Dave Moore

A Galway village will raise wellbeing awareness and much needed funds for a very worthy cause

St Stephen's Day is usually spent plonked on the couch, regurgitating turkey sambos whilst still trying to scoff down your favourites from the Roses tin.

But if you're looking to get outdoors, breathe in the fresh air and have some fun, then the Pieta House Wren Run just might be for you.

The event involves a 3km 0r 6km walk, jog or run in the beautiful surroundings of Galway village Woodford and is for people of all fitness levels.

Their mission statement is as follows:

'We believe in connecting communities and in thinking differently in everything we do. We connect communities by delivering a relaxed and enjoyable experience and by making our event one that you will want to return to year after year, in order to help support those around you. All proceeds are split 50:50 between Pieta House and local community wellbeing initiatives.'

Speaking on Today FM's Dermot and Dave, organiser Roderick Whyte told us how the Wren Run is growing from strength to strength; "it's been hugely successful over the last four years. I think the first year we started off we had about 500 people, 10 sponsors, and this year we have 2,000 and over 100 sponsors".

"Our area used to be synonymous with the wren boys going back over the years and it had kinda died away, so we're trying to reintroduce it back into the community again", he adds.

If you would like to get involved in the initiative in any way, you can check out their website pietahousewrenrun.ie

Listen to Roderick's chat in full by pressing the play button on screen.

 

It's not just because they taste worse

Dave Moore had a fun foodie fact for us in this edition of Dave's World.

The trivia master revealed the reason why red peppers are always more expensive than green ones, and it blew some of our listener's minds.

He also told us the story behind why the word 'pupil' (the centre of the eye) means "little doll" in Latin.

And if you're into playing cards - he's got some stats explaining why every shuffle is so unique.

Ohh Dave....how do you do it?

Check out his teachings in full by pressing the play button on screen. 

 

Improv comedy at its finest

It’s Wednesday, and you know what Wednesday means - it’s time to Say Stuff That Suits The Music!

Dave plays the tracks and Dermot says whatever comes into his head.

Dermo's latest imaginings include: Asian street food (with a twist), the saddest Government story to date, some 80's Christmas pressies, ebible Santas and RTÉ's latest money-making ploy.

Check out the fun in full by pressing the play button on screen.

 

Plus 'Shut Your Cake Hole', agoraphobia and TedFest 2020

Having the iconic title of 'Fr.Damo' is a hard thing to shake off, but award-winning comedian Joe Rooney has spread his wings a lot since his Father Ted days.

The former ultra cool clergyman is a stand-up comedy genius who mixes his wit with his amazing musical abilities to delight audiences across the world.

Dermot and Dave caught up with Joe to learn more about his new show 'Shut Your Cake Hole', and seeing as he came equipped with his guitar, asked him to strum a few tunes.

His Chris Martin impression is magic, but it's his "real" love songs that had us in stitches.

Rooney also chats about suffering from agoraphobia, tells us what it was like to be in an 80's band and reveals what he will be up to at TedFest 2020.

Catch Shut Your Cake Hole in The Helix, Dublin, @8pm on January 11th (click here for tickets), and after today's performance - I'll be in the front row! I forget just how funny the man is.

Brilliant news!!! pic.twitter.com/3b4ps5lHKC

— joe rooney (@joerooney1) November 22, 2019

Check out the fun in full by pressing the play button on screen. 

 

'The People's Trial' gives a rare insight into science

Back in September of this year, Dermot and Dave had a very interesting chat with Dr. Sandra Galvin about an NUI Galway initiative called 'The People's project'.

Sandra and her team are working on a fun experiment to help people understand the importance of evidence - and now, after months of research and thousands of entries, they have revealed the question chosen for their people-powered trial;

Does reading a book in bed make a difference to sleep in comparison to not reading a book in bed

Hmmm now the tough part... which book do I commit to reading for @ThePeoplesTrial - the first public powered, #citizenscience #randomisedtrial - Does reading a book before bed impact on sleep compared with not #readingabookinbed? #beforeifallasleep #trialmethodology @hrbtmrn pic.twitter.com/j8JhVl7g89

— Dr. Sandra Galvin (@GalvinSadie) December 4, 2019

NUIG's overall goal is to let people see what happens during the process of a public trial and learn why randomisation is so important.

The University is looking for people from around the world to get involved, so if it sounds like something you would like to be part of, or want to find out more, check out thepeoplestrial.ie

Catch the chat in full by pressing the play button on screen. 

 

"If it happens in the world, it happens on twitter"

With 2020 nearly upon us, twitter's statisticians have done some serious number-crunching to reveal all the top trends from 2019.

And it seems that Larry, the little blue bird, is flapping his wings faster than ever, with 145 million people using the platform on a daily basis.

It will come as no surprise to you that #Brexit was Ireland's most tweeted about topic during the year - plus the top trender internationally - but what else peaked our interest in the world of handles and hashtags?

Dermot and Dave chat to the Senior Executive at Twitter Ireland, Barry Collins, about what was hot - like remember when were blown away by Storm Lorenzo without actually being blown away? Talk about an anti-climax:

Live update on #Lorenzo https://t.co/nJH7WX1ePK

— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) October 1, 2019

 

Bad news for Man U fans as @LiverpoolFC were the most mentioned sports franchise in Ireland:

 

Forget Peaky Blinders & Game of Thrones, @LoveIsland was the most talked about TV show here over the past 12 months. Well it did have a pretty big Irish influence in Maura and Greg:

The moment Amber and Greg found out they were the WINNERS of #LoveIsland 2019! pic.twitter.com/CHIR72CQ43

— Love Island (@LoveIsland) July 29, 2019

 

Who made it #1 on the top music handles? The American Sweetheart himself, of course:

seriously one of the most personal songs I’ve ever written. this song means a lot to me, but it will mean even more if it becomes successful x

listen right now https://t.co/6q1DZ1EEM0 pic.twitter.com/YVr2NFZyRm

— America’s Sweetheart (@LewisCapaldi) November 19, 2019

 

Then there's the 'Ballyhaunis 3':

When I was in the city last week, these three Irishmen asked me to take a photo of them, but none of them had phones.

“you’ll take the picture and we’ll find it someday”

so if by some strange turn of events anyone knows these guys, here’s their photo pic.twitter.com/ZrPvKXusJ7

— Christina (@CBones705) May 12, 2019

 

And what about one of the best tweets ever - it's...............#WagathaChristie

This has been a burden in my life for a few years now and finally I have got to the bottom of it...... pic.twitter.com/0YqJAoXuK1

— Coleen Rooney (@ColeenRoo) October 9, 2019

 

Jonathan Walters' retirement also struck a chord:

Isn’t it ironic...my Achilles heel has literally been my Achilles heel and finished me off!

I am now retired from playing football

It’s been epic

Veni vidi vici pic.twitter.com/ZC3m0LmYn5

— Jonathan Walters (@JonWalters19) March 22, 2019

 

As did Bonnie Greer having our back on the world stage:

Oh my god Bonnie Greer if Ireland ever has a Queen, is nominate you https://t.co/sOhPF2CTtx

— Nicola Coughlan (@nicolacoughlan) October 4, 2019

 

Check out Barry's update in full by pressing the play button on screen.

 

It has been 10 weeks of blood, sweat and turkey burgers but the time has come to see how our three participants of #FitByChristmas have fared.

Back in October, we met Emma from Cork, Kate from Tipp and Mark from Donegal who all wanted to make a change for Christmas and get themselves back into a shape that they were comfortable and happy with.

EMMA O'KEEFFE IS OUR NEW MUM FROM CORK

She got in touch with the show after she found herself struggling to lose the baby weight. When we met, she was 6 months postpartum and sick of looking at all of the new mothers who had snapped back into shape after their new arrival.

For Emma, it was never about putting the effort in but finding the time to do it.

Emma's initial measurements were:

WEIGHT: 71.7 kg

NECK: 31.5 cm

ARM: 31.5 cm

CHEST: 31.5 cm

ABDOMEN: 81 cm

WAIST: 84 cm

HIPS CM: 99 cm

QUAD CM: 57 cm

Over the past few weeks, Emma has become our 'food stylist' and has started running for the first time in her life and LOVES it.

Here's her measurements now:

WEIGHT: 65.8 kg (-5.9kg)

NECK: 31.5 cm (-2cm)

ARM: 31.5 cm (-3cm)

CHEST: 31.5 cm (-6cm)

ABDOMEN: 81 cm (-10cm)

WAIST: 84 cm (-6cm)

HIPS CM: 99 cm (-9cm)

QUAD CM: 57 cm (-7cm)

MARK FITZPATRICK IS OUR EMT FROM DONEGAL

When we first met Mark, he was struggling to keep up with his busy life as an EMT. Having lost around 5 stone back in 2008, he was starting to feel himself creeping back up to where he was and he knew he needed to make a change.

Trying to find the time to exercise and avoiding getting a donut with his coffee when he was on the road were the biggest challenges for Mark.

Mark's measurements back when we first met him were:

WEIGHT: 105.8 kg

NECK CM: 40.5 cm

ARM CM: 33 cm

CHEST CM: 116 cm

ABDOMEN CM: 104 cm

WAIST CM: 113 cm

HIPS CM: 106 cm

QUAD CM: 57 cm

Since then, he's started 'finding more time in the day' to fit in exercise and he's ditched the donuts for fruit and yogurt.

And here's how he's getting on now:

WEIGHT: 100.8 kg (5kg)

NECK: 38 cm (-2.5cm)

ARM: 31 cm (-2cm)

CHEST: 115 cm (-1cm)

ABDOMEN: 99 cm (-5cm)

WAIST: 106 cm (-7cm)

HIPS: 102.5 cm (-3.5cm)

QUAD: 53 cm (-4cm)

KATE ACHESON FROM TIPPERARY BUT LIVING IN DUBLIN IS OUR BUSY BUSINESS WOMAN

Kate is a freelance project manager and she's travelling all the time, in the course of our few weeks with her, she was in four countries and seven counties. When we first met Kate, she was struggling to fit her exercise and diet into her life.

Her biggest challenge was a lack of a set routine-and she was falling down on things like sausage rolls, pasta carbonara, chocolate, Salt and Vinegar crisps, you know, the good things!

Kate's measurements were:

WEIGHT: 96.3 kg

NECK 32.5 cm

ARM: 34.5 cm

ABDOMEN: 90.5 cm

CHEST: 112.5 cm

WAIST: 105 cm

HIPS: 106.5 cm

QUAD: 57.5 cm

And here's where Kate is at now:

WEIGHT: 89.8 cm (-6.5kg)

NECK: 32 cm (-5 cm)

ARM: 32 cm (-2.5 cm)

ABDOMEN: 87 cm (-3 cm)

CHEST: 109.5 cm (-3 cm)

WAIST: 86 cm (-19 cm)

HIPS: 99 cm (-7.5cm)

QUAD: 56 cm (-1.5cm)

The lads did an AMAZING job, and look at them all!

Our man Ronan from Toned Fit and Viking Built has been working with the lads over the past few weeks offering them workouts and diet tips, support and help.

He said he's impressed by their sustainable weight loss since October.

Ronan says:

I’m 100% honest when I say that it was a real pleasure to train the three guys. Remote training for such a usually hands on coach is a pretty challenging and daunting task. There was a large learning curve for me as much as there was for Emma, Kate and Mark.

Whether it was the material, threat of national exposure or fear of me I’ll never know but one thing they all did, from day 1, was listen, apply and offer feedback on their training, mood, health and wellness.

Communication is massive in this game. If coaches don’t know what you’re thinking or feeling then we’re going in blind. We can only address what we physically see and hear. With the sight severely limited it was even more important the communication was on the top of the list.

10 weeks is a relatively short time for someone to make a big change in their life. It is however doable and I learned very early on that there were a lot of individual obstacles for each of the participants.

And if you're reading this, thinking there's no point starting until January, take our gangs advise and DON'T WAIT. Ronan even said you can have Christmas dinner, and enjoy it. The secret is enjoying the small moments and putting the big work in before and after.

If you want to take on your own 'Fit By' challenge be it for a wedding, holiday, Easter or even next Christmas, check out the #FitByChristmas page.

All relevant Workouts, Nutrition Notes and Training Plans are viewable in a Public Folder for you to use in your own training.

Check that out here ⬇️

#FITBYCHRISTMAS PUBLIC FOLDER

Listen to their inspirational finalé in full b pressing the play button on screen.

Rapid fire fun

On Tuesdays, Dave teams up with our listeners to bring you some of the best (and worst) jokes you'll have heard in a while.

In fairness, there are some crackers in here, but we'll let ye be the judge of that.

Check out the fun in full by pressing the play button on screen.

 

How to know when it is more than just baby blues

Becoming a new parent is an exciting and often anxious time in a couple's life, however, for some mothers, it can be a truly difficult experience.

Postnatal depression (or PSD as it's known) is a term that is often discussed but when do we know it is more than just baby blues and how do you help someone going through it?

To help shed some light on the issue, Dermot and Dave chat to Expert Health Advisor Irene Lowry, who is the CEO and co-founder of Nurture Health, for #MindYourselfNow

Nurture Health is a nationwide counselling and training support service in Ireland mainly focusing on counselling women struggling with their mental health around conception, pregnancy and childbirth health related issues.

Irene reveals the alarming statistic that PND affects over 18,000 mothers in Ireland annually, with thousands more going undiagnosed; "there's a lot of women who actually don't know what's wrong with them. They just keep going".

She continues to explain how this progressive illness can really take hold and break a relationship if the correct steps are not taken; "professional help is absolutely paramount".

"Baby blues are for the first fourteen days after you have a baby (for a woman)", Irene adds, saying it's a natural hormone level come down, and recommends ladies seek help if symptoms have not subsided after this two week window.

But what are the symptoms?

Tiredness all the time / Problems sleeping (most common)

Feeling sad, anxious and alone

Feeling guilty, irritable and angry

Panic attacks

Not enjoy being with loved ones and/or at times your baby

Poor concentration

Crying easily

Loss of appetite

The most important piece of information the expert wanted to get across to the men and women of Ireland is that;

It's NOT a woman's fault. They have absolutely NO control over it

They also touch on the topics of Prenatal Depression and Postnatal Anxiety.

For more information and help, check out the Nurture Health website by clicking here.

You can listen to Irene's incredible advice by pressing the play button on screen. 

 

Donal tells Dermot and Dave his bizarre story

They say no deed goes unpunished and this has never been the case more than with Navan man, Donal Norton.

Over the weekend, Donal was at home when he was called to the assistance of a teenage gull who had been involved in a bit of a run in with a car.

Being a good citizen, he held the little bird and tried to help it recover. And recover it did.

Little Stevie, full name "Stephen Segull", started to come around and wanted to thank Donal for the assistance in saving his short life.

And what better way to do that, than by hopping up on Donal's head where he stayed, for three hours.

That's three hours, 120 minutes with a live bird stuck on his head.

And things, well, they got pretty tetchy.

Donal had to stay in the shed until he got some advice from Birdwatch Ireland who helped him out of the situation.

In good news, Little Stevie is doing well, but Donal's jacket, it's the real victim of this situation.

Check out Donal & Stevie's story in full by pressing the play button on screen.