The Time Out Podcast

When it comes to Donegal GAA history nobody has contributed more than Brian McEniff. The Bundoran legend enjoyed great club success with the renound St Josephs in the 60's and 70's, winning a whole host of county titles. Amongst that successful period they also won the All Ireland club title in 1968 and the Ulster club championship in 1975. Brian as player manager of Donegal in 1972 led Donegal to their first ever senior Ulster title. He followed that with a second title in 74. During a second stint in charge he landed Donegal Ulster title no 3 in 1983 and his third time in the job saw him win his beloved county's fourth and fifth ulster titles in 1990 and 1992. On the 20th September 1992 Brian guided Donegal to our first ever senior All Ireland title, beating Dublin 0-18 to 0-14 in the decider. During my interview with Brian we preview the opening league fixtures of 2021 this weekend and we reflect on many of his great memories including the unforgettable year Sam Maguire came to the Hills for the first time. I hope you enjoy the interview!

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Dominic Dale turned snooker pro in 1992 alongside the likes of O'Sullivan, Williams and John Higgins. He has 2 ranking titles to his name, the 1997 Grand Prix and the 2007 Shanghai Masters. In 2014 he was a very popular winner at the 'Snooker Shootout' tournament in Blackpool. Throughout his snooker career he's being known as one of the characters of the sport and hasn't being afraid to stand out from the crowd with his various hair styles and dress sense. He's currently commentating with Eurosport on the 2021 Betfred World Snooker Championship and during my interview with him we discuss the last 4 remaining in the competition and review some of the stories from this much loved event which kicked off 2 weeks ago. I also chat to Dominic about his own career and I put his snooker knowledge to the test with 7 crucible related questions. Hope you enjoy it!

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Joe Kernan's contribution to Armagh football both as a player and manager could see him described as Midas in the orchard county. In the 70's and 80's he won a total of 5 county titles with Crossmaglen Rangers. In the early 90's he would take on the role of their manager. Cross had being on barren run prior to Joe's arrival, but after a few years in charge he had them winning county titles again. In fact more than that, under Joe, the renound club from Armagh would go on to win 3 all ireland club titles in 4 years. Joe enjoyed success as an inter county player too, he won 2 all stars and 3 ulster titles.  In his debut season as Armagh manager he led them to their first ever Sam Maguire title. His story is remarkable, He tells me during our chat of how pivotal moments were managed and mentions how several other legendary managers helped him and his various squads along the way. I hope you enjoy the interview!

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Pat Ward has a wealth of experience in Donegal soccer over the years as both a player and coach and played for a number of different clubs. This was after he had moved to Donegal having lived in Scotland for the early part of his life, where he developed his love of soccer, having lined out for the Clyde U16's. Across Donegal, Pat enjoyed a fair bit of success with local sides and I reflect with him on these memories. His steady performances in goal for the likes of Arranmore United earned him a county call up. He also played for Finn Harps at youth level. Once his playing days were over Pat turned into a very capable coach, and particularly excelled in progressing local schoolboy footballers to greater heights. I talk with Pat about all this plus much more including how at an early age it was obvious he was a gifted carpenter. I hope you enjoy the interview!

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Ben Harkin hails from Termon, near Letterkenny and last year he released a powerful book entitled 'Time Nor Tide'. A book focusing on the huge issue of climate change. His book focuses on Ireland specifically and along with detailing the changes we will see in years to come, he outlines the solutions to limit the effects of climate change for future generations.  Ben felt an urgency to address this matter as even today in Ireland and in recent years we are experiencing the effects of global warming, such as storms becoming more frequent. Ben adds a great personal side to his book as well, he has a great love of poetry and he quotes the late great poet Seamus Heaney multiples times. Ben also has links to Termon Maghery and he speaks fondly of how visiting the Rosses helped educate him on climate change. I hope you enjoy the interview! 

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John Joe McGinley from Gweedore has an interest in many different avenues and amongst them, is his beloved Celtic FC. He runs a 'Celtic Gossip' twitter account which has over fifty thousand followers. I chatted to John Joe about Celtic's disappointing season and got his thoughts on where it all went wrong. He also lists his all time Celtic XI. John Joe is also an author and in late 2020 released a book called 'Irish Wise Guys', a book featuring stories of the most notorious Irish American gangsters. He talks about this book and tells us some details of a future book he has planned for release later this year. John is also a huge promoter of autism awareness and he mentions the ways in which he trys to help others in a similar situation to both he and his family. I hope you enjoy the interview!

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Neily Keeney's job of being a show business photographer over the last thirty years has given him the opportunity to meet many of the biggest names imaginable, particularly in American and Irish country music. Names like Gene Watson, Moe Bandy, Bille Jo Spears, George Hamilton IV, Charley Pride and many more. Here in Ireland he was very good friends with the late Brian Coll, a legend who Neily credits as the man who got him into photography. There's no doubting Neily's biggest idol of all time though, the man in black; the late Johnny Cash. Neily got to meet Johnny multiple times and he shared with me in this interview memories of the some of the times he got to meet him. Fittingly this chat with Neily was recorded on the 89th anniversary of Johnny's birth. 

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Isla Grant's songwriting down through the years has touched many people across many countries. Add to that the heartfelt way in which she delivers her songs and its easy to see why she's had a lot of success. Some of her albums have gone triple platinum. Isla's songs all tell a story and powerful ones at that, ones in which many can resonate with. I caught up with Isla yesterday via the phone and we talked about the background behind some of her most popular songs, the new interests she's developed during lockdown and much more!

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Pat The Cope Gallagher has being involved in politics for over 40 years. In that time he has served as a councillor, TD. minister, MEP and Leas-Cheann Comhairle. In the general election of February 2020, he narrowly lost his seat in Dail Eireann but as he tells me in my interview with him, he still continues to help people on a one to one basis. We chatted about many different things including his daily excerise routine, his life in politics, his love of GAA, how he first met his wife Ann and much more. I hope you enjoy the interview!

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Brian Cannon and his family have played a central role in Lettermacaward life since as early as 1911. From that year on his grandfather ran the post office, a baton which Brian would take hold of later in life.  Brian worked in the post office for nigh on 40 years but is now retired. In this podcast he reflects with me on several of the key happenings in Lettermacaward over the last century and beyond.. From the story of the herring influx into Traighenna Bay, to the archaeological dig at Dooey to the building of the Gweebara Bridge, quite a lot of ground is covered. I discovered a lot of things I didn't know during this interview, mabye you will too, I hope you enjoy it! 

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