Andrea Gilligan's journey from a Ballyshannon childhood to her national radio show

Andrea Gilligan is one of the leading lights in talk radio with her Lunchtime Live show on Newstalk, with content ranging from daily news topics to providing a voice - and a times, a positive outcome - for people facing challenges in their lives. 

Earlier this year, she took time to talk to Donegal Life magazine to share her journey to the job, from growing up in Ballyshannon to becoming an award-winning national radio presenter, with a few surprises along the way.

Let’s go back to the beginning. What kind of child were you?

My parents would say I was loud, bold and never slept! I always wanted to go somewhere, do something. I never walked, I always ran.

What subjects did you love at school?

I loved business studies, I loved the politics side of geography, and I loved the CSPE (Civic, Social and Political Education). I wanted to understand how the world worked, who made it work. And I was a big history buff.

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Tell us about growing up in Ballyshannon

We lived about 1km outside of town. I was lucky to have a lot of neighbours who were around my age. Some are still among my closest friends.

I went to St Catherine’s Primary School, then to the Sacred Heart / Coláiste Cholmcille, and I went to boarding school in Sligo for the last two years.

I was involved in Irish dancing, basketball, athletics, stuff like that.

What was your first job?

Collecting glasses for my granny in the pub, the Kicking Donkey or George’s Bar in Bundoran. And my Dad was really into dinghy sailing in Rosses Point in Sligo so I spent my latter teenage summers teaching young kids to sail.

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What was your dream when you left school?

From a young age, I wanted to be a solicitor or barrister. I did Transition Year work experience with a solicitor in Ballyshannon.

Tell us about your pathway into radio journalism?

It was very accidental. I did an Arts degree in NUI in Galway, and planned to do an LLB legal conversion course. Somebody said to me, ‘Did you ever think of journalism?’ It was a lightbulb moment. I would like to thank whoever suggested it!

I did work experience and got a portfolio together, and got accepted to do a Masters in Journalism. I continued work experience every weekend at Ocean FM while I was doing the Masters.

Afterwards, I got a job in Shannonside FM, then in Northern Sound, and then back to Ocean FM.

I reached the point where it felt like the time to move to Dublin. I worked as a freelancer in Newstalk and RTÉ. A job came up in the Newstalk newsroom and I got that. But programming was really where I wanted to be, and Newstalk is great; if you are hungry for something, there are opportunities. I did a current affairs show, then early breakfast, and then got the opportunity to move to Lunchtime Live.

What elements do you feel particularly passionate about?

I get to talk to members of the public about how the stories of the day affect them.

What have been some of the achievements?

At the Radio Awards in October, we won the Radio Moment of the Year for a piece that we did on carers. The station has never won that before so it was a huge accomplishment for the Lunchtime Live team.

What are the joys of your job?

The best days are the days when somebody rings in about an issue and it gets resolved. That shouldn’t be how it happens but sometimes it is. And those are the days I go home and think, ‘I had a great day in work today.’

What do you wish you’d known at the start?

To stop being in such a rush. Take time to enjoy life.

What is the key to enjoying work?

Having a good professional working life. And in the job I am doing now, it is about being empathetic.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to be a radio presenter?

Have patience, be willing to work hard and give a lot of your time. Sometimes people get into it because they want to be famous, they want to be the story. But my job is to never be the story.

What do you do in your free time?

I love meeting friends, socialising. Travel is very relaxing for me.

What makes radio so enduring?

It is the immediacy and the intimacy. You bring the story to people. With the recent Washington DC aviation tragedy, as details were emerging, we had the ability to talk to eye witnesses, to hear Irish voices that were at the scene.

During Storm Éowyn, there were people stuck at home with no power for a week, listening on battery radio. Even in 2025 with all the technology we have, the radio might have been the only voices that they heard all day.

Lastly, what’s the most surprising thing about you?

I’m a sailing instructor. I taught sailing in Florida and Chicago and places like that. Maybe one day I’ll retire and go back to that!

This feature appeared in Donegal Life magazine earlier this year. The current issue is in shops now, packed with a fantastic selection of local interviews, travel, food and drink, entertainment and more.