I grew up on a farm in Tullycrine, a townland in the parish of Kilmurry McMahon near Kilrush, Co. Clare.\u00a0My Dad was a farmer and my mother did the accounts for the local Supervalu.\u00a0I have three brothers.\u00a0I went to Tullycrine National School and Kilrush Community School.<\/p>\n
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You are a graduate of UL and DCU – what subjects did you study?<\/strong><\/p>\n I studied Applied Mathematics and Computing at UL.\u00a0I then went to DCU and did an MSc in Financial and Industrial Mathematics.<\/p>\n At that time, there wasn\u2019t a taught masters at UL in that field so Professor Stephen O\u2019Brien recommended the DCU course to me.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Can you give a brief rundown of your career to date?<\/strong><\/p>\n After graduating from DCU in 1998, I spent seven years working in the IT industry.<\/p>\n I was a Business and Data Analyst in a company called Electronic Data Systems (EDS).<\/p>\n I was based in Dublin for five years and in Antwerp, Belgium for the first two years.<\/p>\n In 2005, I decided to apply for the position of Meteorologist with Met \u00c9ireann- I had always been interested in Meteorology as the mathematical modelling used in weather forecasting is one of the applications of Mathematics.<\/p>\n Being from a farming background, I have always understood how important the weather is to those whose livelihoods depend on it.<\/p>\n When I was offered the job, I had to think hard about the decision to change career direction.\u00a0 I had been settled into a 9-5 routine in the IT industry and joining Met \u00c9ireann would involve shift work.\u00a0 I decided to accept.<\/p>\n My first year with Met \u00c9ireann was spent doing a Masters in Meteorology at UCD which I really enjoyed.\u00a0 I was a little nervous initially as it had been seven years since I had studied Mathematics.\u00a0 However, my Professor (Peter Lynch) reassured me that it I would quickly get back into it and he was right.\u00a0 I loved being back in the world of mathematics again and especially seeing its application in meteorology.\u00a0 The class was quite small and the enjoyable year went by quickly.<\/p>\n I was then assigned to the Aviation Division at Shannon Airport where I did 3 months of on-the-job training.\u00a0 After that time period, I was able to work on my own as an aviation forecaster.\u00a0 As an aviation forecaster, I have responsibility for all aviation forecasts and warnings for Irish airspace \u2013 there\u2019s generally only one aviation forecaster on duty for each 12-hour shift. \u00a0\u00a0Since my initial training, I have done several specialist training courses at both the UK Met Office and the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in Reading.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When it was initially suggested that you present the weather on RTE, did you jump at the chance or were you hesitant about doing it?<\/strong><\/p>\n It didn\u2019t really happen like that.\u00a0 It was a very gradual process.\u00a0 Evelyn (Cusack) encouraged me to do some training in weather forecast presentation skills which I enjoyed.\u00a0 Preparing and presenting the weather on TV is just another dimension to weather forecasting.\u00a0 It has been and is a great opportunity for me to develop both my presentation and communication skills.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Do people ever recognise you in the street?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes!\u00a0 I recently ran in the Dublin City Marathon (myself and my brother Kieran ran to raise funds for the Alzheimer Society of Ireland).\u00a0 I was asked by a fellow runner and her friends to pose for a photograph at the end of the race.\u00a0 I keep forgetting that I might be recognised!\u00a0 People who approach me are always very supportive and nice.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Where are you now based?<\/strong><\/p>\n In our forecasting division, there are two strands: aviation weather forecasting and general weather forecasting.\u00a0 I\u2019m an aviation weather forecaster based at Shannon Airport.\u00a0 I\u2019m in an unusual position in that I also cross into general weather forecasting when I\u2019m based at RTE Donnybrook.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n You obviously really enjoy what you do.\u00a0 Do you think that you have found your \u201cDream Job\u201d? <\/strong><\/p>\n Yes – I love my job!\u00a0 I really enjoy analysing all the data and also communicating that information to both the aviation community and to the public.\u00a0 It can be very pressured at times, especially in a high impact weather scenario but I always relish the challenge of providing the best possible forecasts and communicating warnings so that our customers can use that information to make the most informed decisions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Besides watching and listening to the weather forecast on both TV and radio, what is the best way of getting weather updates?<\/strong><\/p>\n All\u00a0our latest forecast and warnings can be found at\u00a0www.met.ie<\/a>\u00a0and on our wonderful new app, through which you can find 7-day detailed forecast information for over\u00a03000 locations across Ireland.<\/p>\n Information on Met \u00c9ireann’s weather warnings can be found at \u00a0https:\/\/www.met.ie\/weather-<\/strong>warnings<\/a>“.<\/p>\n For more useful information on winter\u00a0weather,\u00a0check the BE WINTER-READY leaflet<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.anfocal.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Michelle-Dillon-2-219x300.jpg\")