"If I go [to someone's house] that I really love and I go, 'wow this house is inspiring', I'll tell them about it and I'll gush about and think 'this place is brilliant'. But if I haven't said that it doesn't mean I hate your home," says architect Dermot Bannon.
“Am I intimidating? I’m not judgemental. Honestly, I don’t care about those things. I think people think I do,” the presenter of RTÉ’s Room to Improve tells Róisín Ingle, in the latest episode of a new podcast by The Irish Times, Back to Yours.
In the podcast, Róisín talks to well-known people about their houses, snoops in their drawers and finds out all about the homes they’ve lived in throughout their lives.
In this episode, Dermot shows Róisín around the building site that is soon to become his family home, he explains why he is always banging on about light on Room to Improve and why having a ‘good room’ should be banned.
They also talk about Ireland's housing crisis, why Irish people's attitude to architecture has changed in recent years and how living in Cairo as a child sparked his interest in design and the way people live.
In the first season of Back to Yours, Róisín speaks to Amy Huberman, Dolly Alderton, Marian Keyes, among others.
Listen to Back to Yours wherever you get your podcasts.