'A whole new experience': Miriam O'Callaghan on life, memoir, and Granard Booktown Festival

RTE's Miriam O'Callaghan has described the upcoming Granard Booktown Festival as "interesting, inspiring, and stimulating."

The event will take place across three days in Co. Longford from April 16-19, 2026.

Miriam, who most will recognise from RTÉ's Prime Time or her RTE Radio 1 radio show 'Sundays with Miriam,' will be interviewed at this year's festival.

It's a change for the presenter, who would usually be on the other side of the mic asking the questions. 

"It's a whole new experience, and it's exciting. I like John Connell, who runs that book festival, so it'll be a great privilege and a joy to be there," she explained. 

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The festival runs from April 16 to 19 in a number of locations across Granard. 

Writing and poetry workshops, guest speakers, and more can be expected across the three days. 

"I think people will come along and just be stimulated and maybe learn things or be inspired by people. They're the kind of places and festivals I like to go to - where you go along, and you feel better for having been there. I love to pick up things from people. I love listening to fascinating, clever people talking about their life experiences because I learn lots of things from them, so I think that people would find it really interesting," Miriam shared.

She has been attending the festival for the past three years, and says it is always "jampacked" and "fun."

She will be interviewed about her memoir, which was published by Penguin Random House last October, at 2:45pm on Sunday. 

Before that, she will be in the RTÉ studios for her live radio show. 

'Miriam: Life, Work, Everything' is exactly what it says on the tin, focusing on how Miriam balances her life as a mother with eight children and her career; something she says she doesn't do very well. 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Miriam presents Prime Time, and on Sundays, she does her radio show.

As well as this, she attends two or three charity events a week, using her fame to help them raise funds. 

"I'm always busy. I've still got three lads in college, so I'm still a busy mom," she said.

However, the constant on-the-go schedule doesn't dull her sparkle, as she knows that time is on her side.

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"I always think there are 24 hours in a day, and we're all blessed with good health at the moment, so I reckon I've loads of time," she explained. 

Despite having a lot of time, it still took Miriam two decades to write her book. 

The publisher had given her a contract 20 years ago, but she had put off writing it, imagining it would be much more difficult than it was.

"I didn't want to write a book that would upset anybody in my life, and that can sometimes be difficult if you're going to be honest, but the biggest and best thing is I wrote it, and I didn't upset anybody," she said. 

"It's just an honest, nice story that doesn't hurt anyone," she added.

The story was so nice that it went straight to number one, and up until recently, it was on the bestseller's list.

When asked how she does it all - mothering, presenting, events, writing, life - Miriam answered that she kind of just wings it. 

"I don't really plan. One of the things I do believe is that life flies by when you're planning. I never had a plan, and I still don't have a plan, but having no plan worked really well for me," Miriam explained.

She feels social media has added pressure on people, particularly younger women, to have a plan and stick to it.

"Life has a weird way of going off in different avenues when you don't expect it to. Things can happen, and the made plans then don't work, and then you feel disappointed, so for me, having no plan is the best plan," Miriam said.

With a career spanning over 30 years, eight children, multiple events, and two different presenting jobs each week, Miriam has helped share many inspiring and important stories.

One that stands out to her, though, is about the "incredible" John Hume, who helped to bring about the Peace Process in the North.

In 2010, Miriam got to be involved in a public vote which saw people choose who they thought was the greatest Irish person, whether they were dead or alive.

She decided to campaign for John Hume, and he went on to win the vote.

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"That is my most important and proudest career movement and moment because I think without John Hume, we wouldn't have peace in Ireland, and it would be a very different country than it is today," Miriam commented. 

With much more to come for Miriam, her next focus will be the Granard Booktown Festival. 

If you are interested in hearing more about her life and book, tickets for the event can be purchased at granardbooktownfestival.ie.