One thing Keating will not be doing is making any New Year’s resolutions.
“If I’ve got to make changes, I make them now. I won’t wait till a certain date, because I’ll only fail.”
He pauses, suddenly looking more wistful.
“Really for me it’s about spending more time with loved ones; family and friends. It’s been a tough couple of years. We lost my brother,” he explains.
In July 2023, his elder brother Ciaran was killed in a car crash at the age of 57, while travelling to watch his son Ruairí play for Cork City Football Club.
“Now, keeping the family together is more important than ever for me,” he emphasises.
It suddenly becomes clear that Keating was also talking about himself when explaining how difficult people can find new year.
Tonight he too will use music as part of his own healing process, by singing the soundtrack to his more than 30-year career, a period over which he has made the journey from Boyzone to family man.
Ronan and Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party is on BBC One and iPlayer from 23:30 except in Scotland where the Hogmanay show will feature music from sea shanty singer Nathan Evans, Michelle McManus and the award-winning folk supergroup Mànran.
