00:00
All right, lads, how often do you change your underpants? It's time to talk. I'm listening to you on the radio at this time of the morning since I'm at least two years old.
00:08
They blocked me from trying to get a refund. It's just appalling.
00:11
The Neil Prenderville Show on Red FM. You couldn't make it up, lads. The Voice of Cork.
00:17
Be part of the conversation. The Neil Prent of a show at the Elevate Credit Union. Text 0868104106. Paperwise this morning, both in print and online, is dominated by the tragic passing of Glenn Hansard, a monumental power who passed away at the age of 56. Oscar-winning star, of course, and as we know...
00:39
Half past four in the morning, yesterday morning, motorbike smash and he passed away. Glenn was once in a lifetime talent, they're saying, in the front of the sun this morning. The Independent actually talks with lots of different people who are giving tributes to Glenn Hansford.
00:56
You know, after his passing, Bono, Bruce Springsteen and many others paying tributes to one of the greats. But not just the rich or famous, just everybody else as well. Talking about the man who took the cause of homelessness to his heart and was never happier than when he was busking and never forgot his roots. I think it was interesting that Bono said he will always be everywhere I see a coin spinning into an open guitar case. I think that was beautifully said, to be honest with you. And the gorgeous tributes is really dominating lots this morning.
01:27
I mean, some of the red tops have five and six pages in a row, remembering Glenn Hansard. The Mail this morning quotes him as saying it was never about fame or money.
01:38
It was just about the love of music. And the tributes pass just pages and pages this morning. The Independent then takes a closer look at his passing and they say that a passerby found Glen Hansard following his motorbike accident and frantically phoned for help. It has emerged. He had played a gig in a pub or a location and was just, I imagine, we don't know, but imagine he was travelling home by motorbike in the early hours of the morning, killed in a single vehicle crash near the strawberry beds.
02:09
The Independent this morning says it was about half past four in the morning when a passerby came upon the scene. There was no other vehicle involved. They raised the alarm.
02:19
Despite receiving treatment, Glenn Hansard was pronounced dead a short time later and there was no significant damage to the motorbike and the guards were investigating the cause of the crash.
02:28
Passerby found him injured and called for help.
02:32
And may he rest in peace and undoubtedly tributes to Glenn Hansard will continue. for many days to come. The papers also then this morning remind us of deaths on our roads in general. And I have to tell you that the month of July, which we're about to say goodbye to the next couple of days, has been the deadliest month of the year so far on Irish roads. 20 people have lost their lives, including seven since last Friday alone. This is stark now because it brings the death toll so far to 108 people.
03:00
Now, this time last year, it was at 92. So this is not good in spite of all of the messaging, in spite of all of the talk and the coverage with regards to, you know, driving safely and, you know, being the rules of the road and not acting the maggot with mobile phones and not speeding. It just gets worse as opposed to better. So you wonder about the messaging. What is going to drive in, drive through the stark reality of how important it is to have care and attention on our roads? Like you see that one Sunday morning with the man on the e-scooter.
03:32
We're going to see more of those because like medics are telling us now that more and more people, particularly children, unfortunately, are presenting in hospitals now with serious head injuries as a result of e-scooters. And that e-scooter death on Sunday morning, was it a quarter to two in the morning? I mean, then you had a teenager dying in a single vehicle crash in County Tipperary at the weekend as well. And we're seeing far too many of these single vehicle crashes resulting in death or serious injury.
04:02
And we're seeing way too many of those, if you look at a subsection of that, amongst young people. So when we know now that there's going to be change in legislation to e-scooters, Like it's not just like say, for instance, when this changes to 18 years of age, there'll be other changes to it as well. So if you're a parent of a child and the child's found on an e-scooter under the age of 18, you as the parent of the guardian will be fined. If you're a brother and a sister and you're, say, 25 years old and you have an e-scooter and it's registered to your name because they will have to be registered at purchase.
04:33
Right. And you're 25 as an example. And you let your 12 year old brother or sister ride the bike. You're responsible. You will also be fined. The fine is €100. Now, for some, that might be a lot of money. But for something as serious as this, I would suggest that maybe that fine, as a warning, is on the low side. And if it was bigger, and also I think you also have to pay an extra €80 for the release of these goods, because they're going to be taken off you.
04:59
So that's interesting with regards to what they're planning now, how far it will go with regards to cyclists and everybody else. I'm not quite sure electric bikes or the big super fast electric bikes or how they will ban e-scooters that can travel at 50 kilometers an hour or 70 kilometers an hour. But Perrin's...
05:16
guardians brothers and sisters who's ever on the registration and if that was the way with all crime viewed a minor that was committing crime right and criminality and uh just constantly engaging getting into trouble find the parents people would say so they can do with e-scooters why can't we do it with everything else there's a very tragic story makes the examiner this morning it's the story of fionn bohan and joanne duggan they were before the courts yesterday um and the story goes in the examiner this morning that Fionn Bohan said outside the forecourts yesterday that baby Patrick Bohan was only one day old when he died in his father's arms at the CUMH.
05:55
His twin brother CJ, who was born second after Patrick, survived, right? He's five years old now, but this little boy, CJ, has cerebral palsy, has to use a wheelchair and cannot talk. He was in court yesterday and outside the court yesterday when his mom and dad, Fiona Joanne, spoke briefly to the media. Like CJ, last year, CJ, who sued over the circumstances of his birth in this UMH, settled a legal action.
06:21
CJ was born, as I say, second with cerebral palsy. That action was settled for 3.5 million, an interim payment. So there perhaps will be more But Joanne yesterday and Fionn were outside the court when they said that his son, Fionn said that his son Patrick, brother of CJ, left the hospital in a little white coffin. And he said, we'll never get to see our son Patrick smile. And that's something we will never, ever get over. And it's quite interesting, actually, and our thoughts are with the family that the total recorded compensation, this isn't in the papers this morning, This is just something that we sourced ourselves this morning.
06:58
You're not going to believe this, but the total recorded compensation payout managed by the agency for the HSE for the Cork and Kerry area now in the last five years has now peaked 305 million.
07:11
That's a third of a billion. £305 million has been paid out over a five-year tracking window for compensation for tragic stories like the one I've just mentioned and others like it. And some of those payouts have been £35 million, £23.5 million and £15 million. And many of them for birth-related injuries. If you look at the national figure of our medical negligence claims against the state... It's pushing upwards now of $2 billion over the last five years.
07:42
It's $1.8 billion at the moment.
07:44
And that is an astronomical amount of money for negligence. I pass it on to you for what it's worth. Just file that away and hold on to it. And then in other areas where we should be booming ahead, and building and building at a rate that has been unsurpassed for many decades. It's just not happening in Cork. The Echo this morning says that there were just three new social homes built and delivered, well, delivered anyway in Cork during the first three months of this year. So three were finished and handed over. Nationally, we're doing slightly better than Cork, but it's still nothing to be crowing about.
08:19
But when you look at the figure for Cork in general, 20 of those, less than 3% of the national total are here in Cork. So 20 of the social houses that were delivered finished, right? 17 of them are in the county and three in the city. Three, three.
08:36
I mean, think about that. They've achieved 0.4% of their target this year, Cork City Council. Not even half a percent. Not even one percent. 0.4. It's absolutely appalling. The papers this morning then talk of whatever's going to happen now within FIFA and the World Cup, with some countries already threatening to strike and refuse to take part in any upcoming World Cups in the next four years and eight years. If this idiot... of a decision, idiotic decision by Infantino and Trump to sell off a section of the World Cup itself.
09:13
And there's a carrot now being waved in front of all of the FIFA associations around the world. There's 211 of them. We're part of that, which would mean that they'd get a share of the sale of a part of the World Cup going forward. Now, the total value of, say, the World Cup, if it were put on the open market to be sold to private enterprise, would be like just under $4 billion.
09:35
It seems quite low considering the massive television audience, but they're waving large checks under the noses. And I don't know. I mean, this is a rocky road to go down. We saw huge changes during the World Cup in America and Canada, Mexico. This hydration break was just madness on top of many for many different reasons, but including the fact that it allowed lots and lots of more commercial breaks and lots more commercials and lots more money to be made. And it moved further and further away from the game of football itself. But that's still dominating the papers this morning. And so is Songs of Summer, where the Mail this morning is saying, in a poll that they did, I have no issue with this.
10:11
I have no axe to grind with it. Maybe you could come up. Actually, it would be good. What do you think was the best summer song of all time? Text 0868-104-106. 85 was the year.
10:21
It went to number 18 in the Irish charts and 42 in the UK charts. It was never a number one, but it has been voted as the most classic and best summer song of all time. Brian Adams, Summer of 69. It's a good'un, it's a rock. Anthem, ain't nothing wrong with that. They surveyed 2,000 people. Up there as well was Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. The Beatles, Here Comes the Sun. So that's the top three. There was others in there as well. Weirdly, Don't Stop Me Now by Queen. I failed to see the summer connection in there.
10:53
Trub Clop Tropicana by Wham, which is a bit kind of bubble gummy. And Holiday by Madonna, which has aged quite badly. But you wouldn't say that about the summer of 69. Agree or disagree, the best summer song of all time. Text 0868104106. And other things that dominated down through the years was road bowling. Now, I'm learning a little more about road bowling this morning because Cork... And Armagh, I'm told. I want them to correction by road ballers. Now, don't get me wrong. You guys would know a lot more than me. But they say that Cork and Armagh are the two places on the island of Ireland where bowling has played the most.
11:29
Now, it's played in Holland and it's played in Germany. And they have a bit of an old bash of it in North America as well. But Cork, a major, major place for bowling down through the centuries. So... It's so famous now, and it's an ancient sport, apparently originally brought to Ireland by Dutch soldiers who were chucking cannonballs along the roads during the, whatever roads they had during the Williamite Wars. So that's what came over, the Dutch chucking cannonballs who could throw a cannonball the furthest, probably here in Cork, actually.
12:00
And then it took off. But now the Cork Northwest deputy, John Paul O'Shea, wants this sport to get UN heritage recognition. And I like the sound of that. You know, I really do. Certainly one thing you wouldn't want happening with road bowling is that it would die out, right? I always remember as a child, and I suppose you guys do as well, if you went for the Sunday afternoon spin with the parents in the Morris Minor. A lot of the time you were stopped on country roads of a Sunday afternoon because there was a score going on at the time and there were old bowling and everybody was a little bit worried about the radiator in the front of the car if the bowl hopped off it.
12:37
But anyway, the most important and the most famous of them all was Mick Barry, who died in 2014, just weeks before his 96th birthday.
12:46
He was named Supreme Bowler of the Millennium, this cork man. Maybe we'll come back to that if there's anybody who has fond memories of bowling and the importance of it on Lee's side. Of course, we have the pub out in Blackpool, The Bowler's Rest. But McBarry was a beast of a man with a bowl. He lofted a 16-ounce bowl over the Chetwin Viaduct in 1955.
13:08
Not a bother. Right over it, it went. And then he tried to do it again with a 28-ounce bow, but it hopped off the ironwork at the top of the bridge and it didn't clear it. Now, a fellow by the name of Hans Bolen in 1985 did clear the viaduct with a 28-ounce bow. But hold on a second. He used a run-up ramp. So he ran up a ramp, which technically took him off the ground. He was closer to the top. So I'm not quite sure that that was genuine in that regard.
13:39
It's probably fair to say that in a traditional sense, nobody, and I'm open to correction, has actually lofted the viaduct yet with a 28-ounce bow, but McBarry did it with a 16-ounce. So anyway, I pass that on because it may well get people reminiscing about bowling or those that are still bowling. And the papers then just finally this morning don't deal with this one, but it will at some stage take off, I would think, as a story. And it has to do with delivery drivers, those who are working for DHL and all the different courier services. That's all fine. But we need, and somebody posted to say, we talk all about couriers and delivery drivers, but can we please take a few seconds to appreciate the fact that the Irish Postal Service correctly delivered a letter addressed as the following.
14:22
And I'd love to get other examples of ridiculously labelled addresses or names on envelopes and cards, whatever the case may be, that get delivered by on post. And this one is right up there. And this got delivered, apparently. They were looking for him in Bunkrana in County Donegal. So all they knew was Bunkrana, County Donegal. So the description of the person in Bunkrana, County Donegal, was put on the letter as, Your man Henderson, that boy with the glasses, who's doing a PhD in Queen's University, Belfast.
14:54
The post person found this individual in Bunkranagh, County Donegal. Not a bother. Text 0868 104 106.
15:02
Listen to The Neil Prendiville Show wherever you go. Download the Go Loud app, the new home of Red FM.
15:08
The Neil Prendiville Show.
15:11
Let's just stay now with bizarre addresses or lack of same on letters or postcards, whatever the case may be, and how it wrecks the head of posties. Malcolm, good morning.
15:21
Morning, Neil. Malcolm, the postie. Emer says you were being savaged by a dog there about 60 seconds ago. Is that right?
15:28
That's a regular, I call this. I wouldn't say it was being savage, no, but they bark a lot.
15:33
How do you know the difference between a hello bark and an aggressive bark, incidentally?
15:38
Well, the lower backers, they're just back and stay back, but they're aggressive. Why don't they come at you?
15:43
You just have to run.
15:45
Have you got reinforced trousers on then or something?
15:49
Well, I'd say no more.
15:52
Kind of like steel plates around your ankles kind of a thing. What is it, 27 years of posty, were you ever bit?
15:59
I was a few times, but one in particular, I was in Blowney there a few years ago, going up to a house, and I was there a regular postman for a while.
16:07
But they were having to get the new miniature Jack Russell. This thing now was like a mouse.
16:13
So the front door was open.
16:16
And oh, the dog runs. And I mean how berserk the dog went.
16:21
But I just thought he was a player for the thing. And he jumped up. I was going to catch him, obviously. But he actually locked down to my hand. And I shook my hand for him to get off. And I lost my wedding ring.
16:31
Where did it go? Never found it again. Where did it go? I have no idea. He probably ate it. I couldn't tell you but never found it again. I went out with metal detectors and we searched for days. Couldn't find it.
16:42
Did you metal detect his stomach?
16:45
I didn't even think of that to be honest.
16:47
He probably ate it. What were they mortified though the people of the house? They came out looking for it and all I could see was a child sitting on the stairs. Mum, the postman's going to get the dog put down. You couldn't do that. You couldn't. The child, you know. But sure, look, you have to see the funny side of it as well.
17:04
There is no funny side to it for you, but there is for me listening. Would you ever say, I'm not going to that house no more?
17:11
We've had to do that on a few occasions where people were kind of saying that it's the postman's fault. But by Lord, by Lord, the dog's mentally under control. So...
17:21
Look, you try and do what you can. You do your best, you know.
17:25
Did you get another wedding ring as a consequence of losing that one?
17:28
I think I meant to book my fifth one. One way, no, but five rings.
17:34
And were they all lost during the course of your duty?
17:39
I'm going to plead the fifth on that one. Okay. All right. Fair enough. What about addresses? Like your man, Henderson, the boy with the glasses, Queen's University, Belfast.
17:49
Yeah, that's a regular occurrence. And I think, notice, Miles Gaffney is after stitching me off to go on the radio.
18:01
Yeah, we get a few. I get a lot there, I don't know, for Rykeen Murphy. But I put him into his mother's house then in Rapheken. Do you still get them? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Irish footballer, Rykeen.
18:14
And that's it. Irish footballer Roy Keane.
18:17
So when it comes into the sorting depot, how do they know who to give it to?
18:22
Well, you see, a lot of the people in the depots, in the sorting areas, would be very experienced.
18:29
Everybody knows who Roy Keane is.
18:31
But first of all, Irish footballer Roy Keane, on a letter, would come into Dublin or Mullingar or something, wouldn't it?
18:39
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Portleash, maybe.
18:40
So Portleash, then, someone has to look at that and say, that's Cork.
18:44
Yeah.
18:45
Right. And then when it gets to Cork. Yeah.
18:48
Whoever's in this certain office in, you know, when they're being, if there's a few being hand sorted, because that still happens, the people that are doing it would know that he's out in the rap, that his mother's out in the rap. But how would they know that?
19:03
Well, look, social media, radio, television...
19:08
You know, everyone knows where I am.
19:10
So a postal sorting office is more effective than MI5 or the CIA or the FBI all put together. They know where everybody is.
19:20
I was never a postman at Douglas, but I could tell you things about you.
19:24
Go on, I dare you. Like what?
19:27
No comment.
19:31
I got a few letters there back in the day for the yellow house in Kilnap. And we all know where that house is. Dave Miles was on that delivery one time and he said, yeah, that's the host. And it was.
19:44
What about, say for instance, the Murphy's Blackpool?
19:50
That's a tough one, all right, but you see, if you have a regular person or a regular post-person and the same delivery, you get to know who's sending what down through the years, you know?
20:01
And I'm out in Rapekin, Killeen's, Man Arb, And there's a lot of Cronins out there. And you have to kind of know which is which Cronin. And you have a lot of Moynihans, and you have a lot of this, and you have a lot of that. So you get to know it over the period.
20:17
But how do you know if it just says the Moynihans or the Murphys? I mean, it doesn't have a Christian name or anything, and it just says Mallow Road, and there's eight of them.
20:28
Well, you'd throw it into one, and if they're not talking to each other, they mightn't get it, but if they're talking to each other, they might pass it on. LAUGHTER You'd always find the way I need. You'd always find the way.
20:41
You've never been stumped then? You've always got your man or a woman?
20:46
99.9% of the time.
20:48
Even the other day, I know there was a woman on my delivery. And she said there was a person meant to come for her with, jewellery inside.
20:55
And I said, I remember, like I said, I had nothing for you.
20:59
But I got the tracking cord from her.
21:01
And when I went back to the office...
21:03
It had been scanned out to my route. I had done it that morning. But what I didn't realise was it was after slipping in behind the wheel. So I came back to work and something like that would annoy you. You'd always want to make sure the stuff gets to where it's supposed to go.
21:19
So I scored the van and I actually found it was a tiny little thing. And on my way home then I just dropped her off to the house and I met her the following day and she was delighted. Like there was jewellery inside in it.
21:28
That's important, yeah.
21:29
It's important. Look, letters...
21:33
Not as busy as what it used to be, but we get our days where we are very, very busy. I have to stay with the letters as well. I'm old school. I make sure whatever comes into the end of the day goes out on the day.
21:44
Can I ask you, because of the summer and we're into the back end of July now and soon into August, do people send postcards from overseas, your Spain postcards, your Portugal postcards, your Greece and stuff like that?
21:56
Not as regularly as they used to. I remember being in England Street inside and during the summer, the volume of horse cows were off the charts.
22:05
That's a long time back though, isn't it? When they'd be coming from Bally Bunyan, for instance.
22:10
But we used to have a great laugh inside Mock because you'd clip the horse cow road to see if I was on the back and the front of it.
22:17
You know, you might get a lot of new pictures and things like that. But we used to have a great laugh at them.
22:22
The saucy ones.
22:24
The saucy ones, exactly, yeah. But we used to have a great kit inside Mock. You know, if you were on a snow or whatever, starting on a mountain,
22:33
it's a pity that died out though isn't it I know people are very contactable with mobile phones but it would be great because everywhere you go there's like loads and loads of them for sale you know you see the spinning carousels with all the cards on them it would be great if people got back into the way of sending them there's nothing nicer I think it's I love it I love seeing cards coming through to be honest with you birthday cards Christmas cards no we don't take them by the way we always make sure they get to where they're supposed to go 100% I don't doubt it I don't doubt it
23:03
Your honourable address is there now. Sometimes they would see, and I had one inside for a lady for a couple of days, but eventually I had to sign it off to say that we couldn't find one of it.
23:15
But there was just a name, and my name was written on it. And I asked the postman in the area around me, did anybody know it?
23:22
But one for the next, he said he thinks it could be related to this person. So he brought it out. No, I haven't seen him yet. No doubt if it's not for them, it'll come back and go back into the office. I love it. And go back to the return letter. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
23:35
It looks like a card.
23:38
Look, it's kind of like a special investigation unit. So I get it when you say Roy Keane, footballer, Ireland. I get it as well that if it was just the word Bono on the front of a letter, he would get it as well when you're well-known and you're famous.
23:50
When you're well-known, yeah.
23:51
Fair play. Okay, well, listen, thanks for jumping on, Malcolm. Mind yourself with those little doggies. The smaller?
23:56
I know.
23:58
The smaller ones, yeah. I call that Dave's smile man syndrome.
24:01
Yeah.
24:03
That's what they're like referees. Small referees. They come out and fight for all the big men on the pitch.
24:09
Knowing they can't be touched, I know, yeah.
24:13
All the best. Take care. Malcolm the Posty. 27 years doing the biz. Text 0868-104-106. Pick up the phone on 0818-104-106. We were talking about lots of different things yesterday. We were talking about the cost of weddings and then before that it was how much you're supposed to give as a cash gift for a wedding. Part of Seamus' Vox got me sitting up and paying attention when one fellow said, well, the amount that you give and the cash gift should maybe cover the cost of a flat screen TV.
24:42
I'm not quite sure about that. You can get those north of €1,200, €1,400, €1,500 if you go for the very big ones. Or he said it should be able to cover the cost of a toaster. And it got me thinking. Like a toaster, you can get for as low as €20. You can get the Morphe Richards ones for €25 to €29. You'd hardly give €29 as a contribution to a toaster. Unless, though, I was saying yesterday, you went for a Schmeg toaster. to match the Schmeg kettle that you have and the Schmeg toasters. I don't know about the kettles. And you can't tell me that the toast tastes any different out of a €29 toaster or a Schmeg toaster at €199 for a toaster with the name Schmeg on it and maybe kind of pale green in colour, for God's sake.
25:30
Anyway, that prompted a voice note.
25:32
Well, I don't know about the Smeg now there because I got a Smeg kettle there about six months ago, seven months ago. And it was a brand new one out of the box. And the lettering, S-M-E-G, came off both sides of it. Not all the letters, just some of them. No way of gluing them back on. And also it's very noisy.
25:54
I thought that it would be really silent, you know, very noisy. So I'm not so sure about paying out the price for a smeg kettle or a smeg toaster.
26:04
Thank you for that. Keep them coming. Watch what you get, particularly if you're spending big money. That wasn't a very good result, was it? Text 0868 104 106.
26:12
Get on to Prenderville.
26:14
Text or WhatsApp Neil now. 0868 104 106. The Neil Prenderville Show.
26:22
Be part of the conversation. Pick up the phone 0818 104 106. Text 0868 104 106. You hear about people who give up the drink and go through that passage and others then give up the fags and it's not easy and they drive on and they strive on. But very interestingly, I came across Lucy Wolfe, the sleep practitioner, researcher and author who's been on the air many times over the years who gave up the coffee and I believe she hasn't had a cup of caffeine coffee or any kind of coffee And I was mad curious because I'm a big coffee lover and I couldn't imagine life being worth living without a good fresh cup of coffee first thing in the morning.
27:01
So Lucy, morning.
27:02
Good morning. How are you?
27:03
How's it go? Why'd you do it? And how are you getting on?
27:07
I did it because my own sleep was very challenging, had become very challenging over the course of time. And I suppose, look, our sleep is a course of development and we have different phases in our life where sleep can be impacted. So I guess it's kind of confronting when you work in the sleep world and you're immersed in research around sleep to experience challenges around sleep. So I went on a journey.
27:38
And that journey involved a lot of the stuff that I talk about around sleep, you know, improving sleep hygiene, you know, regularity, exposure. And I'd really exhausted all of the general things. in order that I would think improved sleep. And the last thing actually was my caffeine.
27:59
The last challenge was caffeine. The last investigation was to see what difference caffeine would make. But what was your consumption up to December typically?
28:09
When you see this is this, I would say I have had a love affair with coffee for 30 years, but at the same token, I wouldn't have thought I was a wild coffee drinker. I would have two to three cups a day, just instant coffee, so nothing sophisticated. And I would be conscious of, you know, finishing the coffee by, you know, either 1.30 or 2.30 p.m. But I was still very disciplined around it, which then almost made me really not consider it to be problematic.
28:41
Okay.
28:42
Until it became like the last thing to talk off the list. And I suppose I did feel I owed it to myself to make the change. But just like you said, like I was like, oh, my goodness, will life be worth living? You know, because I get up in the morning, I enjoy the coffee. You know, I enjoy everything that comes with it.
29:00
But I just decided that I would go on the journey. Now, I had tried, I can't remember when, but I had tried to come off coffee before and I can't even remember the reason for that before. And I did find that it was difficult to do. So this time I decided that I would wean myself off it.
29:13
Okay, because part of it can be routine. Part of it can be habit. Part of it can be the ritual involved about it. Now, with instant coffee, it's slightly different. Boil the kettle powder. But with a bean machine or making your own and, you know, there's a lot involved in it. There's that aspect of it. All that's going to be taken away. Okay. So I kind of get that, you know...
29:36
it's a lot more than just the consumption of coffee. But I wouldn't have said that you had an addiction to coffee, though.
29:44
No, exactly. That's it. It was very thin.
29:48
It wasn't. And I suppose this is ultimately a surprising thing. So what I ultimately did was I began to replace it with decaffeinated coffee firstly, and then I began to replace the decaffeinated coffee with a herbal tea.
30:04
Okay.
30:05
And it took time to discover which rubber tea would be nice to consume. And I suppose I ended up drinking peppermint tea ultimately. And I suppose it wasn't initially tangible. It was just, OK, I'm on a weaning process because, you know, with anything, it's important to replace it, not just to take it away. And I guess what I sort of rationalised is that for me, it was just a hot drink. And it was the ritual and it was all the associations. And then if I could recreate that. And so that's what I began to do.
30:36
Bizarrely, though, you started to fall asleep willy nilly. You would fall asleep in not driving a car, thanks be to God, but you'd fall asleep in the cinema. What was that about?
30:48
And do you know what? I would have said, oh, I thought that improved. But now I almost feel it's like a bit of a gift. So historically, you know, I would be a relatively OK sleeper. Like I have really good sleep practices. I sleep through the night, let's say. Right. And I prioritize my sleep. But. I would not be the type of person that could fall asleep on a long haul flight. So if I run a long haul flight, I'm the only one with the light on. Still breathing. So I didn't have that skill to kind of fall asleep anywhere or with relative ease, like sat on the couch watching the television.
31:20
Not really. Right. Once I had given up coffee or on the way, I actually began to fall asleep pretty much anywhere. Like, And I have actually maintained, I'm going to call it a skill. So I'm obviously not doing it during my working day. But if I was sitting out and reading, I could take a nap. I could have a sleep. But in the very beginning, it was super intense. Like nearly every time I sat down, I was starting to fall asleep.
31:47
So what was caffeine masking then when you took it out?
31:51
So we do know that the caffeine is blocking your sleep pressure, the adenosine, and it's stopping you from going to sleep.
32:02
It is a stimulant, you see.
32:04
So that is why when we talk about there are obviously positive properties for drinking caffeine, such as, you know, we would say that the person who drinks coffee, you know, it has more heightened awareness, you know, maybe more focused, you know, it is stimulated. And so once I withdrew it, I was obviously less stimulated. And as a result of that, my not so sweet defences were able to come into play.
32:36
Or did it actually tell you how tired you actually were all of the time, but you never knew it?
32:41
Correct. And that was my initial reaction. I just felt like, oh, my goodness, it's been masking. It's been masking my tiredness. And that is what we would say anyway. You know, the research sort of indicates that anyway. And I guess if you think about it as well and we look at the research around it, like there is one recent randomized trial that's suggested that people who drink coffee get about 36 minutes less sleep over a two-week period.
33:09
So it has nothing. I'd give that 36 minutes of any day for a fresh sleepover of coffee.
33:13
If you add it up, though, Neil, it is nothing. When we're looking at all the other things that also steal from our sleep,
33:21
Sure, well, we have to have pleasures in life. If you trade a bit of time, you don't want to be miserable and live to 90.
33:27
This is it. And you see it also, the disruption that comes from maybe drinking caffeine acid product is quite individual as well. So you'll already know about the half-life a capacity of caffeine, which means that it takes time for the body and the brain to clean the toxins from it. One recent study said that it's like a nine hour distance between And finishing your latest coffee and drink and being able to go to sleep with relative ease.
33:59
I have to tell you, I could have coffee and regularly do at half 10, 11 o'clock at night and conk out.
34:05
But that's actually interesting because there's a gene. So there is a very specific gene in some people that it's not affecting them. And we see that all of the time. So I got weird genes then.
34:16
Okay, well, that's okay.
34:18
I can live with that.
34:20
Okay, so the symptoms that I came across for people who kick coffee. Headaches, fatigue, drowsiness, you've got that. Muscle stiffness, aches, nausea, tremors. I'm interested in whether you have irritability, brain fog, or low mood.
34:35
I would say the only symptom that I had in that cluster that you've just described was the falling asleep. And actually, I kind of, I've embraced that. I think it's really, I think it's actually really great. Because it's like a nap factor. It's not affecting me getting sleep at bedtime. And that would always be our worry about napping. That if people do nap and if it affects their ability to get sleep or stay asleep overnight, then napping's not for you. Okay. but I've enjoyed being able to do that. But I can't say that I did experience any of the others.
35:06
What about weird dreams?
35:08
No, I know I haven't really had any lucid dreaming or hallucinatory dreams, but I do know that that often does occur. The other little symptom that I probably did experience, but after about three weeks of being caffeine free was the headache. They did have like a headachy kind of week or so, which was one of the things that was concerning me when I went to give it up, because I think in my previous time when I tried to give it up, that happened really early on. But I think because I did it so gradually that I didn't have that massive sort of calm down.
35:42
Yeah.
35:42
And not really any of the other things. Well, I mean, the people that live with MSM Irritable anyway. Yeah.
35:48
The irritability was there before you quit the coffee. I see. What about, you know, they talk about kind of weird dreams. OK, so you weren't having them when you stopped drinking the coffee. Is that an old wife's tale for want of a better term? They say if you eat cheese before bed, you have weird dreams or nightmares.
36:04
It's not an old wives tale. There are some foods and drinks that cause us to stay in a heightened sense of neurological arousal. And that's really what speaks to that dynamic. And then, of course, a bit like, you know, the individuality of how we metabolise things and, you know, your tendencies. There's something like a higher predisposition to, you know, have that cluster of sleep phenomenon, like sleepwalking, sleeptalking.
36:31
From eating cheese before you go to bed?
36:34
Yeah, because there is, like, there's properties in the cheese that stimulate that. Similarly, like, there are other foods that are really helpful for seeds. So they contain, like, tryptophan, which then converts to serotonin, which is the precursor to melatonin. So I'm always sort of interested in promoting those.
36:55
Okay. No, I understand. No, I listen. I get that. But I tend to flip to the opposite side. Yeah.
37:02
Nightmares, sleepwalking.
37:06
Yes. So that's your tendency, is it?
37:10
Well, when I'm on the air anyway, I want to hear more about the effects of cheese and coffee on nightmares. Like, you know, I came across some interesting videos there recently. I was chatting to Brenda Denny about her off air, actually, where people who have given up alcohol, right? And they're powering on and they're doing the best they can. They could be three months off at six months off at nine months off at a year, two years, whatever. But they have dreams that they're drinking.
37:34
And they wake up in a sweat like, oh, my God, thanks be to God, that was only a dream. So in their dreams, they're back actually drinking. They've fallen off the wagon. Isn't that the most peculiar thing? Una Healy actually was posting about it last night, actually.
37:49
Oh, really? Like, it's so interesting, isn't it? That, you know, the involuntary things that occur when we're sleeping. And like the brain, it's not just rest. We're processing, we're metabolizing everything. And I suppose, look, the dream is the royal road to the unconscious, according to Jung.
38:05
But why would the dream, why would your brain do that to you? It's a nasty thing to do. Somebody that's trying to stay sober and its brain is trying to convince them otherwise.
38:15
Yeah, well, I suppose the dream philosophy is that your dream is trying to indicate something, help you with something, alert you to something. And only, again, it's individual. So it opens the interpretation of the person themselves as to the dream's meaning. So it's totally not my area.
38:35
Yeah, no, I'm just curious because I thought it was very sad when I heard those ones. People are... Waking up in a bog of sweat and a nightmare. But thanks be to God, it's only it's only a dream.
38:44
And that's it. And you see, though, like when we do have those heights and dreams and they go into like the night terror phenomenon, like some of the biggest cause factors for being up there is that you are sleep deprived. And that sleep deprivation can be that you're not getting either enough sleep. or your quality of sleep is being impacted. And I suppose that's where sometimes we look at the things like the caffeine, you know, heavy meals, strenuous exercise before sleep time, gaming, you know, active in computer interaction.
39:19
Screens, yeah.
39:20
Yeah.
39:22
Rather than the passive ones, like watching stuff, they do impact the quality of your sleep. So we're always, as practitioners, interested in the quality and the quantity.
39:32
I wonder if we're going to get any of the crazy weather back again, because I know for a number of weeks there, people had terrible difficulty sleeping in the heat, especially if they couldn't get their hands on a fan for love nor money. The window's open and the duvet's off.
39:44
Yeah, like the sleep has such an impact or the heat has such an impact on sleep because we rely on the cool body temperature reduction in the body temperature to help sleep to come. And, you know, that's the cocktail hormones and chemicals in the brain and the body that allow us to get sleep with ease and to maintain sleep. And in the tropical nights that they were being called, like we didn't have that. And of course, We didn't either have the capacity to cool down our houses because they're mostly being insulated through the nymphs of their lives to preserve the heat loss in the winter months and we're not used to it.
40:18
So yes, it was so challenging. I mean, the only things that were really open to us, if you did get your hands up, was just cool everything down, try and cool your body down. Thrift everything back, use the, you know, the natural fibres as opposed to a synthetic in terms of your bedding, what you're wearing, if you're even wearing anything, you know.
40:35
OK, OK. And finally, do you miss coffee?
40:39
I actually don't because I still have the ritual. I drink two little pots of herbal peppermint tea when I get up in the morning and at my kind of my lunchtime and I don't miss it at all.
40:50
I can't imagine herbal tea satiating what freshly ruined coffee would have done.
40:56
I know, and I suppose, look, maybe I'm just not that fussy, but I have learned to love the peppermint tea, and I really look forward to it. I still have the ritual of it. But, you know, maybe, although I was a coffee drinker, maybe I wasn't, like, you know, up there with the coffee drinker.
41:11
Yeah, okay, okay. Well, power on and look after yourself. Thanks, Lucy. Appreciate you taking the call.
41:15
Oh, thanks so much, Neil. Bye for a while.
41:17
Lucy Wolf, get involved. Text 0868 104 106. We'll pick it up after 10.
41:27
And be part of those conversations. Get involved. The Neil Prendival Show with Elevate Credit Union. Text 0868 104 106 with a €400 voucher to give away every day for deluxe bathrooms and tiling solutions. They're down in Little Island. You can visit the showroom. You can check them out online, deluxebathrooms.ie.
41:44
And the €400 can go to anything you want to do to refresh the bathroom with all sorts of wonderful improvements. So a €400 voucher every day. You need to identify who is singing in the shower, right? So don't call just yet. I'll play it a few times between now and midday. And then we'll open the phone lines just before midday today. So who's singing in the shower today, Thursday? Have a listen.
42:08
When things go wrong and will not come right, do you do the best you can?
42:16
Pinter Plain is your only man.
42:20
Who is it, though? Play it again a couple of times between now and midday today. I love that one. I really do. Anyway, lines are open. Text 0868-104-106. Pick up the phone on 0818-104-106. Was it yesterday? We were talking about that beautiful, beautiful condiment that should be in everybody's cupboard or fridge. I'm not quite sure. Worcestershire sauce.
42:42
And how to pronounce it is one of the world's most difficult words to pronounce. There's an interesting piece of audio, actually, from a guy called... Well, it's called Worcester John's English Page. And he's having a go at trying to explain it. But have a listen to this, because even he, while having a go as to how we should all pronounce it, stumbles himself, right?
43:01
It's been a long time since somebody has asked me to pronounce this. So let's try again. Very easy, OK? It's...
43:14
Worcestershire.
43:15
Now, lots of people will try to pronounce it, including North Americans.
43:23
They'll say Worcestershire.
43:25
The first part is just Worcester.
43:28
Worcestershire. Some people say Worcestershire or Worcestershire. That's also okay, but it's not Worcester.
43:36
So Worcestershire.
43:37
And British people, to abbreviate it even more, informally will just call it Worcestershire.
43:47
So that's the easiest way to say Worcester.
43:51
Officially, it's Worcester.
43:53
Damn. Officially, it's Worcestershire.
43:56
So easy.
43:58
Even he fell over it. See if we can make Lorna Robinson. I promised that I'd go to Worcester to get this solved for you. We'll see if we can get Lorna Robinson to fall over it. She's the visitor economy and destination manager for the greater Worcestershire area. Joins me by phone. Lorna, good morning.
44:16
Good morning, how are you?
44:17
Go on then, have a go.
44:19
Worcestershire.
44:21
It comes easy to you though, doesn't it?
44:23
I do say it about 10 times a day, so it'd be awkward if it didn't.
44:27
Do you say it 10 times a day? Because 10 times a day you have to tell people how to say it.
44:33
We do, you know, help people along. You know, there's an entrance test. Can you say it before you come here?
44:41
Yes. Firstly, where is Worcester? Where is it?
44:46
Worcester itself, it's about 30 miles south of Birmingham. So, you know, we're not far from Birmingham Airport if anyone wants to come and visit. OK. Yeah, just south of Birmingham and just north of the Cotswolds.
44:56
And is this what you're most famous for, this famous anchovy-based sauce?
45:03
Yes, I think it's our biggest international export by far. And the pronunciation that goes with it has obviously made us quite famous for that. We make lots of other amazing things like Morgan Motors and we've got Algar, the musician. But yeah, from an export point of view, definitely the sauce.
45:19
OK, OK. It's a bit like Norwich, famous for Coleman's mustard, I suppose. Put it on the map, I guess. So when you look at the word, right, Worchester Shire sauce, why don't you pronounce it like you spell it?
45:38
Oh, well, as a dyslexic person, I'd love to know that because of so many English words that don't really make sense. But...
45:45
Even locally, we don't say the shire bit at the end. We're more the shire, so Worcestershire, whereas the correct pronunciation is Worcestershire. So it's interesting. Even locally, we don't say it properly.
45:57
Worcestershire. Or would one get away with just saying Worcestershire sauce?
46:02
Oh, yeah. Lots of people abbreviate it to Worcester sauce or the imperium sauce, which is the two men behind the sauce. Yeah, the answer to anything.
46:11
What's the... OK, so what is the... I love it, incidentally. It's fantastic in everything, anything it works with, you know. It is great. What's the history behind the actual sauce itself? Do you know?
46:21
I do. It's 190 years next year, the anniversary of the sauce. So Lord Sanders was off in India. He had this amazing sauce and he came back with a recipe and asked two local chemists, Mr Lee and Mr Perrins, to make the sauce. And they did. And it tasted like crap. So they put it away. They fermented it in Lord Sanders' mansion. And then about 18 months later, they tried it again, and it fermented into this beautiful sauce. And that is where the legend of the sauce sort of starts, and it became a table sauce.
46:55
And about 130 years later, they created a factory which is still in the centre of Worcester, which is still exporting to countries all over the world from this little factory in Worcester. OK. And how many...
47:07
So from the early 1800s to today, God only knows how many bottles of Worcester sauce they actually created and bottled. But what is the production like now, say, annually?
47:21
I can't remember off the top of my head. I should have Googled. I was literally at the factory last week. I think it's sort of in the region of 330 million bottles a year.
47:28
Oh my God. 330 million bottles of Liam Perrins.
47:32
Yeah. It's a lot. It's a lot.
47:35
All over the world.
47:36
They export everywhere apart from North America who have their own unfermented version because they're too impatient to wait.
47:42
Yeah.
47:43
So they literally kind of brewed it or made it or distilled it. It tasted, as you said, crap. So they just put it away and forgot about it in the cellar, but luckily went back again.
47:53
Exactly that. They went back and tried it again.
47:58
And found, oh my God, this is maturing quite nicely. Thank you very much.
48:02
Yes, like fine wine.
48:04
What is it? Is it because of the anchovies?
48:07
I'm not sure if it's the garlic and the onions that are fermented for like almost a year now before the sauce is made. So I think that's the base flavour. And then the anchovies are added with some other secret spices and herbs as like a second stage. And then it's fermented for another couple of weeks before it's bottled.
48:24
Isn't it amazing? And is that a protected word now, Worcestershire sauce, as opposed to others making knockoffs of it? You know, we hear about that with cheeses sometimes and areas of the fight between Devon and Cornwall over cream teas and stuff. Is it the same with you guys?
48:42
Yeah, I think with Worcestershire, it's trademarked, but I think Worcestershire sauce isn't, so that's how people get away with it. Or they changed the branding to be the iconic orange that we know of Liam Perrin's. to try and get on the shelf space with them.
48:56
That's amazing. 350 million bottles of it. So let me give it a go. Worcestershire.
49:03
Smashed it.
49:03
Well done. Well, I smashed it.
49:05
OK, as long as I can do that every time. So, of course, Worcester, this is the place where you have a pub in a graveyard called the Mug House. Is that right?
49:13
It's my local. Yes, it's a great pub.
49:16
So hang on a second. So when you go to your local, you walk into a graveyard.
49:21
The little pathways next to the graveyard, but they are, you are in the pub garden, you are looking out over the churchyard, yeah.
49:30
How do you find that? Serene? Relaxing?
49:34
Well, I kind of find it, I don't overthink it, to be honest, because it's in my local for so long. But I guess it's nice to raise a drink to those who aren't with us anymore. It's quite a nice angle to it.
49:47
Not at all freaky if you're leaving after closing time, no?
49:51
Wow. It is meant to be quite a haunted pub, but I've never stayed that late.
49:56
All right.
49:57
Well, let's encourage people to get over to Worcester and check out the mug house in the graveyard. Oh, I have a photograph of it here. It's a beautiful looking pub. Oh, my God. Isn't it really oldie worldie?
50:11
Yes, it is really oldie worldie. It's got a beautiful view out the back across some farm fields up to the Malvern Hills as well. It's lovely.
50:17
Malvern. That's where the famous water comes from, right?
50:21
Yes, it is.
50:21
Oh my God, I want to go there. I've got to get there.
50:24
Well done. Well, I'll do you a whole itinerary if you want. Let me know what you're into and I'll plan it for you.
50:30
Off you go and I'll share it with the listeners and we'll get as many people over to taste Worcestershire sauce at the source itself. How about that, Lorna?
50:39
Sounds perfect. Thank you very much.
50:40
Mind yourself. Thanks for coming on the air this morning for solving that riddle. Appreciate it. Take care.
50:45
Appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
50:47
Bye bye. Liam Perrin's Worcestershire sauce. There's no excuses now anymore. We've got it sorted. So here was the other piece of audio that sorted this out. This is just a bit of a laugh.
50:56
Three of the hardest things for people to say.
50:59
I was wrong.
51:01
I need help.
51:03
And Worcestershire sauce Worcestershire Worcestershire Worcestershire Worcestershire
51:11
So now you know, right? No excuses. Anyway, it's a big day today in more ways than one. It's International Day of Friendships Day. International World Day of Friendship. More on this across the rest of the morning. Winnie the Pooh, actually, is the actual friendship ambassador for that. It's a second day as well, actually. Don't you talk about things that you can eat or drink or what have you this morning. In America today is National Cheesecake Day. National Cheesecake Day. It being the most popular dessert or cake in America is cheesecake.
51:45
And they honour it every 12 months, in case you didn't know.
51:48
Get on to Prenderville now. 0818 104 106.
51:51
The Neil Prenderville Show on Red FM.
51:55
All right, back to the phone lines. We'll go, Margot, good morning.
51:58
Good morning, Neil. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to help, but do share the story. So sorry to hear what happened to your daughter, Sharon. Tell us all.
52:07
They left Croc Airport yesterday to go to Fungarola.
52:11
Yeah.
52:12
And when they got to the airport, they got the train down to Fungarola. Now, it's just outside Fungarola, Las Baliches. They got off their stop.
52:23
And when she got to her apartment, her purse was gone.
52:27
Oh, my God.
52:29
Yeah. So, she... I was in the purse, Margot.
52:33
I was in the purse.
52:34
No. She had all her cards, her Revolut, but she only had €300 in cash, her driving licence, everything was in the purse. So she cancelled her cards immediately and then she got a message not shortly afterwards from Revolut to say that there was suspicious activity on her Revolut account. Was this her?
53:03
So she said, no, it wasn't her because it was a new card, new Revolut card. And she wasn't physically after activating it. Like she was tapping on her because she had it onto her phone. And that's how she was using the card through her phone. She never actually physically used the card, if you know what I mean.
53:25
Yeah, yeah.
53:26
Yeah. So that was stopped. So the card was stopped immediately then as well as the Revolut.
53:33
Somebody tried to use the card.
53:35
Yeah.
53:37
So she can't tap now.
53:39
No, her cards are all frozen now. Now, her husband has his card. They're OK. But it's the 300 euro that that was for, let's say, her daughter was with her. She's 13.
53:52
that money was kind of for her, let's say, for buying stuff off the Lucky Lucky's, you know, bringing back a pair of shoes, a bit of clothes, whatever, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you know? So it's just, I couldn't believe it when I heard it this morning, you know?
54:10
So do you think and does she think that her purse was robbed on the train, getting on the train, hustle and bustle?
54:16
You see, she used the cash when she bought the tickets the ticket for the train.
54:25
And she never went near her purse after that. She put her purse back into her bag. And then by the time she got to her apartment, the purse was gone. So 100% it was taken on the train.
54:37
I'd say it's I'd say that's wholesale. You know, I'd say it's happening everywhere. They're just and they know of tourists and they know that they're slightly distracted or a bit excited about the trip. And they might be they mightn't be concentrating. You know what I mean? You might be you're in holiday mode. You know what I'm saying?
54:53
Yeah. And she said the train was so, so many people on the train as well. And her husband was up a bit from where she was. because they were standing, there was no sitting room, and the 13-year-old was stuck up against her. She was holding on to her every time the train was stopping. You know, so when you have that environment with a lot of people around you.
55:14
Oh, yeah, okay. So it was fairly jammed and she was standing. So they would have been holding on to bars or what have you and other people around her up close. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Oh, my God.
55:26
Now, myself and my husband experienced this as well. We were there three, four weeks ago and it was the same on the train. My God, it's frightening. And they're walking pairs then as well. You can see them. We saw it quite plain. When we were on the train, this guy was hanging around near us and there's a toilet on the train as well. And he went into that toilet three or four times. My husband maintained that he was on the phone to somebody else and he could see this guy was watching us.
56:01
Okay, a double act then, communicating with each other in the carriage of the train. God, people need to be so alert, don't they? And I hope that people who are heading over, you know, on holidays over the month of August are really, really alert to their possessions because it can ruin your holiday, you know?
56:18
And of course, it's a train. So, you know, you're off the train, they're off the train and they're gone. So they're 300 euro better off. They tried the cars, but thankfully that didn't work. But still 300 euro cash beats working for a living for these thieves and crooks. So what is it you what is you want to do?
56:37
Hang on a second. I may have lost that line, guys. Are you still there, Margot?
56:41
I am.
56:41
OK, sorry. And you want to try and help, do you?
56:45
Yeah, it's the 300 euro. If there's anybody flying from Cork in the next day or two to Fungarola, to that part of Fungarola, Lost Polishes, where she's staying, I would be happy to meet that person and give them the 300 euro to pass it on to her.
57:05
Okay, okay. We need to find somebody trustworthy. That's the only challenge that I would have. I love that. You know what I mean? I won't say any more about it than that. Cork people digress best people in the world. But I don't want an opportunist taking €300 from you and legging it with it, you know?
57:22
I know that, but I'm hoping that it's going to be somebody from the north side that we might know.
57:27
Okay. So a Nari would be safer. Oh, 100%. Oh, 10%. All right. And is there any way that you could send the money, and it's a lovely thing for a mother and father to do, so well done on that, but is there any way that you could send it to Sharon's husband on his Revolut and they could... No, sorry me, he doesn't have Revoluts.
57:51
And he just has, I actually have the same card for him. It's like a card that you get with Credit Union. It speeds a debit.
57:59
Okay.
58:00
And he won't be able to withdraw any money with that card.
58:04
So he has to tap everybody. He can't take money out of an ATM.
58:08
No, no, we can't. Okay, so, okay. I was just curious. So let's see.
58:14
And again, the cash, it was stuff to buy, you know, things as she goes about. And the kids, and a few bob for the kids as well, you know, to enjoy the holidays. She was going to spend it on the kids also. So if you can find somebody that's travelling to Fungarola ASAP in the next few days, that would take it out and meet up with Sharon there, perhaps. Make all the difference to a holiday.
58:36
Yes, well, it's the child. It's the child.
58:39
Yeah, yeah. It's the child you're thinking about.
58:42
Oh, yeah.
58:45
But it's Sharon's money, though.
58:49
And she walked hard enough for it. Chalk it down. Absolutely. She wants to give the best holler to everybody concerned. OK, well, listen, the story's out there. In more ways than one, people should be so careful and on high alert all of the time around people, particularly on trains or in areas where it's busy sitting down at a coffee shop, in a pub, never put anything down. and get distracted, you know, just be alert at all time. And also, see if we can find somebody that's going to finger all over the next couple of days that can take out the cash to give it to Sharon.
59:20
Isn't that what we need to do?
59:22
It would be lovely. Yeah.
59:23
All right. Okay. Let's see if anybody can help us on this one, Margot. Okay. Fingers crossed that they will. Okay.
59:30
Okay. Thank you very much.
59:31
Okay. Take care. On a lighter note, ideally an Ari, but not exclusively. I'm not saying for a moment. I'm not saying for a moment that those on the south side are any less trustworthy than those on the north side. But anyway, can we help? Seriously, though, can we help? It would be a wonderful thing. Text 0868 104 106. Perhaps you're travelling out in the next couple of days. It would make a huge difference to their enjoyment of the holiday. For sure it will. Anyway, pick up the phone, text 0868-104-106 if you think you could help sort that one out. And that would be another great job done.
60:02
Meanwhile, from yesterday, lots of texts actually coming in on mediums. And some are good and some are medium and some are absolute chances. I remember a few years ago I was asleep and out of nowhere it felt like the clouds were opening up and it was bright. I could see my dad's face and my body was moving in the bed. I'm 100% certain that this happened.
60:26
It still amazes me to this day. It sounds to me as if you were levitating somewhat with regards to whatever was going on there. And if you believe that your dad appeared, then good for you. 100%. Great comfort for you. Myself and my partner were over in Perth about two years ago over the Easter weekend. We hired a camper and headed off to Esperance, which is about a seven-hour drive from the city of Perth. We stopped at a random campsite on Friday night. We got in very late, so we went straight to sleep. The next morning we were up early and noticed a camper in front of us.
61:00
We got talking to an elderly woman, and I was telling her where we were from and what I was working as. She told me... this is in the campsite, that you could see my grandfather sitting on my shoulder.
61:14
She said he didn't want me to work as hard as he did and that he was always with me. It turned out she was a medium. I thought it was mad, but I'd love to go to a medium now, says Jack. I mean, that's great. That's fantastic. And she claimed she saw what she saw. And now it's kind of it sparked an interest with you. But you would think of you say that the grandfather might be standing next to you or that your grandfather might be behind your back or at your shoulder. But sitting on your shoulder sounds quite peculiar.
61:46
Maybe spirits can do all sorts of things, including balancing acts. Listening to the girl on air with you talking about mediums, I like to think she's right and that there is another place. I lost my dad when I was 13. I used to go to St. Finbar Cemetery every day to see his grave. About a week after he passed, I was walking from the back of the graveyard with my head down.
62:07
As I stepped onto a new path, I looked over at the boundary wall by the houses and I saw what looked like a tall shadow. I got a fright immediately and turned around to go a different way. But when I looked back, the shadow was gone. I ran the whole way home that evening. I'll never forget it and it will always stay with me. I know I wasn't imagining it. Something was definitely there. Perhaps, and I often think and believe, that it was my dad. Maybe it wasn't. I'm 31 now, and I always think, why did I run? Why didn't I just stand there and stare and watch?
62:40
But I was too young and too scared. Just thought I'd share. Well, thank you, as you revisited your youth at 13 years of age, having just lost your dad. Just to add on mediums, there was a guy on your show a couple of years ago, a medium from Northern Ireland on your show. He sounded quite good. Anyway, we went to his actual show. It was brilliant, but not in the way you think. We went to the medium's show in Cork.
63:04
On the way in, he was actually at the ticket desk, talking to people, asking them stuff, which we found a bit strange. But with an open mind, we went in. He started off by asking some people questions about people they had lost. And one by one, they said, no, that wasn't right. No, that wasn't right. Then he honed in on a woman and her daughter out of the blue. And he said... You lost your husband. You lost your dad lately. I'm seeing a red motorcycle. They were amazed. They were crying and they were saying, that's right, that's right.
63:36
But if you look on their Facebook page, there was a picture of the whole family from some years back. And yes, you guessed it, a big red motorcycle in the foreground of the picture. But back to the night in question, he was getting more and more wrong and started to get agitated. The people in our row and around us started to giggle and laugh. Then a woman near me said rather loudly, I see an exit and I'm going through it.
64:03
With that, she got up and walked straight out. That finished us off. We were all in our row, bent over with laughter. And I mean hysterics. We got even worse when he started glaring at us. It really turned out to be one of the most hilarious shows we had been to in years. We'll never forget it, says Pat by texting. That's when mediums get it wrong. Text 0868104106. Pick up the phone on 0818104106. Mentioned road bowling earlier on. Rob, good morning.
64:36
So when I was talking about road bowling, I was talking about that we need to get it and ideally and hopefully it would be recognised as on the United Nations heritage list, road bowling. But, you know, and rightly so. But go ahead anyway, because your dad was a bowler.
64:52
When I heard you speaking this morning that you were doing a piece on road bowling, I just got a few floods of memories coming back to me. My dad, he was a legend at the bowl playing, but he was well known.
65:05
First up, what's his name so people will know who we're talking about?
65:08
My dad's name was Bernard O'Keefe, fondly known as Burnley. Okay, from Ballyvalan, is that? From Barnyard and Ballyvalan, when Ballyvalan was countryside. Okay, go ahead.
65:19
And he passed away two years ago. His anniversary is this weekend. And that's what prompted me to ring you.
65:25
But as a child, I can remember dad would bring us out to the fox and hounds of a Sunday morning in the car.
65:33
And he'd nine times out of ten throw a score. And the excitement of it all was just, you know, fantastic. But I can still picture in my mind's eye today, you know, the crowds that would gather, the money that would change hands. the excitement of the bowl playing. And we followed him through thick and thin as children, bowl playing, and they were great days, you know. Have you got his bowls? So you probably do.
66:01
I think I have one at home. I'd have to go looking for it. What size is a road bowl? Is it like a pool ball or what?
66:10
There was two, Neil. There was a 16-ounce and a 28-ounce.
66:14
I don't know, it was the 16-ounce more for young people throwing the bowl, but the 28-ounce was the one that was commonly used, you know?
66:21
Is that what your dad threw, a 28-ounce bowl? That's what he threw, a 28-ounce bowl, yeah. That's the one that McBarry tried to... I mean, he got the 16-ounce over the viaduct, didn't he? But not the 28-ounce.
66:35
I think so. I think you're correct there.
66:37
Yeah, it hit the top of the ironwork. He almost cleared it.
66:42
Yeah, yeah, that's correct.
66:44
McBarry, of course, was a legend at it too. But your dad must have known McBarry then.
66:49
Oh, he probably did. I often heard him talking about McBarry and I'm sure McBarry would have been in the crowds any Sunday morning and the score would run from the fox and hounds up to raccoony. and back down again, and they might go up and down a second time. Can you explain then how it worked?
67:07
Do you know something? I only have the bare understanding of bowl playing. I think the logic is that you'd start from a white line at the bottom of the Fox and Hounds, and they'd both throw the first bowl.
67:22
Whoever was the longest bowl then, one of the crowd who would have been nominated would pluck a lump of grass and plant it where the the longer bowl landed you know and the distance then between the short bowl and the longer bowl was the how would I put it here that was the amount of ground that had to be made up by the other competitor I think um to level the throwing you know and I think whoever got to the white line then at the top of Raccoony Graveyard in the shortest number of throws basically won and that's what people were betting on who'd ever get from start to finish but were they not constantly being lost in the ditches though the bowels yeah I suppose they were but they always had extra ones There was never a shortage of the bowls.
68:17
And I can remember as a child often finding a bowl in the side of the ditch.
68:20
And was it a case that the better bowlers were able to spin the bowl? I mean, they couldn't literally spin it around a corner or a bend in the road, though, could they?
68:31
I can see my dad throwing a bowl and he would He would throw it from different angles, different sides of the road if he was trying to get it around, say, a right-hand turn.
68:43
Top spin, back spin, all sorts of stuff.
68:46
Yeah, maybe push out to the left-hand side of the road where he was throwing it from and push it up the left-hand side and turn it around depending on the camber of the road. You know, they all had their own logic about how to throw the ball.
68:59
And tell us a little bit about the crowds that would attend, you say, over Sunday.
69:04
how the crowds were, like, I'm picturing now, like, as a 10-year-old child, like, in awe of crowds, like, there could be. If it was a big score, you could have 100, 150 people up the road, and they'd line up both sides, and they'd leave a gap in the middle of the road for the players, you know?
69:24
And they'd be dipping in their pockets, and they'd be pulling out 10s and 20s and having a bet, and...
69:32
You know, and I'm going back there and only like 1967, 68. Did anyone ever get injured like or get a broken shin bone or anything off a bowel? Yeah, yeah. I can remember a man getting a bowl into the ankle halfway up between the foxes and raccoon and broke his ankle. I can remember that vividly. Yeah, or the ball would pop into the back of someone's car parked at the side of the road. Take out the front grill, take out the back window, yeah?
70:01
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, great times. And when the score was over then, would it be back for supping pints then or what?
70:12
My father never drank in his life, so we never went back to the fox and hounds, but yeah, the crows used to...
70:20
a lot of the crowd will go back for a few points after the score. Isn't it amazing?
70:24
I don't know whether you can answer this, Rob, but it's a beautiful story you told. Thank you. But is it dying off now, do you think?
70:32
I don't know because I obviously don't go following the ball playing. I mean, I still hear of scores being thrown. I think it's strong in West Cork, you know.
70:44
I'm not too sure. And of course, it's strong in the north of Ireland. Armagh, very big in Armagh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But in Cork...
70:52
I don't know, Neil.
70:53
I would think it's not as popular as it was, but I'm open to correction on that, you know? Yeah, yeah.
70:58
I mean, you'd close off roads for it, obviously you would. And I remember it as a young flow where roads would be closed down around West Cork. I don't know, you could be going to West Cork, you could be going to Gugan Barra or going to the beach or whatever on a Sunday afternoon and you'd see hundreds and hundreds of people and all of the traffic would be stopped as the score went through. But they want to, or at least the...
71:20
TD John Paul O'Shea wants it to get onto the cultural UNESCO list which isn't a bad idea that's the reason I was talking about it in the first place like Mick Barry was Mick Barry apparently was the head gardener at UCC and Cork City Council obviously named a road after him in his honour and he died in 2014 he was 96 years old when he passed away Mick Barry go on how old was your dad
71:45
My dad passed this weekend two years ago at the ripe old age of 93.
71:51
Isn't that amazing? He's a bowled player in 93. Mick Barry a bowled player at 96. We remember Bernie O'Keefe this morning, the Ballyvaland bowler. Fair play to you.
72:00
Can I tell you a funny story, Neil? It might sound funny to you, but it means an awful lot to me and memories that I have of my dad. I'm sitting here now talking to you there and I have a watch in my hand, an Omega watch, going back to about 1967. And I'll always remember, he went out to throw a score one Sunday morning and his opponent anyway turned up.
72:26
And my dad was the better ball player. They threw the score from the Fox and Holmes up to Rat Cooney and my dad won easy.
72:34
And the opponent said, I'll go double or quits with your Bernie back down to the Foxes. And my dad said, okay.
72:41
I'm sure he baited him down the road on the second match. And they got down to the foxes anyway. And he said, Bernie, I haven't the money to pay you.
72:50
And he took the Amiga watch off his hand. He said, that should cover the cost of the bit.
72:56
And I have the Amiga watch in my hand here since I'm wearing it now. I have it about 40 years.
73:03
And I'm wearing it now. And when he passed away, I got it serviced. It's running perfectly on my hand. And it's probably about 60 years old. But every time I look at that watch, Neil...
73:13
the memories just flood back a bit.
73:14
Oh, they will always have the memories. And listen to me, wouldn't you love to know whose watch that was?
73:20
I would love to know whose watch that was.
73:23
Does anybody know who the man was that gave his Omega watch to Bernie O'Keefe when he beat him in two scores of bowels in the Ballyvaland? With Ballyvaland to the Fox and Hounds and back.
73:34
From Fox and Hounds to Rat Cooney Graveyard and back.
73:36
Rat Cooney Graveyard and back. But tell me this, like Omega made great watches. That's why James Bond wears an Omega watch. Oh, yeah.
73:43
You'll pass that on to the next generation, Rob.
73:47
Oh, without a doubt.
73:48
It's so precious to have it, you know.
73:50
Oh, my God. Great, great story. I love the stories in this programme. Thanks for ringing in, Rob. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for your time, Neil. And if anybody rings in saying that that's their dad's watch or their granddad's watch, I'll get back to you.
74:03
Mind yourself. All the best. Some people just never know when they're beaten. He shouldn't have had the second score. He'd still have his watch to hand on. The Omega watch. Text 0868 104 106.
74:14
The Neil Prenderville Show on Red FM. Conversation that matters.
74:20
It's amazing the things that take off. Right, Neil, there's road bowling every Sunday morning, lower Killeen's with massive crowds still in attendance. I'm delighted to hear that. Mind you, I would like to get a bowling aficionado to jump in on this because Ciaran says that Mick Barry successfully lofted over the viaduct with a 24 ounce bowl.
74:41
And he came agonizingly close with a 28 ounce, but didn't get it over. And OK, so you're telling me that it was a 28 ounce that he failed on, but he got over with a 24 because online it says it was a 16 ounce bowel that McBarry lofted the viaduct with. But Ciarán is saying that's a bowel for juveniles. That's a beginner's bowel. So, OK, maybe that's the case. I'm... Stand corrected on that. 24 ounce, he got over. 28 ounce, he failed.
75:08
Mind you, in 1985, I remember it actually, when the German bowler Hans Boland came over and he lofted a 28 ounce bowl over the Chetwin Viaduct. You know where it is there, out in the road to Bandon, the Viaduct. It's just exactly where they built the Viaduct bar and restaurant. But he used a ramp. So he ran up a ramp first. He ran up this ramp that was built there for the occasion. And then he threw the bow. So it's not quite the same. You know what I mean? I'm sure if Mick Barry had a ramp, he'd have got it over as well. But it'd be great if there was more challenges over the viaduct now.
75:40
Make it an annual event, lofting the viaduct without a ramp, incidentally. Anyway, text 0868-104-106. Pick up the phone on 0818-104-106. We were talking about coffee and caffeine earlier on this morning for those who quit and how they got on. It is something, Shauna, that I will never do. I just enjoy it too much and I don't think I'm doing any harm to no man and I love coffee. But what about yourself?
76:05
I was the same, Neil. I was a coffee fanatic. I used to have about 10 cups of Americano a day.
76:11
Oh, hold on there now. You beat me into the dirt on that. I'm talking about three, possibly at a push four.
76:18
No, Neil. No, Neil. I was on coffee at Americano from seven in the morning to 10 at night. And I started getting panic attacks and like my heart was fluttering and all sorts of things was going on.
76:31
And I actually had to go and get investigated because they didn't find out what was going on. But when I stopped the caffeine, that's when then everything started to change. My sleep pattern started to change. My health started to change. My life started to change. Yeah, so like now I don't do coffee at all.
76:51
Why didn't you just cut down?
76:54
Because I ended up that I got so sick with a perforated bowel that I couldn't drink it anymore. It's too strong for my stomach. My stomach's too sensitive now.
77:03
Did the coffee consumption perforate your bowel?
77:07
It didn't. No, but I don't think it would have helped either.
77:11
It wouldn't help. No, it wouldn't have helped. No, it wouldn't have helped. And also the same thing was, you see, I'm in recovery. So seven years ago, I came to court to get help for drug and alcohol abuse. And like caffeine is definitely an addiction for some people. You know, we mightn't realize it, but it actually is. You know, we get up in the morning, we put the kettle on, we put the coffee machine on. Everything starts our day with a coffee or a tea.
77:36
I know of Narcotics Anonymous, and I'm not making light of this now, and I know of Alcoholics Anonymous, but you talk about an addiction to caffeine, but there is no such thing as Caffeine Anonymous.
77:46
No, there's not. There's not. Neil, you're right. But like that, at NA and AA meetings, you just talk about whatever's going on for you, you know.
77:56
But like that, you know, once I started the caffeine, my heart stopped down racing. I was able to function better. Neil, when I tell you the nightmares I was having and the sweats I was waking up in, it was horrendous. It was absolutely horrendous.
78:11
But now my life is so much different now.
78:13
Were there withdrawals though? Apparently, incidentally, there is CaffeineAddictsAnonymous.org. Apparently there is an organisation. I don't know any more about it than that. They also have a 12-step programme. Would you believe that?
78:25
I know. Isn't that amazing?
78:27
Isn't that absolutely amazing? And it's anonymous?
78:30
It is.
78:31
12-step programme for caffeine addicts. But what was it like, the withdrawals?
78:37
horrible the sweats was unreal I was shaking even though I was doing the same things when I was taking the caffeine but coming off it the withdrawals was terrible you know the sweats the shakes I couldn't function like it was like I was just my body just wouldn't get up you know I wanted to get up but I just wouldn't get up I couldn't get up um But like, I mean, like that in the mornings, it was bang, two cups of coffee straight away and then shower, another cup of coffee, then work another. And you know, if you have meetings during the day, two or three meetings, you could be drinking coffee all day.
79:07
I often wonder about people who do that where they're working and they're in offices or they're going around to meet people in, you know, Republic of Works or inside in a hotel, in the lobby of a hotel. You automatically just go for the Americano, right?
79:20
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
79:22
Before you know it. Before you know it.
79:24
Before you know it, you're on a vicious circle, do you know?
79:29
But like, Neil, I loved the Americano. Like I would say, you know, when it comes to coffee, I would be quite a coffee snob.
79:36
And like there's certain coffees that I wouldn't touch because of the taste of them or whatever.
79:41
Oh, listen, absolutely. Coffee is a bit like cheese or beer. It is. You know, there are so many different types and blends and strengths. And they say that where you need to be particularly careful is they say that coffee shop and cafe coffee will always be, most of the time anyway, an awful lot stronger than you'd make for yourself. Do you get me?
80:02
Yep, absolutely.
80:03
Like some of them that I get in some in cafes, I can't drink them. They're just way, way too strong. But it's that's so. And did it all pass then eventually? Do you have any cravings now?
80:13
No, I don't. I don't. And eventually it did pass. Like I haven't drank Americano for two years. And like now it's so much different. My life's so much different, you know.
80:23
What did you replace it with?
80:25
I replaced it with decaffeinated flat whites out of the same machine, but it's just like, it's like very little coffee in it and it's more milky coffee.
80:35
But it just has that wee taste of coffee in it, you know? Yeah. But all I have now is two Americanos a day, or sorry, two flat whites a day. And that's it. That's it, Neil.
80:45
Okay.
80:46
Because it just, it tortured me. It actually, you know, you don't realise your pattern is just so, everything's going around, cups of coffee, cups of tea. You know, even a can of Coke, the caffeine is just amazing. The sugar, everything's going, it's going to your body.
81:01
Yes, and caffeine is added to all of those power drinks and all sorts of things like that. So, no, I get it. All of the energy drinks is right.
81:09
No, I get all of that.
81:10
But it's just, you know, I would have thought that everything in moderation, you know, because it's, I love a coffee in the morning. I love a coffee after, say, if I have dinner or something like that, and maybe one in the middle of the day. But I couldn't, I just couldn't imagine not having coffee. coffee in my life, you know what I mean? I don't drink burning liquor, I don't drink wine, I don't do anything like that. So, a cup of coffee, you know, it can't be... Like, you say you came to Cork seven years ago, was it?
81:35
Uh-huh, yep.
81:36
And that was for... And do you mind me sharing the reason why?
81:39
Absolutely, go ahead, Neil.
81:41
So, you had issues with regards to cocaine and alcohol at the time?
81:44
I did, I did.
81:45
Yeah, yeah.
81:46
And I came to Cork because I went to Coonvera Fernandes. It's a treatment centre in Cork. It's a female-only treatment centre. And I came there in November 2019. And I actually stayed, Neil. And I love my life here now in Cork. Life is so much different. You know, it's beautiful.
82:04
So you'd have been further north up the country, I guess, would you?
82:07
Belfast. Belfast, yes, Neil.
82:09
Wow, you went from two extreme ends.
82:12
Yep, I did. And my family travelled down every month without a problem for family days. And, you know, there is help out there. People just feel there's a stigma towards drug and alcohol abuse or gambling or whatever your addiction may be.
82:25
You know, there's no judgement in NA or AA or CA, you know, or GA. And was the reason why you travelled so far from Belfast to Cork to completely change your environment?
82:37
Absolutely. Absolutely. And also, Neil, I needed help. I was going to die. If I didn't get help, I was going to die.
82:44
Do you know? Like, drugs and alcohol just took over my life.
82:48
I was what they call a functioning addict. I was getting up, going to work, doing my job. I had two jobs. I worked at night time. And when I came home from work at night time, that's when everything, the shit hit the fan.
83:00
Yeah. So was much of that work to fund your dual addiction?
83:07
Oh, absolutely, Neil. Absolutely. Like when I worked, I worked to pay my drug debt or to get more drugs, you know. Bills weren't paid for. The house wasn't, nothing in the house. Gas or electric wasn't got. When you get paid, everything was revolved around drugs and alcohol.
83:24
So would it be many hundreds a week then?
83:27
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. You could be talking 300, 350. It depends on how bad your addiction is. You know, there was before I came to Courtney, it was like four to five bags of cocaine a day.
83:39
I have no idea. I have no idea how much is in a bag of cocaine or how many.
83:43
Well, you can get, yeah, you can get different grams. So like 40 gram bags, four to 40 gram bags a day I was getting of pure cocaine, not even mixed, just pure cocaine.
83:54
and drinking raw bottles of vodka, raw bottles of gin, putting it in the cup so my family couldn't see it. And, you know, it absolutely destroys you. But I feel like people don't really, there's a stigma out there in society and people really don't understand that I didn't wake up to become an addict.
84:12
Something happened that I became an addict.
84:15
There's something behind it. And, you know, don't judge people or don't label people because nobody knows what's going on.
84:21
But your life must have had to crash, really, for you to go into treatment. Did you lose your job? Did you share friends?
84:27
I came out of my job nearly because I couldn't function anymore. I couldn't do it. You know, my job was I had a very big responsibility of looking after children and young people. And I worked in a special needs school for kids that couldn't go to mainstream school. It was a behavioural school. And I had to leave it. I had to come out because I knew that that was taking over my life.
84:47
Did anybody at any time, friends or family, intervene or try and have a conversation?
84:53
We had many family interventions. And my sisters, I have four sisters, and they worship the ground I walk on. And...
85:02
They had many of interventions, family interventions, and I promised them I ended up in hospital taking seizures because of the amount of drugs I was taking. There was nowhere in Belfast that could help me because they said if my heart... was they explode. They don't have any medical facilities. So that's why I had to go to a detox unit. And the only place I could go to, well, it wasn't the only place I could have went the other converse in the country, but I chose to go to an all women's.
85:28
Okay. And do you mind, Shauna, if I just finish this conversation with you after 11, rather than end abruptly now, is that possible for you?
85:37
Absolutely, absolutely.
85:38
Much apply. OK, well, chill out there for 10 minutes and I'll come back to you after 11. Thank you, Shauna. Text 0868 104 106.
85:50
Be part of the conversation. The Neil Prendival Show with Elevate Credit Union and we have €400 vouchers every day this week for deluxe bathrooms and tiling solutions. You've got everything you need for the bathroom, vanity units, baths, freestanding baths, showers, mirrors, tiles, the whole lot. You can visit them at their showroom in Little Island or check out deluxebathrooms.ie. €400 voucher just before midday. Don't call just yet, but you'll need to identify who's singing in the shower.
86:18
When things go wrong and they'll not come right, oh, you do the best you can.
86:24
So on and so forth. But I'll sing song in the shower. Who is that? So I'll open the phone lines at 10 minutes to midday. Chatting with Shauna before 11 o'clock. And just to continue and finish up our conversation. Thanks for your patience, Shauna. Thanks for holding on. You're very welcome. Just curious about, you know, a lot of different aspects of your life. Because were you a home drinker? Was that what you were saying?
86:47
I wasn't a social drinker. And you know something, Neil? I didn't even like drink. I didn't used to drink. I came off drink when I was about 20, 21. I didn't like the way it made you feel, the hangovers. But then I started going socialising, going out clubbing, having parties, going to parties. And something that I swore I would never do would be cocaine, Neil. Never, ever, ever.
87:10
And I did it.
87:12
And it became then that I was drinking from morning to night. And I just couldn't wait to get into Fernandes. I couldn't wait to get to Coonvera.
87:19
I didn't think I would make it, needed to be fair, because it was that bad.
87:23
But I got here and I'm here today, thank God. And I can't be grateful enough to Coonvera, Fernandes and the people in there because them counsellors are absolutely amazing. They can see into your soul, you know, and without them people.
87:37
I wouldn't be as well as I am today, Neil. Do you know? I'm proud of the journey and I'm proud. My family's proud of me. I'm proud of myself. And that's something massive to say because I was never able to say I'm proud of myself. Do you know? Now I can be here for my family. I can show up. I can be there when I'm needed.
87:57
And how long are you sober now?
88:00
Almost seven years this November, Neil. Six and a half years.
88:03
And do you get cravings or things or anything like that?
88:07
I actually don't get cravings, need to be fair, but I'll tell you about two, maybe two and a half years ago, three years ago, I actually relapsed and it wasn't on drink or drugs. It was on prescription drugs.
88:20
And I started depending on taking Neurofen Plus because I have perforated, sorry, I have bulging discs in my back.
88:28
So did you start taking them for pain, was it?
88:31
It was for pain yesterday and then I started getting hooked on them.
88:37
Are they across the counter?
88:39
Yeah, yeah. But like, I mean, you can go into a pharmacy, they'll ask you a few questions and and then they'll give you them, you know. But yeah, it's like it's like trying to get blood out of a stone. But I used to travel, travel everywhere to get them, you know, and go to different pharmacies. But thank God today.
88:56
And did you know some that were easier to get the tablets than others? Or did you have to constantly find new chemists?
89:05
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just constantly drive about and look for a new chemist. If I was in Bondon, I'd go to a chemist in Bondon. If I was in Dunhamore, I would go to, you know, wherever it was, I would go to a pharmacy and get them.
89:16
Because we know, I mean, that raises another question, of course, because we know about drink driving and we know about drug driving. And now we're hearing more about pharma driving. People who are drinking and driving were under the influence of all sorts of pharmaceutical products. Yeah, yeah. But because...
89:32
We know alcohol is a legal product, right? But it comes, obviously, with a lot of warnings with regards to drink driving and addiction and problems like that. And then, of course, we've got cocaine. I think society is very, very hypocritical about cocaine because, to be quite honest with you, in huge sections of society, it's totally acceptable now and it's the perfect accompaniment to a great weekend. You know what I mean?
89:55
Absolutely. Yeah, and Neil, do you know what? There's people out there who can take it in moderation and people who can take it when they're out socialising and that's it. But I wasn't one of them people. I couldn't stop it.
90:07
Did you have dealer debt issues, I wonder, at any stage?
90:11
I did indeed, Neil. Before I came to Cork, my family had to pay off dealers because they were coming looking for me. At one stage, the dealer actually had my bank card. So everything that I earned that week went straight to her, do you know?
90:24
And... Life just became manic. Life became that I couldn't manage anymore, do you know?
90:30
Okay, okay. And do you ever have... You have to hit rock bottom, don't you?
90:35
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely, Neil.
90:37
Yeah. And how did you kick the tablets then?
90:41
I just talked about it. I started talking about it at my meetings. I was going to my meetings, constantly going to meetings, you know, and talking about it and sharing it. And because I went to treatment and I spent seven months in Coonborough because it was COVID time. And, um, Because I worked on myself in there, how to be disciplined, how to have structure and routine. When I used to see the green cross at a pharmacy, my eyes would pop, but I used to just have to keep forcing myself to drive through it and pass it by, do you know?
91:12
Amazing. It's just amazing.
91:13
But, Neil, I'll tell you, I mean, like, you were spending maybe 20, 24, could have been, whatever it was. Like, I mean, they're not cheap. And, like, if you're taking two boxes a day or whatever, that's, like, over 20, 40 quid. Do you know? Some of them are 18.99, some of them are 20.99.
91:28
Every day?
91:29
Yep, every day.
91:30
14 Eurofem plus.
91:32
Every day, Neil. I started off with one, and then it went up and up and up, and then I just couldn't control it.
91:38
and I confided my friend actually she had an intervention with me and I told her that I was taking Neurofen Plus as well and she asked me did I want to go back in the treatment and I said I don't need to go back in the treatment I just need to work on not being able to have the cravings for them you know I just need to work on myself and I did that and thank God it's been over two and a half years and I haven't touched another one you know And I've come through a lot over the last year.
92:10
Like I just buried my mother and I didn't drink or pick up drugs. But I work hard on myself. I go to meetings and I talk about it, you know.
92:19
And anybody that's out there that's listening, you know, pick up the phone. There is help. There's no judgment in these places. These ladies in Coomberra, they can actually see into your soul, you know.
92:31
They're nuns, aren't they?
92:33
Oh, there was no nuns in my house, but Sister Consilio, she runs it, she owns it.
92:39
Do you know how all this started this morning? I was talking about people who have given up and we've led on then to caffeine addiction and what have you. And of course, we're covering a lot with you with regards to alcohol, cocaine.
92:52
painkillers. But it all started by people who have been off and have been sober and off drink for long periods or reasonably long periods in their life. And they still have terrible nightmares. And in those nightmares, they're back drinking again. They've fallen off the wagon. That's how this started this morning. Could I ask you, do you have dreams like that?
93:13
Absolutely, Neil. Absolutely. You know, I wake up and I'm dreaming that I'm drinking and I wake up and there's sweat and you jump out of bed because you think that you put something like a bag of cocaine somewhere in a cupboard and you're dreaming about it and you're getting up in the middle of the night to go and check. It was shocking. It was horrendous. But it's all part of the detox. Do you know, for alcohol, it's a three-month residential program. For drugs and alcohol, it's five months. Because the drugs affect you more than... And I'm not just a fan of alcohol, but the drugs damage your brain probably more.
93:47
But that's fair enough.
93:48
But why would you have a dream about being... I mean, it's a particularly cruel thing for your own brain to do to yourself. Why would it do that?
93:55
I actually do know, Neil, when I was listening to it this morning, I actually don't know. But I think to myself when I have those dreams... But that's my recovery, letting me know that that's how bad things can get again. Do you know if there's something going on for me? Maybe psychologically it's in the back of my mind. It's a warning.
94:11
This is what will happen if you do drink or take cocaine again.
94:14
You know, if you fast forward the tape, what's going to happen? If I go back out there, I'm going to die, Neil.
94:22
And do you tell yourself, do you see unfortunate people on our streets who many of them have multiple issues, including addictions? Do you see them and say that could be me?
94:32
Absolutely, Neil.
94:33
Absolutely.
94:34
While you would have sympathy for them, does it give you strength?
94:39
It does. It does, Neil. Because when you see people like that, that could have been me, do you know? And God loves them. They probably think that there's no help out there for them. And there is, do you know? They're homeless. Reach out. Go to treatment. There's a residential programme. They'll help you get a place. They'll help you with your drug and alcohol abuse. Don't suffer on your own.
94:59
But you'll have to be clean and sober before you can get in.
95:02
No, no, no. It's a, it's a medicated detox treatment center. Okay. So they, they detox you. So you don't have to.
95:10
So you can go in, in the horror, you can go in, in the horrors of it then.
95:14
Absolutely. You can go in, you can, you know, and I used to work there, Neil. I stayed, I stayed on and I worked there and, you know, we would have people coming into detox and it just, it's just a reminder of how life can be. And, and if I, if I didn't get help and if I don't keep doing what I'm doing.
95:31
Okay.
95:32
I could end up back out there, Neil.
95:34
And that motivates you. Well done. You should be very proud of yourself, Shauna. Thank you so much for sharing this morning and for listening as well. Take care of yourself.
95:44
All the best. Bye-bye.
95:45
I mean that in the best way. Take care of yourself. I know you will. Text 0868104106. Alcoholicsanonymous.ie have meetings on their site and you can find a meeting close by should you wish to go. You can also pick up the phone and if you're struggling in any way, shape or form, the Samaritans are available 24-7 on 116123.
96:06
Back after the break, text 0868104106. I believe that Magnum has managed to track down the man who lofted the bowel over the viaduct back in 1985. His name is Hans-George Balken. After the break.
96:20
Get on to Prenderville.
96:22
Text or WhatsApp Neil now. 0868104106. The Neil Prenderville Show.
96:30
Be part of the conversation. Text 0868-104-106. Pick up the phone on 0818-104-106. A lot of different texts and different topics coming in. I spoke a lot about weddings and funerals over the last couple of days. It gives me an opportunity to catch up on those ones. I've always wondered... How a funeral can be planned in a few days while a wedding takes a year when they're quite similar apart from the dress and the suits. It's crazy and it puts a huge stress on the couple, says Amy. Well, I think the idea is to try and have the day for you as a couple. All too often, couples forget about that and they're kind of micromanaging everything, particularly for the guests.
97:04
It's a very excitable day. But I think, with no disrespect meant, of course, to anybody, who's organising a funeral have done. I think there's a lot more that goes into a wedding on a load of different levels. But regards to you, Amy, thanks for getting in touch. The clue is in the title. It's their wedding. With regards to the costs that we were talking about yesterday, north of 36 grand on average. I spoke to somebody, texted me yesterday, said that they had 85 grand spent before their wedding was over. Massive amount of money. The clue is in the title. It's their wedding.
97:34
Why are we paying for it? It's ridiculous that people are saying 300 euro plus is a wedding gift. Don't have a big wedding if you can't afford to pay for it yourself. As in many people were saying that it's the money from the guests that actually pay all of their cash pays for the wedding. Why are we paying for our own meal?
97:51
That's a good question, Caroline. That's a very good question. I would prefer to get a summons in the post than a wedding invitation. Of all the weddings I've been to so far, I have no clear memories of any of them, apart from the fact that they're really boring affairs.
98:05
My niece is coming from the USA to get married next year, and apparently it's cheaper for them to get married here. Without naming the venue, the wedding day is costing 167 euro per head, and there are 200 invited, over 200.
98:21
Save the date. Sweet, loving Jesus. And that's just for the main day. They've also got a night before event and a day after event. I'm flabbergasted, but it's their day, their way. Wouldn't you love to cost that? Over 200 invited at €167 per head. Can you tell me what the hotel is giving for €167?
98:42
Would it be a drinks? There's no open bar. There probably is some kind of a drinks reception, I'm assuming.
98:48
Would there be a glass of wine with the meal? Is there bottles of wine on all of the table? No, I wouldn't have thought so. Is the start or main course on dessert? Okay.
98:56
What else for €167? We got married five years ago, December, for at the most €5,000. Five years ago.
99:06
Our rings were not overboard. We only had 21 people there. Ah, well, there you go for the five grand. Just immediate family. My dress was 6,000 and the hotel in Celebrant were another couple of hundred. We bought our wine when it was an offer and we borrowed decorations. So it can be done a lot cheaper. I play in a concert band, so we had free brass band music before and during the ceremony. For the afters, as there was only 23 of us, we brought in a Bluetooth speaker and all got to listen to what we wanted to.
99:36
It went from the Wolf Tones to Metallica to Rihanna. Getting married in a few weeks, but I won't be changing my name. He can take mine instead, says Orla. So well done on that one. Yeah, we were talking also about how many actually do or don't take the names of those that they are marrying. So we'll come back to all of that. Text 0868 104 106.
99:57
And so, back to one of the topics this morning, road bowling, that they want to get on the UNESCO list to make it recognised on an international stage. Now, it's an amazing phenomenon, really, the whole aspect of road bowling in itself and the talent involved in it. Very big in Cork. very big in Armagh, very big in Holland. The Dutch play a lot of it, and so do the Germans. And I spoke about Mick Barry, the successful and well-known bowler who died in 2014. He was 96 years old when he passed, and he was an extraordinary bowler.
100:30
He could throw a bowler anywhere on any road, no bother. The supreme bowler of the millennium, they said. That's the Irish Road Bowling Association. But in 1985, there was a challenge.
100:42
with regards to who could loft the Chetwin Viaduct, right? Who could loft the Chetwin Viaduct? Now, I believe that Murphy's Brewery put up in 1985 a £5,000 prize. Now, bear in mind, take yourself back to 1985. It was the year of the Cork 800 celebrations. They put up a massive £5,000 prize for anyone who could clear the viaduct. with a 28-ounce bowl. And that was done by a man called Hans-Görig Balken, who joins me by phone.
101:14
Hans, good morning.
101:16
Good morning. It's an amazing thing to talk to you in the first place. So thank you, the man who lifted, lofted the bowl. What do you recall of that day?
101:27
Oh, it was for me, I was a young man at the time I was 23 years old and...
101:34
the irish bowlers uh taught me about i will come to the competition for lifting the wire dog and was i was very very stolz on the outside of german to come for this day and after the competition i i i put the bowl over the bridge uh It was the greatest day in my history of bowling, I can say.
102:03
But describe the day. They say that there was well over 10,000 people gathered that day in 85.
102:10
Yes, that's right. Over 10,000 people looked for the competition.
102:15
Okay. And there were others bowling with lighter bowels, were they, first?
102:22
Yeah. 16 oz first, was it?
102:25
Yeah.
102:26
No, the first competition was with 28 bowls. And after I lost the wire duck, it was the competition with 16-ounce bowls. Okay. And was Mick Barry there, Hans?
102:38
Yes. I talked to Mick Barry on that day. And it was the greatest bowler from Ireland. I talked about Mick Barry, who he was practicing, role bowling, and a very nice guy.
102:54
Did he give you any kind of tips?
102:56
Yes, yes. He was a very, very good bowler and I talk about with him and he gives me a lot of tips for good practicing, yes.
103:07
Okay, so on the day, did he try and loft the viaduct before you?
103:14
Not on this day.
103:17
So did he attempt at all on the day? No.
103:23
McBurie was not on the competition, I think.
103:26
There was other guys from the Irish World Bowling Association, but I don't know the name.
103:40
So you used, okay, that would have been Bill Daly, Eamon Bowen and Dan O'Halloran.
103:47
Yes, genau. That's right. Do you remember them fellas, those three cork bowlers, yeah? Yeah, yeah. So they lofted a 16-ounce bowl, yeah? That's right, yes.
103:57
But you had a ramp.
104:00
Yes, that's the German ramp. The ramp we'd used in Germany for German lofting.
104:06
That's the German sport. And...
104:12
I take it to Cork for this competition.
104:17
How did you get your ramp to Cork from what part of Germany are you in?
104:23
From North Germany, we go by car to sheep pool, to the things, and by plane, we bring the ramp to Ireland. And after the competition, we spend the ramp for the for the Irish Bowl Association for Practicing German Lofling.
104:42
Okay, it's a collapsible ramp you had on the day with metal legs and spikes on it.
104:50
Metal legs and the wood.
104:52
The place you jump on is from wood.
104:55
Okay, so did you clear the viaduct by inches or feet? Was it well over or did it just about get over?
105:06
Oh, that was the first.
105:09
We have four...
105:13
Attempts?
105:15
Attempts, yes. And the first and the second attempts, I locked the ball under the bridge.
105:21
And the third, I put on the bridge.
105:24
And the last attempt, I take just very small over the bridge.
105:32
Was there a big cheer when you got it over?
105:35
Yes, yes.
105:37
All the people, all the 10,000 people come up to me and will talk to me and bring me notes.
105:49
Irish notes, pound notes, and I take it on. And after it comes on, people come to me, the note's not for you. You must take an autogram on the note for the guide.
106:00
Oh, you weren't able to keep the pound notes or the fivers, just autograph. But I have to ask you, Hans, would you have been able to get the bowel over the viaduct if you didn't have a ramp?
106:15
I don't know.
106:16
I think it was...
106:19
It was a small help for me. But it's a help for me. Why? All times on my sport, I practice with a ramp, not without a ramp. Yes?
106:30
Because every time it's spoken about since 1985, anybody talks about the fact that you lofted a ball over the ramp. People will also say, yeah, but Hans had a ramp to run up.
106:42
Yeah, yeah.
106:44
But the reason, the rules for this competition before we start was the rules for me to the Irish Association and the other guides was when I take the ramp, all other guides can use the ramp also.
107:04
you know? Oh, I see. So they equally have used, could have used their own ramp or borrowed your ramp. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. No, I'm just, I'm just saying, would you, would you not have liked to try it without a ramp?
107:18
I don't know. I don't know. I never, never, I never, uh, uh, um, have a competition without a ramp. I practice without a ramp for the wire dogs. At home, before we start, before we start the two things, at home a lot of time I practice without a ramp. I take the boat over high trees and over Over other buildings, they were very high.
107:46
I think so 80 feet, 85 feet, but never over a bridge.
107:51
You must have had fierce, powerful shoulders and arms, I would think, yeah?
107:56
Yeah.
107:58
To be able to do something like that.
108:00
Yes, yes. I practiced before the competition. I practiced seven months and I practiced with bolts about four kilos, you know, the bolts from the very high bolts.
108:20
Very heavy weight, very heavy balls at practice.
108:22
A lot of time. And after you lofted it, did Murphy's Brewery pay out a prize then? I heard it was something like £5,000.
108:34
Wow. That was a lot of money in 1985, wasn't it?
108:37
Yes, yes. For me, it was a lot of money. And people said to me, you have a lot of money. You can buy a car or you can make a wedding in America. But I use the money for a school in Germany.
108:59
And I go to learn for an electrician master, the master.
109:04
The money I used so far was 15,000 B mark in Germany. And so one year I go to learning to make an electrician master. And also it is so, with the money, I built the ground for my life.
109:20
Excellent. That's a fantastic story. You put the money to very good use. Well done. Did you stay in Cork long after that day? Yes.
109:31
Yes, I stayed in Cork in 1998 for holiday, 1992 for a small competition, 1996 for a competition, and 2008 for the competition for the international competition.
109:51
Pole bowling association, you know, the national championship. Yes, yes.
109:57
But nobody has done it since.
110:00
What? Nobody has done it since you did it, no?
110:05
Yeah. Mick Barry did it with the 16 ounce, I'm told, but not with the 28. No one has ever... That's right. I'm the only...
110:19
You're the only one that has ever achieved. Do you still... Were you overarm or were you underarm?
110:28
Underarm. Underarm. The same technique then used the Irish guys.
110:37
I have a photograph of you here.
110:40
You're like a cross between Bernard Langer and Boris Becker to look at you.
110:46
Yeah.
110:47
Do you still bowle?
110:50
Yes, German, but not laughing. I'm still a small piece of road bowling in Germany. And what I do, and this time I practice with... with kids, small kids and young kids to learn the technique for boat bowling and for lofting. I'm a teacher.
111:10
Now I'm a teacher. You're 64 years old now, Hans. Do you think you could loft the viaduct again today? No, no, no. When I will loft the viaduct, I need a crown, you know? A what?
111:31
A lift. A lift. I must go up with a lift.
111:36
Or a very high ramp.
111:38
Yeah, a very high ramp. That's right, yes. Well, we were thinking about you and talking about you this morning, so it's lovely to chat to the man himself. Thank you so much for that.
111:48
Thank you. I thank you. And great to Ireland to all guys who do lofting and bowling. Thank you so much, Hans. Look after yourself.
111:57
Thank you. Hans is right. Big Hans. Strong Hans. Powerful Hans. Hans Jorg Balken. He's 64 years old now, but when he was 23 years old on Leeside in 1985, he lofted the Chetwin Viaduct, lads. Text 0868104106.
112:14
The Neil Prendival Show on Red FM.
112:17
Conversation that matters.
112:21
I know it was mentioned by Ciarán that he said that McBarry actually cleared the Chetwin Viaduct with a 24-ounce bowl. And I'm not denying what you're saying. It's just that I keep Googling this and it keeps coming back saying, no, no, no, that was a rumour that started around the pubs in Cork. It was a 16-ounce that he cleared it with. His brother tried as well. with a 28 and a 24, but it was actually a 16. I don't know. I mean, it's one of these rumours or urban legends that's going about, but that was the man that did it, Hans himself, in fairness. Text 0868 104 106.
112:52
Pick up the phone on 0818 104 106. Con, good morning.
112:55
Morning, Ian. Now, you heard me talking about road bowling and clearing the viaduct. I wonder, perchance, would you might have been at the viaduct in 1985?
113:06
No, no, no, it was not. It was earlier.
113:12
It was earlier that you were bowling, is it?
113:15
No, no, no. Relations of mine were bowling, both years.
113:20
Okay, okay. And it brought back memories?
113:23
It brought back memories. We used to go to Blackash and walk the line out of the very dark.
113:32
And we used to go down the ladder and This was in the 50s, was it, Conn? Oh, yeah, the 50s.
113:57
You'd walk the line. But there would have been trains on it then.
114:00
So you can go back as a small boy when the steam trains would be heading to West Cork. Oh, my God. The things kids got up to, huh?
114:22
Dangerous stuff. What was that?
114:26
My God.
114:27
Long time ago.
114:29
Long time ago.
114:31
Did you ever get on any of those trains?
114:35
I did. There was a friend of mine, his father used to drive the trains and they used to shunt the trains from Albert Quay. all on to be on black ash, because they'd have to shunt them there and turn them north of the wagons. And we'd go down there, and his father would bring us on to there. What is, we turned the coal into there, into the fire, and the next thing we'd get his fin out, and he'd drop us off, you know, and we'd walk back in the door of black ash.
115:13
Was he a train driver then? He was, yeah. And so you would have been up in the cab with them, shoveling coal into the furnace.
115:21
Yeah, Williamson, yeah, Williamson. Well, we wouldn't be shoveling like we'd be watching. You'd be watching him shoveling.
115:28
Hard, hard work. And that was a completely separate train station to Kent Station. It was over in Albert Street, near Anglicese Street.
115:37
That's right, yeah, yeah. Albert Key, yeah, that's right.
115:40
And that went all the way down to West Cork. And at one stage, that train network joined the Great Western and went right up the west of Ireland.
115:49
That's right, yeah. That's right, yeah.
115:52
Wasn't it amazing what we had back then?
115:54
That's right. It would be no harm. Yeah, I don't know.
115:59
Absolutely it would be no harm when we had the train network and we had the trams. So you will remember when the trains went across Brianborough Bridge and places like that?
116:07
I did, yes.
116:08
I did, yes.
116:10
Do you remember when that bridge used to open up in the middle?
116:13
I did, yeah.
116:15
Let the ships in and out?
116:17
Yeah, that's right.
116:19
Oh, my God, you have some memories from when you were a young fellow, I tell you, Con.
116:23
Yeah, yeah, but there's nothing else to do with it, just living memories.
116:28
Occupy yourself. And do you mind me asking how old you are now? I'm 83.
116:34
Fair play to you, Con Harrington. And where are you living and where are you from? I'm originally from Evergreen Street.
116:42
A Southside. And where did you go to school?
116:46
And some convent. And work? Did you work all your life?
116:50
I did, yes. I did, yes. I worked on the docks. And I worked. I went into an operation then.
117:02
For a rest.
117:05
That's what you all say.
117:08
Jimmy, you can't talk, shall I used to empty your bin down Beaumont?
117:13
I used to empty the bins in Beaumont. No, I'm only having a laugh. It's hard work. I don't know that. No way out of that. It's hard, hard work. And the docks were hard work.
117:23
Yeah, yeah.
117:25
I'd say the docks were harder, though. Would it have been? They were. But I packed it up because that time...
117:33
You were there one week and you were the proper the next week because there was only a week maybe. You get a week's walk and the final week you get no walk. Nothing, yeah. It all depended on the walk.
117:46
Yeah. Did you have a badge?
117:50
No, no. You see, that made all the difference, didn't it? Oh, it did, yeah. It did, yeah. What an amazing story. You're a mighty man, Con. You're a mighty man.
117:59
But I tell you about passion and...
118:03
We used to go walk out the lane and we'd go down through the trap door.
118:07
And the next thing was, the pair would walk around one of the circles, you know, the, what would he call it? What was, you know, to keep up the bridge. Oh, the pillars, the buttresses. Yeah, and he'd walk around that.
118:27
We wouldn't go near us, but the next thing, the train would pass over, and the whole, that's the boy that was shaved. It was like a nap bed. As soon as the train was gone, up the lad we are gone in black ash.
118:44
He must have given the train driver an awful fright. See these young scamps.
118:49
Well, we've been up to every team that time, yeah.
118:53
Happy days. Happy days. Listen, Con, look after yourself. It's lovely chatting with you.
118:58
Thank you. Thanks very much. Take care.
119:02
Fair play to him. Fair play to him. Teddy, good morning.
119:05
Good morning, Neil. Do you know the man who lost his Omega watch in a bet?
119:10
I do well. With Bernie? Well, I did.
119:12
The man is dating very long ago.
119:14
Okay. Because I was talking to Bernie's son there earlier on this morning, and he was saying that his dad was a mighty... Yeah, his dad was a mighty bowler, and he lost... He won the score against this man going out to Kilcully, and your man said...
119:29
Going out to the White's Cross.
119:33
Okay, well, it was Ballyville and to White's Cross.
119:36
It was up Ballyville and there. He was a kind of a falling-up thing. They used to play everywhere their knees. He's Dublin Hill, Ballyville Amos that morning, up and down.
119:47
Okay, Ballyville Amos, Ballyville Amos, White's Cross, and he... No, no.
119:51
He'd be from the Fox and Hounds up to Ballyville Amos.
119:56
Rat Cooney.
119:57
Yeah. Okay. Okay. So, anyway...
120:01
His dad won the score going out. Bernie won the score going out. So your man then says doubles are quits.
120:10
That's right. Bernie was a specialist in Belleville and Dublin Hill.
120:16
So Rob says that he lost on the return leg and gave Bernie his Omega watch.
120:24
Who was he?
120:26
He was Fergus Keane.
120:28
Terrible nice for the big strong man.
120:31
And where was he from? Really? Oh, yeah. Oh, so it would have been easy for him to go in and just get another watch then, I suppose.
120:59
I would imagine that that watch was worth a few bob then, that Omega.
121:03
Jesus Christ, there was a huge thing that time, for Christ's sake. There were only 10 bob notes, half crowns and everything that time, right? And how do you know that story? Were you there? I was, and I knew Ferguson, I was a bow player as well. Right. And I represent there in the bow player in 1974. But, no, I mean, everyone knew one other than...
121:27
Things that happen. Do you know what I mean?
121:32
Were you handy?
121:34
I felt very good, yeah.
121:35
And would people bet on you or would you lay bets yourself?
121:39
Well, no. I tell you now, I huddled with... And I huddled. And I wasn't a gambler.
121:46
But I built two houses over where I went. And I never backed another man in my life because I wasn't a gambler. But I'd ever write £20 in the 60s putting into Blackpool Post Office... Nearly every Monday morning.
121:58
Go away. On the winnings from the weekend's bowling. You built two houses from it.
122:03
Correct. Going down to West Cork and coming back after playing a match with Delaney Rovers in the morning.
122:07
Isn't that amazing? Fair play to you. That's incredible.
122:11
I won 38 scores in 42.
122:14
And do you remember Mick Barry?
122:17
I know Barry well. Every Wednesday, when I hear you, he come up to Dublin Hill... And he'd park the 250 BC motorbike outside me and shop. And be Jesus, he'd practice out of ice crashing back because that was the road he'd be playing on the Sunday.
122:35
You see, you think people just turn up, don't you? But there's a lot of practice goes behind everything. The harder I practice, the luckier I get.
122:43
Yeah, and I see him laughing at Marianne's pub. And there's no one else could do it.
122:51
What kind of a guy was he? Was he nice for that? I just spoke to him a while ago. Did you hear that?
123:11
Oh my God, it's amazing, isn't it? And do you remember the day that he lofted the viaduct? I do well, and I remember doing it the night before us.
123:32
Right. Right.
123:54
But we were there and I needn't tell you we got fairly, we got Moira. And he actually told me he laughed at the buddy duck practicing and go away and back him. But so we thought he was raping because when daddy couldn't do it, we thought no one in the world would do it.
124:08
So you think he had already done it practicing before?
124:12
He told me he'd done it.
124:13
Because a couple of fellas said that they brought him out to the viaduct at four in the morning and that was when he probably did it in practice.
124:20
So what do you make of the ramp though? He used a ramp. Are we comfortable with that? No disrespect now to Hans, but it was a ramp.
124:39
The ramp would have meant nothing because he cleared that bridge by four or five metres easy that day and the ramp was only about two foot tall.
124:49
That's all, yeah. It wasn't a massive... No, like you wouldn't have got three people standing up in it. I have a photograph of it here.
124:55
It wouldn't have made no difference whatsoever. That was his style and he was used to lifting off of that, not off of the flat road.
125:03
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So...
125:06
Do you know if Barry lofted it with a 16 or a 24-ounce bowl? Do you know that? Who did? Mick Barry.
125:15
Mick Barry lofted it with a 16 or 24, but he hit the rail above and it hopped over it.
125:21
It didn't clear the bridge. It hit the actual rail with 6001 shot and it hopped out the other side.
125:27
Okay. Yeah. All right. He passed away in 2014 at 96 years old. I remember him well. Yeah.
125:36
Was that a big funeral, Teddy?
125:38
Huge.
125:40
So, Barry was a legend, like. Yeah.
125:43
Everyone looked up to him, I'd say.
125:45
Oh, Christ, Barry. There I came. Scully came after me. Scully was every bit as good as him, but didn't last as long, like.
125:53
And where are we now with the popularity of road bowling?
125:57
Bowling is under decline here. Is it? No, there's, yeah. There's fellas playing out there when we left here that time at all.
126:07
You go to the other team and the best players will play out and the best players will play back.
126:13
They wouldn't make the grade now like yesteryear, you're saying?
126:16
No, not a prayer in the hill.
126:19
I love it. I love it. I love it. Well, it's great to chat with so many people and you included who can remember those days.
126:26
When was the last time you threw a bowl?
126:28
2018, I won the Munster Vintage Cup.
126:35
You have happy memories though, don't you?
126:48
Well said, well said. Listen, it's an honour chatting with you and everybody else this morning, Teddy. Thanks so much. Appreciate you taking the call. God bless. God bless. It's amazing how you can round the circle on many of our stories on the air over the years. You know, the simplest little things, a man who lost his Omega watch and then we find out who he was and where he worked and the history behind it and the man who knew it all. Thank you, Teddy. Text 0868 104 106. Pick up the phone on 0818 104 106. We'll pick up on all sorts of conversations tomorrow. My apologies for the things that I didn't get to today, but things move around.
127:20
And I guess that's what we all love about this program. It's your program. So make the most of it, get involved and control the direction of it. Before I love you and leave you, a €400 voucher for deluxe bathrooms and tiling solutions every single day. It's yours if you pick up the phone 0818 104 106 and tell me who's singing in the shower.
127:45
And a pint of plain is your only man. OK, pick up the phone, call a 90818 104 106.
127:51
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