I didn’t want to retire, says DDP
HE was at the forefront of current affairs for decades as an RTÉ political correspondent.
Now David Davin-Power, 63, has revealed he was reluctant to leave his role, claiming there was ‘pulling and dragging’ between him and the State broadcaster as he hung up the microphone.
The veteran journalist, known fondly to colleagues as DDP, departed in April after 15 years as political correspondent, having served as the station’s Northern editor at the height of the Troubles prior to that. And yesterday the Dublin man suggested that the notion of having to retire at a certain was ‘arbitrary and capricious’.
Telling RTÉ’s Seán O’Rourke that he hoped to move on to another project, he said: ‘It’s no secret that I wasn’t keen on going.
‘There was a bit of pulling and dragging between myself and RTÉ.
‘It all ended up amicably, I’m glad to say. Looking back on it I feel the whole notion of going at a particular time is arbitrary and some would say quite capricious.’
The Dáil was told last month that making employees retire at 65 is age discrimination and must be banned. And yesterday, Mr Davin-Power – who became a household name in the 1980s on the fledgling Morning Ireland news programme – said he planned to continue working.
He said: ‘I think that... my days of sitting in front of a microphone or in front of a camera are gone now – I’d like to do something else.’