Frank Mitchell interview: Life's a breeze, says TV weather man; Great wife, super daughter, terrific job - there's not a cloud in the sky for Frank Mitchell.

FRANK Mitchell exudes a charm which is almost tangible - and he knows it. The UTV favourite appears on the whole to have life sussed: a beautiful wife, a brilliant daughter, a super home and a job which gives him a constant buzz.

But none of this has happened by accident.

Long hours, late nights and unending enthusiasm have helped the presenter get where he is today.

And Frank is quick to point out that becoming the Nothern Ireland's favourite has taken more than sheer luck and cheek - it has taken a lot of dedication.

"I always say that nothing good comes about without plain old hard work - an awful lot of hard work. Without it, I would be nowhere. I'm just lucky I get a great buzz from it."

It hardly seems like a fun-fun-fun attitude, but for Frank, putting his back into a job is the best sort of relaxation he can have.

He is driven by the need to succeed and the fact that his name is known to thousands of viewers is simply an added bonus.

Despite his innocent looks and easy manner, 36-year-old Frank is highly ambitious - although he has been smart enough not to leave too many bodies in his wake.

He has developed his professional attitude over the years and claims it stemmed from the way he treats the people he loves.

Due to the pressures of the media world, it has, at times, been tricky balancing between where he wants to be and how he needs to get there - while still come up smelling of roses.

Frank's almost too-good-to-be-true reputation is enough to make cynics squirm.

But the public image of the smooth TV presenter and devoted family man is dangerously close to the truth.

"I'm sorry," he says, "Nothing rotten really happened in my life - thank God. I suppose it would be more interesting if I had a cruel father and a wicked stepmother - but I haven't.

"The most terrifying thing that happened in my life was waking up as a five-year-old to realise that the gas heater in my bedroom was seriously on fire and flames were shooting up into the air.

"I was petrified and got dad who put the fire out with a blanket. It's a mental image I have never forgotten.

"Apart from that moment - which has stayed with me all these years - my life has been happy and normal.

"I was average at school. I behaved at home. I played sport. I have a great family. The only thing that is slightly out of the ordinary is my job today.

"It might sound a bit dull but the stability and confidence my early life gave me has gone a big way to helping me achieve the success I have enjoyed in recent years.

"I learned from the best teachers in the world how to treat people and how to deal with problems.

"Our parents taught us how to be decent and respectful and how to appreciate what we had. "I try to do the same with my daughter Laura. But it's only after becoming a parent that I realise how difficult it can be.

"I spend as much time as I can with my wife, Helena, and our daughter but getting enough time together can be tricky because of my work.

"Laura takes my job in her stride. She is a very confident little girl and nothing seems to faze her too much.

"She might like the fact that her dad is on the telly but she doesn't get too excited about it. She has had a little teasing in school but it's nothing she can't handle.

"I do hope that people like me but it's also important to me that I'm good at what I do and I'm viewed as a professional.

"The world of TV has a reputation which involves a lot of luvvies whose main concern is their image. But in Northern Ireland television it is not really like that.

"It sounds a bit corny, but the bunch at UTV are a great laugh and totally professional.

"I think the difference between working here and working somewhere like London is that Ulster people don't allow you to get too big-headed without cutting you down a notch or two.

"It's very easy to keep your feet on the ground in a place like this - the luvvie tolerance level is pretty low.

"Sometimes when I take time to think about it, it seems strange for me to be on TV. My first love was always radio and my ideal job would be one that combines the two.

"I remember as a child growing up in Burren, outside Warrenpoint in Co Down, that I used to be mesmerised by the radio. I knew from a really early age that I wanted to do that.

"My heros were Tony Blackburn and Alan Freeman of Radio One. Charles Mitchell of RTE and William Hardcastle of World At One fame.

I THOUGHT they were magic and would spend hours listening to them and imitating them - but I never dreamed I would actually get to do this for a living."

Frank's first big break was to host a pirate radio show from a tiny studio on the roof-top of Dundalk Shopping Centre - he was a mere 17 years old.

"The boss of the station, Carousel Radio, Hugh Hardy, had just sacked someone and after he heard a tape I had made he offered me a job on the station.

"A couple of days later I found myself doing a live show - it was incredible. I wasn't too sure what I was doing but it was a great thrill - I was beside myself.

"It was Hugh who actually gave me a new name. Most people know me as Frank Mitchell - but in fact my name is McClory and Hugh Hardy didn't think it was catchy enough for radio.

"He went through a list of surnames that I hated including Cash, Snow and Parton from the country music scene. I actually chose Mitchell from the Irish News death column - Frank Mitchell seemed to sound quite good.

"But people tend to get the wrong impression when they hear my real name isn't Mitchell - they think I have changed my name for pretentious showbiz reasons but that's not the case.

"I changed it because I was just 17 and I was told to. You do daft things when you're young and impressionable.

"But Helena and Laura are both McClorys and in every other aspect of my life I am under that name. Only in work am I known as Mitchell."

Frank had the new name and the talent to carry himself through the world of radio but he wasn't entirely convinced himself.

"I still carried on with my studies. I wasn't sure that I could survive financially as a radio presenter so I trained as a PE and English teacher at St Joseph's Teaching College, Belfast.

"I was pretty dedicated to studying but I was honestly more interested in the radio.When I met Helena, everything came together.

"We met in the library. I was there cramming for an essay on how the elbow and the knee joints worked. Helena was studying there too but she was doing Art. She was beautiful and we got chatting and soon started going out together.

"In the end Helena did nearly all of my essays and got far better grades than I could have done.

"She did it so that I could travel to Dundalk in the evenings and do my radio show - there was no way I would have been able to do the lot and Helena didn't mind helping me out.

"She studied Art and used to get the best grades in my year for her essays obviously without going to any of my classes. She just got a few books out of the library and worked her way through them - she was a star.

"In a way I took her help for granted because it just became a natural progression in our relationship.

"She had, and still has, no interest in the media, radio or TV but she understood how important it was to me, and so she was willing to help where she could.

"Even today Helena finds the media a complete bore and a turn off.

"She will attend functions with me - but it's just not her ideal night out.

"She is a fantastic woman who knows exactly what is going on.

"Our daughter, Laura, is seven years old now and keeps us on our toes.

"She is a smashing wee girl. I absolutely adore her and am getting more and more convinced she has me twisted around her little finger.

"Laura is a bit of tom boy and she is great fun. I suppose she is quite mature for her age.

"She has lots of friends and spends much of her time playing with her cousins. She is a very gregarious and happy little girl, but I still worry about her.

"Sometimes I find myself having the most awful thoughts when she is not with me. What if something happens to her? What if she gets hurt? What would I do without her?

"Having a child is a constant worry but that is part of being a parent. The love and laughs she gives us in return make it all worthwhile.

I SUPPOSE the most difficult thing about parenthood is being able to let them grow up and move away. At the minute I don't know how I'm going to cope so I'll worry about that at a later time.

"All I know is that I will be happy as long as Laura is safe and happy.

"She has been a great help while I have been working on School Around The Corner because she has been the same age of many of the youngsters I have been working with. It makes it so much easier to relate to small children when you've got one at home.

"Some people make the point of talking down to kids but they are pretty ruthless and unforgiving.

"I have a great laugh with Laura. I suppose the best times I have are spent with her and Helena - just mucking about and enjoying each other's company.

"I like to reckon Laura has the most fun when she's playing or spending time with me. She will probably laugh if she reads this because her friends are probably better fun than her dad - but I'm entitled to a little bit of bias."

He loses concentration a bit while he talks about his daughter. The doting dad is obviously astounded by the love he feels for his girl.

His dark, twinkly eyes lose their sharpness and glaze over as he remembers a moment with Laura. Then he laughs and it's back to business.

"Family is very important to me. There is a great support system in place by the time you are born and I feel it is vital to nurture that and keep it healthy."

Frank's memories of his childhood and family life read like a chapter from The Waltons.

But instead of a wooden farmhouse in the Virginia Mountains, the backdrop to Frank's early days was a rambling farmhouse with no heating or TV, rented in Burren by his parents Lily and Frank.

"Mum and Dad ran a general store in Warrenpoint. They sold everything from fridges to carpets and just about any household item you could think of.

"Strangely enough, although Dad sold televisions for a living, we didn't have one at home. That's probably why I had such an interest in radio - because that was my main source of entertainment.

"My greatest regret is that my father died so young. He was 64 and had retired just a year earlier with a great plan to enjoy his retirement to the hilt.

"But he was taken ill with cancer and died quite soon afterwards - just four months. It was awful and today I still feel how unfair it is that this sort of thing happens to the best people.

"Dad was an incredibly pleasant man to be around. I don't remember him scolding us as children. In fact we were never hit for anything.

"Mum and Dad really balanced each other in their attitude to life and to bringing us up. Dad was a great joker and was always cheerful and Mum was, and still is, very practical, kind and loving.

"I had a great time as a youngster. I was the middle child, between two girls - Teresa and Eleanor.

"We were given the freedom to grow and develop as we wanted but our parents ensured that we were encouraged from the start to get a good education and every chance they could muster for us.

"My sisters both followed very different paths in their lives but everyone is still in regular contact.

"Eleanor went off to University College Dublin, got married and has lived in Dublin ever since. Teresa is a great wit. She is a social worker and lives next door to Mum.

"I would say that, like most people of their generation, Mum and Dad could have gone into very different professions if they had received further education.

"But I have to say that I'm glad they didn't in a way because we wouldn't have had the shop. It was a great place for people to come and talk about all sorts of things. I loved it. Sadly now it has been made into two shops and when I drive past from time to time it feels a bit strange.

"I worked at McClory and Sherry from an early age, helping Dad in my spare time after school and during holidays.

"My strongest memory is of shoving great rolls of carpet about the place and the store room full of fridges and TVs.

"I used to visit my uncles Peter and Bill and their sister, Mena, on their farm near us.

"It was a lovely typical old Irish farmhouse and there were always chickens running about the place.

"My uncles and aunt were lovely people - very calm and loving. I used to help them on the farm."

Frank's memories of his childhood reflect a somewhat serious child but he says he enjoyed his young days.

He was a keen footballer and used to spend hours at the GAA pitch beside his house.

The young Frank even played in the Burren team when they won the 1985 All-Ireland Club Title.

His health has always been important to him. In many ways he is self- preserving, reserving his health and energy for work and his family.

He does not smoke or drink alcohol. In fact alcohol has never touched his lips.

"I suppose I am one of those rare people who has never actually tasted drink.

"I'm not anti-booze or anything like that but I have witnessed a lot of people's downfall as a result of heavy boozing. And I did have an incident in my childhood which I think helped put me off it for life.

"I was only about five and was at a dinner dance with my parents at the Osborne Hotel in Warrenpoint when one of the guests got completely drunk out of his head.

"He collapsed and his sons carried him from the reception and I thought he had died.

"The next day I saw him in the street as large as life and I was convinced he was a ghost. I was terrified and thought what awful things drink did to people.

"I suppose the fact that I was just five years old, meant that the whole scenario had quite an impact on me. I have no curiosity about drink and have never really been tempted to touch it.

"That has also been an added bonus in my work because there is just no way you can go on camera with a pounding headache and a sick stomach and still give a 100 per cent performance.

"I don't eat meat either and although I'm not vegan, I don't eat a whole lot of dairy foods.

"I stopped eating beef after I saw the first report I saw on BSE. Then I started to cut out other meats just because I'm not sure how safe they are. Helena and Laura eat meat but I decided against it - it's a personal choice and not one I would force on anyone else.

"I think we have advanced too far in many respects - the old ways of breeding animals and eating were probably the safest and the best.

"There is a sense of self-preservation about how I live my life but I'm happiest that way.

"I am very happy. I have a great life. When I look back over the years I am happy with where I have been, where I am now and where I hope to be in my personal life and work.

"I have had lucky breaks all the way and realise that without them I may not be the man I am today."

Frank moved from Carousel Radio to BBC Radio Ulster where he helped research Walter Love's Day By Day programme at just 23.

"I had worked on a subbing basis at St Joseph's High School in Newry and was looking for a permanent teaching post.

"In 1985 I was offered a permanent teaching post at the school. But a few days before I was due to take it up a letter landed through the letter box offering me a three-month contract with BBC Radio Ulster.

"I phoned the parish priest who was involved in the recruitment of school staff almost immediately and explained to him that I could not take the teaching job. He seemed to understand and I went off to the BBC. It was the biggest break I ever needed."

Later Frank applied for a job as an early morning presenter on Downtown Radio and got the 5am slot.

He also filled the Saturday afternoon 2pm 'til 6pm slot and he felt his ambitions had been fulfilled. "I just didn't understand how life could get any better," he said.

Then Frank found himself attending an interview for a continuity presenter with UTV.

"I was pretty nervous. Two men gave me a piece of paper to read from and memorise the contents and then announce them while they taped me.

"Surprisingly it went very well but unfortunately the tape didn't work and I had to do it again.

"Luckily it went OK the second time too and much to my surprise I got the job. Things developed from there because my potential was recognised.

"I went on to do the weather and now my main job is feature work.

"I have Rob Morrison and Alan Bremner to thank for their help and recognition of any talent I have. Everyone needs a break now and again and these guys helped me get mine.

"The least I can do in return is work hard and do the best I can.

"I realise how lucky I have been over the years. Television and radio have a deadly reputation for employing people who think a lot of themselves.

"I suppose there are a number of them about but I have met few of them here in Northern Ireland.

"Of the 200 or so people I have worked with in my career I would say that I have liked all of them except three whom I no longer work with - two of whom where unpleasant and one who was just plain evil."

No - he is not telling.

In typical Frank form, UTV's man around the corner is only prepared to go so far.

His every-present diplomacy has made him a respected colleague who is trusted and admired.

"There's no point in holding grudges against people for mistakes they have made - life is about looking forward, not back."

HIS dark, twinkly eyes lose their sharpness and glaze over as he remembers a moment with Laura. Then he laughs and it's back to business.

"Family is very important to me. There is a great support system in place by the time you are born and I feel it is vital to nurture that and keep it healthy."

Frank's memories of his childhood and family life read like a chapter from The Waltons.

But instead of a wooden farmhouse in the Virginia Mountains, the backdrop to Frank's early days was a rambling farmhouse with no heating or TV, rented in Burren by his parents Lily and Frank.

"Mum and Dad ran a general store in Warrenpoint. They sold everything from fridges to carpets and just about any household item you could think of.

"Strangely enough, although Dad sold televisions for a living, we didn't have one at home. That's probably why I had such an interest in radio - because that was my main source of entertainment.

"My greatest regret is that my father died so young. He was 64 and had retired just a year earlier with a great plan to enjoy his retirement to the hilt.

"But he was taken ill with cancer and died quite soon afterwards - just four months. It was awful and today I still feel how unfair it is that this sort of thing happens to the best people.

"Dad was an incredibly pleasant man to be around. I don't remember him scolding us as children. In fact we were never hit for anything.

"Mum and Dad really balanced each other in their attitude to life and to bringing us up. Dad was a great joker and was always cheerful and Mum was, and still is, very practical, kind and loving.

"I had a great time as a youngster. I was the middle child, between two girls - Teresa and Eleanor.

"We were given the freedom to grow and develop as we wanted but our parents ensured that we were encouraged from the start to get a good education and every chance they could muster for us.

"My sisters both followed very different paths in their lives but everyone is still in regular contact.

"Eleanor went off to University College Dublin, got married and has lived in Dublin ever since. Teresa is a great wit. She is a social worker and lives next door to Mum.

"I would say that, like most people of their generation, Mum and Dad could have gone into very different professions if they had received further education.

"But I have to say that I'm glad they didn't in a way because we wouldn't have had the shop. It was a great place for people to come and talk about all sorts of things. I loved it. Sadly now it has been made into two shops and when I drive past from time to time it feels a bit strange.

"I worked at McClory and Sherry from an early age, helping Dad in my spare time after school and during holidays.

"My strongest memory is of shoving great rolls of carpet about the place and the store room full of fridges and TVs.

"I used to visit my uncles Peter and Bill and their sister, Mena, on their farm near us.

"It was a lovely typical old Irish farmhouse and there were always chickens running about the place.

"My uncles and aunt were lovely people - very calm and loving. I used to help them on the farm."

Frank's memories of his childhood reflect a somewhat serious child but he says he enjoyed his young days.

HE was a keen footballer and used to spend hours at the GAA pitch beside his house.

The young Frank even played in the Burren team when they won the 1985 All-Ireland Club Title.

His health has always been important to him. In many ways he is self- preserving, reserving his health and energy for work and his family.

He does not smoke or drink alcohol. In fact alcohol has never touched his lips.

"I suppose I am one of those rare people who has never actually tasted drink.

"I'm not anti-booze or anything like that but I have witnessed a lot of people's downfall as a result of heavy boozing. And I did have an incident in my childhood which I think helped put me off it for life.

"I was only about five and was at a dinner dance with my parents at the Osborne Hotel in Warrenpoint when one of the guests got completely drunk out of his head.

"He collapsed and his sons carried him from the reception and I thought he had died.

"The next day I saw him in the street as large as life and I was convinced he was a ghost. I was terrified and thought what awful things drink did to people.

"I suppose the fact that I was just five years old, meant that the whole scenario had quite an impact on me. I have no curiosity about drink and have never really been tempted to touch it.

"That has also been an added bonus in my work because there is just no way you can go on camera with a pounding headache and a sick stomach and still give a 100 per cent performance.

"I don't eat meat either and although I'm not vegan, I don't eat a whole lot of dairy foods.

"I stopped eating beef after I saw the first report I saw on BSE. Then I started to cut out other meats just because I'm not sure how safe they are. Helena and Laura eat meat but I decided against it - it's a personal choice and not one I would force on anyone else.

"I think we have advanced too far in many respects - the old ways of breeding animals and eating were probably the safest and the best.

THERE is a sense of self-preservation about how I live my life but I'm happiest that way.

"I am very happy. I have a great life. When I look back over the years I am happy with where I have been, where I am now and where I hope to be in my personal life and work.

"I have had lucky breaks all the way and realise that without them I may not be the man I am today."

Frank moved from Carousel Radio to BBC Radio Ulster where he helped research Walter Love's Day By Day programme at just 23.

"I had worked on a subbing basis at St Joseph's High School in Newry and was looking for a permanent teaching post.

"In 1985 I was offered a permanent teaching post at the school. But a few days before I was due to take it up a letter landed through the letter box offering me a three-month contract with BBC Radio Ulster. It was the biggest break I ever needed."

Later Frank applied for a job as an early morning presenter on Downtown Radio and got the 5am slot.

He also filled the Saturday afternoon 2pm 'til 6pm slot and he felt his ambitions had been fulfilled. "I just didn't understand how life could get any better," he said.

Then Frank found himself attending an interview for a continuity presenter with UTV.

"I was pretty nervous. Two men gave me a piece of paper to read from and memorise the contents and then announce them while they taped me.

"Surprisingly it went very well but unfortunately the tape didn't work and I had to do it again.

LUCKILY it went OK the second time too and much to my surprise I got the job. Things developed from there because my potential was recognised.

"I went on to do the weather and now my main job is feature work.

"I have Rob Morrison and Alan Bremner to thank for their help and recognition of any talent I have. Everyone needs a break now and again and these guys helped me get mine.

"The least I can do in return is work hard and do the best I can.

"I realise how lucky I have been over the years. Television and radio have a deadly reputation for employing people who think a lot of themselves.

"I suppose there are a number of them about but I have met few of them here in Northern Ireland.

"Of the 200 or so people I have worked with in my career I would say that I have liked all of them except three whom I no longer work with - two of whom where unpleasant and one who was just plain evil."

No - he is not telling.

In typical Frank form, UTV's man around the corner is only prepared to go so far.

"There's no point in holding grudges against people for mistakes they have made - life is about looking forward, not back."

Article Details

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Title Annotation:	Features
Publication:	Sunday Mirror (London, England)
Date:	Dec 20, 1998
Words:	4810
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