Louise Cantillon: "I get such joy when people get in touch with the show bilingually"

Having started out with Spin Southwest, the broadcasting career of 31-year-old Limerick native Louise Cantillon went to another level at the start of 2024, when she landed the coveted 12-2pm lunchtime show on Today FM. Also known for her work on TG4, Cantillon began teaching after college, but had her eye on radio and TV from an early age.

“As soon as I started working part-time, my first job was with Spin Southwest,” she recalls. “I was with their marketing team, driving a little Mini Cooper around the southwest. I got such a taste of media, going to gigs and doing live links. I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, what can I do to make this my full-time job?’

“But it’s a tough business to break into, there’s no doubt about it. So I kind of did the sensible thing at the beginning, and when I left college, I started teaching and did that for three years. Then I got my permanent teaching job, and as soon as I got it, I applied for a career break. I was like, ‘I know what I want.’

“All the while, I was working weekend on radio, doing bits with TG4 – and it was the best decision I ever made. Now, I did take the career break pre-pandemic, and then the world closed down. So I was like, ‘No!’ Buy you know what? You figure it out. Media adapted, and yeah, I’m so glad – I don’t ever envisage going back.”

What have been her highlights of doing the Today FM show?

“Everyday is a highlight, honestly,” enthuses Cantillon. “That sounds so cliched, but I’m working on a national station. And I have no radio training – I can’t do the fancy tech things. I can literally turn my microphone on and play a few jingles, so I’m pinching myself. Every day, I’m going, ‘How am I on the same schedule as Ian Dempsey, Matt Cooper and the rest?’

“But I suppose the highlights would be moving to Dublin and getting a break this big. And part of my weekly schedule is chatting to big music stars and playing amazing music – and having the craic with the people of Ireland. It’s a dream!”

Lousie Cantillon. Photo: Abigail Ring.

As someone who works across radio, TV and podcasts, does Louise have a preferred medium?

“Today FM has the biggest reach, so being able to talk to the nation,” she considers. “What brings me the most pride is being able to do it bilingually. I was reared with Gaeilge and I went to Laurel Hill Colaiste.

My mom reared us speaking as Gaeilge, so we had it at home. For many people, when you grow up with another language, you can kind of be the weirdo, or having a second language can be unusual.

“But there’s such a sense of pride in being able to normalise the bilingual aspect on a national station. I get such joy when people get in touch with the show bilingually, because when I started off, it wasn’t always received like that.

“I remember some of the texts I got in were like, ‘Would she ever focal off – Sharon Ni Bheolain take a day off! (laughs).”

Though a proud Limerick native – her husband is Limerick hurling star Declan Hannon – Cantillon is now based in Dublin. What’s her ideal day out in the capital?

“I get an awful rising from my TG4 friends for living on the southside of the city!” she chuckles. “I’m very in my wellness era, so I’d start with something like morning yoga or a swim. Me and the podcast girls are great to do a manifestation dip at The Forty Foot – we’d go out for sunrise and have a little hot cocoa.

“Then we’d undo all the good with a delicious brunch and drinks! I love Tang for food and House on Leeson Street is always very nice. Also, an amazing thing I’ve found is that I can live a day in Dublin fully as Gaeilge. For example, at the Piper’s Corner pub in Clontarf, you can have a sing-song and session without speaking as Bearla.”

A fashion enthusiast, Louise is also a champion of Irish designers.

“This is my favourite topic!” she beams. “Today I’m wearing an outfit by a designer called Helen Cody, who also did my wedding dress – she’s based in Harold’s Cross and she’s real haute couture. I also love a Kerry designer called Colin Horgan, who’s dressed Lady Gaga and all these big celebrities.

I’m also a big fan of Sorcha O Raghallaigh and Aoife McNamara, a good Limerick woman who has a little cottage in Adare. She does beautiful corsets. Then there’s Greg Hall of Pellador, who lives over the border in Clare, but we won’t hold that against him! (laughs) You see all these celebs like Roy Keane wearing Pellador geansais and it’s amazing.”

Pellador.

What does Louise love most about the west of Ireland?

“It just has a draiocht,” she says. “If I’m in a city for too long, I actually feel it. I long to be by the Shannon or the Atlantic – somewhere like Dingle. Kerry really speaks to me. If you’ve lived in Limerick city, it’s special when you walk those three bridges and get King John’s Castle on a clear day. When you’re sitting out having a pint on the Shannon, there’s nothing like it.

“Also, Limerick is such a sporting city and it’s amazing for the arts. There’s so much happening and our soundness comes from being the underdog.”

As well as her radio duties, Cantillon also spreads the word on the Irish language via the How To Gael podcast, which she co-hosts with Siomhra Ni Ruairc and Doireann Ni Ghlacain.

“The three of us started in TG4 together,” she reflects. “We’re the exact same age and not that dissimilar – we’re all millennials who were like, ‘The world needs another podcast!’ (laughs). We wanted to do something together that would raise each other up. We’d meet each other all the time at auditions, going for the same job.

“So we went, ‘What can we do that drives us all on, gives a lift to the language, and lets people know how sexy gaeilge really is?!’ We brought How To Gael on tour in North America – we went to Vancouver and came back via Boston and New York. It shocked us how many of the diaspora live away from Ireland by choice – they can earn better salaries and live better lives.

“You realise the pride people have in the language; there was such an appetite for it and that’s amazing. We have a massive listenership in North America. A lot of it is Irish people, or second or third generation Irish, and they’re looking for a connection to the culture.”

Lousie Cantillon. Photo: Abigail Ring.

Coming back to the auld sod, does Louise have a favourite staycation spot?

“I’m going to say Dingle. I love going back for Feile Bealtaine, and Samhain is great – any turns of the pagan calendar, Dingle does it well! My friend Paul Geaney owns Geaney’s on the Main Street, which is a great spot. So is Paidi O Se’s out in Ventry. If you haven’t experienced a session out in Paidi’s, put it on your to-do list.

“If I was going to the other extreme and being really boujee, I got married in Adare Manor. Honestly, I will staycation in Adare Manor any day if I can afford it. How lucky are we in Limerick to have that world class luxury in our county?”

Finally, is Louise looking forward to any festivals or concerts this summer?

“I’m really excited for Charli XCX,” she says. “I had a brat girl summer last year, so I’m going to the Malahide Castle show. I’ll also be doing Electric Picnic – Today FM’s Sound Garden is back with a bang. I can’t wait to see Chappell Roan live.

“I think I’ll go to All Tomorrow’s Parties to see Fontaines D.C. And I’ve got tickets to Oasis, more so because my husband bought them. He’s a bigger fan than me, but I was like, ‘If you’re getting them, get two!’”

• Louise Cantillon is on Today FM weekdays from 12-2pm.

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