Darragh Maloney is gearing up to present the Euros with a difference, a year late and with far fewer fans.

But the memory of his father will loom large in the background as a man who loved sport and the buzz of a big tournament.

Mr Maloney (48) will be presenting the coverage of Euro 2020 – which was postponed last year due to the pandemic – for RTÉ over the next month.

Though his father, Pat, passed away in 2013, he still feels his presence.

After all, had it not been for Pat Maloney, Darragh may never have pursued a career in sport broadcasting.

“Dad would have been 74 this year,” Darragh said. “And his birthday was July 4.

“With the Euros coming up, I know he would have been glued to it. I got my interest in sport from my dad.

“You learn to live with the loss. It gets better but it never goes away – it’s part of who you are. I still feel dad around the place – he’s in my thoughts quite a lot.”

Despite being a busy TV broadcaster, Mr Maloney, like his own father, puts as much into being a dad as he can. The pandemic reminded him of the value of being grateful for all he has.

The father-of-three faced challenges, but he could still work and help with homeschooling his youngest child Jack, who is 12.

“My eldest, Kate, is in her early 20s and Hannah is 19 – they’re doing their own thing with college and studies,” he said.

“And it was hard with homeschooling and trying to keep them occupied, but everyone had the same experience. It was about keeping them focused on school work, keeping them exercising.”

Along with many others, Mr Maloney says he has thought about achieving a “work-life balance” in recent times.

“It’s a 100km round trip to work and back. We would all like to have a better work-life balance.

“I’ve been talking to friends in Clare and their jobs allowed them to go from Dublin to live in Ennis.

“We’ll all look at that [type of life] as an example. We’ve been so busy but people will want more of a work-life balance, for sure.

“Elements from the pandemic will be retained and that’s one of them (work-life balance) that will stay.”

Mr Maloney lives in Stamullen, Co Meath, with his wife, Louise, and their children. Over the past 15 months, as well as being there for his family, he felt very lucky to have work.

“I was lucky to work on the GAA championship and I am again this summer,” he said.

“We were still out and about (during the lockdown). We travelled around the country.

“I felt I was in a privileged position to see these things, during this time.

“I am in a privileged position, in that I was able to attend the All-Ireland football final and I was thinking of all the Dublin and Mayo fans who couldn’t be there.

“I was walking down Jones’ Road, it was dark and I took a photo – there wasn’t a sinner.

“Normally there could be 20,000 people there (outside Croke Park) and there would be a lot of noise and colour. It was very odd.”

However, for a man with a successful career and a family he adores, he believes it is important to just keep things as simple as possible.

“Going back to 2013, with the loss of my dad, one of the things I took with me was I never look too far ahead,” he said.

“I try to make the most out of this day. If tomorrow happens, that’s grand.”

Euro 2020 games will be shown on RTÉ 2, the RTÉ News channel and the RTÉ Player.