At home with Sheana Keane

With two young children, a busy TV career and the small matter of an impending house-move, you couldn’t blame Sheana Keane for coming across a tad flustered right now. In fact “barely controlled chaos” is how she describes home life at the moment.

“It is pretty hysterical,” she laughs. “There is clutter everywhere and almost every electronic gadget in the house is broken. We’ve decided we’re not going to buy anything until we move to the new place. We’ve two broken CD players; even the radio in the car is broken, so any music is played on the laptop. But we will go high-tech as soon as we move, that’s going to be a dream for me to have an actual CD player that works.”
Keane has had a varied career to date including a long spell as a management consultant in the US and UK advising corporate professionals on turning their lives around. Having started her TV career as a researcher on the RTÉ travel show Wanderlust, she subsequently worked on shows such as the Health Squad but she is best known these days as the bubbly co-presenter of RTÉ 1’s popular Afternoon Show which she fronts with Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh.
She returned for the third series this autumn after taking a break for a year to focus on family life. “I was actually quite surprised to be asked back,” she reveals. “I knew Anna [Nolan] was leaving but it didn’t occur to me that it would happen for me again. I was still on maternity leave when they asked me would I do it. The first month was difficult because I wasn’t totally prepared for it but I was eventually able to get a child-minder so it’s great now and I love it.”
Originally from Howth in north county Dublin, Keane has chosen city living over life in suburbs. Home for the past four years has been two floors of an old Georgian house in Ballsbridge, a short stroll from the centre of Dublin, which she shares with her husband, two and a half year old Isabelle and six-month old Arthur. “I just love being able to walk everywhere,” she says.” I can walk into town, walk to work and I’m near my family and all my friends. I just love that freedom and I love old Dublin. It’s very beautiful and you feel very much a part of the city when walk down magnificent old streets like Raglan Road. There’s something about being in the heart of things – and it’s so eclectic with so many different kinds of people. The only downside of where we live is we wouldn’t let the kids outside the front door. But we’re moving to a more family-friendly place not far from here – we’re definitely staying in the city,”
As a TV presenter and something of a celebrity around town, Keane says she once enjoyed a busy social life. However, since the arrival of children on the scene she concedes things have changed dramatically.
“Oh my goodness I just can’t believe how much my life has changed since I had kids,” she laughs. “My social life has pretty much gone belly up and I’m living off my memories at this stage. And I did have great social life all through my teens and 20s. Even after we got married we traveled all over. But I’m ready for this phase of my life and I’m quite happy the way things are right now. I wouldn’t have been ready a few years ago even though I had started slowing down a bit.”
Quite a change of lifestyle you’d have to agree, but what does she do for fun these days? “Oh, I’m cultivating the art of the perfect night in,” she laughs. “A glass of wine is definitely involved and I’ll always have someone around, whether it’s my best friend or my mum. We’ve some great neighbours that we hang out with a lot and I love just cooking a supper for everyone. I’m not in to formal dinners or anything like that just casual nights in.”
Presumably television is one method of entertainment that she can indulge in once the kids are packed off to bed? “I don’t watch as much TV as you’d think but when I do, I watch a bit of everything. We do soap reviews on the show, so we have to keep up to date with them and I like everything from total rubbish to documentaries. The intellectual side of me watches Channel 4 documentaries but then I watch X Factor with Simon Cowell. I know it’s rubbish but it’s water-cooler TV isn’t it? You have to watch stuff like that if you want to chat to your friends.”
She reveals that a plasma screen may be on the cards once she moves to the new house (currently being renovated), something she’s not all that happy about. “I know that the architect and my husband are talking about where to put a plasma but personally I just don’t like those large TV screens – they become too much of a focal point. It’s like saying ‘this is the most important thing in the room’. So if we do go for one I want it to be hidden away when it’s not in use.”
Finally, with Christmas on the horizon and two children in the house, things will be even busier over the coming weeks for Keane. “Yeah, having kids has given Christmas a whole a new lease of life for me. Isabelle is just the right age – last year she didn’t really understand all the preparations. But I adore Christmas, it’s my favourite time of year and I’m looking forward to it. In fact I’m making my Christmas cake right now.”
Pics: Cathal Dawson