TV builder Peter Finn: ‘I really encourage people to do DIY… nowadays we’ve lost some life skills’

The Home Rescue star brings a passion for building to TV and a new business venture that demystifies construction

Builder Peter Finn balances his day job in construction with his TV career. Photo: Gerry Mooney

Emily Hourican

Builder Peter Finn and I are chatting about the Irish public appetite for home makeover shows. “I think construction is in our blood,” he says. “And I think our homes come as part of that. We’ve such a strong design industry in our country. I’ve been in England and Europe at construction and design exhibitions, and when you’re there, inevitably in the room and usually at the highest table, there’s an Irish person.”

All of which goes some way to explain the popularity of Home Rescue, now into its seventh series. The draw of the series isn’t so much about the makeover, it’s the window it provides into the challenges of people’s lives. ­Often when we see inside people’s houses, these are showcases like Home of the Year – or the other end of the scale where people are hoarders. But that middle place, where people are trying to live normal lives amid a lack of space and lack of money, that’s where Home Rescue fits.