{"id":606990,"date":"2026-08-28T07:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T07:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/606990\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T07:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T07:06:10","slug":"claire-byrne-i-have-to-exercise-most-days-or-i-cant-function","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/606990\/","title":{"rendered":"Claire Byrne: I have to exercise most days, or I can\u2019t function"},"content":{"rendered":"

The early afternoon sun is streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Marconi House\u2019s conference room when broadcaster Claire Byrne breezes in. The Newstalk presenter has been on the go since 5am and already has a full day\u2019s work done, but, dressed in a coral co-ord, her hair and make-up immaculate, she looks as fresh as the proverbial daisy.<\/p>\n

She thoughtfully moves a chair to give the Irish Examiner\u2019s photographer a clean background for his final few shots before sitting down to chat.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s in work mode from the minute she wakes up, she tells me, \u201cchecking the newspapers on my phone with one eye open\u201d. As she gets ready, it\u2019s on with the BBC World Service, followed by Shane Beatty\u2019s Breakfast Briefing on Newstalk \u2014 \u201csuch a useful resource\u201d \u2014 and BBC Radio 4. Then, after a half-hour commute from her Co Wicklow home, she arrives at Newstalk\u2019s city-centre studios for 6.30am, from which point it\u2019s \u201cfull on\u201d.<\/p>\n

By 9am, Byrne is live on air, presenting three hours of breaking news, current affairs, showbiz, and interviews, followed by a debrief and discussion of the next day\u2019s programme. \u201cThen some work happens in the office, and generally I will leave early enough in the afternoon, collect my children from school, feed them, do whatever life-admin bits I need to do, and then I work again in the evening towards the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n

By any standards, it\u2019s an intense schedule, but at this stage of the game, Byrne, who brought her 15-year career at RT\u00c9 to an end for a fresh start at Newstalk earlier this year, is clear on what she needs to do to sustain that hectic pace.<\/p>\n

She aims to be asleep by 10pm during the week. \u201cIf I\u2019m staying up late and still wandering around the house after 10 o\u2019clock, it\u2019s a disaster. I need my sleep, and as I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019ve realised that I can\u2019t burn the candle at both ends. It doesn\u2019t serve anybody well around me, or myself. Sleep is key.\u201d<\/p>\n

When we meet, the latest round of JNLRs has just been released; the second tranche of listenership figures since Byrne took over Pat Kenny\u2019s NewsTalk slot in February. For Byrne, it is good news: The Claire Byrne Show has gained 4,000 listeners since May, upping its audience to an impressive 210,000. While there is every reason to celebrate, Byrne is measured about her success. \u201cIt\u2019s great. We\u2019re on the right path, but the work never stops to try and grow the audience,\u201d is her pragmatic take. \u201c It\u2019s positive, but I\u2019m conscious that we have work to do still.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that the 51-year-old applies the same measured philosophy to dealing with life in the spotlight and the trolls that can follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou probably don\u2019t ever get used to people being nasty about you, but it has less of an effect,\u201d she says, and while she doesn\u2019t actively go looking for online commentary about herself, \u201csometimes there might be a message that comes to you directly, and you\u2019ll see it, and think, \u2018What is wrong with that person that they\u2019ve gone out of their way to say that to me?\u2019 There\u2019s probably something going on in that person\u2019s life that means they have to hit out at somebody like me, who doesn\u2019t know them and probably never will. But it\u2019s never nice to be on the receiving end of trolls.\u201d<\/p>\n

She accepts that it\u2019s part of being in a high-profile position. \u201cI\u2019ve been around long enough to know that being discussed publicly is par for the course. So you have to just take it, and if it\u2019s too much, then you probably shouldn\u2019t be in the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exercise is essential<\/p>\n

\"ClaireClaire Byrne: I need my sleep, and as I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019ve realised that I can\u2019t burn the candle at both ends. Picture: Gareth Chaney<\/p>\n

A decent night\u2019s sleep doubtless helps her stay grounded, while another \u201cnon-negotiable\u201d that helps keep her on track is regular exercise. Over time, she has changed the way she approaches her fitness, segueing from training intensely towards a goal, such as a half-marathon, and then doing no exercise at all, to more recently embracing a more consistent regimen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve realised over the last, say, five years, is that I have to exercise most days of the week or I can\u2019t function. It\u2019s just so beneficial,\u201d she says. \u201cI exercise at home, because if I have to go out and do it, I won\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has a \u201cvery basic\u201d weights set-up, and since the pandemic, has followed the strength training routines of Co Antrim-based personal trainer Caroline Girvan. \u201cI started following her then, and now she\u2019s moved to an app [CGX by Caroline Girvan]. I find her absolutely brilliant. I\u2019ll do her workouts, which are about 40 minutes, between three and five times a week, depending on how my week is working out. Once I have ticked that box, I\u2019m done. I find it great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weight training also means she no longer does \u201cmadcap\u201d diets, but chooses instead to eat healthily.<\/p>\n

\n I\u2019m not going to deny myself a bit of chocolate or a glass of wine on a Friday night, and that suits me, and I\u2019m happy with that. Cutting out food groups and all that stuff, that\u2019s history for me. I just won\u2019t do it.\n <\/p>\n

As she has got older, she says, she\u2019s realised, \u201clife is for living, everything in moderation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Byrne used to run, but found it \u201chard on the body\u201d. Strength training makes her feel \u201cmore resilient\u201d and that she\u2019s \u201cachieving something\u201d, she says, and she notices she\u2019s stronger as a result. \u201cI can feel it when I\u2019m taking the shopping out of the car, or having to do any kind of physical work\u201d.<\/p>\n

An added benefit is that since she began \u201cdoing it religiously\u201d she hasn\u2019t been sick, \u201ctouch wood\u201d.<\/p>\n

With three children \u2014 Patrick, 12, Jane, 11, and Emma, nine \u2014 the flexibility of being able to work out at home is essential for the Laois native.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to be able to do it on my terms, or I won\u2019t get it done. It has to fit into my day, because a lot of what we are doing now at home is dropping people off and collecting people. Obviously, we don\u2019t have nappies, but we have all of the different activities that they do, so we\u2019re very busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Importance of family time<\/p>\n

\"YouYou probably don\u2019t ever get used to people being nasty about you, but it has less of an effect. Picture: Gareth Chaney<\/p>\n

At home, the other half of that \u2018we\u2019 is Byrne\u2019s husband of 10 years, Microsoft executive Gerry Scollan. Quality time with family is a priority, and Byrne takes \u201ca good break every summer\u201d to facilitate that. \u201cI take three weeks off, and we go away together as a family.\u201d Those three weeks are a \u201creally nice time to have a reset and spend time with your children\u201d, she says, while admitting \u2014 as many parents do \u2014 there are moments when she can\u2019t wait for school to resume and for everyone to be back in a routine.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s \u201cnot really\u201d able to switch off on holiday, but is OK with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I think if I came back and I hadn\u2019t been looking at the news in some way, I\u2019d feel very much at sea for maybe two weeks. So I don\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with one eye on work, she views the summer sojourn as \u201ca precious time\u201d with her family. \u201cI really enjoy it, and I really value it, and I think you see a lot of changes in your children over the summer as well. I always find that in the summertime they grow more, and they develop more and become more mature. I almost felt like I was bearing witness to that this summer because they\u2019re moving on, and my eldest is going into secondary school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her children are \u201cin that lovely sweet spot where they still like us. And that might change,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019ve built a lovely relationship with our children, and I hope that they feel they can be open with us, and that what we did in the early years will stand to us and to them as they go through the maybe the more difficult years as teenagers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether at the radio station or at home, hard work doesn\u2019t faze Byrne. She\u2019s a grafter with high standards and has her off days like anyone else, but it\u2019s how she deals with them that sets her apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think no matter what job you\u2019re in, if you\u2019re having a bad day, you have to just take a deep breath and get on with it, don\u2019t you?\u201d she says. \u201cI can\u2019t go into that show at nine in the morning and grump. I have to leave all of that behind. And that means if something isn\u2019t working out, take a deep breath, leave it on the back burner until you\u2019re off air. You have a job to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doing a job well is \u201cvery, very motivating\u201d for her, and while she likes \u201cmaking a success of things\u201d, she admits to never having had \u201ca grand plan\u201d, despite people often assuming she does.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never do,\u201d she says. \u201cI like focusing on what I\u2019m doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she\u2019s smashing it.<\/p>\n

The Claire Byrne Show\u2019, Monday to Friday, 9am to 12pm, Newstalk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The early afternoon sun is streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Marconi House\u2019s conference room when broadcaster Claire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[501,26054,499,103,61,60],"class_list":["post-606990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-health-fitness","tag-health-life","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}