Tolu Makay to feature on RTE series "The Meaning of Life"
Tullamore singer/songwriter, Tolu Makay, is set to feature on the new series of the intimate and thought-provoking RTE 1 television series 'The Meaning of Life' with Joe Duffy.
The series gets underway on RTE 1 this Sunday night at 10.30pm for an eight week stint and will also be available on the RTE Player.
The new series of 'The Meaning of Life' will feature a number of public and influential figures who reveal how their lives have shaped, or been shaped by, their experiences, choices, values and beliefs.
An extended interview with former Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin will air on Sunday night to mark the 100th episode of the programme. Among the other well-known people to feature on the new series will be legendary three-time Eurovision winner, Johnny Logan, popular Irish author, Alice Taylor; former Presidential candidate and founding CEO of Chernobyl Children’s International, Adi Roche, World Champion and Gold Medal-winning sprinter, Jason Smyth, former Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, and Alliance Party Leader, Naomi Long.
Joe Duffy said: “I am so proud that in this new series of 'The Meaning of Life' we will reach the 100th episode of the programme on Sunday night next. I have always believed that the' Meaning of Life' style interview - in depth, personal, brilliantly and meticulously researched - has an important place in the schedule of the national public broadcaster. As a young broadcaster, I deeply admired the work of Irish psychiatrist, the late Dr Anthony Clare. As a qualified Social Worker and Family Therapist, I have tried to add those skills with those I’ve learned in my three decades in broadcasting.
Roger Childs, Commissioning Editor of Religious Content at RTÉ recalled how the late Gay Byrne's amusingly downbeat assessment of the format of the 'Meaning of Life' didn't come to pass. Gay said "'It’ll never work – two people sitting in a room, talking about God. Who’s going to watch that?'”
Mr. Childs said that, as 'The Meaning of Life' enters its 17th season and passes the milestone of 100 episodes," Presidents, Taoisaigh, rockstars, writers, athletes, actors, politicians, showbiz personalities, scientists, philanthropists, religious leaders, business leaders and, perhaps most memorably, Stephen Fry, have all taken turns to sit in what Gay called “the chair opposite”, making the series into a Who’s Who? of modern Irish life. As Joe Duffy returns for his fourth season at the helm, the series continues to be a hit with guests and audiences."
Tolu Makay's musical career has gone from strength to strength since she first emerged onto the Irish music scene and she was named in the Irish Times list of 50 people to watch out for in 2022.
The Nigerian-born singer was one of five talented singer/songwriters listed by the Irish Times as ones to watch, and they described her as “probably the most recognisable face” on that list and “a great talent”.
Having come to Tullamore from her native Nigeria with her mother, Yemisi, and her two siblings, in search of a better life, she desribes herself as " a self-confessed “music fanatic.”
She shot to national prominence with her magnificent cover of The Saw Doctors hit, N17, which she performed with the RTE Concert Orchestra on New Year’s Eve 2020, and since then her vocal talents have been in huge demand both nationally and even internationally.
In 2021 she was named as the Best Female Artist at the Black & Irish Music Awards, but she was unable to attend the prizegiving ceremony in Dublin as she was representing Ireland at the World Expo in Dubai!