantly ancient and modern country at the same time.”

“It’s quite a big space for so few people. When I go to see my mum and dad, I always exhale, you know, you breathe out, and there’s something incredibly relaxing about that.”

It’s been quite the dinner – not only have Dermot and I chatted about Ireland, but also about his Toto the Ninja Cat series of books (yes, he does write them all himself); I’ve heard about the confusion that his full name – Sean Dermot Fintan O’Leary – can cause with passport officials who assume he’s simply Dermot O’Leary – and he and I have shared pictures of our children proudly wearing new school uniforms on our respective front door steps.

It’s very easy to talk with Ireland’s favourite second-generation son; he’s a true telly professional, exuding the same warmth and good humour in person as he does on screen. Dermot is hoping the series will be recommissioned, because he feels like he has only scratched the surface, and let’s hope so too, for the Irish tourism industry’s sake.

Read more: Discover five foodie hot spots in Ireland, inspired by Dermot’s new TV show