The head of astrophysics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dunsink Observatory, chats to Mary McCarthy about the US space agency, rugby, and hundred-year solar storms

Peter Gallagher at Dunsink Observatory

Peter Gallagher at Dunsink Observatory

In conversation with Mary McCarthy

Today at 06:30

My dad was a service engineer and mum stayed at home. Their ambition was for their three kids to go to college.

At O’Connell School on the North Circular Road in Dublin, I started showing an interest in science. My mum was very keen for me to study it at college.