BACK TO TY DONAL SKEHAN:Ireland's answer to Jamie Oliver is a busy man. When he's not writing about food and cookery, 23-year-old Donal Skehan forms one quarter of up-and-coming pop band Industry. A few years ago, Skehan competed against Dustin the Turkey to represent Ireland in the Eurovision and more recently his blog, Good Mood Food, led to the publication of a successful cookery book, The Good Mood Food Cookbook.

Skehan attended Sutton Park school in Dublin, where Transition Year helped to crystallise his career plan. “We had a mad – a great – French teacher that year,” he laughs. “She used to do a cooking class with us once a week, and we’d try out all sorts of new things: frog’s legs, raclette, snails. I’ve always been a foodie so was happy to try them. I’d cook at home but this was the first time I’d had a chance to study cookery in school, as I’d previously chosen art over home economics. And it was a great chance to show off my cooking skills!”

It’s hard to know what you want to do after school, says Skehan. Back then, he had no idea that he would later work with food, but he was already gravitating towards music. He played Charlie’s father in the school’s musical production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and also took part in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. These roles helped prepare him for a later performance: he played Peter Pan in a major pantomime production last Christmas. Juggling these different careers can be hectic, but Skehan wants to keep going. “I’m finding the time to do both: I love performing and will do it as long as I can, but cooking is something I’ll always have to do, because I’ll always need to eat.” thegoodmoodfoodblog.com