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02nd Apr 2018

‘Soundest couple’ and’ house goals…’ Room To Improve went out on a high last night

Dermot's best work?

Gillian Fitzpatrick

It’s been a rollercoaster of a series.

A week ago, for example, Twitter blew up with as dairy farmer Padraig and his wife, Katie, renovated their 100-year-old farmhouse in Tipperary.

(*PS afterwards Katie – who was much scorned online – said the RTI footage was “highly edited”).

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However, last night Lorna and Rory made sure the show went out on a high – being roundly praised as “sound” and with a “dream home” to boot… Which when it comes to Twitter is about as complimentary as any of the featured home-owners could hope for.

The duo were also massively tolerant of presenter Dermot Bannon – who, while very much a legend, is also well-known for forcefully pushing his own tastes on the renovations.

The man himself even admitted on camera:

“Most of the time I give out about clients who won’t let me do what I need to do. These guys are letting me do my job.

“They are letting me do what I need to do and that makes me incredibly nervous. Maybe that’s what makes me nervous… Not that they trust me, that’s wrong isn’t it?  Maybe I want them to have a little bit of ownership and to have an opinion.”

With Lorna and Rory’s home in Stillorgan, Dublin undergoing the overhaul, the result in fairness was absolutely stunning – with many viewers reckoning it was Bannon’s best work of the series.

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Still, the episode was bittersweet: viewers were also sorry to say goodbye to Dermot (*aside: there have been nine incarnations of the show since 2007 so we’re hopefully it’ll be back on screens soon).

Bannon furthermore reminded us that RTE will air a ‘best of’ next Sunday. And otherwise there’s always the RTE Player to watch reruns…