Working from home and not having to get into the car meant that I got the book finished very quickly.

Its publication coincides with the 125th anniversary of the birth of Eamon de Valera and I thought it was an appropriate time to look back at his life and legacy.

His archive has been almost fully opened to researchers recently and that has shed new light on some areas of his life. He was and remains such a polarising figure in Ireland.

We're doing a radio series to coincide with the book . . . it starts on RTE One at 10.30 on Sunday 28 October, the same slot that we had for What If?

Everything that I do as a historian is with the aim of reaching as big an audience as possible, trying to make history come alive.

If I've got a show on Sunday morning the first thing that I do is go out for a run at around eight in the morning. I usually do about four or five miles to punish myself because, whether or not I'm working on Sunday, I go out on Saturday night regardless. It's great for clearing the head. Most people seem to run with an I-pod or a radio but I prefer not to.

I have breakfast with the kids and then head down to RTE. What If? was a live show and Judging Dev will be too. I think it's easier . . . it's only 27 minutes, after all. I meet up with Peter Mooney, my producer, at around 9.30 and chat about the clips that we're going to use and then meet the guests.

We have different guests each week and I've found it to be a great way of meeting people that you might have been reading about for years.

It's a fine balance between deciding a rough structure for the programme and making sure they don't do the programme before they get into the studio.

After the show we have a chat about what everyone got up to the night before and the next week's show.

I'm usually out of RTE by around 12 or 12.30.

If I don't have a show then sometimes we go to the Unitarian Church on St Stephen's Green. I'm not religious but there's a good atmosphere there and they take the kids downstairs to play so it's an opportunity for a quiet hour of reflection.

I take the rest of the day off and try to stay away from the computer. We have brunch at home and Riona, who's 18 months old, goes to bed for a nap. I might try and slope off for one myself on the pretext that she needs a cuddle.

Sheila and I have a deal on Sunday afternoons that she gets two hours to herself and I take the girls off somewhere.

We're lucky enough to have two sets of grandparents living nearby so I usually pay one or other of their houses a visit with Enya (3) and Riona or else we might go up to Airfield in Dundrum.

When Sheila's two hours are up it's my turn and I take the papers down to Uncle Tom's in Dundrum for a quiet pint. I sit in a corner and am not to be disturbed.

The girls go to bed at seven . . . we're quite regimented about that . . . and then Sheila and I sit down for our Sunday roast.

We're selfish, we want it to ourselves. We take it in turns to cook. The girls get to have the leftovers on Monday.

We might watch something like The Clinic and then Sheila heads for bed. I stay up for The Week In Politics even though it's on far too late . . . it's my fix.