Bryan Dobson on meeting wife Crea, his adorable grandson and getting married as a protestant man

Bryan Dobson has lifted the lid on meeting his beloved wife Crea and his busy life as a grandfather since retiring from RTÉ.

Ahead of turning 65 next year, the broadcaster stepped away from his Radio 1 News at One show back in May and now he is totally embracing family life.

Read more: RTE's Bryan Dobson reveals he's a grandfather and opens up about life with his adult daughters

Read more: Bryan Dobson reveals catalyst that led him to leave RTE: 'I'd been talking about it with my wife'

Bryan said: "She's [Crea] very beautiful and she's very smart. And she's very grounded and she's very thoughtful and she certainly keeps me out of trouble.

"You know, if I'm going to do something that is not wise. She put me pretty straight on that and we have two wonderful daughters and a grandson now."

Bryan grew up in a Church of Ireland community in Sandymount, which made things slightly complicated when he and Crea wanted to get married.

He told Joe Duffy on RTÉ's Meaning of Life: "We ended up getting married in my church, which was Saint Matthews, my family's church, St. Matthews Church of Ireland in Irishtown.

"But we originally went to her parish church, which is the Catholic Church in Dalkey. But the priest who we spoke to wanted her to make a promise, that child, she would do everything in her power to raise the children as Catholic, and she wasn't willing to do that.

"As in, I mean, she didn't. She wasn't saying she wouldn't, but you might not even have children."

He added: "Just seemed to be jumping ahead quite a few paces. She didn't want to. She wanted to get married there.

"So we looked at the at the alternative, which was Saint Matthews. That's where we got married."

For Bryan, he has found a new way of life as a grandfather.

He said: "He's the newest member of our family and he's one of us. He's a wonderful two and half year-old and he's chatting and he's exploring things. He's discovering things and I feel I'm noticing more about all of that than with my own now. Maybe that is that normal, I don't know. But I'm kind of enjoying all that."

Bryan signed off from his Radio 1 show for the final time back in May.

He said: "I was loving the job, but I was afraid that I might if I got to the point where I wasn't loving the job. If I resented going into work, I would never want that to happen.

"And I just thought this is that maybe this is just the sweet spot and the fact that I decided the timing. I decided when to go is much more empowering than I would have."

Bryan has been embracing his retirement so far.

He said: "Some of the newsroom colleagues wrote to me and said 'Thank you' or 'You gave me something' or 'You said something one day'.

"I've no memory, particularly of some of these, but I suppose it just shows you can do something quite small that really hardly costs you any effort."

Bryan has left behind a big legacy with the national broadcaster and he will be remembered for his journalism on TV and radio.

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In Pictures: RTE's Bryan Dobson poses with wife Crea and his daughters

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He said: "What I'd like to be remembered for is turning up every night and doing the job, because it's been such a privilege to have been able to witness these events and to report on them and to interpret them for an Irish audience.

"But the only reason as a reporter or as a presenter, you have credibility on those big days is because you're there all the other days as well, when maybe there isn't a whole lot happening and it's just the humdrum news of the day you know.

"But if you have that kind of presence and credibility, then I think you can bring that as a presenter or reporter on the big days."

The Meaning of Life airs on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Sunday nights at 22:30

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